350Z Alternatives

n3vrmind

n3vrmind

n3vrmind

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Simple question really, had my celica for 5yrs now and im in need of a change. Since a 350Z with sub 30k miles is now within my budget i took one out for a test drive middle of last week and LOVED IT, didnt really get an opportunity to open the throttle since i had the salesman with me but the car was spot on and not devoid of feeling like the TT i drove.

Are there any decent contenters i should look at before i commit to getting a 350Z? budget will be around the £15k mark
 
As a new 350z owner I have to say nothing! ;) Get yourself over to 350z-uk.com, plenty of good info there.

S2000 - Cracking car and amazing engine but since I was changing from a Type R I fancied a change of engine type.
Boxter - I looked seriously at boxters and caymans but running costs were significantly more, modding was much more difficult and expensive and there were some real dogs of boxters and the lower prices.
TT - Didn't even bother testing, way too common and not a patch on the 350z.
E46 M3 - I thought it were a bit meh, drove well and decent performance just a bit average. I wanted a proper coupe as well anyway.
Elise S2 - Awesome, I had so much fun in this. But the big downer was no creature comforts and this was to be my daily driver.

ci - Not sure what your mate means about expensive to service, very cheap compared to many similar spec cars. Way less than a M3 or a Boxter for example and probably similar to my old CTR.
 
Vtec9k said:
E46 M3 - .... I wanted a proper coupe as well anyway.
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I'm intruiged, why is an M3 not a propoer coupe? Assuiming E46 variety then it has two doors and a boot, which I thought was the definition of a coupe? :confused:

To the OP, I can only add American powered muscle to the mix like a Monaro or a C5 Corvette.
 
The 350Z is far, far closer to a 330Ci in terms of performance (I'm not sure what Nissan managed to do with all that power but make it M3 fast is not one of the things) and scope. Not that I'm recommending a 330Ci because for £15k I'm not, just pointing out the M3 is not really the same thing.

The M3 is a level above the 350Z, IMHO.
 
I think its probably more the track - I've driven a 350Z and a 330Ci and the 350Z didn't feel like it was in another class performance wise. It felt like another reasonably quick, big Coupe. It was quite a good car, but... if an M3 felt like that I'd be dissapointed.
 
[TW]Fox;15124834 said:
I think its probably more the track - I've driven a 350Z and a 330Ci and the 350Z didn't feel like it was in another class performance wise. It felt like another reasonably quick, big Coupe. It was quite a good car, but... if an M3 felt like that I'd be dissapointed.
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I think that was what disappointed me, yes the M3 was a good bit faster in raw power but overall it didn't seem in a another class. It should have destoyed the 350z but really it didn't.

And when talking 2nd hand at around £15k your comparing a 2006(with revup 297bhp engine)/30k miles 350z to 2003/50k+ miles M3.

EDIT: Big T - More accurately, I ideally wanted a 2 seater. But good call on the Monaro, the 6.0 might be out of range but the 5.7 VXR should be all good.
 
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Another potential option. The Z is made more for the US market, where it's natural competitor would be something like a Mustang. How about a nice Mustang v8 GT or similar? I don't know about availability, but an older Vette could be intriguing.
 
I do like the 350z myself. Been in the facelifted version (not sure when that came out) and the interior and what not is much improved from the earlier models.
 
I had a proper drive in my step mums 350z yesterday. It felt fast to me certainly a big step up from any hot hatch I've driven EP3/DC5/182/GTI-6 etc and felt faster than its performance figures suggest. It had lots of grip, nice steering and great brakes. The engine note sounds great and the cabin inside seemed ok to me although not german-like in its build but the seats were nice as was the driving position.

The only thing that didn't appeal to me was that you couldn't reach tbe cars limits without doing absolutely licence loosing speeds and sticking to reasonable speeds bored me a tad.

Not much use I know, just thought I'd share.
 
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