2004 Nissan 350Z Enthusiast review from North America

Nothing.

After years of looking and almost pulling the trigger on several sports cars (86 Lotus Esprit, 99 Porsche 911, 2004 Mazda RX8, even a 85 Ferrari 308), I made an impulse buy and bought the 350Z. While I may always long after the Porsche or Ferrari, I am quite sure my wallet loves the Z.

I was looking for a pure sports car in the $30k range and picked up the Z for 27,500. I was looking at the 911 at the same time, and came to the conclusion that with the Z I was getting a car that was equal in performance, 5 years newer, still under warranty, and with probable Japanese quality, for $6k less.

I really can't say enough about the performance of the Z. I have run 3 autocrosses in the past 2 months, and have had done really well against some really good cars. There has been some talk about tires feathering and or cupping. I seriously doubt that my tires will ever last long enough for any of that to occur.

At the last autocross (a Porsche club event) I finished 6th overall out of 30. First went to a race prepared Mazda Miata. The course was really tight and the torque of the Z really helped. I could put it in 2nd gear and pull strongly out of every corner.

The car was pushing really bad on my first couple of runs. I had checked the air pressure before leaving home, stock Potenza's had 41 lbs which was perfect. I checked again after 2 runs and it was up to 60. I lowered the pressure to 42 and knocked 5 seconds off my next run. Still had mild understeer, but could kick the back out in very controllable powerslides around the corners. This car is a ball to drift. I know it can get pretty hairy in the rain, but you have to be smart and back off a little when it is wet.

I have to say though, I get a certain satisfaction out of beating the lap times of more expensive, more powerful cars, even some prepared cars in my bone stock Z on worn out tires. I just can't wait to get it onto the track, although I know I will need to upgrade the brakes for track duty. This is an excellent car at a very good price.