Is The Nissan 350z The Perfect First Sports Car? (JDM Legends Tour Pt. 16) 

350z are awesome cars. Come to life with an uprated clutch, exhaust, remap and tune. Can really crank out power on them. Abbey motor sports are great for their remaps, improves mpg as well. Nice cars. Great cheap bang for buck.

Need For Speed Underground 2 nostalgia kicked in.

I dont think people understand how fun they are until they drive one. Very underestimated car

When they first came out, I thought it was ugly for some reason. It really grew on me after a while. I actually prefer the look of this over 370z

Nismo exhaust. I had a azure blue with an official Nismo v1 body kit on it and so decided to top it off using the real deal; I saved up and imported a Nismo exhaust from Nissan USA to the U.K. It utterly transformed the car with the sweetest noise ever - it’s seriously up there with a Ferrari it’s that good. It’s never loud when trundling along, doesn’t give you a headache cruising along motorways or sitting in traffic but when you open her up...wow! it howls in such an amazing way. The craftsmanship of the exhaust was superb, so much so that when I asked a zed tuner specialist to put it on my car they happened to have another 350z in for an exhaust swap before they did mine (believe a “cobra” exhaust, can’t remember). This other one gave a similar sound but the actual finish in terms of welding etc was no where near the Nismo exhaust. It’s pricey though...back in 2009 I imported mine for about £1600 and had to pay import tax. I think I lived in tunnels afterwards - think driving a Ferrari 430 spider sound where it barks past 3k revs and howls as you keep going. I urge you to find RU-vid video of the exhaust sound. You’re right about the 350...it’s a bit of a lump. It’s certainly not nimble and it’s heavy like a muscle cruiser GT. It’s not super fast but I wouldn’t say slow...it edged past my friends R32 golf when we gave it the beans on a straight empty road. It’s around that sort of speed. But that noise...it didn’t matter about going super fast...for me the zed was about cruising along on a summers day and when you feel like it, put it down a gear and make it go to 3-4K revs, the Nismo exhaust barks and you smoothly howl up the road in glorious sound. Everyone...passengers and those I past seemed to love it (thumbs up and smiles). People talking to me at petrol stations about it and really felt like I owned a super car at the time - most had no idea what it was. Others walked past pointing and asking me to give it a few revs when sitting in traffic followed by beaming smiles and camera phones out. It’s such a good car for so little cash these days. People back in 2009 thought it was a £70k car when really at the time it was about £15k. Sadly a lot of them have ended up in tasteless moron chav hands putting hideous tat on them. Though if you do it right and spend money for official parts then they are amazing. Just avoid the idiots who stick big metal wings in the back etc...it’s really not the car for that.

The 350 Z UK forum is a great community, tell Dan to sign up post haste. I do miss my Z, great bang for your buck. Yes the interior isn’t great, but it sounds good, is reliable, very predictable on the road, and sound great.

One of my favourite cars i've owned. There's only one big problem. I've never found anything that's as much fun (and as sideways) as this used to be. Perfect. Sold mine with 125k miles and still wish I kept it.

If you are not looking for anything too shouty but a bit more fruity than stock, go for a Scorpion cat back system and a Cobra Y-Pipe, will do you a treat. Also the one you have...the middle uprev 296... make sure you keep an eye on your oil.

My all-time favorite car; love that unique design....

Great video I too love the 350z purely for value for money the car is definitely crying out for a louder exhaust and some induction noise. Without doubt a future classic.

Sold my RX8 for my 350z still is my favourite car I've ever owned still miss it. Fitted a cobra exhaust and a "popcharger" air filter. Car sounded amazing. Also used to get discounted services at an Infiniti dealership which gave me incredible service, team were amazing.

Just a FYI. If you plan on buying a 350z make sure the timing chain tensioners have been replaced. These VQ35 motors have crappy plastic tensioners and I wasn’t happy forking over 1500 on changing all the chains and tensioners....

Love my 350. Yea its got its DE probs but its definitely a driver enthusiast oriented car, you feel very in control. Gearbox is great and I find the power is definitely there when you need it

Best review I've seen yet. Thank you!

