The late ’90s and early ’00s were dark days for American fans of the Nissan marque. Their 300ZX and its twin-turbo V6 died out in 1996, the Sentra SE-R became fat and slow, and the 240SX had pretty much fizzled out. The brand that had once been red-hot had lost much of its mojo.
However, Renault and CEO Carlos Ghosn …
wish I had found one of these onmolested a long time ago....odds of that now are essentially zero.
These have replaced the 240sx as the car of choice for questionable mods, zero maintenance and unending abuse from legions of of wannabe drift kings everywhere.
In reply to jimbob_racing :
I've been drifting for about 6-7 years and even within drifting these cars get next to no respect, even though they work really well out of the box. It's almost universally agreed upon that the cars are ugly, sound terrible with anything other than stock exhaust, and they're so easy to drift it's almost boring. As such, very few are put together with care and or cleanliness. When these cars came out I thought they looked so cool in photos, but then in person they're a bit oddly proportioned. I once parked my old IS300 Sportcross next to a 350Z and the wagon was smaller in basically every dimension, which is strange to think about. With that said, the Z is a lot of performance for the price, and imo it always has been.
I purchased a 2004 Touring a few years ago, needing a college car for my daughter. Not much space for moving stuff, but great reliability and a good price at the time. Now my son drives it and I keep finding excuses to put down my '04 Miata keys and take the Z for a spin. Really responds to the right foot. Negatives - the mess of underbody panels at the front are easily damaged and a pain to disassemble/reassemble. The rear end is noisy (typical?), but has been for years. Can't say much for the seats. Interior panels scratch easily. Ride is a little stiff, but body is solid after 180k. Styling kinda grows on you. Now if only I could find a wrecked Nismo for some upgrades...
I regret selling my clean unmolested 350z for reasons already discussed here (rare). I do like the car a lot but it is a bit of a porker compared to cars I normally drive.
I'll add a buyer's watch point for all VQ35 engines of rear-timing cover oil gallery gasket failures:
They're under the timing cover, and have a propensity to blow out.. they're a little bit of a PITA to change as you have to pull the timing chain and re-time everything.. but they don't leak externally, just back into the pan, reducing oil pressure to the heads.
Their external symptom is low oil pressure at idle/low RPM, and if you pull the pan you'll probably find the little chunk of gasket that gives way. Thankfully the Z comes with an oil pressure gauge, and not just an idiot light, so you can spot the problem if it's just getting started (how much gasket is gone..)
The 350Z is the balance of car I wish to attain today. Not too heavy, not too fast, relatively reliable, analog feel, etc.
Closest car today would be some blend of the GR86/Supra or base Camaro V6
I keep an eye on good deals for a 350z, but they are getting harder and harder to find (that are in good shape).
Nobody mentioned the (solvable) fuel surge / starvation issue for track days.
My buddy had a 370 convertible. Compared to my Z32 version, the driving position is much like scrunching down in a bathtub and trying to see out of the bubbles.
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