Originally posted by rai
So there you have it. The 350Z is a fast car, but not as fast as the RX-7 turbo.

The 350Z dyno chart below is from the review on http:\\www.sportcompactcarweb.com. The 300ZX dyno chart includes two key mods: K&N filters in the stock air box and a cat back exhaust made from 2.5 inch mandrel bent tubing and Borla sport turbo mufflers.

The 350Z redlines at 6500, the 300zx at 7200, with the last line showing redline numbers. Note that the 350Z is brand new, perhaps not completely broken in, but has microfinished crank journals and cam surfaces for lower friction losses and a carbon fiber driveshaft and my 300zxtt has 110k miles with some loss of compression, but with two mods that really open it up and help the engine breathe.

Looks like the 350Z has it all over the 300zx at 2000 rpm with a 15hp and 35 ft-lbs of torque advantage. But as soon as the turbos start to spool up at 3000 rpm, the 300zx has caught up with virtually even hp and torque numbers. Between 4000 and 5000 the twin turbo has a big advantage with 15-20 more hp and 20-30 more lb-ft of torque. By 6000 rpm the two engines are about equal again, but the 300zx will rev 700 rpm higher. The above numbers actually cut off the 300zx torque peak of 272 ft-lbs at 4500 rpm. Remember, these are chassis dyno numbers, so you can divide by 0.85 to account for the estimated 15% losses in the drive train.

I'd say the 300zxtt is much more powerful overall, but gives up something off the line. You'll also have to downshift to tap into the 300zxtt power when cruising, whereas the 350Z will just respond to the pedal for passing.