Great video. Thanks for the review.

Just what I needed! Am considering one as a winter car. Thanks!

What you say about picking a car rings so true with me. I was looking at the RX-8 as I liked the styling, but I thought I should at least put a few more cars on the table to compare it with. I'd never even heard of the 350Z before when I asked for alternatives, and the looks didn't appeal, but it had the right price and performance so I added it to the comparison. The more I researched it the more it appealed, that big lazy V6 over the bike like high revving rotary seemed a better fit for my heavy motorway use. It slowly but surely won me over and now 60K miles of ownership later it still puts a big grin on my face :). I went for the HR mainly because I wanted a higher rev limit than my MX-3 had, and I found one with the V1 Nismo body kit which gives it a more aggressive shape that I'm very fond of. I love the grunt more than I love agility, my MX-3 and Celica probably hung on to the corners better, but my zed can hurl me up to 70mph in 2nd gear on even the steepest of slip roads.

How could you not love it? Looks great, sounds great, drives great. This was one of 2 cars I considered buying last year. Almost bought one, but a Mustang came in view with less miles and cheaper price. I'm still looking into getting one of these though.

Always wanted a Z, looks unique, just came across a soft top, definitely gonna buy it

I loved my Pikes Peak 2003 350Z! I had it for almost 10 years, from December 2002 until May of 2012.

Owned my first 350Z in 2003 - loved it for about 4 years . Purchased my 2nd 350z a mint condition 2005 yellow 35th anniversary model (GT4) in 2018 as weekend toy, shares the garage with my mk3 TT and VW Arteon lift back, as much as I love all 3 cars only one car puts a big kid size smile on my face :) - thanks for these great reviews.

Last week I watched your Fiesta st vidéo ( I had a 2016 model for a year) and I found your opinion on the car spot on... This week you came out with this... ( I actually replaced the Fiesta St for a 2005 nissan 350z in the same blue color) Ok once again, your opinion is spot on... As an exhaust... I got a resonated Cobra catback... And I am very happy with it... Just a bit more sound than the stock, but fairly good for my daily commuting. Great work ... You sir , just earned a new subscriber

Great vid. Never driven a 350, but I have owned no less than four 370s including the Mk1 Nismo. I had an A45 AMG for a while, which was technically a much ‘better’ car on paper, but it lacked the character of the Z so I sold it and now have a blue 370 GT. The stock exhaust on the 350 actually sounds pretty good compared to the 370’s.

Fantastic channel, really glad I found this channel. I own a azure blue 2006 350z too! Would highly recommended milltek with berk hfc running a plenum spacer and an air intake.... Makes the car ridiculously fast and sound not too shouty but the right amount of meat

Deleting the primary silencer makes these car sound fantastic - this is the only thing I've done to mine and I love it!

Keep it up J, awesome channel!

The 350z is the next car I look to purchase. I have loved them since I first laid eyes on one back in 2003. I agree, there isn’t another car out there that I can think of that gives you the amount of power and performance for the price. I just hope I can get one before they are all gone or start to climb in value again.

I also sold my Golf for a blue 350z

I have been thinking about getting one of these for a while, think it will be a nice upgrade from my 1.6 civic type s ep2. And this video has tipped me over the edge. Thanks guys, earned a new Sub!

I put the mishimoto air intake on my DE, wouldn't say it woke the car up in terms of performance, but the noise is now a lot deeper and slightly louder..

That makes sense buying a Stock Nissan 350z before modifying it, alot of Subaru WRX/STI owners do the same looking for a clean stock car. The younger generation tends to abuse these cars when they are modified like drilling into the pillars to add pod gauges.... :(

My first real "sports car" 350Z was an '04' GT with the 276 hp DE, awesome car bang for buck! My next was another 350Z '03' ( best colour in sunset orange personally) both I modified with a subtle but lovely sounding Toyosports Exhaust (Y pipe back) and some sports CATS, Plenum spacer which is a must for the DE as it will help it breath and intake, Eibach Pro springs, quality rubber and brakes and a remap! Great fun and a joy to drive and then finally after 2 years of waiting i could get my hands on my current '12' 370Z GT Edition with the VQ37VHR at 332 hp. I have always had my eye on a 911 and find justifying the price difference from the 370Z to a similar age 911 difficult for the aforementioned "bang for buck" so a comparison video would be interesting to watch (always difficult when its your own car your comparing) Good video!

