Anyone own a 350z or know about them?

L

LightngSVT

New member
I know Ive been babbling on about M3's lately. Tonight I went to the Nissan delaer to look at Murano's for my wife. Well I got to looking at the 350z's and ended up taking a black roadster out for a nice drive. Holy Cow!!!:eek: That car is so much more than I would have expected. THe nutshell is I walked out with a (fully refundable) deposit on a black Touring package roadster with black leather and 6 speed.



Any owners want to pipe up and tell me about your car and experience owning it? Any common problems, or flaws? ANy websites for the z's? What kind of performance numbers will they turn?
 
I don't own a Z but I do have the same engine. I'm sure you won't want a refund on that car, Nissans will keep you happy for many years.



Congrats on your new car!!!:woot:
 
One thing to say: vq35!!! One of the best engines on the market.

http://www.ameinfo.com/52738.html



It is an extremelly fun car to drive and cant say much negative about it other than the interior door panels are very ugly imo, and the roadster model i would recommend test driving during the day as to notice the severe lack of visibility and also the wind/road noise. I do not own one but work at a aftermarket accessorry shop and from what i have seen working on them and driving them they are impressive stock. THere is an absolute ton of aftermarket performance products out also. And i am willing to say i am positive that it will be more reliable, cheaper to maintain/fix and insure than an M3, with somewhat near the same performance.
 
I own one, the things to watch out for are the front tire feathering, all it means is that your tires will become noisy and you might need to get them replaced. Frequent alignment helps in that regard.



As mentioned above, the doorpanels are a pain to clean. The older models had problems with gearbox, but that has been fixed. Otherwise they are great car.



EDIT:

Some websites to keep you busy:

http://my350z.com

http://350z-tech.com

http://350zmotoring.com
 
If you like the 350, check out the Mazda RX-8. My pops has one, and it is fast as hell. It is lighter and handles better than a 350. I hope to buy it when his lease runs out,
 
My mom has an RX-8. You'd be glad you got the Z!



I have a Black 350z Coupe! What year did you get?



Check out www.350z-tech.com forums. It's the best forum and the people are REALLY friendly! Especially if you say you're from autopia.org :) www.350zmotoring.com is a good one to check out too. A little more members, but it has a lot of unneccessary drama going around. www.my350z.com would be my last choice. They have some serious moderating problems and have started charging members for things like avatars and pictures in their signatures.



Like nuff said, watch out for the tire feathering on the front tires if you have an 03 and sometimes an 04. I don't think 05's have the problem.



If you have any questions, post them up. I'm a proud owner and I'll be glad to answer them for you. Hopefully I'll see you around 350z-tech soon! :)
 
Oh yeh, the paint is really really thin, so grab a clear bra if you can. If you can't, you're going to enjoy looking at some rock chips. Sometimes I feel like my car looks like I just drove it through a fence.



So yeh, thin and soft paint.
 
Sounds like some happy owners out there! But it sounds like the roadster has some issues (wind noise??? and poor visibility) plus honestly, the coupe is sexier from the outside. Seems like a great value for a sports car, but how is the resale value?



The car I have a deposit on is a new, 05 MY Z. Im thinking now of looking at the coupe. I like the 35th anniversay car, but they wont deal on it.



I wouldnt consider the RX8, I personally am not a fan of the styling and I hear the engine has no torque what so ever.
 
Congrats on your new Z purchase.....:woot: :woot:



As an owner of two Z' I must say that I absolutely love them. I recently picked up a 2003 Super Black Touring and its awesome.



Somethings to look out for on the new 350Z's



1-Tire feathering

2-Window Streaks.

3-Bose Audio issues (amp problem)



I know that their are TSB's for all of those issues and my Z did have tire feathering and window streaks which were taken care of by the dealers.



There are so many modifications that are available for the 350Z now. Once you start its hard to stop...



Again congrats on your new Z. :showpics



Enjoy the ride..
 
Chuck, I just took delivery on an 05 Enthusiast and im thrilled to death about the car. As youve encountered with your test drive , what a blast to drive !!! Ive put 500 miles on mine since last friday!! Havent had a chance to do a "full" detail yet because im too busy driving it !!! Have fun with your new car !!! Mine is the Silverstone....

*edit* The only bad thing(and I mean BAD) is the rear visibility as noted above. Ive never experienced anything like it.. It will take some getting used to.

myZ.jpg
 
the Silverstone is my favorite color! They have a silverstone/charcoal 35th anniversary car on the showroom. I like the 35th and the track because you get 300hp instead of 276 (?). But they wont deal on the 35th and I hear the Track rides pretty poorly (it does have 18's, but only has cloth seats)?



