http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_1839/article.html

First negative review I've seen of this car..

 

some people just have to complain to get attention. if i ever owned a car company i would never let road and track touch it, they can rent their own, now tiff is an exception (a more personal opinion).

 

My cousin just bought one. There is so much cheap, lousy looking plastic in this thing. If GM made this car all the reviews would slam it for cheapness...yet very few do. Must be because its Japanese, and all Japanese cars are far superior to American made cars The door panels were just terrible.

 

What? Finally an honest review of the 350Z?

Yep, drove one when they came out. We do the advertising for our local auto dealers association, so I get to drive most anything on nice, long, unsupervised test drives.

Net result: I would RUN AWAY from the 350Z and buy a lightly used Corvette. (Which, not coincidentally, is what I did.)

Forget the cheap plastic and the engine that sounds like an Altima. Forget the rough edges and the less-than-stellar shifter. The car just feels wrong. It's big, it's portly, and it doesn't feel like a sports car. It doesn't want to run.

I applaud our Australian friends!

 

I own a 350z and before I bought it I looked at alot of different cars. I owned a 96 Z28, 99 GTP and I also drove a Z06. Any piece of plastic in the 350z looks and feels better than in any of those cars. For that matter a buddy of mine just bought an Escalade and this vehicle is supposed to be the best GM has to offer, I think the materials in the interior of my 350z are superior.

 

No doubt if this were an american car it would get criticized for harsh ride. I would not be surprised if Nissan paid magazines some bonuses ($$$) to get nice reviews.

 

Take a ride in an XLR

 

I agree with you that the vette performs better than the 350z. I looked at a Z06 before I ended up with the 350z. IMO the quality is better, and the 350z drives better. IMO your discription of the 350z also fits the vette. The vette weighs more, and if you think the quality of materials are better that's your opinion. If I wasn't looking for a car to drive everyday I would consider the vette. To me the 350z feels just perfect for an everyday car. I'll put 100,000 miles on it, and it will be worth more than any vette with that many miles. Just look at what the 300zx's are going for and look at what the C4's are going for. Everyone has their opinion. As for that article, I do not agree, that is the first bad review of the 350z I have seen.

 

I will. I am a GM man at heart and I hope that the XLR turns out good (and the GTO), but it just makes me sick that GM makes all these different cars and they put such garbage in them, and at 70,000+ for an XLR it better be awsome.

 

Did you ever drive a 350z?

 

I don't know a whole lot about the 350Z but I don't think the Z06 you drove weighs more. One of the complaints from a Datsun Z car owner on here was that the new Z did not keep the spirit of the previous cars in terms of being lightweight. I think the 350Z weighs over 3200 pounds.

 

Seems odd to me that you "looked" at a Z06 and then bought the 350Z. I think the 350Z could be fine for it's niche (which would have included a 2003 Camaro/Firebird if not for their demise). However, I think it's clear to most that a Z06 is in a different class of car than the 350Z. Whether it's a better class or not, is certainly open to debate. The 350Z would be better compared to an LS1 Vette, and IMHO, the Vette still wins that. No, I have not driven a 350Z, but have looked at several. They are nice, but they are a little slow for a $30,000+ car for this day and age.

Now, I am merely approaching this from a bang/buck perspective, but for that money, I'd probably get a WRX STi and be much happier. Obviously, you bought one, so you have your reasons, and like I said, I think it's a "nice" car, but I'm not going to go around and compare it to a Vette.

 

Yeah, interesting about that too. I didn't think much of it, but according to Carpoint the Z06 (at 3118) is lighter than the lightest of 350Z's (3188). Granted, 70lbs. will not really be felt by anyone, the Vette's definitely not heavier. I would call the weight issue a wash and start the comparison's elsewhere.

Power is obviously on the Vette's side, Z06 or not. Styling is so subjective, it's not even worth debating. I'll leave the interior debates for others because I don't really have much of a problem with my '94 Z's interior and I'm sure that makes a lot of you cringe.

Still, if I could afford to even "look" at a Z06, the 350Z wouldn't even be on my radar screen. I'd be looking at things like Berger Camaros and such first.

 

Depending on which model a 350z is 3100-3200. A Z06 weighs about the same.

 

I never said I was buying the Z06. I was offered a chance to dirve it and I took it. I was just comparing the two. But I would rather drive the 350 everyday rather than the vette. The vette is a brute compared to the 350z.