Jalopnik: nissan 350z

How To Put Your Kids To Sleep With A Nissan 350Z

Peter Orosz — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:30:00 EDT

In a quest to find the most sleep-inducing engine note, we begin with Nissan’s VQ35DE V6, as installed in a 350Z. Let’s see what happens.

Has anyone ever assembled a table on the soporific qualities of various engine configurations? I’m not aware of any—but people with kids to take on long-haul trips would kill for one.

Perhaps—and I’m practicing wishful thinking here—the results would show that high performance engines strike a particularly tranquilizing note in the developing auditory cortex. Imagine the possibilities! Responsible family men could reasonably argue that a Camaro SS is nothing but a pacifier on wheels.

Over on my other site, we performed such an experiment with a Nissan 350Z, powered by a Tennessee-built VQ35DE V6 engine, good for 287 HP and 274 lb-ft. The car is an American import, with an MPH speedo and an automatic transmission—weird objects in metric, manual-happy Europe—and like all 350Z’s, the noise is so lovely all you want to do is curl up in a ball and listen to it all day. Since I can doze off in any car, be it powered by an inline four or a V8, a suitable test person had to be found. And nobody is more suitable than 18-month-old Polish cutie Gabi Popiołek.

We set the whole thing to a Sicilian lullaby—Eugene Ruffolo’s Piccolo Girasole—just to make sure. Suffice to say that Gabi, an even greater bundle of energy than her countryman Bob Kubica of BMW Sauber F1, was snoozing in no time.

Photo Credit: Balázs Fenyő, Video Editing: György Szeljak

Top Gear USA Host Tanner Foust Takes Garage419 Sideways

Mark Arnold — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:40:00 EDT

Now that we know Tanner Foust is going to be one of the three hosts of Top Gear USA, we're feeling out whether this guy is worthy of the job or not. So, while we know pretty much everything there is to know about the race driver/television host, we're still interested in seeing more of his prowess behind the wheel. Garage419 got the chance to ride shotgun with Foust during a drift session in a Nissan 350Z, so check out all the countersteering, tire-smokin' action after the jump.

Shredding Tires with Tanner Foust - Garage419

Carjacking At Sheriff's Office Is Never A Good Idea

Travis Hudson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Frank Singleton could be classified as ingenious, or an idiot, but likely the latter. Singleton was released from jail after serving time on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Immediately after release, Singleton attempted to carjack a lady and take her 2006 Nissan 350Z from the jail parking lot. It didn't work out so well for Singleton, but not because he was in a sheriff's office parking lot.

It was because Singleton could not drive a manual transmission. Nevertheless, he was unsuccessful escaping, and was detained by sheriffs who overheard the commotion. When asked why he did it, Singleton simply said that he didn't want to walk. At least it made it easy on the sheriffs. His jail cell was likely still empty. [Sun-Sentinel via Neatorama]

Nissan 370Z Info Shows Up In Japanese Car Mag, Bigger Engine On The Way

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Though you should always take what you learn from Japanese car magazine scans with a grain of salt, things we're hearing about the forthcoming Nissan 350Z seem to line up with what was caught in this mag by a FreshAlloy forum member. First, we reported that the new Nissan 350Z would likely bow at the LA Auto Show, and this claims an appropriate November 2008 debut date. We also heard it would feature a version of the 3.7-liter VQ37VHR engine found in the Infiniti G37, which this claims as well, before going further to add they expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 330+ horsepower.

What we didn't know was what it was going to look like. These appear to be actual pics and not drawings (which may explain the White Out). While it appears to have the characteristic large hump, the headlights have a much sharper, sharktooth look. This would fit in with the design language we've seen on the new Infiniti FX50. Let the speculation continue. [FreshAlloy via AutoBlog]

Fast And Furious Chinese Drifting With Pregnant Passengerey

Mark Arnold — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

We're not so sure that drifting is a sport, but that doesn't stop those Chinese hoons from doing it. Yep, the language of drifting has apparently been ~~outsourced~~ translated into Mandarin. The Chinese apparently prefer to drift in... Japanese cars. What? Were you expecting a BYD? But wait, they haven't just ripped off the drifting formula and made it cheaper... they genuinely added something to the not-sport. Yes, we now have drifting with a pregnant woman riding shotgun— and in public traffic no less! Yes, that child is gonna be a real hoon prodigy.

Update: Ok, so the video was probably made in Hong Kong, and that language is Cantonese. Time for us to brush up on our foreign languages.
We tried to translate the video's description and came up with "Qian Chiale the official graciousness elegant television propagandizes the short film." Indeed.
[YouTube]