35is versus 370z - anyone driven both?

[James Junior]

Getting impatient in the hunt for a 35is and starting to look at 370zs again.

I have never been entirely struck on the styling, and the interiors are a bit busy and plasticy, but there's no denying they are very well specced and excellent value. I like the idea of mooching around in a big displacement woofly V6. Just what I need for the daily commute into Manchester. :lol:

With an exhaust to make it sound like it should and some spacers to sort out the stance issue (ever looked closely at the recessed rear wheels?) I am sure it would make a nice daily. I am a little put off by the reports of tyre noise on motorway journeys however.

Obviously I need to test drive both myself, but not that easy when none of either come up locally very often. In the meantime would be interested in people's views.

 

[Maniac]

Yes I drove both before getting the 35i. I thought the suspension too hard on the 370z and no perceptible exhaust noise at all.

The Nissan felt plasticky and the engine noise warbly. So e89 I went. Arguably the Nissan would have been more reliable but faults aside I still love the e89 and I don't think the Nissan was special enough.

 

[techathy]

I did test drive the 370Z, in all honesty I can't actually remember what it was like so it wasn't bad at anything but also wasn't good enough to be memorable.

 

[James Junior]

Hi Maniac - long time!

Yeah the standard exhaust note on the 350s and the 370s is pitiful. It must take effort to make a big lunged V6 sound so subdued!

Agree on the plastics in the interior.

However, £20k bags a mint low miler with change for mods, so still quite attractive I feel, even if it lacks the class and polish of the Z4.

 

[Jaw]

I've toyed with the 370z in the past and I got to the same conclusion when testing GTRs.

1) They make more sense on the track
2) Despite the sports car category and price tag, they're still nissans which you become painfully aware of when sat in them.. Not necessarily a bad thing, but don't expect a luxury feel.. Not to say it felt bargain basement either it was just noticably.. nissan?

The 370 had hard suspension which wasn't a downer for me at all, but wasnt very exciting to drive with little discernable engine or exhaust note.

I did like to auto blipping manual box, and it handled nicely - I think my problem was that I read a load of reviews before then didn't get to experience the 'up' points on the road.. Reckon I'd grow to love it - it's quite a different choice from the 35 though.

 

[sars]

I have to say if you are thinking about the 370, then why not just go with 35i with DCT, yes it's not as quick or exclusive as the 35is but it's going to be better than the 370

 

[Billy]

Getting impatient in the hunt for a 35is and starting to look at 370zs again.

I have never been entirely struck on the styling, and the interiors are a bit busy and plasticy, but there's no denying they are very well specced and excellent value. I like the idea of mooching around in a big displacement woofly V6. Just what I need for the daily commute into Manchester. :lol:

With an exhaust to make it sound like it should and some spacers to sort out the stance issue (ever looked closely at the recessed rear wheels?) I am sure it would make a nice daily. I am a little put off by the reports of tyre noise on motorway journeys however.

Obviously I need to test drive both myself, but not that easy when none of either come up locally very often. In the meantime would be interested in people's views.

I have driven the Micra as a rental... Was crap, can't be too different to a 350, 370 or GTR I reckon

 

[ste01]

Hi

Just purchased a new 28i picked it up this morning but slight problem and it is back at the dealers (air bag warning light).Before that have run a 370Z GT for 3 years, the auto blip on the change down is great, did enjoy it, loads of torque and it was quick very quick, but spend a lot of the time with the tail stepping out and eating rear tyres,and around town you are looking at high teens when it come to fuel consumption, and the was a issue with the clutch slave cylinder (guys in the US have been changing to after market units).had mine changed twice, Interior quality on the Z4 is far superior to the 370Z, as for drive ability as in handling and day to day driving of the Z4 v 370Z that I cannot comment on yet.

