gavriil

Wearing Thin: Tire rumbling has Nissan 350Z owners grumbling


By MAC MORRISON


FACED WITH OWNER COMPLAINTS and a raging online debate about unusual tire wear on its popular 350Z sports car, Nissan has dispatched a team of engineers to investigate the problem.

Here’s what we know: A yet-to-be-determined number of the 39,000 2003 model year Z cars sold in America left Nissan’s Oppama (Japan) factory with incorrect front suspension toe settings. The result—after driving only a few thousand miles—is an uneven, “cupped” wear pattern on the inside edge of each front tire that causes irritatingly loud road noise, particularly at speeds below 30 mph. We experienced the phenomenon firsthand with our long-term 350Z test car (AW, Dec. 1), and a click on Z enthusiast website my350z.com reveals over 1000 posts on the matter to the site’s online discussion board.

What if your Z suffers from obnoxious tire roar? Nissan issued its dealers a technical service bulletin (NTB03-006A) that instructs them to adjust the front-end toe, as well as swapping the “cupped” front tires side-to-side (different tire sizes front-to-rear mean Z rubber can’t be rotated in the traditional sense). Dealers should carry out the work under warranty. Failing that, call (800) 647-7261 and lodge a complaint with the manufacturer.

Nissan is cautiously optimistic the problem is under control and will not plague newer 350Zs, although the company acknowledges it does not consider the matter closed and its engineers continue to monitor the situation. Nissan says the problem doesn’t affect handling and it does not consider “cupped” tires a safety issue, meaning a recall is unlikely.

Previously announced changes to 2004 350Z suspension tuning (AW, Nov. 24) were adopted for improved ride and handling, and should have no effect on the tire wear issue.

Source: Autoweek.

chef chris

What about replacing the fucked up tires?

I'd be very interested in that if I had a bad set...

Vegeta1

I guess this is another reason why they say not to buy first year production cars.

DISRUPTV

kevin79925

ya never buy first year cars

Chaptorial

So very true.

However in the case of the CL you had to wait until the 3rd year to get a "fixed" tranny.

kansaiwalker1

Ditto. Never get a first year production car.

cusdaddy

my Z's good so far. No feathering at 10k miles :knocks on wood:

1SICKLEX

I am not scared of buying a first year car. Mistakes happen, this can be fixed.

The BIGGER problem are the PEOPLE. Everyone was riding 14-15inch tires 10 years ago. 5 years ago even 17s were rare on cars and only on Expensive cars. Nowadays to help make all these BLOATED cars look better, they got to slap 17-20Inch tires on everything. Now to the person USED to these tires, no biggie.To people EXPECTING the car to ride and last as long as their old 15" Civic/Corolla wheels is stupid.

I've read so many people complaining of how fast they go through tires with these cheap cars with 17-18" tires. The owners simply like the looks but hate the maintenance and noice and quick wear associated with em.

My take, low profile tires are gonna fock up, your alignment is gonna fock up, etc etc if you drive it everyday. COmes with the territory. So have $$$ to dump into tires or use your car sparingly.

Habiib

I wish I would have talked to you about a year ago. I found this stuff out the hard way. I went from stock 15 to 17'' wheels/tires. I thought my driving/car was the reason that my tires were wearing so fast...but this explains it.

About the Nissan issue. Yeah it sucks kinda if this is a widespread issue. On the plus side, its good to see that Nissan listens to their customers and addresses/corrects any problems/complaints that come up. Just look at the mid-year changes to the (G35,Altima,350z,Q45) all due to customer complaints. But I say this problem is nothing compared to what I've been reading about the 04TL. But like someone said earlier its to be expected with 1st/2nd year models.

Maximized

Thats simply not true. Many cars are designed from the factory with low profile tires and 17"+ rims. The suspension engineers take into account this and design the suspension accordingly. Now if you are talking about 26" rims, yes that does mess up your suspension. A GM engineer stated this in a AutoWeek article recently, when asked about larger rims on the Escalade. Now I do agree with you that low profile tires don't last as long, but thats a tradeoff.

1SICKLEX

Yes, they do take it into account, but there is no way in hell a 17" plus wheel is going to stay perfect, let alone ALL 4 if you drive daily. Especially if the roads in your area are bad. Impossible. On top of that OEM tires are the cheapest tires for your car, unless you drive a high performance car that comes standard with say Michelin Pilot Sports or Yokohoma AVS.

And in reading multiple reviews, it seems 18" wheels is the best for performance and ride. Anything above that kills the ride and really adds no performance advantage.For instance, my friends with the 17" wheels from Acura, complain how quickly they go through tires, the ride is a lil jiggly from say their Camry etc. And these are 50 series 17s, not 45s. Comes with the territory. I noticed the one with the 16" tires on her TL-S never complains.

