[This story originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of MotorTrend] The queue starts forming on opposite sides of the domestic/import Maginot Line when it comes to choosing between a Mustang GT and a Z-Car–either the Mustang tugs at your heartstrings, or you wouldn’t be caught dead in one. Forget that one seats four and the other two. The real question is, which car makes the most convincing icon?
The Ford GT may headline the company’s 2005 Year of the Car campaign, but the new Mustang is where the showroom action is. It’s been 26 years since Ford rolled out the last all-new Mustang, so interest in the freshly foaled ponycar is understandably high. Fueling the anticipation is the heritage direction the car’s design took. The not-so-subtle J Mays rehash blenderizes 1967-1968-vintage proportions with details from 1965-1966 and 1969-1970 models. That just about covers Mustang’s glory years, when competitors threw Camaros, Firebirds, Barracudas, Challengers, and Javelins into the booming ponycar market swelled by prosperous Baby Boomers coming of driving age. The long-hood, short-deck look that vaguely suggested European GTs of the time Cinderella’d a pensioner’s Ford Falcon into the signature ponycar. Today’s Mustang owes much of its DNA to a dumbed-down Lincoln LS with strut front suspension and a live rear axle, but the effect is much the same.
When Carlos Ghosn helped Nissan pull out of its death spiral in the late 1990s, the company needed an image booster to rally the troops. During most of the previous three decades, the Z-Car filled that role. But a low-volume sports car built on a dedicated platform was out of the question considering Nissan’s dire straits. So Nissan took a page out of Ford’s book and spun the 350Z off its all-new Skyline sedan (Infiniti G35 in the U.S. ). Though Nissan used the original 1970-1978 Datsun 240/260/280Z as psychographic inspiration for the new Z, designers ditched the retro look in favor of Ajay Panchal’s sculpted and chiseled new-age exercise. The idea was to capture the spirit of the first Z without relying on its styling cliches. It helped that the Skyline’s chassis was no mongrel–a front/mid-engine layout, slick-shifting six-speed manual, and lightweight aluminum suspension made a convincing argument. With a price starting under $30K, 350Z sales soon rocketed past the Z4, Boxster, TT, SLK, RX-8, and S2000 and challenged the Corvette for a while for the title of best-selling sports car. The 350Z has helped rekindle interest in Asian rear-drive performance cars, a genre that nearly became extinct in the mid-1990s. And, as the brand’s icon, the Z gives Nissan the performance high ground over dowdy Toyota.
As you might expect, the Mustang GT and 350Z are two entirely different experiences on the road. “The Z-Car is the carver and the Mustang is the cruiser,” says Motor Trend road-test editor Neil Chirico. Think of the Mustang GT as Jake LaMotta, a punch-drunk heavyweight making a comeback from the brink of retirement. With a 300-horse V-8, it still packs quite a wallop. The 350Z, on the other hand, is Jackie Chan, kickboxing the competition with faster moves, quicker reflexes, and a more animated personality.
Nissan’s 350Z delivers on its sports-car promise with precise, communicative steering, a crisp turn-in response, and taut suspension that keeps the car composed and ready for the driver’s next move. In our testing, the Z’s 0.87 g of lateral grip and 66.2-mph 600-foot-slalom speed easily bested the Mustang’s 0.81g skidpad and 63.4-mph cone-threading performances. The Nissan’s powerful (non-Brembo) four-wheel discs hauled it down without drama from 60 mph in 119 feet, seven shorter than the Ford’s. The Z’s short-throw shifter is buttery smooth, its throws quick and decisive. Though Nissan’s VQ V-6 pumps just 287 horsepower here, it presents a fluid powerband that’s enthusiastic all the way to its 6600-rpm rev limit with no sags or dead zones. The 350Z feels like it’s geared lower than the Mustang, all the better to exercise its snappy V-6. Variable valve timing gives the four-valve V-6 flexibility. Combined with the better-spaced gearing of the 350Z’s six-speed manual transmission, the car is hardly ever in the wrong gear.
The 350Z’s driver’s seat does a good job of keeping the pilot ringside for the action, too; the seatback enhances lateral support by hugging the love-handle region, and the cushion anchors with effective thigh and crotch support. Gauges move up and down with the steering column; all major controls are within comfortable reach. At least as far as the mechanics of the car are involved, making the transition from coupe to roadster involves few structural compromises. For a coupe-based open-top car, the 350Z doesn’t shake much over bumps.
With the new Mustang, Ford has launched the best ponycar ever built. It makes you wonder how good the Camaro and Firebird would’ve been had General Motors stayed in the game. But the Mustang’s not a sports car. Seats are comfy enough, even on long trips, but you sit on them, not in them as in the Z-Car. The manual shifter’s throws are long and shift-action notchy compared with the Z’s willing instrument. Turn the steering wheel, and there’s an initial reluctance to change direction, a noticeable phase lag in transitions. It’s open to conjecture whether that’s due to tires with wiggly sidewalls, suspension bushing compliance, steering freeplay, or just a body structure that misses its steel roof. The Mustang feels heavier than the 173-pound difference between it and the Nissan. Brakes are effective, up to a point; barreling down a mountain road, you’ll wish it had more. Also, brake dive on hard application is unsettling.
