Wonder what's my best bet
 

Ok so I'm trying to figure out what year to get. I also want to see if it's worth me getting the HR and 07 or 08 . They do cost more money but I can have an 04-06 for much cheaper. I'm going to build it for boost anyhow so is it really worth me spending the money to get the HR motor. What makes it so better. In the end as I'm going to build both. Thanks for the help.

No idea about the pros and con's of going boosted, but having owned an 03 and now 08, so I can tell you its much better. The red line is now 7500, the engine just performs better all around, and everyone says its been reengineered to be incredibly durable. Plus you'll be getting the newest transmission which is the best of all models.

However, keep in mind that the 08 has a weak clutch master cylinder that is inside the transmission. Meaning at some point you will have to have the transmission dropped which will be costly.

Still, for the performance and the reliability everywhere else, its better.

Of course a HR would be nice if you have extra money, but if you truly are going for boost a DE will be just fine. The DE has more aftermarket support for boost and if I remember correctly is built to hold as much power as the HR

I would be most concerned with transmission issues. The 03-05s were known to have more synchro issues than the updated trans. That being said, I still had a 3rd and 6th grind in my 08.

I've wanted to get a project car to tinker with and go turbo, but I don't want to spend my money for repairs vs upgrades and finding an unmolested 03-05 may be hard, not impossible. If it were me, I'd still get the HR just to learn the car and decide where you wanted to go. But, I'm biased.

Good luck

I'm not a boost guru or anything, but from the time I've spent researching on the Z over the years, here's what I've concluded to:

If you are building from the ground up, you should go with a DE.

The HR motor is fairly well built and much more solid/refined than a stock DE, so you can expect to boost it to 400-500 rwhp as long as not too high torque.

The problem with the Z as stated above is the transmission. You'd want a CD009 transmission regardless, so if you have a DE, you're definitely going to need to replace the trans as 06+ come with the CD009.

What level of boosting are you looking to do?

Boosting is 03-06, more options, NA go 07+.

I'm not sure yet on psi but I would like 700whp on race and 520-530whp is on pump. Some where in that area. I have 580 on pump with my z32.

I mean you are trying to get more Horsepower than a full blown GTR has. I don't have a clue how it is going to hold up. Surely not with a DE engine. :suicide:

I know this is a 350z forum but you need to go out and buy a F body GM car with a LS1 in it, say a 2000 and go from there. 350z's are really too expensive to push that much HP and live long.

They are more to me of a sort of big go kart than a drag racer. I have no clue what you could even do with that much HP on the street or even on a race track. Sounds like a good way to lose your license or your life lol. :eek:

You have to remember that a 350Z has 213 cubic inches. You are trying to almost triple the HP to engine size. You are close to making a Formula 1 car engine for the street in a sense.

The same thing I been doing with 700 whp for the last three years....in my 300zx... Go fast. I do turn it down to about 500 for track days though

Any z can have a synchro issue.. I've heard of each tranny grinding. Nissan didn't do such a great job for our cars.

My z is 2004 and has no grind but you will notice every z even the 2007+ with CD009 is quite clunky.

For example driving a civic si feels butter smooth where the 350z no matter what year is like putting a square peg in a round hole.