i do agree with bboypuertoroc on the warranty. mitsu gave me a great 10 year / 100k warranty when i got my evo.

don't get me wrong by my earlier post. i love how the Z looks, but i did get an evo for a reason. styling was one of them. they look really nice, i still turn my head when i see one go by and in parking lots.

why then did i get rid of it? well, i'm a businessman & meet clients daily. so, from my point of view, it's not very image savy to meet them in the evo (big wing & loud exhaust). the z, on the other hand, is more civil (stock exterior).

but that's MY reason. you're looking at both cars because they've got something there that you like. some people are biased at the Z, some are biased at the evo. but here's the thing, you're hearing biased remarks about a nissan on a nissan forum. i bet you'll hear the same thing on the evo forums.

so pick out what you want. we're here to give you suggestions.

 

I have an Evo, and I would repeat some of the comments above. It isn't really an attractive car -- functional, yes, but not pretty. The 350Z is a great-looking car, certainly more stylish than an Evo.

The Evo interior is low-rent. It's an economy car at its heart, and you're reminded of that everytime you look at the dashboard. But the Evo Recaro seats are the best of any car I've ever owned.

The ride is very stiff. Around town, at low speeds, it's a pain to drive. Herky-jerky first-gear action. Parking lots suck as I'm bouncing over speed bumps and jerking back and forth trying to drive smoothly in first.

But the performance -- man, there are few cars sold today that can keep pace at the road course. Evo magazine (British mag, great, costs too much) compared it to the Porsche Cayman. They said they liked the Porsche better, but...the Evo beat it around the track. In fact, it beats almost anything below $90k, if you're talking road course lap times. And lightly modded, it's insane. $1000 in power mods, some R-compound tires, and you're terrorizing just about any road car.

Oh, and I can toss all four spare race tires/wheels in the back seat, load up the tools, jack, and other track crap in the trunk, and off I go. It's amazing there's this much room in such a high-performance car.

I guess if I had the style of the Z and the performance of the Evo...it'd be some AWD German super-sedan that costs a ton. Can't have everything.

--Dan
Mach V
Fast350.com

 

The final decision maker for me between Evo / STi / 350z was image. Now I'm not saying I'm 100% concerned with image, but as a young 'professional' trying to create a career for myself, I would much rather pull into the parking lot in a 350z than an Evo or STi. Although I don't like it, I can't change the fact that the owners of my company (we are only 11 employees) will judge me taking into account the car I drive. I have seen it happen. So do I want to show up with something that, to the sport compact car uneducated, looks like a basic sedan with some tacky aftermarket body cladding? Or do I want to show up in something that has much simpler lines and the heritage of sports cars of yore?

Also, I happen to work off a stretch of highway that is right between two major automotive technical schools (Automotive Training Center and United Technical Institute) and every day when I go out to lunch I see at least 5 evo's or sti's running around....and they always seem to be racing someone. A few times I have been next to one at a red light, and sure enough he wanted to race me. Anyone else get the impression that people who drive around with large spoilers and FMIC's (or top mount, whatever the case may be) are generally in the mood to race people? Well personally, I am not always in the mood to race someone, and I definitely don't want to give off that impression. So once again, Evo / STi are out.

The Z is fast enough for me. My previous car was a 220 HP mazda6, so this is a step up. When I bought the Z I knew it was not the fastest ~$30k car available, but that was alright with me.

Test drive both, and let us know what you end up buying.

 

+1

I was searching for the phrase but could not find it. "You can't have everything". Not for $30k at least. I believe there are things to enjoy and things to dislike in both automobiles. Both are great cars. Both will be fun to drive in their own right. It's a lot of money and a tough decision, as we all know. Good luck!

 

+1

 

Well First off your in a 350Z forum so your going to have a lot of people leaning on the 350Z side. I'm sure there are many members here that were in the same place that you are at. (me being 1 of them) When I was in the same position I had to choose between the Z/Evo IX/ or STi. I wanted the new 350Z and New Evo but I wanted the 03 style of the Sti. The Evo and Sti were very similiar in many ways so I choosed between keeping the Z in the list or not. At the time I didn't know how to drive a stick so I really questioned about learning to drive in a turbo car. So with that in mind I picked the 350Z and is very happy with it.

