NISSAN

ZEDLINER Nissan’s muscular 350Z has developed into a modern classic. The latest model’s been pumping even more iron. Andy Enright reports

It probably happens far less often than you’d imagine. When it comes to bringing a car to market, rarely do manufacturers manage to hit the nail squarely on the head first time. Often it takes a few revisions, the odd swing and miss, in order to get things right but Nissan’s 350Z was brilliant right from the get go. It made cars like the Audi TT, the Alfa Romeo GTV and Mazda RX-8 suddenly appear clumsy and overcomplicated. The formula was simple; a beefy normally-aspirated V6 engine, drive going to the back wheels, a beautifully-balanced chassis and bodywork that was cleanly styled and which has worn its years supremely well.

It’s difficult to believe the 350Z came to market way back in 2003 but such has been the sales success that not a lot has needed doing. The engine got a mild tweak for more power, the cabin received a few nips and tucks and there were microscopic exterior changes but aside from that, it was business as usual. The latest car features an engine that shares only 20 per cent of its parts with its predecessor and some extensive trim changes. Despite this, it’s still obviously a 350Z. Nissan’s VQ35 engine was voted as one of the top ten engines in the world for twelve successive years from 1996 and the judges have had it spot on. Smooth, characterful and with plenty of torque, this engine has been overhauled for 2007 with extensive changes to pistons, conrods, cranks, valve gear and pretty much every other moving part at the business end of this unit. Now developing 309bhp, aided by a twin ram air intake system, the revised engine revs to 7,500rpm (up 500rpm on the old unit) yet will develop 90 per cent of its 385Nm torque figure at a mere 2,000rpm. Handling and ride remains similar with lateral grip marginally improved by the standard fitment of sticky Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres. Straight line performance remains strong with 60mph coming and going in 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 155mph easily attainable. Opt for the slightly heavier Roadster variant and you’ll add 0.4s to the sprint to 60. The steering, while not as weighty as early models, still has some heft at speed and there’s still that reassuringly mechanical vibe that travels up the short throw gear lever. Want to dumbfound your friends? Let them know that the 20 per cent stiffer oil pump rotor material was what sealed the deal for you during the test drive.

"Rare is the person who drives a Nissan 350Z and comes away unimpressed"

The good news for dyed in the wool Zed Heads is that the exterior has been left largely as is. There’s a bonnet bulge to accommodate the slightly taller engine but Nissan even have a handy historical precedent to fall back on in the comely shape of the 240Z, which also sported a bonnet bulge. The 350Z’s cabin is never going to win any style awards but it’s better built than before and the seats are fantastic. Visibility out of the car is good and detailing makes a valiant attempt at creating that special feel you want from a sports coupe. The beefy rear cross brace that ruins carrying capacity in the coupe remains present as do the changes that were introduced at the last but one tinkering. These include more storage cubbies about the cockpit, including a map net in the passenger footwell and a more practical centre console compartment which incorporates a cup holder. Three additional exterior paint finishes are on offer. The popular Sunset colour scheme has been pensioned off, replaced by Temper Orange which contains a waspishly subtle green flip. Gun Metal Grey and Azure Blue are also ditched, replaced by Twilight Grey and Night Blue. Solid Red, Universal Silver and Ebisu Black continue as before. The interior gets a pale grey finish called Frost which can also be ordered in Roadster form with a contrasting grey soft top. There are effectively four 350Z models; Coupe and Roadster in either entry-level or GT form. You’ll need £26,795 for a coupe and £28,295 on the road for a Roadster with GT versions adding another £2,500 to those prices. Standard trim includes active headrests, anti-lock brakes, switchable electronic stability control and front, side and curtain airbags. Should you plump for GT trim, you’ll add heated and powered leather seats, a monster 240W Bose CD autochanging stereo with seven speakers (including a 10" sub woofer and audio pilot noise compensation) and cruise control. Options include the lairy Alezan orange interior and Birdview satellite navigation. If you’re interested in gadgets, go and buy a Lexus. The genius in the 350Z and the one piece of equipment fitted as standard to every model is a chassis so good you’ll feel utterly heroic. Electronic gewgaws, plastics quality, practicality issues and running costs will instantly pale into complete irrelevance the moment that you catch and hold your first perfectly balanced drift in the 350Z. Then you’ll realise what all the fuss is about and you’ll reflect on money well spent. The 350Z is a car that lives to be driven hard and to do so will inevitably rack up some fairly hefty bills. Take fuel consumption as an example. Nissan quote a combined figure of 24.1mpg for the Coupe and 23.5mpg for the Roadster but you’ll need to be some kind of feather-footed freak to match those figures. On one ‘enthusiastically driven’ test route, we saw an average of 13.2mpg come up on the calculator. Ouch. Likewise the 350Z, while mechanically rugged, has an appetite for rear tyres if you’re the sort who likes to occasionally disable the electronic control systems. You’d expect insurance to be commensurate with a car that can reach 155mph and which will jet to 60mph in 5.4 seconds, most insurers saddling the Coupe with a Group 18 rating. That isn’t that bad when one pauses to consider that an Alfa GT 3.2 V6 is rated at Group 19, as is a Porsche Cayman 2.7, while a BMW M Coupe is Group 20. Think of the Z as being a mere one group higher than a Ford Focus ST hatch and it doesn’t seem too bad at all. Industry monitors reckon the 350Z will retain around 54 per cent of its value after three years – a fair figure for a sports coupe although not in the Audi TT 3.2 V6 bracket. Rare is the person who drives a Nissan 350Z and comes away unimpressed. Comments from recent drives have included observations that the car offers 90 per cent of the ability of a Porsche 911 for less than half the price and that it offers an ingredient that many sports car manufacturers seem to have overlooked in their quest for technical perfection – namely, good old fashioned fun. The latest car looks to build on the fun quotient without altering the basic formula. With largely unchanged styling, many will not twig this is a revised 350Z. This bodes well for the residual values of existing cars while, at the same time, giving new owners a more muscular and responsive powerplant to play with. Nissan has never built a bad 350Z. Now there are just varying shades of excellence.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Nissan 350Z range PRICES: £26,795 - £30,795 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 18-19 CO2 EMISSIONS: 280-288g/km PERFORMANCE: [Coupe] 0-60mph 5.3s / Max Speed 155mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: [Coupe] (combined) 24.1mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags, ABS, ESP, active headrests WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: [Coupe] Length/Width/Height 4310/1815/1315mm