 

[James Junior]

Thanks guys. Found a paddleshift one in Scunthorpe so off to have a look and take it for a drive tomorrow morning so will let you know how it goes. :driving:

 

[USZ4]

I previously owned a 2012 370Z roadster for a year and here is my recap:
- Power, torque and speed are amazing. Leaves a 6 cylinder Z4 in the rear view mirror
- Tremendous handling. Add Nismo sway bars and it really gets fun! Lots of fun to toss around on a curvy road
- Lots of tire noise with original Bridgestone tires. Michelin replacements were a little bit quieter
- Front tire wear. Expect to get about 15K miles on a set of front tires. Nissan rep indicates that this is normal. Factory Alignment settings contribute to the issue. Some colleagues tweaked their alignment settings, but it only marginally improved tire life
- Interior has tons of plastic
- OEM sound system w/nav is better than a Z4
- lots of creaks and squeaking plastic noises
- convertible top stretch and tears made me get rid of the car after a year. Dealer installed multiple OEM tops, but problem would resurface after 4 months

 

[AndyJ]

We have just swapped our 370z coupe Auto in for an Evoque. Excellent car and we enjoyed owning it for well over 3 years. Superb value too, purchased 1 year old with low mileage for £22k and sold for £16k.

No issues over the ownership, sensible priced servicing with Nissan, very much recommended.

You get a lot as standard on these cars too and the options list is refreshingly short.

 

[James Junior]

Thanks for your input Andy and USZ4. I ended up cancelling my test drive due to poor weather conditions.

Although I love the idea of rumbling around in torquey V6, the more I hear about the tyre roar the more I am put off a 370Z to be honest.

I found a thread discussing it on one of the forums and a number of current owners were being very prickly about the issue, however given that most of the motoring press and current owners report issues with tyre roar, it must be pretty bad.

Some were using the excuse that it is a sports car and so is meant to be that way, but it just sounds like significant design flaw to me.

I know they tried to remedy it with the GT Edition, but finding one of those nearby in Auto form would take a long time.

 

[AndyJ]

Morning JJ,

We drove the car for approximately 30,000 miles across varied roads and conditions in the UK. We are normal drivers, not journalists, not boy racers, not people used to driving a Jag, used to owning sports cars.

To us the tyre noise was a non-issue. All sports cars with big wide low profile tyres have this to some extent and the Z4 isn't a million mile different. The only time it become bad was over certain short concrete stretches of motorway (which I'm sure would also sound bad in many other cars).

I read all about this before we purchased it. Once owned we very rarely thought of it again.

 

[john-e89]

Fair bit of tyre noise with the roof up in my 35is with Bridgestone run flats as well James, does'nt particularly bother me but I can imagine it could get tiresome (excuse the pun) on a long run. I'm sure Jamesbond posted complaining about it on his a while back. Can't comment on other tyre brands in run flat but might be something to bear in mind if you find a 35is.

 

[techathy]

Fair bit of tyre noise with the roof up in my 35is with Bridgestone run flats as well James, does'nt particularly bother me but I can imagine it could get tiresome (excuse the pun) on a long run. I'm sure Jamesbond posted complaining about it on his a while back. Can't comment on other tyre brands in run flat but might be something to bear in mind if you find a 35is.

3 words - hessian shopping bags

I usually have 2 or 3 of them on their side in my boot and really notice when the roof is up and they're missing.

 

[john-e89]

Good tip Techathy, maybe also dynamat under the boot trim where you say if noise is a problem for a more long term solution, Sod's law says you're bound to need the bags 1 day when it chucks it down..

 

[techathy]

Not so sure about the dynamat option. It seems to be the baffling effect rather than the sound dampening properties of the bags which reduces the noise

 

[john-e89]

Not so sure about the dynamat option. It seems to be the baffling effect rather than the sound dampening properties of the bags which reduces the noise

Might be even better with Dynamat though which has'nt been tried.. :wink:

 

[techathy]

Tyre noise typically is getting into spaces via small structural tunnels in the chassis then using a large space without baffles as a resonant chamber. Dynamat is basically useless against this kind of noise ingress unless you put enough on to significantly change the boot volume... which we don't really want to do as that would reduce the already limited boot space. If you get a resonant sound at a particular speed then you may well find that dynamat helps as this will change the frequencies at which the panels vibrate. But tyre noise isn't hitting resonances, it just gets louder & louder.

It's also worth noting that I find pulling the luggage retainer down reduces in-cabin tyre noise with an empty boot & the top up. Again this points to a soundbox issue rather than a vibration one. Maybe using using a crushable egg-box foam on some surfaces could help.

 

[john-e89]

Good points. Imagine a couple of pillows down each side of the retainer would work also then for those that the noise bothers.