Make that video, I'm subbing and putting post notifications on rn.

Brilliant car! Oldschool, great sounding, naturally breathing.

The car is beautiful! I can't seem to find much as far as safety features/testing.

I am looking at getting my first sports car this year and this was the perfect video for me

Very honest review

This video made me a subscriber. I own a 370Z so I'd love to see what happens in the rest of this series

Obviously we'd all love to see the comparison video. THANKS!

Subscribed eventually. Sorry for delay Jay!

Just recently got myself a Z4MR , been blown away how much fun it is. I use to own a mk1 MX-5 around 10 years ago and the Z4MR really reminds me of that car, but it has a bit more power and a longer bonnet.

350z are awesome cars ,specially in blue !! ive owned 2 350z and now a 2017-370z Nismo in red .

Had a 2003 model a long time a go and enjoyed it . Only common faults where gas struts on boot failing and clutch where only good for 30.000 miles . Yep loved my car lol

Great video James ! Love the fact you concentrate on cars not the other nonsense !!!!! 👍 Part one of my journey back to Lotus has begun ! M240i traded in and replaced with (yet to picked up new M140i) that’s the wife’s car sorted. New year search for the Lotus will begin 🤪

Thanks Dan & Jay. Would love to see the 911 comparison, but I also think you've got a lot of other comparison opportunities here as well. You already mentioned the Z4, and then maybe a Cayman (Boxster?!). Even some hatches, Golf R32? Hopefully some owners get in touch over time and give you the opportunity. Cheers. :)

Great video as usual, Jay! 👏 I’ve always liked the look of these, and heard good things about the performance. Maybe not the fastest, but it’s a Nissan and it should be very reliable and nice handling. I’m surprised you didn’t compare it to the Honda S 2000 which would seem to me to be very comparable car. As to the present exhaust note, not too bad for a V-6. I’m sure it can be improved and you already have some great suggestions on that. While I would enjoy hearing your comparison with your Porsche, realistically, they’re horses of a different color, breed, speed and and everything else except basic specs. I doubt anybody is seriously comparing these two cars for purchase. Regardless, I always learn something from your videos, which along with your quirky personality and British wit keep me coming back!👍

Epic start to this one Mr Jay 👍 I love that blue on the 350's, nice choice Dan.

Get on the 350z UK forum - great bunch of people on there and lots of knowledge, lots of people already been through this! Would pick up a good following for the RU-vid chanel too! Modifying the 350z changes it completely and brings them to life. It can become a bit of an addiction...

Great cars. I had one on the shortlist when I bought the Z4. Maybe next time. Yes, let's see a comparison with the 911, it'd be interesting to see just how well something that's a quarter of the price stacks up.

Yes this is what I hoped for to listen, a comparison between the 996 and the 350Z.

Jay. Get the Scorpion exhaust. Louder but still quiet while you drive around town etc. it’s the one I had. Brilliant.

350s and 370s are the perfect car period. Such a beautiful and understated body. Classy as hell and I've driven an Infinity G35 with a 6 speed stick, they certainly go! I have no use for a car as my job requires heavy duty trucks, but if I ever do get a car it'll be one of these.

Those exhausts from stock are great, same as the Infiniti ones of the same generation - never give problems, same as the majority of the Nissan products of the time, good engineering back in the day.

Good video. I subscribed because of it.

I currently own an fn2 type r.. i keep looking at these 350z's!

