Suffolkz Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Hello everyone, I've had my z for a few months, and loving it of course! Especially when the elderly neighbours ask me to rev it up - they are also car nuts!!! My brother has also fallen in love with it, and is looking at purchasing one, however, he would use it as a daily driver, unlike myself. I wondered how people were getting on using it as a daily, in particular with short journeys? Currently he works within walking distance, but is lazy and drives!!! Would driving less than 5 miles a day really be good for this type of car?! Cheers, Suffolkz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Now that the weathers picked up I daily mine doing a 6 mile round trip. When possibly I go the long way doubling the distance going to work, mainly just for more time in the car as they drive just so fantastic. Every morning I'll allow the car to warm up, even for just 30 seconds before setting off the drive. Then again when I'll get to work if gone direct, it'll idle for maybe a minute before shutting off. It's a basic but generally robust tried an tested engine and we all use good quality oil so for me the only adverse effect I notice is the reduced mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Service the car regularly and it'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbad Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 I do 10 miles round for work daily and it's been fine í ½í¸€ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 My commute is 5 miles each way. Been fine past 11 years. Only thing for your bro is being half that he'll find the oil temps and pressure won't reach optimum for first mile or two despite water temperature registering as midway. So ideally he shouldn't floor it until then. Not that we all drive flat out all the way to work but I often restrain myself from overtaking tractors and OAPs til engine oil is optimum temperature and pressure. Hopefully such caution will see my zed give me another 11 trouble free years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 if he only drives 5 miles a day the engine wont ever get up to temperature, unless you're sitting in traffic for half an hour. Engine oil takes a lot longer to warm up than water. I presume he'd be doing some decent length drives at the weekend, which will be fine to clear out the cobwebs. MPG is going to be horrendous especially in the colder months, but on the other hand if he's only doing 100 miles a month bad MPG isn't really a concern! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ukeraa Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My Z has been my daily since Christmas last year and I absolutely love it. I drive 23 miles to work every day, and 23 miles back. On a bi-weekly basis I drive up to Coventry, which 126 miles there and 126 miles back. The only time she really gets a rest is at the weekend or in the evenings because I'm often out drinking with friends, and I religiously use a breathalyzer every morning after a night out (you'd be surprised how long it takes to get back to below the limit, even after plenty of food and sleep), so my girlfriend or friends ferry me home. The thing that irritates me is stone chips, prepare for lots of them! Especially if you plan on doing any motorway driving. I'm always respectful and leave plenty of room between myself and the driver in-front, but I get stone chips anyway. Speed bumps are quite irritating too, but when you get the hang of going over on one wheel and not caring about the Corsa that's driving right up your arse then it's not a problem. Boot space is actually generous, a big shopping trip with the girlfriend has always been fine. Petrol consumption is expensive, but I can claim back a lot of the work trips and even with my engine size it often makes money (they take into account wear and tear of the car), so that doesn't really bother me. I always use Shell Nitro too. We also don't buy these cars expecting good MPG, so there can't really be any complaints there. If anything, I love having 2 seats. It's a great excuse not to drive the guys anywhere! Instead we all have to squeeze into my mates XR2i in order to have any lads trips, which suits me fine. Lastly, be careful driving in damp conditions. It goes without saying, but a powerful RWD car in the wet is not ideal, however as this is my only car it's all I have. Just be respectful and take some care, then driving in the wet is absolutely fine. I will never, ever drive in snow. I'd borrow a car if I needed to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbad Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Yes MPG is horrendous , I am getting 19.1 mpg on short runs , fortunately I give the pope mobile a little stretch over the weekends which gives the engine adequate time to reach optimum temperatures and required breathing exercises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller350z Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My work is 6.5 miles away. If I go there and back for 5 days and don't use the car for anything else I get 23mpg. That's 2 miles at 50mph and 4.5 miles on 30mph through town. Although when I go work work at 4am I'm not exactly stopping and starting but am on the way home Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonPG Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My work trip is 11 miles each way and I average 27mpg Oh also... my Z is for sale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyZ Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Mines been my daily for 4.5 years and never missed a beat. Only 10 mins from work so it doesn't get driven hard on the commute. I like to give it a run at the weekends though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinster Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My work's not even 5 minutes away I take the car every day, I put my miles on at the weekend. Wouldn't change a thing about the Zed. It's dear to run but worth every penny. The only gripe I have is the squeaky console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veeg33 Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 (edited) 6 miles return trip daily. I always warm up the car until the oil pressure is around 60 psi or lower. Then avoid engine speed above 2k rpm whenever possible. I go for a blast once or twice every month. My oil change intervals was about 5k-6k miles or 1 year, depends which comes first. Edited May 11, 2016 by veeg33 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 we all need electric vehicles then for the working week HAHA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyZ Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 we all need electric vehicles then for the working week HAHA I'd probably drive a leaf if it looked like a zed to be honest. Tesla's look good but cost a small fortune, not sure why car companies think its a good idea to make their electric cars look like they're from a low budget scy-fy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybhoy Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My daily commute is around 5 miles per day. I always give the engine a minute or two to warm up and never rev high during these trips. No issues whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffolkz Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Thanks everyone knew I could count on you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Trouser Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 My Zed is now 12 years old and has always been used as a daily commute. Max commute has been 50 per day - currently its 3 miles per day. As other have said - just keep it serviced regularly and keep an eye on the oil level Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus-350z Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Even just doing short journeys it'll still be happier than being laid up all the time Besides I assume your bro will be driving it at the weekends and such - giving it a chance to have a decent run out most weeks Only thing would be, as others have said; try and avoid putting it under higher loads (flooring it and the like) before it's warm... again they're pretty damn robust motors (touch wood) so shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if there's no need to floor it before it's warm then why do it anyway? Oh and fuel economy.... haha yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.