350z alternatives?

[1430]

Hello I'm in the market for a new car and I've got a budget of £5000.
I want something fun, rwd with some power, a 350z is the best thing I could come up with, they seem to have hit rock bottom in deprecation starting at £3k 280bhp, lsd, nice sound
Are there any obvious rivals at this price range?

[mikey P 500]

Porsche boxster S would be my pick, maybe a leggy E46 M3 if can still be found for £5k.

[ZX10R NIN]

There's also the Skyline GT350 which is a slightly bigger 350Z:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-350-GT-Skyline-R...

There's the Z4 but for me that car starts to run out of suspension travel far to early for my liking but they're a decent alternative:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[samoht]

I would tend to agree with the 350Z being a very strong choice for likely reliability (well, I bought one!).

You may be able to find an MR2 turbo for £5k, combining MR balance with just-turn-up-the-boost power and torque
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

eta:

MX-5 turbo, 224hp, 900kg https://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-mx5-mk1-turb...

Old F-body Camaro, live axle but 5.7 litre V8 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

RX-8s easy for that money and leftover for a rebuild. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by samoht on Tuesday 17th December 21:50

[p4cks]

I’m not sure a 350Z would ever be considered fun. Thirsty? Yes. Reliable? Yes. Fun? No.

My 172 Cup was more fun

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

There's also the Skyline GT350 which is a slightly bigger 350Z:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-350-GT-Skyline-R...

Thats really cool, if I had 5 grand knocking about I'd buy that!

[Nickp82]

p4cks said:

I’m not sure a 350Z would ever be considered fun. Thirsty? Yes. Reliable? Yes. Fun? No.

My 172 Cup was more fun

Bit harsh , a 172 is great fun in a go-kart way but a 350 is fun in a decent handling GT car that sounds lovely kind of way.
I would (and have) spend the money on an RX-8 R3 personally.

[Mr Tidy]

I've had BMW Z4 3.0Si Coupes for just over 5 years now and some of the higher mileage ones are starting to fall into your budget OP.

They are 265bhp, but IIRC about 200kg lighter than the 350Z so performance is probably as good - but sadly they have an open diff, although I haven't really found it to be an issue. If you turn the TC off (and it will go completely off) you can easily get the back out (says the 2 times former Capri 2.8 Injection owner)!

If you don't mind a Roadster you may have more choice within budget. Or apply Man Maths like we all do and let the budget creep a bit.

Good luck anyway.

[samoht]

p4cks said:

I’m not sure a 350Z would ever be considered fun. Thirsty? Yes. Reliable? Yes. Fun? No.

I think fun has quite a personal element to it. Here's what someone else reckoned:

There was one crucial climatic factor that meant I went all-out to cling on to Jethro’s 350Z key for the best part of a month: precipitation. Rain, snow, sleet… as long as there was something falling from the sky and forming a thin film of grease across the surface of the road, the 350Z was the only place to be. My name isn’t Barker, so I don’t pour my cereal with a touch of oversteer, but, given a selection of roundabouts and a sidekick like the 350, opposite lock very quickly becomes a very enjoyable way of life. - Henry Catchpole

https://www.evo.co.uk/nissan/350z/8414/nissan-350z...

[Belle427]

I say go for it if you can stomach the fuel and tax costs, a car I’ve always liked but these have put me off running one as a daily.

[Rob8980]

RX8 is a good idea, as long as you get a compression test first or budget for a rebuild in the future. I had one for 3 years and it was problem free, MPG of less than 20 was poor but I only did low miles at the time. Think the later ones had less hot starting problems and where generally considered more reliable.

[cerb4.5lee]

Nickp82 said:

p4cks said:

I’m not sure a 350Z would ever be considered fun. Thirsty? Yes. Reliable? Yes. Fun? No.

My 172 Cup was more fun

Bit harsh , a 172 is great fun in a go-kart way but a 350 is fun in a decent handling GT car that sounds lovely kind of way.

Agree and fun can mean different things.

I have a Mini Cooper S(2 litre turbo) and a 370Z and the Mini is more fun down a twisty country road by some margin. But the 370Z is also fun because it feels more involving to drive because the steering/gearbox/clutch are much better, it also has more depth to its engine. The noise it makes is great fun too from its modded intake/exhaust.

[Shifter1]

cerb4.5lee said:

Agree and fun can mean different things.

I have a Mini Cooper S(2 litre turbo) and a 370Z and the Mini is more fun down a twisty country road by some margin.

