RE: You Know You Want To: Nissan 350Z

[RobPhoboS]

I bought one late last year and absolutely love it.
A very characterful car, which is all about that lump at the front

It turns better than you'd think it would, and plenty of little bits and pieces you can do to improve it's responsiveness should you wish.

[TaylotS2K]

Nearly bought one a few years ago - but was disappointed with the interior quality. Some terrible wear on some low mileage cars at various dealerships.

[alpha channel]

Have to say I like these, generally rare on the roads (though there are a couple of tin tops knocking around here they're rarely seen) good looking and sound good as well plus pre-2006 models only cost £270 a year to tax.

I've been obscenely tempted by these as my main car for a year or two, though preferably a roadster, (who knows we might get a summer this year ) while I do up the old coupe. A recent foot finding insurance quote of a piddly £366 for a Roadster (bargain! ) just made the itch even worse.

[drgoatboy]

andy97 said:

I was only thinking about these the other day. Could it be a good basis for a weekend toy and road usesable occasional track day car?

Or even the basis for a race car project?

Yes they handle well, but its more GT than sports car, it is heavy and it feels it too (in a good muscle car sort of way).
Personally wouldn't be my choice for a track day but I'm sure it would hold its own.

[TinyCappo]

dukebox9reg said:

TinyCappo said:

£42K in Fuel!

At today's prices? Remember 8 years ago the fuel was around 80-90p wasn't it?

I did think about extrapolating it out for a year on year increase in fuel however I came to the 42k figure based on 25mpg over the whole term at £1.30 p/litre because you never drive a car like this everywhere at 25mpg so its going to balance itself out over the whole 180k.

[300bhp/ton]

The Crack Fox said:

Man, you're sooooooo predictable.

Not entirely, that comment is based on something my brother said. He used to work at a dealership as a salesman, he'd also been lusting over 350z's for several years prior. The dealer then had one in as a p/x. I thought he'd buy it tbh, right money, colour, etc. however only a couple of weeks earlier I'd loaned him my Z28 for a week or so.

The 350z was an early 276hp model, but he said it was quite a disappointment. Not as fast or as much fun.

[anonymous-user]

I do like the 350z and I'm not generally a fan of jap stuff. On my 'must own' list at some point

[stephen300o]

Really not doing anything for me, the height of the lardy sports car. Fingers crossed for lighter cars on the horizon.

[graham22]

Good going for a Renault engine


Wonder if still on original clutch - will be a very good indication of how it's been driven.

[RX7]

TinyCappo said:

£42K in Fuel!

What is your point?

We all have to spend on fuel, if you want economy, dont buy a V6 sports/gt car

[V8RX7]

Great cars, I'd love one but :

I'd spend a little more to get one with sensible miles
Being only a 2 seater means I should sell my MX5 (having two 2 seaters and 4 kids is a bit silly) and that isn't going to happen.

[y2blade]

182,152 miles...pah! no bother at all for one of these.

[Mr Gear]

RX7 said:

What is your point?

We all have to spend on fuel, if you want economy, dont buy a V6 sports/gt car

I think the point is, high-mileage plus poor fuel consumption is a lot of money.

Fine if you can afford it, but a poke in the eye (or fun little stat) when you add it all up.

[300bhp/ton]

stephen300o said:

Really not doing anything for me, the height of the lardy sports car. Fingers crossed for lighter cars on the horizon.

Is it not more a GT than a sports car. And yes its lardy when compared to vehicles of yesteryear. But vs cars of it's time it really isn't hugely different.

e.g.

a nice 350z does almost the same things as an early V8 Aston Vantage 4.3 will. But for a fraction of the price, lower running costs and weighs anything from 10-200kg less than the Aston.

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 24th January 13:05

[Captain Muppet]

stephen300o said:

Really not doing anything for me, the height of the lardy sports car. Fingers crossed for lighter cars on the horizon.

Just wait until 2008 when the new, lighter-than-350Z 370Z comes out.

[V8RX7]

y2blade said:

182,152 miles...pah! no bother at all for one of these.

Really ?

How much would you want to warranty it for a year ?

[RockDoctor]

I don't think the rear end has aged terribly well, but I really like it from every other angle. The wheels in particular are lovely.

[Mike Gill]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/nissa...

would much rather fork out another grand or two and have the peace of mind with around 50,000 miles!

[TinyCappo]

RX7 said:

TinyCappo said:

£42K in Fuel!

What is your point?

We all have to spend on fuel, if you want economy, dont buy a V6 sports/gt car

calm down dear no point just alot of money in fuel when you work it out. Atleast he has enjoyed those miles I have a E39 bmw thats had more like 45k spent in fuel in its life after 210,000 miles.

[V8RX7]

The Crack Fox said:

drgoatboy said:

andy97 said:

I was only thinking about these the other day. Could it be a good basis for a weekend toy and road usesable occasional track day car?

Or even the basis for a race car project?

Yes they handle well, but its more GT than sports car, it is heavy and it feels it too (in a good muscle car sort of way).
Personally wouldn't be my choice for a track day but I'm sure it would hold its own.

I've tracked one, at Spa a couple of years ago, I was very impressed and it didn't disgrace itself amongst some pretty pokey rivals. Spa's a long fast circuit though, not sure how it would feel at (say) Cadwell, for example.

I was a passenger in a 350Z around 5 laps of the Ring.

It seemed to handle it pretty well and seemed forgiving as the driver was still learning the track.

But yes as a dedicated track car I'd rather have a stripped out E36 M3 or similar.