ShottsCruisers

Will I regret it? Story:

Was in a nearby town...ran into somebody I know who sells cars...he told me about the client of his who buys and drives exotics. This guy traded 3 cars in toward a new M5. One was the 2006 350Z......

It's has only 5000 miles on it
$15K in Stillen mods...S/C Stage 3 (405HP), tunable/adjustable electronic suspension, custom exhaust, new hood with intake, powercoated black OEM wheels...all the paperwork and warranty from Stillen.

I did not get to drive it because I heard about it and then seen it at dinner and I already had a drink. The guy did take off as we watched and we were in awe.

So, here's the deal. My 06 is like showroom condition despite it's 30K miles. It's had no problems though we worry for the future and are comtemplating a $2000 warranty buy. To me, handling is most important though acceleration floats my boat as well. The idea of owning a unique car sounds amazing as well. My concern....despite intense speed, we might miss the Rx8 for whatever reasons.

Figures...I think the deal on the Z is amazing...$32K. KBB ran $22K+ for my 06 Rx8. So $10K to trade (well, only $8K cause I'd not buy a warranty on the Z). What are gut feeling on this? Of course I'd drive the thing first, but of now I've never driven a 350Z. The car is 1.5 hours from my house. I hear 350Z insurance is much higher? True? (Though I'm 47 and get good rates)

?????

Aznxkaiser

KBB is bs. You will not get 22k for your RX8, not for a trade in or for a individual sale.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...eadExists=true
You can get a 2006 with less than 20k mileage for only 15k. Also spending 32k on a used 350z (even if it has S/C and supporting mods) is steep, are you financially ready to spend that much? Handling or powerwise the Z will not disappoint you but financially speaking this is going to hurt you.

dos

^What Aznxkaiser said +1.

Telexen

$15k for a 2006 with <20k miles is a really good deal - even for a Sport (doesn't look like it has a sunroof), but it's closer than $22k - especially trade-in.

ShottsCruisers

My 8 has the aero appearance package, deluxe 18" polished wheels, sunroof, 2-tone (red and black) leather seats....much nicer than the one in that link. You still think I can't get $22K for my 8?

jiggawha1

I bought my 06 with 28k miles for $15000 so I highly doubt $7k more for a gt model

ShottsCruisers

Makes sense. Worst case scenario.....the swap costs too much making it not worth it. That means I'll be stuck with my showroom condition car I love so much.

God....I'm not a Z-man, never been. That thing was suweet though. I can see $5-8000 for the swap....not worth $10K or $10K+ though.

wassup_nuthin

s/c z's= pretty slow. ive ridden in a vortech s/c z had 390 horses i think and was not impressive compared to the greddy twin turbo z with a little over 500 horses and the greddy kit is only around 5k.... so 35k for this z is way steep. ide keep your 8 and turbo it

04RX8man

yeah i agree with wassup the TT Z's are much quicker...but if that's what you feel you would do go for it I mean do what you want not what we want

lucifuge

Your posting reveals a lot of personal confusion.

Rx8's are more about handling, feel, are wonderful to drive and are light. All-out acceleration is not their strong points. A 350Z however is almost the opposite in performance; quick acceleration, more power, more torque, but I keep hearing how tiring it is to drive. Many reviews end with the 350Z outperforming the Rx8, yet the reviewers would prefer to own the Rx8! That says a lot right there.

As for uniqueness in what that particular 350Z offers, you already have a bloody unique car right now!! The only factory rotary available.

My gut feeling is you'll love the 350z for 14 seconds (or less) ie a quarter mile, But miss your Rx8 for the other 23+ hrs in a day. Other thing to remember is while they are both great cars, people ususally have a clear preference for one over the other. So if you really like what you have now, by that logic, I suspect you are going to end up upset.

SilverHokie

iTrader: (1)

Trade that in for a 09 RX-8 R3 and dont look back. BAM!

ShottsCruisers

This post is 100% correct and why I own and love my 8. And further....you point out the exact Z issues that might make me regret the buy. I took the 8 out last night.....I can't sell it. I'll buy the friggin' warranty and enjoy until it dies.

THANKS ALL!

ShottsCruisers

You know how I got sucked in to the idea of the S/C Z? Earlier that day I drove a new Evo 5-speed. I will say that the power is explosive when it kicks in. Overall, we hated the car. It was really hard to drive around town without lugging the engine from the lights. It was really cheap inside. The Recaro seats only adjusted for recline. I couldn't adjust the bottom seat and was never comfortable. Loud...jiggly...but the POWER was awesome...after the lag after every upshift. I thought that Z might be as fast though in a far nicer package overall. I was blinded.

lucifuge

It's easy to get confused, the fact is there are some wonderful cars out there and we tend to take for granted what we have already. The grass usually seems greener on the other side.

TThell

well I guess I can add my 0.02 cents since I use to own a G35 with the Stillen S/C and the stage 3 pulley on it

what I can tell you is that with it being a positive displacment S/C that as soon as you stepped on the pedal it would go, and the RPM and boost would climb pretty quick, also as far as a daily driver goes it was a very good car, being tame when you just wanted to stroll around town but when you wanted the power it was just waiting there.

I remember going down the highway doing 70-75 MPH like eveyone else and a caddy CTS came along side and all I can say is the power was there even at highway speads.

well now for the bad news, this kit adds 2 extra belts to the front, which leaves alot of room for slippage, I can remember always having to check for sqeaking belts, and if it is the older system like mine was it is only a 4 rib belt on the top pulley which they have now changed to a 6 rib, this might help prevent the slipping

and the power stearing pully on the left side as you are looking at the car is kind of a small pulley and I was worried the bearings were not made to hold up will all the force of the extra accesory coming off of it, I remember hearing what I thought was the power stearing shaft grinding a little.

even with all that on a good day it was quite an amazing kit and realative easy to install, with no tuning needed (their SS Box is locked)
and oh yea you have to watch out for the fuel pump which at stage 3 is pushing it's flow rate (according to a memeber of the G forum)

and it sound like a skinning cat when you stepped on it

here a few pics

one pre install and one post