Hell the ride in a GS with the 16s (60 sidewall) vs the 17s (45 sidewall) equates to a big difference in ride.

DaveTypeS02

Yea my boy has one of the first ones and has had this tire problem a few times. They didnt know what was wrong either so they just they replaced his front tires but it keeps coming back. The sound is very noticeable and loud. Hmm.. I guess this is why.

dallison

you know those tires will make a bumpy ride swapping em side to side

KavexTrax

Ooops, someone forgot to thoroughly roadtest their vehicle before product launch...

synth19

I'd rather get my tires replaced (there is a TSB on this now), then get my tranny replaced (hi Acura).

synth19

oh, and btw..I didnt have any feathering problems yet (my Z was a late model '03).

zeroday

me neither. in fact, i've had no problems whatsoever. My Z was bult in october 03'.

gavriil

Here's a red-hot Z! Nissan has unveiled a limited-edition 350Z in Japan, and our sources say that a souped-up version of the already sporty coupé could come here.

The Type E two-seater features a range of body modifications to give it an even more purposeful appearance. It's based on the standard S, and has the same 240bhp V6 engine and six-speed manual gearbox. But that's where the similarities end; a chunkier front bumper complete with huge cooling ducts gives the nose a more aggressive stance. The chin spoiler extends beneath the number plate and increases the car's length by 18cm. There is similar treatment at the rear, with a racing-style bumper and air ducts. Uprated brakes and stiffer suspension complete the package, hinting that a hardcore performance 350Z could well be on its way to Europe.

Nissan is tight-lipped about expanding the range in the UK, but the styling modifications at least are likely to be offered either as aftermarket options or on a limited production model similar to the Type E.

Source:
Autoexpress

charliemike

The JDM can have that wacky stuff ... I hear that kit is for homologation racing purposes ... UGLY

gavriil

Yes ugly.

zeroday

uh yeah thats no good. wtf is the rear side air intake for?

chungkopi

i like the front but i hate the rear

cusdaddy

Brake cooling.. Kinda like the Z06

And the car is very ugly IMO

03TL-S

I thought it was weird for nissan to do this also. I mean the altima's interior for 2005 is going to be completely redesigned. It's also been going around in the g35 forums that the g35 interiors will be completely redesigned and there will be a bump in horsepower. 300 for the coupe i believe. I guess nissan just wants to make the car perfect since the interior is always being criticized. It sucks for people like me though who got a g35 now instead of later. A change like this would mean a higher price though

kevin79925

sweet

fahoumh

wow, that thing is ugly......also looks like a bad photoshop

kansaiwalker1

Maybe Toyota will reconsider its decision to not produce the new Supra????

Nah, they're just too conservative

1SICKLEX

Well while NIssan needed the Z to bolster sales and it's image, Toyota is selling better than ever without the Supra. It may not come back unless they really want to. They don't need it.

Besides, a 10 year old SUpra is superior to a new Z.

Python2121

this is true, but not because the z isn't a great car, but because the supra was amazing for what it was.

i dont think you will see another supra, but dont think you wont see something similar out of lexus!!

1SICKLEX

Yeah, the Z is a great car the cheaper it is. 37k for the track model is nuts to me though.

The Supra was enroaching on supercar territory stock (sub 5 sec times). I don't want to even go into modded ones.

charliemike

$37k for a 350Z Track with Navigation is not a bad deal.

Especially when a 330Ci goes for the low-mid $40K range

Beltfed

From the Z board........sounds cool.

“We got new brochures for the 05 Maxima today and on the back it shows pictures of the Nissan model line up. One of the pictures is a yellow 350Z with what looks like 19" wheels. Under it in small print it says, " Z 35th Anniversary model 1/05".

Sarlacc

I hope there is more to it then ugly chrome wheels.

They could take the anniv editon and run with it if they want to.

Minch00

I like the wheels.....I wonder what all they did to it......

Beltfed

I like the wheels also, don't think they're chrome though.

The G gets a bump in power for 05, hopefully the Z will as well.

Sarlacc

Yeah youre right, they look powdercoated. still dont care for the design.

bump in power would be nice.

zeroday

only the 'sport edition' g35 gets the power bump. i would hope the track z would get a bump too.

zeroday

a new z will outhandle a supra and out accelerate a n/a supra. not to mention it has advanced safety features, VDC/TCS, nav option...i could go on and on. if you're just talking about superior for engine mods on only the tt supra, i'd agree. interior also looks better on the supra, minus the steering wheel. still, the z is a much more advanced car. saying the supra is blanketly superior is not true though. it's 10 year old technology at this point.

03TL-S

And supra was discontinued because it did not sell. It costed way too much for a toyota which is why no one really wanted it.