BACK FROM THE ZED Models Covered: (3 dr coupe and 2dr Roadster - 3.5 petrol)

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Ever since the introduction of the 240Z in 1970, Nissan - and formerly Datsun - ‘Zed Cars’ have been the company’s sports coupe staple. There have been great cars, like the 240Z, very good cars like the 260Z and the 300ZX and some howlers such as the 280ZX and 300Z. The 350Z deserves pride of place alongside the original 240Z. A focused sports coupe rather than a bloated boulevardier, the 350Z is a car for the keen driver who will appreciate a muscular look and feel. Used examples are now appearing in reasonable numbers and a well looked after 350Z makes a great buy.

We knew the 350Z was going to look a little special when Ajay Panchal’s sketches were first released to the press, but initial enthusiasm was perhaps a little muted by the fact that it wasn’t a Skyline. Since Nissan axed the Skyline GT-R model with no replacement in sight, many British buyers thought they were getting a little short-changed when the rear wheel drive, normally aspirated 350Z arrived. After they drove it the carping vanished and the Skyline has been almost forgotten by sports coupe buyers wanting something a little more contemporary. With sleek lines and a torquey 3.5-litre engine, the 350Z was an instant hit. The timing of its introduction was a little unfortunate, as in March 2003 both the Nissan and Mazda’s RX-8 were competing for column inches and the four seat layout, rotary engine and bargain basement pricing of the Mazda did much to overshadow the 350Z. Drive the two cars back to back and two very different characters emerge, the Nissan feeling far more of an old school bruiser. A roadster model was launched at the tail end of 2004 alongside a suite of Nismo styling accessories. Something of a major overhaul befell the car in the early part of 2006. The styling was tweaked to the tune of a lower grille, revised lights and a reshaped bumper but Nissan sensibly deciding not to change things too radically. Interior materials were upgraded and the ergonomics in the cab improved but more salient were alterations to the engine. The powerplant was boosted from 276bhp to 296bhp and the rev-limiter was raised to 7,000rpm.

