260z as a daily driver?

[Skedy]

hi all!

thought i would ask who daily drives there z?

im looking at purchasing a 260 as a cool daily driver as i have always loved zed's and owned a 350z before

im a mechanic by trade so looking after the mechanical is fine which i have read so far are a pretty decent motor maintenance wise.

im looking at a 2.8l with the 5 speed behind it

 

anything else i should look for when inspecting a z?

i have had a read of the buyers guide i found which had where i should look for rust which would be the main concern

 

lastly fuel economy! what am i looking at with twin SU's? i drive all freeway

i read somewhere on here that the jap motors had hardened valve seats very early and dont need any additives too run unleaded fuel?

 

 

cheers fellas!

skedy

[nizm0zed]

fuel economy on the highway with twin SU's, pretty ordinary....

They are pretty high geared, so 3500rpm at 110kph is normal (perhaps higher, its been several years since i drove mine )

 

As for being a mechanic, thats good, means you can fix it, but its like builders houses are never finished, plumbers toilets dont work ect, there will allways be something on the zed waiting for you to fix it...

How do i know? Im a mechanic too

 

But realistically, if you can get over paying a bit more on fuel, the exhaust smell, no aircon, probably also a pig to start and a pain on cold mornings, then hells yea!! I loved using my zed as a daily, allways put a smile on my face driving home with the exhaust measuring 110db 

[Zedman240®]

The only thing I regretted about using my first 260 as a daily was all the accidents it used to attract... Renault Feugo hitting its rear and an old guy in a ute didn't realize he was rolling till my bonnet stopped him (both times my brother borrowed the car) then a German tourist taking out the whole passenger side and to top it off a "Citipower" van backing into my wheelarch on the drivers side. Only panel left untouched was the roof! If you can live with that knowing it could happen, I say use it as a daily... but if not, lock it away!

[zedevan]

i daily'd mine for a couple of years, besides the petrol smell (who needs cologne?) and lack of air con, below is the only reason not to daily one

 

[Quandary]

I have a daily but it's hardly practical. I love nothing more than driving my Z but if I have passengers or if I'm parking anywhere for any length of time I'll take the Pulsar for too many reasons, but all importantly it's safer. Like any Z it attracts attention, but as a daily it's more often unwanted attention. Dipshivers will tailgate often. Fuel economy is very ordinary with twin SU's. The ride is uncomfortable for passengers, conversation is more difficult, and they get a lot of the fumes. If you've got another option as a daily you will use it as a break from the Z.

 

As a daily if I had the time and money I'd go EFI, new AC, not the factory AC and spend up on the interior.

 

What to look for when buying a new Z? Obviously rust. But personally I would also check the hatch seals. Took me a lot of attempts to get the thing to stop water from leaking through. Having a daily I couldn't wash wasn't much fun.

[Luni260z]

The lack of aircon is indeed a killer and my all black interior doesn't help.

And the fact that my car is only ever in a drivable state come summer time for some reason can be tiresome.  Even though, I'd say go for it.

 

Just bring an extra shirt and you'll be fine.

 

Damn. I wish I had enough money to have a daily driver and a zed. For me. It's the zed or else I have nothing. So pretty much I've had no car for years.

 

I can't wait til my car is registered. I'll be driving it everywhere. (the odo doesn't go up to high so I'm sure its been clocked a few times, no need to worry about putting extra k's on it).

[Luni260z]

Like any Z it attracts attention, but as a daily it's more often unwanted attention.

 

Well, the cops certainly love to say hello whenever I'm near my zed. I've been questioned just standing next to it in the carpark.

 

But on the road I find people get the fuck out of my way and keep well clear.

 

About the most attention I seem to get (cops aside) is from young kids who  point my car out to their parents in amazement.

[pauly_adams]

id say go for it but i would be going for a 2+2 like myself, i get about 13km per litre on highway and about half that in town mines running twin sus and l28. as for the exhaust if it pokes out just before the bumper it solves the fume issues. i love mine to bits and i will be retiring it in a couple of weeks to do a full resto on her and i will miss it, only other advice i will give you is run it on premium 98 fuel it keeps them running clean and also gets much better fuel economy.

 

cheers Pauly

[Quandary]

Wow 13km per litre? Maybe I could manage that, but I'm doing close to 8km per litre with all the city driving and flogging it home from work.

 

I get pretty good attention, even from cops. I mean that if they pull me over, which may be more often, but they will comment on it positively. I don't mind the kids pointing and stuff. The attention I dislike is on the road, tailgated, dragged at the lights, was even asked if I could drift.

 

I remember some prick 4wd van driver with P plates just wouldn't leave me alone, kept overtaking and changing lanes all over the place, cut me off a few times. I wasn't even out for a cruise, just wanted to get home after work. Saw him the next day with a passenger, and presumably his mother. His attitude on the road was completely different. So I belted past him. I guess thats the good thing, a Z is not so easily forgettable. If I did it in my Pulsar or some work car it would be a nonevent.

[Skedy]

thanks for the replies fellas!

13km per litre works out too 7l per 100km's which is friggin awesome!

 

attention is not new to me lol even the wrong kind. my other car is an fd rx7 with a 6.0l v8 which i can drive if i need a break from the z

 

i am looking at a 2+2 and yes no aircon is a killer but ive driven cars without it for many years and yes it really does suck during summer

 

my car park at work is secure and i wont have passengers very often unless i love the Z more than the rx7 lol. im usually driving very early in the morning when theres no traffic so hopefully it keeps the idiots away!

