Here's the deal with me.......
Like you, the 370Z is drop dead sexy. Of the cars I looked at, it is the one that I would most apt buy IF money wasn't a factor.
I make a good living and I don't hurt for money, however, I am not rolling around filthy rich. And because of that, along with my being inherently frugal, I shop for cars that give me bang.for.the.buck. I want value. If I could have bought a 370Z for around 26,000 dollars, then that's the car I'd be driving today.
I like it better than the mustang....but how much is that worth? From the things I had read and the research I had done, IF memory serves me correct, the 370Z is a better car, but it rode rougher and was harder to mod, along with being more expensive. In my mind, I didn't want more expensive, and I didn't want something that was hard to mod, and I certainly didn't want a harsh ride.
When I look for value for my dollar, the two things that really jumped out for me were the Hyundai and Mustang.
The camaro was certainly a car that I was looking hard at, but (and this is just my opinion) you would have to be an idiot to pay the kind of money they are demanding for those cars. The dealership I had spoken to was wanting 3,000 above sticker for a camaro....insane. Even shopping around, you were lucky to find one in the 35,000 price range.
Looks are subjective on a car. I didn't love the looks of the camaro, but I did like it well enough IF the car had been priced inline with what I felt was a good value. There were things I hated about the camaro...hard lines...ugliest guages I have ever seen in a car......tall sides....pig heavy.....but it does have 400 plus horsepower.....that is a huge selling point to me.
When the GTO's came out, I was disgusted on how dog ass ugly those things were. Pig fat......ugly....just ruined a good motor by putting in that slop mobile. I think that they did better this time around with the camaro. It's still got the complaints that I had with the GTO, but they got it a helluva lot more right this time than they did the first time.
GM really does piss me off. I've had enough of their $hittty cars through the years that they ought to give me vette for the misery they put me through. Gov't bailout sucking bastards....rate jacking dealers...GM has done everything they could to burn anyone who could possibly love their company.
But anyhow.......for the money, I don't know how anyone could buy a camaro over a 370Z. But then again, it might just come down to looks and looks are subjective.
Yes, I have read that the 370Z isn't real easy to modify, and that is a concern, but it's a slight one (for me). I guess I'm after the "ultimate driving experience" that I can afford. I have a 1994 Camaro that I've poured dollars upon dollars into, and I just don't want another modified car. I want something that I can just get in, drive, get performance I can be happy with, and keep a warranty. A few basic bolt-ons aside (exhaust, cold air intake, tune), I don't plan on doing any mods. That's one of the main reasons I'm after a Track Pack Mustang; no
suspension mods will be needed. I'm also after a Roushcharger, which, again, would be covered under a 3yr/36k and go-fast mods would not be needed.
The other car that I'm now looking hard at is the 370Z
SPORT model. I don't mind that the ride will be a bit stiff, as it won't be a daily driver, but in the grand scheme of things, I have a daily driver that rides so stiff, I swear I'm sitting on a milk crate (2005 STi).
On the 2.5 hour drive home to WV today from my parents' house, my wife and I talked about which one I would probably be happier with, and when I think about it, the Mustang has a tough business case to propose.
I know that with a Track Pack a Mustang GT will handle. I've driven a standard GT and it didn't handle all that poorly. I also know that it's nearly dead-even in straight-line performance with a 370Z, so the acceleration isn't an issue. The cheaper price, however, certainly makes the Mustang GT appealing in every sense of the word. I drove the Mustang GT, and it is undoubtedly one of the best cars I've ever driven, and I've driven
A LOT of cars. While it's not the fastest car or the best-handling car I've ever driven, it's just a damned nice car.
Then there's the 370Z. It's small, it handles, and it accelerates like a V8. Even if it doesn't put out as much torque as my STi, it will feel like it does, being a V6. The V6 will also probably sound more appealing than the Flat-4 in my STi, especially when singing near the redline. IMO, I believe the Z is more notorious for its handling abilities than its acceleration. This is appealing, because I like to do more than drive in a straight line. Regardless how good a Mustang GT will be in the corners with a Track Pack, I'm so inclined to believe that the smaller and wider Z will run away from it.
I have a car with a 4 cylinder, and I have one with a V8. A V6 is right smack in the middle. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, what I'm looking for is a combination of both, the handling of a sports car and the grunt of a powerful engine for those straight-line "stunts." I've forever been on the hunt for a pure driving experience, and I've compromised on both ends of the spectrum; the STi with its powerful 4 cylinder that lacks the "grunt" of a higher displacement engine, and a V8 that can't turn a corner.
Right now, when I want to drive, I take the STi if I want a "driving experience," but if I just want to sit behind the wheel of a sledgehammer on the highway, I take the Camaro. While I wouldn't even begin to refer to the 370Z as a "sledgehammer," I would love to have a car that does everything extremely well. I want a sports car I can take to the "Tail of the Dragon" and enjoy the trip. I've been to the "Tail" in the STi, and wow, did the car shine, but it just lacks the feeling of being in a sports car.
So let's say I wound up in a 370Z. It doesn't mean I like the new Mustang GT any less, it just means that maybe it wasn't the right car this time around. Of course, I would still like the 370Z as much if I bought the Mustang. It's just such a tough decision that I don't know what to do.