triman54

The 350 Z may in fact be better suited to an automatic. I have driven both the G35, in coupe and sedan form, and the 350 Z. IMO both cars have gearboxes and clutches that can be decsribed as agricultural at best. Smooth shifts and starts require way too much practice, and the clutch take let out is very abrupt. Even the engines seem better suited to an automatic, sounded much less course than with the manual.

As for the interior, the 350 Z which I test drove late last year or early this year was riddled with lots of brittle plastic on the dash. The area of the dash which houses the nav system has a plastic cover which feels like it will last all of 6 months. The interiors of the G35's have gotten much better.

The convertible version of the 350 Z has a fat arse, I think necessitated by the cross strut which takes up an appreciable amount of the rear storage space in the coupe. The convertible looks like it was not designed initially as a convertible, and the coupe is a much better looking car IMO.

Backspin23

I test drove at convertable z a while ago and looked at some coupe's as well...wasn't impressed at all and this was before I had my S. the interior just felt really really cheap. I didn't drive it very hard but it just didn't feel right...yes the convertable is the hidious to look at.

leo520

well tell u a story, a true story from one of my friend and my cousin.
Both had the same car ,
350z My 2003 and My 2004.

Cousin, got spun out on hightway with a small turn, he didn't know what's the problem, but the passenger said he trun to hot, but it was only 60 MPH. Imagine turning on Hightway , = not like conering on track. what's the deal.

Friend , he said his car sucks compare to my s2000, the steering feels so loose, and it feels so slow entering and exitting a hight speed cornering at the track. and it feels gonna go away while entering corner fast.

Jacques79

350Z has better steering feel than an S2000. You get a better feel of what the front tires are doing through the steering wheel than the numb S2000 steering wheel.

On the other hand an S2000 has a quicker steering ratio and stiffer suspension-chassis which makes the turn-in response quicker than the 350Z.

I don't get all the ''350Z handles like crap'' thing. It's really not that bad and still feels like a sports coupe to me. It's not sub 3000 pounds but again it's not THAT heavy, it's about 3300 pounds which is fine for a 306HP car.

It's not like it weighs 3700 pounds or something.

It doesn't feel as flickable as an S2000 but you could say an S2000 doesn't feel as flickable as an older generation Miata.

kvn

i used to have a 350z. drive it in couple and 6speed.. its def. not girly or unresponsive.. maybe not as gokart-ish as the s2k.. but still

s2kkyo

I only liked 06+ 350zs as I drove all other models and was disappointed maybe because they were used? Anyhow the torque is nice but just still felt heavy and slobbish to me. Its a nice car and if I didnt have an S I would a Z. Overall I didn't really like how I felt inside the car. The only other thing I like about the Z is that you can have concave faces for rims with $$$ lips lol.

LEE72

I recently test-drove an '08 350Z couple for 270+ miles over three days. My wife rented it from Hertz for me for my birthday as it was one of the cars I had considered buying before I got my S.

My impressions of it are: Torque - good low and mid-range torque. It makes everyday city and highway driving very easy. However, it still runs out of breath over 6000 rpm. From there on till the 7500 redline, it doesn't pull much, so the 7500 redline seems kind of moot to me. Bear in mind, this was a new car, with only 550 miles on it when I picked it up. Also the engine is quite coarse in high rpms.

The chassis feels rigid, as far as I can tell. The only twisties I got it on were on Mulholland Drive in LA. The suspension seemed more compliant than the S2000s at low speeds - it was more comfortable in city cruising. But strangely, at freeway speeds, it became a lot harsher and "crashy". In the twisties, there wasn't much body roll, and it felt good up to the limits, and then there was some understeer. The rear did skip on bumpy pavement more than the S2000 does though, in my experience. I feel that the S has a better tuned suspension.

The steering is slower and less darty than the S at speed, has a nice weight to it, and offers decent feedback, although I feel that my '06 S offers better feedback through the steering wheel. You can feel the weight of the Z, but it is nowhere as ponderous as some might have you believe.

The brakes felt quite powerful and easy to modulate, and there was no slop in the initial travel.

Overall, a very nice car, with a different mission statement than the S2000s. It is much quieter (but tire noise is louder than it could be)and more comfortable, more roomy, although trunk space is lacking. One thing that irritated me was that you couldn't store shopping bags out of sight, an important point if you live in a city where auto break-in are common.

I would choose this over the S if it were to be my daily driver. But as it is, my S is my weekend toy, and I'm glad I got it over the Z. It seems to be a more focused car, and even though the torque of the VQ is nice, the S overall gives a rawer and more engaging driving experience.

Christople

autoTRAGIC transmission