Early 350Z v Late 350Z v Early 370Z

[Yorkshire_LY]

Hammer67 said:

These chaps, front and back.

I have them aswell - i didnt think about that younger people might not know what it is hehe.

[cerb4.5lee]

Yorkshire_LY said:

Hammer67 said:

These chaps, front and back.

I have them aswell - i didnt think about that younger people might not know what it is hehe.

I've been very tempted a few times to put those on mine too. They are a lovely detail I reckon.

[TameRacingDriver]

cerb4.5lee said:

You seem really happy with your MX-5, so can you see yourself holding on to that? Or are you starting to get itchy feet with it?

Sorry to hear that you're not feeling your best bud. Wishing you all the best whichever decision that you come to.

Cheers man, appreciate it

Re: the MX5... it's a long story. I was rocking the Boxster, as you know, and that was written off, I only had it 6 months, so bloody annoying. I bought it because I was after a sonorous, reasonably refined sports car for all occasions. When it got written off, I was sad, but at the same time, it got me out of ownership of an expensive to run car at a time of probable cost of living rises.

When I got the MX5, I wasn't neccesarily looking just at an MX5, I considered everything from a Swift Sport, to an FN2 Type-R and the odd MX5, when I saw mine with the BBR Super 200. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolute riot on a hoon, but it's missing 'something'. To be honest, a good exhaust would probably resolve the situation, maybe some coilovers and a modern stereo/nav system.

It's also looking quite tatty in places, I've got green stuff growing on the outside of the soft top, and it's no longer water proof. I have stuff to restore it but haven't had the weather, as you need it to be dry and it basically never has been!

I think my confidence in it has also been knocked with the snapped suspension arm it got recently, though my specialist seems to think it shouldn't happen again. He thought it hadn't been fitted properly, and the weld failed. I'm lucky it didn't let go at high speed in a corner. That's two incidents in a year and my confidence in it needs restoring.

The thing is, if I'm driving in a brisk but more relaxed fashion than when I was younger, and because even though it's my weekend car, I still do a fair share of mundane A-B journeys and I just wonder if it would still be more enjoyable all round with a bit more comfort and an impressive soundtrack.

At this point, my choice seems to be between a Z of some description or giving the MX5 some TLC, a bit more noise and some handling poise, but in the end it won't be a Z, but is still a great car in it's own right. I'm sure I'll start appreciating the convertible more when the weather improves too.

Unreal said:

No worries. Same with me - I can get frustrated and it can come across as a bit blunt. Hope you feel better soon. Can't say catch some rays in this weather but I find a long really brisk walk can often help, followed by tea and ginger nuts (not the Harry variety).

[Yorkshire_LY]

cerb4.5lee said:

I've been very tempted a few times to put those on mine too. They are a lovely detail I reckon.

The owner before me did a really nice gloss carbon effect on the centre console inside the car aswell,looks and feels much better than original.

[Shifter1]

coldel said:

Unreal said:

The issues you had were there when you bought the car then? It's an all time mystery to me why people who don't know about cars will drop thousands on an older car but not pay £250 for a professional inspection. More often than not you'll save that cost off the asking price - if you decide to go ahead at all - and know exactly what you're getting into.

These are hit and miss though. Many wont provide any sort of guarantee for older cars they look at, you can drop £250 on someone who then gives it a look over, then something goes wrong and your £250 is worth not a lot.

I've often found its better to throw some beers at an enthusiast on a forum/mechanically minded person who is local and to come along as a second set of eyes.

Yeah. Agreed. Not to mention most times when buying enthusiasts cars, this is not even possible to easily do. Maybe you are driving 200 miles one way just to see the car. Bringing it to just any strange local garage or person is worth nothing. Easy 250 for them.

[Shifter1]

300bhp/ton said:

Unreal said:

TameRacingDriver said:

Porsches are lovely but do seem like a rich man's toy which I'm very much not

When I had my 986 S I had an idling problem within a month of purchase (from a well know specialist / dealer).

I took it to a specialist and they couldn't even find the issue (it was intermittent, in fairness), but they did manage to find work bushes and coffin arms which then of course needed an alignment. First month, £670 lighter already, and the problem I did have wasn't fixed.

I don't have the time, space, tools, inclination to do work on my own cars..I end up making things worse and paying for a pro anyway and ultimately I don't really enjoy that side of things.

The issues you had were there when you bought the car then? It's an all time mystery to me why people who don't know about cars will drop thousands on an older car but not pay £250 for a professional inspection. More often than not you'll save that cost off the asking price - if you decide to go ahead at all - and know exactly what you're getting into.

I suspect its a bit of a double edged sword here.

Take any car to a specialist or even a regular garage and 99% of the time they will find "something" that they recommend you get done. It doesn't mean there is really anything wrong with the vehicle.

There is that as well. I used to take my car to a garage where they always found something to be done for MOT. Until one day I got tired of this and took the car to somebody else, right after they told me I need another job to get the MOT. Car passed straight through. Needless to say, I never took the car back there again.

[Shifter1]

cerb4.5lee said:

Yorkshire_LY said:

Hammer67 said:

These chaps, front and back.

I have them aswell - i didnt think about that younger people might not know what it is hehe.

I've been very tempted a few times to put those on mine too. They are a lovely detail I reckon.

This looks nice. But isn't it a bit like, being ashamed it's a Nissan though? Covering all the Nissan badges with this. I mean, the car already has two Z badges on the wings.

[coldel]

I like those badges, think I may have put something similar on mine. Not through being ashamed of it being a Nissan (quite the opposite I used to like telling people it wasnt a Porsche but something much rarer) but because its a nice homage to the Nissan Z brand.