2007 Nissan 350Z

Extensive upgrades for 2007 mean only minor improvements, but Z is still the last letter in affordable sports cars

By MARK VAUGHN
AutoWeek | Published 04/27/07, 11:40 am et

AT A GLANCE:
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $28,515
DRIVETRAIN: 3.5-liter, 306-hp, 268-lb-ft V6; rwd, six-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 3339 lb
0 TO 60 MPH: 5.5 sec (est.)
FUEL MILEAGE (EPA combined): 22 mpg
Tired of poseur GT cars that are “sporty” but not really much fun? Perhaps what you need is a real sports car. In case you’ve forgotten, Nissan still sells the 350Z.

Had the Z fallen off your radar? After the massive hype and a three-year GTR-like media feeding frenzy that accompanied the debut of the current model in 2002, the halo car of the Nissan division had settled into the “semi-obscurity” of 25,000 sales a year. While the next big redesign comes in 2009 (with a rumored bump to 3.7 liters in engine displacement), the current Z has had an impressively thorough engine redo that accomplished . . . little.

Despite a powerplant that is “over 80 percent new or revised,” the result is a 6-hp increase (19 in the automatics), to 306. Torque remains at 286 lb-ft, but it is spread over a wider band.

The VQ35HR V6 gets a new block, cylinder heads, connecting rods, pistons and intake. The intake ports are straighter, too, for smoother airflow. Both intake and exhaust cams are variable, which allows 10 degrees more intake cam and 5 degrees more exhaust. Better knock sensors afford new variable cam timing to advance the spark farther for more power, compression ratio increases from 10.3:3 to 10.6:1, and redline goes up 500 revs to 7500.

Why don’t those changes produce more? Maybe the mods are aimed at boosting fuel mileage, which seems to be the priority in engineering minds nowadays. If that is the case, mileage goes up by only 1 mpg city and 2 mpg highway in the manual-transmission coupe, to 20 and 27, and by 1 mpg highway in the automatic, to 19 and 26. It’s a little perplexing. For all that engine work, you’d expect 50 more ponies or something.

Yet when you drive the car, you don’t care. Even with only the minor improvements of a mid-cycle change, the 350Z is a highly enjoyable sports car. The return on investment may be small for all the changes, but the original investment still pays dividends in grins.

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tires replace the RE040As that elicited so many complaints on the previous Z. The new rubber is mounted on 18-inch wheels. Touring Coupe models get Rays Engineering forged alloys, 18 inches in front and 19 in the rear.

Driving over the highway in the mountains above Los Angeles immediately reminded us what a great fundamental design this car is and how much we love the FM platform upon which it sits. The enthusiasm shoveled on it four years ago was warranted, it turns out, and things are even better here. It still takes a big bite going into corners, holds on to it through apexes and spits it out at the exits. The Z remains one of the great performance values on the planet.

The Z is in dealerships now, where you can get one for $28,515. The Roadster Enthusiast model goes up $500 compared with 2006 pricing; all other models are only $250 higher.

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