HiddenWomble

would be nice to get a sticky for places to buy from. i've seen quite a few online shops mentioned in the main tire thread, so i know where to go to hunt for them. just be a lot easier if there was one place for people to talk about where to buy from as opposed to what to buy

21 sounds good if you're doing normal driving. i do a little pottering about town but the vast bulk is 2-5 hrs on the motorway to see a client. so my ave mpg is gonna be a lot higher than most

both cars i test drove showed the ave mpg at 9!

not sure how those tires compare, but there are plenty of members who do know their rubber. what i've gleaned from browsing about is the Michelin pilot super sports are one of the best to aim for if you can get a good price. i have no idea how it works, but they seem to have great grip in dry and wet, and yet somehow also have good durability too. sounds like black magic to be as normally you get a trade-off between grip and durability! as i'm not used to that much grip i've put them further down the list than some of the mechanical things i want to do first (eg service and a preventative replacement of the oil gallery gasket).

i think running costs in general are very reasonable, unless you contract zeditus, then you can kiss goodbye to all your money

it's easy, set cruise control to 70 and wait for the ave mpg to go up and up .

that said it's been bouncing between 22 and 28 recently...

i'm with first choice, cheapest offer and no mods policy. there are specialists on this forum though that will be happy to quote me next year when i have some experience in a performance car.

what tires do you have? that can make a massive difference. take a read through the tires forum section and see if your tires are mentioned on there and what people have to say about them. mine has felt very planted in the dry even with these no-name tires on, and a lot more planted than my last car in the wet (despite being 0.3 ton heavier). kinda makes me wonder what she will be like when i get her a proper set of shoes

I got 4 wheels in the 350 without any need for extended boots - and with the awful strut bar in the way.

 

Looks like a good idea though, hadn't though about redesigning the boot

i tried to fit a large computer box in and came to the conclusion that i'd have to take the computer out of the box to drive it to a customers site!

You didn't test drive an HR today did you?!

 

No definitely tested a DE. It just seem like my my one doesn't rev too happy, which is kind of strange to me.

 

Thanks for the replies and info regarding traders - I'll ring around.

I think they did a revision of the DE in 2006, though those changes clash with the GT4 so I'm not 100% on the facts. I think they did the GT4, did a limited run, then a year or so later put some of the tweaks into the rev-up DE engine before the HR was released.

Original DE red lined at 6.5K rpm, the rev-up goes to 7K and the HR goes to 7.5K. So maybe you did test a DE with a different engine to yours?

That said I think it's worth taking your baby to an expert.

^^^ here's hoping haha wouldn't mind the 350z staying solid price wise for a few years. I put my car on wee buy any car site just to see what I would get (usually they are about £1200 out than a private sale) but I keep getting emails each week saying you 350z is up in price and the new quote I am now £100 up from what a paid 1 year ago haha miles are lowish but still good going.

I did my price checking on autotrader last winter, decided £7-8K was a sensible place to get a good choice of the cheaper HR's. To my shock there was not a single one below £8K when I went to check again this summer! I think that is partly due to powerful RWD cars being harder to shift in the winter, but I was still expecting to have seen some price drop after 6 months.

Would be nice if their prices stabilised, but I think I do far too much mileage each year to enjoy any benefits from that. That said I got this car to live with, not to have a fling with, so I know I'll get my moneys worth

i got mine from wales, by the time i'd got back into england my face was aching from the smile that's not even prating about, just normal motorway driving and enjoying how effortless she is to change speeds, even in 6th. mpg was 32 for that trip! my 1.8 V6 did 30 mpg, it's like i get to eat my own cake!

be careful with the mods for the first year. most budget insurance companies will completely refuse to insure you with any mods, performance or cosmetic! in a years time though the specilists may be interested in signing you up, and they tend to be a lot more mod friendly. i'm going down that path now which means i have a good reason to keep her stock for a year, and that in turn means i'll be better placed to notice any changes i make next year

as for upkeep, take a bit of time to read through this forum, there is a metric butt ton of info on here on what can go wrong on a zed and what it takes to put it right again. that's not to say she's a problem car, it's just we have the luxury of a lot of enthusiasts documenting every issue so we get good visibility on what to look out for.

They actually told me that none of their underwriters were willing to insure me on that vehicle as I was under 28 years old! So they said I just had to buy out my contract but wouldn't charge me a cancellation fee as they were unable to offer me an alternative.

I ended up paying £200 per year more than the 307 cost me. So it wasn't as bad as I originally feared!

hehe, yup i thought they would freak out. my lot wanted double the premium, that's with 9 years NCB. nice that they let you go without all the fees though.

quite impressed at how affordable she is. insurance is quite reasonable, 30+ mpg on the open road, even the servicing costs are fairly normal for a modern car. it's all very sensible until you put your foot down, then she can make you grin so much that your face starts to hurt

Gotta be the HR bonnet for me, though I do like to know there is a good reason behind needing that bulge. I really like the way the main curve of the bonnet gets broken up, makes for a nice view from outside and also from the drivers seat

I used to be encased in the glorious Peugeot 307 1.6! So, yeah.... I've now discovered unheard of speeds such as 70mph

Very nice upgrade then

Did your last insurance company faint when you told them what you were buying next? Mine freaked out and pulled a very large number out of the hat, I finished off that conversation by finding out how much it would cost to terminate my policy early!

Hola

Fingers crossed for you, it's a horrible feeling driving a car that you think might be breaking and getting worse :/

hola

what have you upgraded from? my last car was a 1.8 V6, front wheel drive

hola and good luck in your hunt

Just check out how many new members have signed up in the last few weeks with tales of their new zed!

gratz and she looks fantastic

Hola

Love the pic, I've got a real weakness for black cars and the HR with that bonnet bulge just looks fantastic

For the 350z HR the UK manual says the following

kinda depends on your priorities. i'm very happy with my less than perfect 313 HR as i wanted a car that would rev higher than my last car. so i've put more emphasis on the engine and the cosmetics can be sorted out later (things like a crack in the bumper and scratched door panels). i did get very lucky on the price though as most HR's start at 8K, though they might drop again to 7K in the winter which is where they started at last winter when i first priced things up.

i did test drive a DE and an HR and to the untrained bum there was no real difference in speed. that said i did like how much further the revs went on the HR, but the rev up is slap bang in the middle of the first DE and the HR and will be priced much closer to budget.

so, what's best? for me i'd save up that bit longer for an HR, for you a mint condition DE might be a far better choice, that's all down to personal preference. naturally a well serviced car would trump over trim or engine type, but other than that, what does your gut tell you is more important?

ahh there we are, thanks for the share

Hola, I hope your search goes swiftly. I got my zed in wales, by the time I was in england my face was aching from the smile

Maybe this was the reason my engine went but it was a DE engine, has there been any reported DE failures here or across the pond?

I can't find it now, but I got it into my head it was 350Z HR onwards. that said the guy quoting part numbers just specifies 3.5 and 3.7L engines

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/99607-zed-owners-must-read-p0011-p0021-caused-by-oil-gallery-gaskets/

I remember reading your thread and finding that as a result of what you'd gone through.

when i was forum lurking last year i discovered the zed has magical properties that attracts other cars making them park next to it. even when at the far side of the car park at quiet times where there are tons of slots next to the entrance. the only known cure is to find another sexeh car and group up with it. strength in numbers and all that combined with knowing the other driver will be just as careful with his door as you are

thanks for sharing