~I amit that there are times I would like to have the Evo/STi. Both the Evo and STi (2003 version, I think the 2006 version is fugly) don't look half bad IMO. But when its compare to the 350Z they look really bad. (Once again IMO) Like it was said, the Evo could just about beat anything under 90k, and the STi is just right up there with it. With that much performence Its a car that many would love to have.

~Like said many times, test drive both cars and see which is for you. You really can't go wrong with 2 great cars. If you picked the Evo and see a 350Z just remember You could smoke that thing easily, Unless the Z was highly tuned. And if you picked the Z and see a Evo just remember your car looks better

 

hahah wow bboypuertoroc just put u ppl in ur places....
I had an evo and my dad owns a 06 viper srt10 and all i can say is not even the viper can catch up to the evo's handling

anyways im thinking about getting a Z....already done with evos =D

 

Why are you done? Bad experience with it? People keep clowning you for being a FF wanabe? Tired of having all that control over all terrain all weather? Or do you hate the look so bad that you'd rather downgrade performance for looks?

 

350z...if u're going for more of a street look...then Evo

 

+1

 

nah im done with evos becus i want a car that i can start from a base platforn like building it to make it fast...the evo was already fast stock, and i had alot of fun with it. Now I want a car that i want to build like adding F/I and such.....and of course i want the rwd fun =D

 

and no, I did not have any bad experiences with the evo (aside from the stalling from my vta bov, but that applies to many,and i should have recirculated it)

 

I test drove an MR this past weekend (I would only consider the MR trim). Dealer had three of them. All marked up $5000. WHATEVER.

Anyway, the car is very easy to toss around, fun to drive for sure. It pulls to a certain point but then gets this odd sharp flattening of the torque band. Whereas the Z just feels like it pulls all the way to redline (at least mine).

I love that even a big dude like me can easily fit in the backseat even with the front seat adjusted for me. It's a great 4-seater. My wife would definitely perferred me buying this she has told me. Have all the sporting fun I want PLUS be able to haul the family and or friends around. The seats are comfy and supportive, more so than the Z.

But you know why I passed?

 

LOL, after work when i hit the gym, i sometimes end up parking my stock Silver Z next to a guy who has a silver modded EVO. Im coming out one day, and these two guys are pointing in our cars direction and one guy says, man, look at that ride!!! the other guy says, dude! that is Nice as hell! as theyre walking around my Z and totally ignoring the EVO with all the mods(CF hood, body kit, bigger intercooler, etc). That made my night.

 

dude get an evo....

evos are easy to mod... you're going to spend upwards of $15-$20k to get the same perform as an Evo with like $5k of mods....

plus the evo has backseats, awd, handles like its on freaken rails and is turbo....

Z's may look nicer, but the freaken engine is a joke.... its also used in muranos, maximas, altimas, fx35's, g35's m35's, etc etc.....

I hate the vq35 engine. It makes crap for power. An intake and exhaust will give you what? 8hp on a Z? What a freaken joke....

 

Get a TL.

 

^^ lmao

 

we are all z pwners here and big z fans. for the majority we will all say z because that is what we have. test them both. both cars r fast. depends on what u want. i like em both but i obviously like the z better. i own one. :-)

 

you must ask yourself this

do you want a car that looks great and performs above average?

or

do you want a car that looks average and performs outstanding?

there really is no comparison when it comes to looks....

The Z looks classy, refined, upscale and people mistake it for a $50,000-$60,000 type car... People who aren't into cars always get surprised when I tell them they can purchase one for like $28k out the door.

In terms of performance, its all evo....
Evo's can get into the 12's stock for crying out loud....
The turbo engines are way better for modding because they actually get decent gains with things like intake, exhaust etc etc, whereas Z's get like what? 4hp for some exhausts? BS!!

But the thing about the EVO is people who don't know about cars will mistake you for some stupid street racer. Cops are more bound to harass you because they think you're driving some stupid civic.



or maybe you should engine swap it. Purchase a Z and then swap out the VQ35 engine for LS2 engine.

 

hahah coudn't agree on it any more