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Just had my new Z towed to me a couple weeks back, and by new I mean old abandoned hunk of junk that I see potential in. It is a 2003 Nissan 350z, 6 speed, Touring Model that I purchased as a project car. I have been in the Honda game for the past 6 years but have decided to try out Nissan. I currently have a 2003 Mitsubishi Evo and a 1998 Honda CRV (My favorite vehicle out of them all... shh) But am welcoming the Nissan with open arms for this car might work its way to being my favorite.
I have a TON of work ahead of me yet for the car has been neglected for quite a few years BUT it appears to run extremely smooth after some routine maintenance and fresh fluids. I have turned the car back to stock for now (was not a fan of the wheels, exhaust, intake, stereo system in the car) but my sole purpose of this purchase was based on seeing how much fun people have driving these cars. I would like to focus on my driver skill and dedicate this car as my main track car, hoping to have a few hours of seat time in the next few months.
Here is a before and after photo thus far (:
Top is before, bottom is how it sits now.
I have a TON of work ahead of me yet for the car has been neglected for quite a few years BUT it appears to run extremely smooth after some routine maintenance and fresh fluids. I have turned the car back to stock for now (was not a fan of the wheels, exhaust, intake, stereo system in the car) but my sole purpose of this purchase was based on seeing how much fun people have driving these cars. I would like to focus on my driver skill and dedicate this car as my main track car, hoping to have a few hours of seat time in the next few months.
Great perspective!!
Don't let the foibles of your "project Z" get you down. Most are easy fixes with lots of available parts and a supportive community (for the most part anyways. )
Do I think the Z is the ultimate driver's car? Ehhhhh, maybe.... not really.... kinda sorta.... perhaps.... ("ultimate" is a strong word). But as a hone-the-skills car, yes, very much. It's good enough to keep one safe from themselves with decent handling out of the box, adequate power to train the right foot, and sufficiently sharp reflexes to give a taste of what a performance car should do. But, it's also got just enough bad handling issues (thankfully curable over time) that gives one the opportunity to make mistakes to learn.
Don't let the foibles of your "project Z" get you down. Most are easy fixes with lots of available parts and a supportive community (for the most part anyways. )
Do I think the Z is the ultimate driver's car? Ehhhhh, maybe.... not really.... kinda sorta.... perhaps.... ("ultimate" is a strong word). But as a hone-the-skills car, yes, very much. It's good enough to keep one safe from themselves with decent handling out of the box, adequate power to train the right foot, and sufficiently sharp reflexes to give a taste of what a performance car should do. But, it's also got just enough bad handling issues (thankfully curable over time) that gives one the opportunity to make mistakes to learn.
Welcome to the club!
Thank you!! So far I have found nearly every answer to my Z questions by searching the forums, great support for these cars.
I was looking for a vehicle that would be cheap to insure, cheap to repair, have decent amount of power, decent handling and be RWD. I wanted to stick with Hondas but for the price, it did not appeal to me to spend $9-$13k on a "starter car" being that Honda only made one awesome affordable RWD car, I focused my interest on Nissan. I wanted a car that I could have fun with and be careless about, the Evo is too much of a garage queen and is extremely expensive to maintain and cost of used replacement parts is hefty (learned that the first time I tracked it and spun a rod bearing my first month of owning it) its received a few scuffs from events and highway driving and it bothered me enough to temporarily park the Mitsu and find a vehicle I no longer have to worry about eating away at my wallet. I'm super excited to start this season with the Z to say the least.
Aloha and welcome. I got a beat up roadster last year for $4500 and have worked to make it “right” again. Spent about $3k on it (mainly wheels and tires and new top) and now it’s AWESOME! I’ve driven a lot of cars and my Z ranks up there with the best. It’s very “planted” and even in stock form it’s plenty fast.
This forum is a bit quirky though - maybe you’ve noticed already. Most forums are full of people super enthusiastic about their car/bike/sport etc but this ones a bit jaded and grumpy. The old timers here know their stuff but I wouldn’t call them “enthusiastic” lol! They’ll take the **** out of noobs who ask questions that have been answered already or who ask just dumbass stuff. It’s pretty funny actually. But this place isn’t an “echo chamber” of how fabulous Z cars are - it’s more of a very critical examination of how to make them better. Which is good! But the one thing we lack here is lots of people going on and on about how fantastic Z cars are.
So I’ll be the guy.
These are great cars especially now that the older ones have come down in price. Parts and aftermarket stuff is readily available, there’s lots of great information here about fixing and customizing, and the design of the cars still looks modern.
My best suggestion is to either replace or fully refinish the headlights. New headlights will make an older car look new again for about $250. Of course there’s tires and wheels and intakes etc- but new headlights imho is the best way to refresh a car’s looks. It’s like Botox or something.
Welcome and enjoy the ride braddah!
03-28-2018, 07:08 AM
New Nissan Owner
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