So they made a RWD Mini? I wasn't aware. I guess it's possible since it's a BMW and they make RWD hatchbacks.

[cerb4.5lee]

Shifter1 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Agree and fun can mean different things.

I have a Mini Cooper S(2 litre turbo) and a 370Z and the Mini is more fun down a twisty country road by some margin.

So they made a RWD Mini? I wasn't aware. I guess it's possible since it's a BMW and they make RWD hatchbacks.

Where did I say that?

I was just alluding to the fact that the Mini is smaller and lighter than the 370Z, so I find it much more fun to throw down a country road than I do the bigger/heavier 370(even if the Mini is wrong wheel drive!).

[Shifter1]

1430 said:

Hello I'm in the market for a new car and I've got a budget of £5000.
I want something fun, rwd with some power, a 350z is the best thing I could come up with, they seem to have hit rock bottom in deprecation starting at £3k 280bhp, lsd, nice sound
Are there any obvious rivals at this price range?

A true alternative to the 350Z is tough. Mainly because of the low price they sell for. Quite difficult to find a RWD manual in that coupe shape, with a large-ish NA engine for that price. It will either be a 4 pot, or some 3 box shape or hatchback, or FWD or much more money.

RX8 is not an alternative IMO. First it has 4 doors, even if the basically pointless rear ones are small. Second it's ugly IMO and it doesn't have that nice coupe shape. You need something like a Vantage etc to get that type of shape. And then it's a rotary, which to me is a non starter.

Old Camaro is not even in the same league concerning beauty, tech and driving dynamics.

Boxter and MX5 are convertibles. So different cars and both unglier than the 350Z IMO. Unless the newest MX5 but that will cost quite a bit more.

Really tough to find a real alternative.

[Shifter1]

cerb4.5lee said:

Where did I say that?

I was just alluding to the fact that the Mini is smaller and lighter than the 370Z, so I find it much more fun to throw down a country road than I do the bigger/heavier 370(even if the Mini is wrong wheel drive!).

Oh OK. I guess I misunderstood you because I couldn't possibly find a FWD car more fun than a RWD one. I have more fun even in a RWD SUV than I could ever in a Focus. Let alone a RWD sports car. I just despise FWD. Strange, but how it is for me.

[cerb4.5lee]

Shifter1 said:

Oh OK. I guess I misunderstood you because I couldn't possibly find a FWD car more fun than a RWD one. I have more fun even in a RWD SUV than I could ever in a Focus. Let alone a RWD sports car. I just despise FWD. Strange, but how it is for me.

I'm very similar to you don't get me wrong. The Mini's lack of traction and crude nature in which it gets its power down(currupted steering) can annoy me at times for sure. But in the right conditions(warm and dry) I genuinely find it more fun to throw down a nice twisty back road than the 370Z, purely because it is much lighter/smaller and it feels more darty and a bit more alive.

[Cyder]

samoht said:

p4cks said:

I’m not sure a 350Z would ever be considered fun. Thirsty? Yes. Reliable? Yes. Fun? No.

I think fun has quite a personal element to it. Here's what someone else reckoned:

There was one crucial climatic factor that meant I went all-out to cling on to Jethro’s 350Z key for the best part of a month: precipitation. Rain, snow, sleet… as long as there was something falling from the sky and forming a thin film of grease across the surface of the road, the 350Z was the only place to be. My name isn’t Barker, so I don’t pour my cereal with a touch of oversteer, but, given a selection of roundabouts and a sidekick like the 350, opposite lock very quickly becomes a very enjoyable way of life. - Henry Catchpole

https://www.evo.co.uk/nissan/350z/8414/nissan-350z...

I quite agree with Mr Catchpole. The 350Z is an abosolute hoot to drive, grown up GT car one minute, roundabout drift king the next. It's a bit lardy yes, but it sounds bloody ace and is so controllable with very predictable handling.

[irocfan]

Shifter1 said:

Old Camaro is not even in the same league concerning beauty, tech and driving dynamics.

all the OP stated was

"I want something fun, rwd with some power, a 350z is the best thing I could come up with, they seem to have hit rock bottom in deprecation starting at £3k 280bhp, lsd, nice sound"

didn't mention beauty, tech or driving dynamics. If you get a '93 - '96 Camaro you'll avoid the catfish and have a fun old RWD tool which'll sound way more interesting than anything else on this thread and great fun (not to mention cheaper insurance, road tax and reasonable mpgs on a run)



As another rival (at the time) what about a Crossfire? In fairness it is a GT/cruiser rather than a sports car so a little deficient in the dynamics department