 

anything else i should know before i jump off the deep end? im looking at a 260z this afternoon it will actually be my first drive of one!

[Linton]

13 km/litre ummm 60 ltre tank 780 km per tank of fuel wish I could get that

[zedevan]

my memory with petrol was more like 11-14L per 110km

 

my other car is an fd rx7 with a 6.0l v8

pics please

[Stivva]

I drive my zed as a daily most of the time. Very reliable. I have now got my fuel economy to a point where I only fill up once a week. I have my windows tinted very dark and that keeps the temperature constantly nice all year round. The only downside I have is the fuel smell, which is gradually getting better.

[Skedy]

Stivva how did you go about reducing fuel economy?

Cheers!

 

and pics of my other car

[zedevan]

nice, i'm sure that'd be a bit of fun to drive! you should get the number plate nowank - for no wankel engine, it's currently availible at vplates.com.au haha

 

i'm thinking of going back to semi daily driving my zed, and the safety combined with fumes are the two concerns I have, just sit in one and its imediatly obvious that there's alot less material in the car. surely you can't be too concerned about petrol use while owning a rotorary or v8

[tbscobraZ]

EFI and higher gearing will net you some decent economy. As far as the petrol smell I read somewhere it was just the rear hatch seal or coming from the rear somewhere. If thats the case not something a little sillicon can't fix.

[Stivva]

Lean out the carbs, road test, retune (lean or richen) and enjoy.

My car also only sits on 2700rpm at 100km

[zzzzed]

EFI and higher gearing will net you some decent economy. As far as the petrol smell I read somewhere it was just the rear hatch seal or coming from the rear somewhere. If thats the case not something a little sillicon can't fix.

 

 

 

arrrhhhhhggg keep silicone away from your car.. Use urethane (sikaflex) instead. silicone is a crash repairer/ restorers worst nightmare

[zzzzed]

even better use proper window gasket sealer

[silverz]

Hi,

Until recently I used my 240Z as a daily driver often. I never had any real problems with it. I agree with the comments about being hot however. Red upholstery and  no AC in Darwin was definitely a challenge.

I have also taken mine on long drives - Townsville to Albury/Wodonga via Winton, Longreach, Charleville, Bourke etc for example and never had any problems.

Fuel consumption averaged around 9.78 Lt to 100km from memory on the Townsville - Albury/Wodonga trip.

These cars are fine to drive on a daily basis as long as you are prepared to put up with the idiosyncrasies and limitations of a 35 - 40 year old car. I did have fume issues, but since I pulled the fuel tank out and replaced the rotted out  breather and replaced the gearstick boot this is no longer a real problem. There may also be something in Pauly's suggestion that if you run them on 98 octane you have less fuming as I have been running mine on 98 recently.

 

Regards

Peter

[zedrally]

After being rear-ended twice in 12 months, it's to painful to use it as a daily driver anymore.

Was serious fun there, but no longer.

The rarity factor is coming into play now, when you could pick one up for $1-2k it was another story.

Another less appealing  factor is getting older, iIm no longer agile enough for multiple in's & out's!

[specialp3]

I agree with everyone about the unwanted attention, every time I drive I have at least 3-4 experiences of tailgating (usually clowns in commodore utes).

 

I drive my zed a lot during the cooler months as no air con is inconvenient and uncomfortable for work, if you're tradie it wouldn't be a problem.

 

The fuel smell that everyone mentions can be avoided as long as you make sure all firewall rubbers are replaced and you take a lot of time and care putting in the rear hatch rubber, I put the rear hatch rubber in over 6 days working a small section at a time. I have no fuel smell at all in the cabin. Do not open your vents as this is the only place fumes enter if seals and rubbers are good.

 

My average fuel consumption is 9.58l / 100km (combined) which is better than any of the other new 2010 cars we own, I drive hard. I am running twin SU's, single point dizzy and a bored and stroked L24. I have upgraded brakes and suspension so I feel safer driving the zed than the new cars as it will do what I ask of it instead of the computer taking control.

 

The only reason I do not drive the zed everyday is it would be parked in areas unsafe and no insurer will give me enough to cover the replacement costs.

 

Good luck.

 

Cheers,

Aaron

[260Coupe]

Skedy

 

Zed's were reliable daily drivers in the 70's and there is absolutley no reason why they should not be now...............fuel ecconomy should not really come in to the equation if you really wanted a retro 70's sports car.......(if you want economy buy a Getz) .... but if that is a concern you should get 10-12 ltr/100km on average from a properly tuned 240/260 with 1 3/4 Hitachi SU's.

Lack of air con  can be tiresome on days > 30 deg ...........but toughen up ! .

 

The only "daily driver " issue can be the parking dents and risk of being hit .

 

There are always trade offs between a 70's jap classic and a modern " econobox" lacking any character and soul.......... but that is what make the experience worth the effort.

 

 

 

 

 

[zzzzed]

If you are worried about economy you could always put either a rb20 or an sr20 in it to get better results

[tbscobraZ]

An EFI L26 tuned properly wouldn't be too far off an RB20 plus then you keep the original engine and that means you avoid the whole modified cop/rego rubbish.