I havent actually bought the car yet, just have a deposit on it. Currently a Touring Roadster. Sounds like I should revisit the coupes. I was thinking a 10k miles/ year lease since it will be a toy and I like to trade every couple years anyway.



sQuashed and Pats300zx what options did you get on your cars? What options would you get, or not get if you could do it over again? How are mods pricewise? and how is Nissan with warranty if you mod the car? I was really bummed to hear that this is only a mid 14 second 1/4 mile car, C&D got a 14.1 out of a 300hp Track edition. Are roadster allowed to do track days and autocrosses?



Downside is insurance, just heard back from my agent. :-( $1040/6 mo for coupe and $1100/ 6 mo for roadster (compared to $580/ 6 mo for the Lightning, not counting the other cars). Same as insuring an M3 ($1048 for coupe, $1060 for conv). They are looking into some other companies, currently with Farmers. This could be a deal breaker :-(.......
 
Listen to StudyBuddy about the forums, I've listed them in no particular order. Also http://my350z.com is good if you want to get on a group buys, keep up to date with news and do some searching since it's one of the oldest forums. But otherwise they have a serious moderation issues.



Motoring is very thin on information, even tough it has a lot of users. Tech is the best all round forum, the mods and admins listen to your requests and every one is very friendly. Personaly, I hang out on 350z-tech.com since that's where the Australian forum is.
 
The mods are really expensive and don't show many gains. My mods are mostly suspension and exterior mods for that reason.



Insurance is very expensive and they won't give you much of a break on it. At least you're not 18 like me...whew. They don't take it lightly for sure.



Don't worry about the "300 hp" model. It actually has been proven to lose torque. There's not enough difference to pay the price in my opinion. Those track wheels are NICE though!



Resale value is really really high on Z cars. You won't lose much at all in a year.
 
Another thing Im wondering, is there local "clubs" for Z cars? Im used to Lightnings, so I know whats around and whats happening, the Z and M car are new to me. I see with the M cars there is the BMW Club of America, etc that do events locally. Is there similar with the Z? I like to hang out with owners of the same car and talk cars, race, etc.



I just dont know that I want to pay the high insurance on these cars though......
 
Pat will be the man to answer all the mod questions since Ive owned my 350Z for only 4 days :).. My mod list consists of Exhaust, intake, wheels and tires and maybe suspension.Thats probably all I will do. The rated hp for the non track models is 287 as oppsed to the 300 hp in the track. The fine folks at my350z.com say the stock setup should get ya 13.8 in the 1/4.. This is something I cannot verify.
 
There's nothing like the bonding between Z owners. Not just 350z's, but 300's 280's and 240's as well. I get a wave from almost every Z owner I pass and sometimes I even wave first. Men and women, young and old.



There are tons of Z meets though, depending on where you are. The biggest one is probably ZDayz in North Carolina at Deals Gap. It's May 20-23 this year and there could be up to 300 Z's! I've had my room booked for more than 6 months :)



There is definitely a following to the Z's though. More of a cult to some people though :)
 
Things like exhaust, intake, & intake plenums will net you your biggest gains. Those gains will only be about 4hp per product. Nothing big. Suspension will be an awesome mod though. I'm currently on Eibach springs and I have Hotchkis adjustable sways on the way. With that, I've lowered the center of gravity, taken out any oversteer or understeer and significantly reduced body roll.



Mods are fun for the car, but they're expensive though :)
 
LightngSVT said:


sQuashed and Pats300zx what options did you get on your cars? What options would you get, or not get if you could do it over again? How are mods pricewise? and how is Nissan with warranty if you mod the car? I was really bummed to hear that this is only a mid 14 second 1/4 mile car, C&D got a 14.1 out of a 300hp Track edition. Are roadster allowed to do track days and autocrosses?



Downside is insurance, just heard back from my agent. :-( $1040/6 mo for coupe and $1100/ 6 mo for roadster (compared to $580/ 6 mo for the Lightning, not counting the other cars). Same as insuring an M3 ($1048 for coupe, $1060 for conv). They are looking into some other companies, currently with Farmers. This could be a deal breaker :-(.......
Click to expand...



The price to mod the car is not that bad. Performance-wise I have put on new wheels and tires, an Injen Intake, Grounding wires, and a Borla exhaust. Let me know before you are thinking of buying something. I can point you in the right direction.



Yeah I am pretty sure that Roadsters can do track days and Autocrosses.



WOW..that insurance is high. I just checked mine and I pay $447/6 months with Allstate.
 
StudyBuddy said:
The mods are really expensive and don't show many gains. My mods are mostly suspension and exterior mods for that reason.



Insurance is very expensive and they won't give you much of a break on it. At least you're not 18 like me...whew. They don't take it lightly for sure.



Don't worry about the "300 hp" model. It actually has been proven to lose torque. There's not enough difference to pay the price in my opinion. Those track wheels are NICE though!



Resale value is really really high on Z cars. You won't lose much at all in a year.
Click to expand...



I guess the cost of mods and performance gains are relative. If you compare 350z to M3, the mods are dirt cheap and give good gains. :D
 
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