Learn me Nissan 350z...

Hi Guys,

Need a new project car. I thinking about the 350z. I've gone ahead a registered for my350z but wanted to get some unbiased opinions. I think there was a thread on this a few years back but wanted to see if those thoughts still had legs.

Looking for a good project/weekend car, it will not have an daily duties. Something  I can periodically upgrade over the years for the occasional canyon run and autoX.

What should I be informed about before I move forward with my search?

If it matters, I'm coming from a modded Genesis Coupe 4-Banger Turbo with about 270 whp/240 tq

As always, thanks so much!

-H

Don't know much about the engines or the chassis but the transmission is often a weak point in these car, at least the early ones were known to have some serious issues with the syncros.  Some '05 and all '06 models received the final revision of the gearbox known as the CD009 which is a very stout trans and fixed the issues seen on the early boxes. 

In 2010, I purchased a super clean, 2006 350Z GT (Bose, LSD, etc), 25k miles, etc. Interior was cheap, BOSE sounded sub-par, fairly heavy, etc. But I've always been a Z Car fan. 

I traded it in 3 months later on a MazdaSpeed 3. 

It was fun at first, but quickly lost it's luster. The huge tie bar in the back ruins cargo capacity, etc etc. And I don't think the looks have aged particularly well.

Apparently the non Brembo brakes are way undersized.  

I have a close friend with one which is his daily driver and gradual build-up as a track car.  They are a bit heavy and somewhat front biased with weight, and with weight reduction this only gets worse. The later ones with the HR motor definitely make better power. There are plenty of engine mods available, but it gets expensive quick to make big power. Lots of options for suspension, differentials, brakes, etc. Interiors are definitely pretty bad.  they have not aged great in terms of styling, but more significantly they just seem really cheaply made. My friends is all scratched up and he is eager to tear out the interior ASAP.  I think overall the car is just a bit compromised because of the shared platform with much bigger heavier vehicles.  they have gotten fairly cheap though, and again are pretty easy to modify.  Is this to replace the Genesis?

Owned a 2003 track for  over 5 years. Had a riot driving that car, lots of fun on the street. Useable power, reliable and  pretty forgiving.  As mentioned the early manual transmissions sucked and  rebuild costs for parts are more than simply buying a later model trans. I had CD009 pulled  from a G35 sedan shipped to me  for 750 bucks. The rear brace across the trunk is very limiting...even a day at the beach you'll have a hard time fitting a cooler. But I always managed to make it work, and it wasn't so inconvienient that it stopped me from driving it. Get  the Brembo equipped car.  

Other than that, not much broke.  Interior is cheap, the car is a bit heavy and making it go faster gets really expensive quick for the power you make. Be happy with stockish power levels and its a great car.  For strictly a track car, its probably not the best choice....but far from the worst. 

 Personally I think they look great. I always had people commenting on that car. Mine was a damn clean example though. 

What should I be informed about before I move forward with my search?

Look for a 2007 or 2008 model year.  It will come with the upgraded transmission, and the higher output HR engine. 

Following this- I'll be on the hunt eventually. I owned an 03.5 6MT that ate through brakes and had tire wear issues due to the suspension. Front camber adjustment is expensive, and I didn't like the clutch takeup. RJM adjustment is a must. I lucked out and had a CD001 (I believe that's what it is) with good synchros, but early synchros on cd001 and 003 are weak IIRC.

06+ gets you the far superior cd009 transmission. However, wisdom suggests to avoid the 06 as they burn oil like no other. Nissan replaced a bunch of these engines.

07-08 gets you revvier HR motor and general reliability. Their weak point is the (plastic I believe) clutch master cylinder, and clutch slave and clutch master like to fail early. Correct me if I'm incorrect, but this is their main issue from what I understand.

You can find an early DE car for pretty cheap these days. Great aftermarket for cheap speed and the early car's are decently lighter too. I believe most weigh in around the 3150 range. That might be worth something, particularly for aX.

sounds like a better engine donor

Yeah this is to replace the Gen Coupe. I’m in Korea for work and but we’re moving back to the states because of the air pollution. I can’t take it back with me so I had to sell it. 

I think what the GenCoupe taught me was that 270-290hp is probably the most power I’ll ever need. Not too worried about cargo space as I probably be the only one riding the car. Just looking for a car that’ll be fun to drive and easy to tinker with. 

