General Comments:

From the start I did not like this car, as I had to purchase a cheap import car to get me through my final years of university, and had to part with my 2000 Audi S4 Bi-turbo as maintenance was getting too high for a student. (Although I did not like it, in my opinion it's still better than the Cobalt SS and the Civic Si)

Being a very picky car person, I will go through the goods and bads of this car.

Good

- Powerful engine

- Good comfortable sport seats

- Sound system pretty good (Rockford Fosgate)

Now the list of bad.

- Suspension is way too high in the front, which made for horrible handling in tight corners... don't believe it when Nissan says sport suspension. I corrected it by dropping in Eibach Sportline springs, which made the car firmer and 2" lower, but more pleasurable to drive in the corners.

- Engine and clutch are not very refined. Power comes on very rough and the car is very sensitive. Any touch of the gas while driving, and the car starts getting very jumpy and becomes a big headache over time.

- Shifting, no matter how hard you try, you cannot have it completely smooth. Shifting is loud, lousy and clunky.

- When car was first received, the clutch made a loud noise every time I pushed it down. Which took 5 visits to Nissan to finally have cured.

- From new, the left tail light has a mind of its own and turns on and off as it wishes... A problem Nissan is still yet to catch.

Faults:

So far nothing, hoping it stays that way for a while.

General Comments:

A very quick fun to drive car, however still very practical and excellent on gas.

I would say its a lot better than the Civic Si, Cobalt SS or other sport compacts. Much more refined. The CVT transmission is excellent, and the handling is on par with the 350Z.