It was my first car at 18, now I’m 21 and it’s been nothing but fun haven’t had a single issue 👍🏼

Never been my type of car but like the new shape Good to see the 90s Scania 164L that you passed

I live in Richmond,va. I just got a 350zx 2007 covertible silver and silver top one owner garage keep still got that new smell feel car look older lady had it. Its like im the only one in Richmond has one people look at me like im driving a Ferrari feels so good. Places i go people like thats my dream car. They are rare collectibles item value is going up i love the sound its powerful handles curbs like butter. Im blessed to found a good one

These are such great value right now on the used market, and made a great platform to learn how to drift in. My neighbour in Tokyo had one, its called the Fairlady Z there. The only drawback for me is its weight.

I had a 350z GT for 6 years as my main car. It was Azure blue also. I upgraded the exhaust to a Scorpion and upgraded the Air filter but the rest was Stock. I loved it. Kids used to point wherever I went. It always drew stares. With the Scorpion it sounded fantastic especially through tunnels. I did have to replace the engine block at one point as I blew a piston. A valve dropped into a cylinder and bang. I bought it when it was about 2 years old for around 16,000. It was great fun and a lot of car for the money. It was the middle 296bhp uprev version. A young 21 yold bought it from me and I did an mot search on it the other day and it hasn’t been done for a number of years. I guess the poor old girl is dead somewhere. Too hot to handle.

I’m a ‘70’s guy and a Long time Z-car fan here.....like from the 1st-gen 240/260/280 days. With 3.5L available......I’m sure smiles will follow.

Love to see a Miltek exhaust on it. I owned a roadster in 2009 and absolutely loved it. I had a JWT pop charger air filter on mine and it sounded great. I'm trying to buy a 350z roadster again now I'm not trying to be a sensible Dad

If you don’t mind a loud car, I would suggest a Tomei titanium exhaust. Saves about 40lbs, makes power, and is fairly cheap. Intakes: Tons our there but Z1 Motorsports makes a good intake, and intake manifold. Headers (exhaust manifold): might be worth doing headers, Z1 headers are good. Finally you want a good tune, ecutek and uprev are the common ecu/programming systems. A custom tune by a good tuner should be done after the bolt ons.

Nice review Dan, this car will be mine

The battery indicator is very useful for me since I put on my car a powerful subwoofer and I need to check if the voltage is too low because of the music it can damage the electronics of the car on a mid long term. To be honest the cars I owned were pretty city cars that didn't have such great sound. Might aswell just listen to the engine on this 350Z, is one of my dream cars since Underground and I will love to own one, especially the 313HP late versions

These are pretty great cars, their cost alone is reason enough to pick one up. They are sub 10k in the UK many of which are around £5k. A comparison would be interesting between this and your 911 although I would pick the Nissan over a 911 any day considering I can actually afford it unlike the 911 which is way out of my budget if I was even looking for a car anyway. I'm still very much happy with my MGB GT. Different car entirely though.

I know there is a fixation on RWD, but I’d go with an Integra DC5, or DC2. The feel of the Teg shines through and overcomes the perception of a fwd.

Love my 350z alot they are great cars and a good bang for your buck also The VR38 (Found in GTR R35) is baised off the VQ engine found in die Z :)

yes..yes..yes.. and mine was even blue .. i miss that car.. i will try to find another one this summer..

Have the same car, year and color but USDM. It’s a 5th car for us but it still gets driven weekly. Right at 180k miles and still drives excellent. Very reliable and would recommend to anyone looking for an affordable sports car.

I absolutely love that Monterey Blue. It really fits that car. And like most others when the 350z first came out I wasnt really sold on the design but now I think it looks fantastic. I guess it's grown on me too.

I own a 350, i wouldn’t bother changing intakes the stock ones are fine! Exhaust i would go for a Miltek system with decats. Not too loud it’s great. Great cars! Was my first sports car owned nearly a year now can’t complain

Me and the wife first saw one at a motor show when they first came out ( Earl’s court i think or perhaps the NEC) it was a Goldy bronze colour. I very nearly considered buying one at the time Nice review. Nice Hawaiian shirt too 👚 😂

Subscribed! Great video, I think you may have overlooked the Honda s2000 maybe?

I had to sell my 350z (almost a replica of the one here), for 7K to put towards a 12.5k 1.5D Qashqai. It broke my heart!. 4 years ownership and all it cost me was an exhaust and 2 new tyres + some brake pads. A bullet proof motor. (I cant say the same of any other cars I have owned). You get so much car with these for your money and would recommend to anyone.