I could always upgrade to brembo calipers later right? I see calipers on eBay every once in a while or am I oversimplifying this?

you can definitely upgrade the brakes later.  Calipers, brackets, rotors and lines (plus hardware, some of the mounting bolts are different).  But, people are asking ~$800 now just for a set of used calipers.  I'm going to do a wilwood front setup with lighter calipers and 2pc rotors instead of paying the brembo tax.  it's a little bit more up front, but consumables are cheaper and it reduces unsprung weight.  

brake ducting helps a lot, as well.  Nismo used to sell a kit, but they stopped making it. DIY is not out of the realm of possibilities. 

the biggest issue with all ofthem nowadays is finding a clean unmolested one that hasn't been beat on within an inch of its life.  they're sufficiently cheap nowadays that flatbrim vaper morons are using them as "drift missiles", which is going to drive the price of clean ones up.

In reply to stylngle2003 :

This is a great point. Nissan made a healthy amount of Zs, don't be afraid to wait to find one that hasn't been modded to E36 M3. Seriously, every time I go on craigslist, I see one with sketchy rims, exhaust, and bad tints lower than my calculus grades. But that's the price of cheap RWD, I suppose

The HR transmissions had a concentric slave cylinder, I'm not sure if they failed or not. 

The manual can be bought brand new the part number is CD00# which is basically a CD009. $1700 brand new sometimes less depending on who you bought it through. 

It's a good thing you asked here. The 350Z forums are trash from my experience. They are worse than the NASIOC Subaru forums. 

I had no issues with my 350Z aside the MAF sensors being absolute garbage. Avoid using any filers that require oil, that really messes with them. Even then I had to go through 3 MAFs through my ownership. If your car goes into limp mode for any reason automatically assume that's why. 

Try to get a later model car. 

Brakes need better cooling, overall the whole car does. This problem extends into the 370Z era where it actually gets worse. If you plan on driving this car hard I would suggest to invest into mods to cool the brakes. They can get dangerous, it's that bad. 

I traded it in for a 2012 WRX and that car was more fun IMO but at the time I was more into straight line power.

In the end if you want a 350Z buy a C5 corvette instead, this coming from a JDM and Nissan fanboy. 

I purchased a 2003 350Z w/ 125k miles a few years back. The car was clean but needed the rear diff bushing replaced (typical for it to fail at high mileage), a wheel trued (bent from an offroad excursion), and some lower control arms replaced (due to wear). It grinds extensively going into 3rd and 5th at times. I just shift slowly. Even then, it grinds when I'm super careful. A CD009 is in my future if I keep the car. I'll probably go with a lightweight flywheel and clutch replacement at that point. I purchased it as a date car/track car. 

Since purchase I installed H&R sport springs, Bilstein shocks/struts, 370Z Akebono brakes all around, and the usual track car maintenance like refresh the fluids with synthetic, replaced the brake fluid with Motul RBF600 synthetic.

The car has been awesome. I like the power. I like the sporty feel of it. The interior has lots of plastic but I didn't buy it for luxury. Handling is very entertaining since I replaced the diff bushing. It's very clean for it's age. All modifications are either mine or tastefully done. The window tint is dark but what the hell? I can live with that. Being RWD makes it very, very fun. 

I've tracked the car at VIR. It ran for two full days as fast as I could drive it (Intermediate group) and gave me no problems. The cooling system is stock. I believe I could use an oil cooler. The 370Z brakes NEVER faded or even smelled hot with repeated HPDE pace stops. I had the stock brakes on it during two 45 minute sessions at Dominion and at the end of each session they smelled like burning brake pads. Stock brakes are undersized for track work which is why I went with the Akebonos. I hear Brembo's handle track speeds better but not as well as the Akebono system. To install this braking system you need the caliper spacer from Z1 Motorsports among other things niggly things like a longer banjo bolt for the brake lines. If going this route, buy the install kit from Z1. Source the calipers and rotors from Rock Auto. It's the same braking system as installed on the 370Z nismo or track edition. 

I come from tracking Miata's for years and turbo'ing one of them. I was almost killed in the turbo Miata when a very large truck ran a light. This was before my son was born so I swore them off. The 350Z is enough like a Miata to me that I don't miss it. Also, much more crash protection than an NA Miata. 

My advice is to buy the car well, i.e. low cost and in great condition, and you'll be more than happy. A Corvette is a viable alternative but in my situation a Corvette was almost double the price. I'm happy with my choice. 

370Z Akebono brakes all around

This is a very good relatively inexpensive ebay purchase mod for the 350Z. This plus using proper brake fluid would probably fix any braking issues. I would still get an oil cooler though. Stock 350Z brembos I had extreme brake fade, just upgrade that however you feel is necessary ASAP.