Which Zed ??

[dellyend1]

Hi All,

After a bit of help, advice, opinion etc regarding deciding on which Nissan Z car to go for. 

Want the roadster and it will be a high day and holiday car , looking at approx 2000 per year. Budget is £7,000 - £11,000

From people's experiences what would you choose ?

1. Early 350 Z , I read the DE engine gets slated and drinks oil ? I'll only be doing limited miles and can add the oil. I heard this engine has the low down torque which I like . It's also the only z car I've ever been in. Cheap car tax too

2. A HR engine late 350z . Full fat car tax , is it worth it to gain performance, level of trim, updated car with quirks ironed out ?

3. Stretch myself for a 370 z roadster ? It does look nice , but is it worth the extra cash. Reading the auto reviews, 370z gets a bit slated and 350 z seems to be a celebrated car .

Apologies, as you can tell I am a novice on these cars as my experience is with old classic Triumphs, TVRs Land rovers and the odd porsche. 

 

Car purchase is to allow some spirited b road driving and in early 40's so quite tame really !!

Many Thanks

Jeremy

[Andy_Muxlow]

350z is an awesome car but so is the 370z as well  best advice would be to try both and see what you prefer. When alls said and done only you can choose which you prefer. I have had both but love them equally. My wife has a 350z vert and it's great. I have a 370z 

[Wheels 370z]

Hiya pal, I've recently let go of an 10 plate roadsters (35k miles) and thrown my wallet at a new Nismo........ but truth be told I'll miss the roadster. I wrestled with myself for 3 months whether to let go of it and I deffo don't regret it but as stated come the summer I'll wish for it back. No experience of the 350 so I'll leave it to others to throw in their opinion. Here's  the old un! 

[rabbitstew]

Firstly 350z vs 370z is really down to personal taste. I had a 350z roadster and when it was back at Nissan for some work they lent me a 370z roadster for the week. Visually I preferred the looks of the 350z, I felt the sharp lines on the 370z didnt look as good. Interior wise however, the 370z was miles better - but then it was a much newer car and so it should be. The media/sat nav system especially was miles better. The fully electric good release was nice too, rather than the manual release clasp you have on the 350z - but thats only a minor point.

 

My 350z was a HR, my logic at the time was I may as well go for the best 350z I could, so I paid a premium for it. Whether or not the difference between 276bhp and 313bhp is worth it, most people who have driven both seem to say the HR is a much better car. You can of course, pay extra and modify the older cars to get nearer HR performance if you wish. Id drive both if possible and see which you prefer.

 

The 350z roadster can have issues with the hood. In general Nissan recommend not using the hood if its below a certain degree in temperature. They can stick half way down. A bit of help manually will help it. I found my roadster was great fun and did 22,000 miles in it over 18 months as a daily driver. 

[davey_83]

Welkom along

 

My advise would be if you plan to keep the car standard, buy at the top of your budget and enjoy a newer car. If planning upgrades ie engine, suspension, tyres, brakes etc retain a couple grand to comfortably allow for these.

 

350z engines are irrc:

276bhp DE

296bhp DE RevUp

308bhp HR

 

Some folks say tax bracket doesn't matter, and yet almost every ad both on the forum and Autotrader etc emphasize 'cheaper tax' for DE models so take from that what you will. 

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by davey_83

[Ponsonby]

Unfortunately I don't like the look of the 350Z roadster - shame because when I was looking I was offered a couple of really tidy low mileage ones.

I do however like the 370Z roadster so I am the opposite to rabbitstew.

The interior on the 370Z is better than the 350Z but later 350Z's do have a much improved interior - 350Z DE Revup and HR.

Some Revup's burn a little oil but with low miles and regular checks this would not be an issue.

Personally I prefer the more classic lines of the 350Z so ended up buying a very low mileage Revup. It is 100% original but will probably add an exhaust.

The 350Z in my opinion has a better engine note, sounds more like the V6 it is and is less thrashy at the top end.

 

[coldel]

Welcome along Jeremy - and sensible questions also. 

 

Personally having owned the DE and then been in an HR my bum-o-meter seemed to indicate a definite difference in performance that I could notice. Also as I understand it the later cars have the 009 gearboxes in which are less clunky/more reliable than the earlier DE ones (happy to be corrected here).

 

The performance in the 370 is not a big step up from the HR  but the interior is, iI fact if in car comfort is on your priority list the 350z will disappoint as it is very basic, my current 1995 Celica GT4 has just as good interior as a 350z DE. Trim difference HR to DE is marginal in my opinion, some bits and bobs are a bit nicer, you also will get the better headlights and rear LEDs with the later cars. 

 

In terms of tax, if you are paying nigh on ten grand I wouldnt worry about it, you could buy an older DE and get a £1k bill in for perishables on it, suddenly a few hundred quid for a newer car doesn't seem too bad. Ultimately its £5 a week more or something along those lines (does anyone think twice when buying a sandwich and coffee and throwing a fiver at the shop owner?), and personally I believe the HRs will hold their value in future better than the DEs as they are the 'better' car of the range of 350z.

 

Ultimately, go drive a few. Plenty for sale around usually.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by coldel

[Ponsonby]

Remember that there are 2 DE versions, the later one being Revup. This was late 2006 and was a facelift version with the improved bumpers, lights, interior etc.

My 370z's had lots of low down torque but a bit thrashy at the top end so tended to use the torque and upshift early. My 350z Revup feels like it has less torque but really takes off at 4000 rpm and sounds lovely.

The Revup is in the high tax bracket, late 2006, but who cares : )

 

Edit: Although my current 350z seems to have less torque than my previous 370Z's I have owned an RS3 in the meantime so anything may feel slower compared to that

Edited January 10, 2019 by Ponsonby