Great video enjoyed a walk down memory lane of a former car I lusted after when I was younger, I completely agree with you on the colour, that is definitely the best colour for the 350Z. Funnily enough I was choosing between a new 370z and a second hand 996 at one one point in my life and I for one would therefore love to see a comparison between your 996 and the 350Z. You can't help but be impressed by the value of the 350Z, but tbh I reckon for a bit of extra money an Integra DC5 Type R is a better first sports car,.

Would love to see the comparison with the Porsche!

2006 Roadster. 20 inch High Chrome wheels, 8 &12... Hear turner wherever she toes. Whether an old Z fanatic or just some gal going "What is that???", she gets endless compliments. I only race Vettes on curvy roads and I have never been beaten. Same with high end Lexus. Like riding in a roller coaster.

Nice review Dan. This car will be mine :-)

I had a manual 350z Nissan before my Golf R. Good torque loves to rev high and plenty top end. Struggles down low, quite heavy for its size. Only fast past 60kph, dangerous if you push it hard round a turn. Has an aluminium rear chassis that's very light. Great for a cheap RWD. Good value for performance. better track car than road car imo.

The manual version of this model burns a hell of a lot of oil from factory. They fixed that issue on the 2007 model i believe. Important to use a thicker synthetic oil in this, or install a catch can.

Needs a cobra non resonanted cat back, will transform it and make it sound incredible with no drone

Will watch with interest when he starts the mods. I have one of these and a 370gt coupe. VQ's are great engines. One suggestion: don't modify the air intake. It's really well known with these that the factory intake is superior. Add a k & n or bmc element is the best bet. If you really MUST do it then long tube intakes are the only way to go ($$$) but they won't give significant gains. In fact the only thing that really improves power significantly on these is a turbo kit. Watch MCM's build where they used headers and full exhaust and tune, they didn't gain much. A good catback and bmc element is my suggestion, engine wise. Plenum spacer is one other option but they dont gain much either.

I know what you mean about the looks etc. My mate has a 370z nismo and it looks great. He has also done a cat back on it and it sounds great. But everyone I no who has a 350z they really love them and again they do sound good and the looks are slowly growing on me. I think this car is great value for money tho.

Said comparison ! Definitely 👍👍👍.

I have a grey one, but it does look very nice in Blue 👍🏻

A cat back Stillen exhaust sounds great

I had a nismo , with 19 rims factory fitted body kit , 5 zigan stainless pipes with removable baffles, remapped , induction kit , was a nice car following my two scoobies , got fed up after a yr , cos my buzz of real performance came from thousand cc motorbikes , that are obscenely fast like 106 in first gear , yep not exaggerating zx10 in first hits the Rev limiter at 107 , 0 to 150 in around 12 seconds ,, ,, I couldn’t afford a car with these sort of performance speed and , I think you get the picture , but not a bad car , and fairly good on fuel for the size of engine , cheers Shane uk 🇬🇧

The 06 model (has the vq35de revup engine) has an oil consumption issue that should be addressed fairly quickly when starting modifications. I'm a big fan of the motordyne plenum spacer when considering first mods ^_^. Cheers!

I love this car

Would suggest you do some track time comparisons of Porsche vs Nissan, and also show some side by side handling analysis.

The 350z had the same lap time around the top gear test track as M3 E46, Witch was pretty good, but also the same time as the cheaper and less powerfull RX-8 and, hilariously the very same time as the 535d a 4 door family saloon with diesel engine xD

I love my 350z. I’ve started upgrading it and you can beef it up for very little cash.

Definitely yes. Cheap, huge aftermarket support, easy to work on, tons of forum knowledge -- Check!

As a 996 owner, I would love to see a comparison video

Factory air box with a updated filter is better than those other cone filters by far

i'd love to see a comparison video J

for a 350z i would recommend a tomei exhaust they sound amazing

Yes do a comparison please!

Not to mention these are really well built solid cars that still perform like new even after 15 years of abuse.