Rarely has a new sports car launch caused quite such a stir as that of the 350Z. Nissan invited a bunch of UK journalists to Los Angeles to sample the car and the press office was receiving increasingly desperate requests for weeks in advance from journalists hell-bent on being amongst the first to get behind the wheel. Part of the reason is because industry experts had twigged that the 350Z could be a hugely significant car – the first coupe since the Audi TT to really capture the public’s imagination. Much of that is due to three key factors – styling, pricing and provenance. The lines, penned by Brit Ajay Panchal, have that taut, wheel-at-each-corner rightness that looks good from any angle. The chunky upright door handles, the slash of the tail lights and the muscular wheelarches catch the eye, but these styling features are just highlights in what is something of a neat feat of penmanship from the youthful Panchal. The 350Z is fitted with electronic climate control, an integrated hands free phone system, a trip computer, a 160W radio and 6-shot CD changer, plus an alarm and electrically heated and folding door mirrors. Stump up the extra £2,500 for the GT Pack and you’ll also get black leather sports seats that are heated and electrically adjustable, cruise control, and a 240W Bose stereo system powerful enough to act as a defibrillator. The 350Z is fitted with electronic climate control, an integrated hands free phone system, a trip computer, a 160W radio and 6-shot CD changer, plus an alarm and electrically heated and folding door mirrors. Stump up the extra £2,500 for the GT Pack and you’ll also get black leather sports seats that are heated and electrically adjustable, cruise control, and a 240W Bose stereo system powerful enough to act as a defibrillator.

Import examples can be found cheaply although the UK specification cars are better equipped and rustproofed, with markedly superior security systems, so it’s worth looking for one of these official cars. The additional outlay is often recouped over a typical period of ownership through cheaper insurance, so while grey imports may look initially tempting, there’s very little in it on a pence per mile basis and most customers would prefer the additional trim of a UK car. UK cars start from around £18,750 on an 03 plate with GT pack versions adding another £1,250.

There’s really not too much that goes wrong with the 350Z. Look for tyre wear and signs of accident damage and also watch out for overly modified cars as these can be tricky to sell on. The Alezan Orange leather interior twinned with Sunset bronze paint finish is the most desirable colour, although both Azure Blue and Silver are also in demand. Steer clear of blacks, reds and yellows. The Rays alloy wheels are worth having but are very susceptible to kerbing damage. Don’t pay over the odds for cars with the optional Nismo styling kit. Check the roof of the Roadster for rips or discolouration.

(Estimated prices, based on a 2004 350Z Coupe) Indulge in too many traffic light Grands Prix in your 350Z and you’ll be looking at £225 for a replacement clutch kit. Front brake pads are around £70 a pair with rears retailing at around £55. A new radiator is around £250 with a starter motor also costing about the same.

Although it never approaches the almost sickening accelerative punch of a Skyline, the 350Z’s engine nevertheless has the ability to punt that pretty profile up the road with considerable verve. Think rest to sixty in 5.4 seconds and 150mph. That’s quick thinking. In reality, the 350Z rarely feels that fast, the broad spread of torque, the impressive refinement and the supple ride making indecent figures on the speedometer feel remarkably easy. UK cars benefit from a few modifications especially for the domestic market such as a larger fuel tank and a bigger radiator, largely due to the fact that we drive further and faster than our transatlantic cousins. We also get Brembo brakes, xenon headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels and standard Electronic Stability Programme, presumably because our faster driving occasionally results in unintended off road excursions. ESP does a great job at keeping the 350Z on the straight and narrow should you get a little overenthusiastic with the loud pedal, but should you really excel yourself, you’ll be reassured that there are not only twin, front and side airbags but curtain bags as well. Impressive stuff. Despite its too-cool-for-school modern exterior, the Z is, at heart, an old-school fun car. The steering, gearchange and pedals are all possessed of a meaty weightiness that encourages strong-arm tactics. Muscle the car into a corner and feel the way the steering loads up briefly before going deliciously neutral as you apply throttle. The accelerator is one of the modern drive-by-wire systems although Nissan have spent thousands making it feel as intuitive as a £7.99 throttle cable. So you get the feel of a traditional gas pedal backed up by all the electronic control systems. The ride is, as you’d expect, firm and with the engine mounted behind the line of the front axle, Nissan have worked hard at achieving near perfect weight distribution. For those who appreciate a bit of mischief behind the wheel, the traction control system can be disabled at the touch of a button.

If you’re looking for a nearly new sports coupe and can afford a 350Z, buy one. It’s as simple as that. Take your time to choose the right example but don’t hesitate when you chance upon it. The 350Z is a car that will one day convince your grandchildren that you weren’t always a boring old fart. Recommended.