Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009) Review
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Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009) At A Glance
Proper sports car. Wonderful handling, performance and a very good drive. 300PS 350Zs from March 2006 get hit by high £505 annual VED.
Quite heavy on the fuel. Not much luggage space. Long stroke 310PS engine not as gutsy as previous 300PS engine.
Imagine the perfect afternoon. The Cotswolds. Clear blue skies. Open top-sportscar. And 300bhp under your right foot.
Could it have been the combination that made me like the 350Z so much? Or was it the car?
It was even my favourite Nissan colour, described as "Sunset Orange". It had Nissan's excellent Birdview DVD satnav, a reasonable £1,200 extra. And ‘Alezan' Orange leather seats, that won't be to everyone's taste but had a kind of sweatwork effect woven section that stops you sticking to them.
Reviews for Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009)'s top 3 rivals
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Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009) handling and engines
- Readers report Real MPG to be between 18–29 mpg
The engine note is pure fruity, bellowing V6 sportscar. Not too loud. Just wonderfully sonorous. The gearshift is precise, yet pleasingly clanky and old fashioned. You feel like you are working a big, strong box, plenty man enough for the engine's substantial 353Nm torque. And you have to get clutch and revs right, which is as it should be. It's a powerful car. You have to think. You can't just get in and drive.
On paper, the performance is supposed to be near identical to the Mercedes SLK 280 I had last week. 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. Top speed limited to 155. But, being manual, the Nissan feels massively faster. Traction control switched off for the steep hill out of Broadway it simply stormed up in a succession of neatly contained drifts, leaving everything else in its wake.
Strangely enough, on our run through the Cotswolds, we kept seeing Austin Healeys. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Cotswold residents for continuing to be the most polite and generous motorists I have shared roads with in the UK.
On the way back to Surrey we got stuck in a traffic jam. Took more than an hour to cover a mile. Yet despite the fun in the Cotswolds and idling fuel away in the jam we still managed 23mpg, which is only 0.5mpg short of the official combined figure.
The pleasure continued with a sightseeing run into London on a sunny Sunday. Docile as an old dog in the inevitable nose-to-tailers. A surprisingly comfortable ride on the pockmarked, traffic harming streets of Mouth Ken despite 225/45 R18 fronts and 245/45 R18 rears. Much better than the SLK280 on 225/45 R17 fronts and 245/40 R17 rears.
I love this car. It's powerful enough without being silly powerful. It handles brilliantly with bags of feel. It isn't crazy money to buy. It's brutally ugly, like a squashed toad. But I like that too. Sure the boot is tiny, the roof mechanism isn't the best and you can't see much with the top up. I don't care. I much preferred it to the SLK280 and if I had the cash to spare I'd definitely buy one.
| Engine | MPG | 0-62 | CO2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 V6 | 24 mpg | 6.1–6.2 s | 280–288 g/km |
Real MPG average for the Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009)
Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.
Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.
Average performance
99%
Real MPG
18–29 mpg
MPGs submitted
13
Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009) interior
- Boot space is 130 litres
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Length | 4315 mm |
| Width | 1815 mm |
| Height | 1330 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2650 mm |
Dropping the top is a fiddly old process. You have to unclip it at the centre of the screen rail, have the engine running, put your foot on the footbrake, then find a button hidden under the dash. But when it's down the car looks fantastic. Unlike many sportscars, the cabin is actually very spacious with plenty of useful places to stow or put things. You don't feel claustrophobic in as you can in an MX5. And when you adjust the steering wheel height the instruments go up and down with it, so you can always see them clearly.
Nissan 350Z Roadster (2005 – 2009) models and specs
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Length | 4315 mm |
| Width | 1815 mm |
| Height | 1330 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2650 mm |
| Miscellaneous | |
|---|---|
| Kerb Weight | 1637–1648 kg |
| Boot Space | 130 L |
| Warranty | 3 years |
| Servicing | 9000 miles |
| Costs | |
|---|---|
| List Price | £27,995–£30,695 |
| Insurance Groups | - |
| Road Tax Bands | M |
| Official MPG | 23.5 mpg |
| Euro NCAP Safety Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Adult | - |
| Child | - |
| Pedestrian | - |
| Overall | - |
On sale until February 2009
| Open Car | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Version | List Price | MPG | 0-62 |
| 3.5 V6 Roadster | £28,195 | 23.5 mpg | 6.1 s |
| 3.5 V6 Roadster with GT pack | £30,695 | 23.5 mpg | 6.1 s |
On sale until October 2006
| Open Car | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Version | List Price | MPG | 0-62 |
| 3.5 V6 Roadster | £27,995 | 23.5 mpg | 6.2 s |
| 3.5 V6 Roadster with GT pack | £30,495 | 23.5 mpg | 6.2 s |
Model History
October 2004
£2,000 deposits taken for 350Z Roadster. Sold out within an hour. List prices Roadster £26,000. GT Roadster £28,500. All very good to drive. Supply situation became much better in 2005 with all models discounted.
March 2005
Two-seater 'Z car' with 277bhp 3,498cc V6 pumping out 267lb ft torque through a six-speed gearbox. 4,310mm long by 1,815mm wide by 1,320mm high and weigning in at 1,440kg.
Factory figures are 155mph (limited) and 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds. Combined consumption 24.8mpg; CO2 estimated at 273g/km. Prices from £24,000. GT pack of electric leather seats, cruise control and Bose sound system costs £2,500 extra. 225/45 R18 Potenzas on the front; 245/45 R18 Potenzas on the rear.
January 2006
Power hike for 2006 models to 300PS at 7,000rpm. Restyled front end, new look headlamps, LED tail lamps, repositioned switchgear, better cockpit storage, speed dependent power steering, coupe has standard Bluetooth integration. 0-60mph down to 5.5 seconds (6.0 seconds for roadster). Same electronically limited 155mph top speed. Optional Birdview satnav with TMC (Traffic Message Channel).
Prices Coupe £26,300, GT Coupe £28,800, Roadster £27,800, GT Roadster £30,300. Excellent Birdview Satnav with TMC (traffic information) a £1,200 option. GT pack adds electric heated leather seats, 3240W Bose sound syste, 6CD dashboard multiplayer and cruise control.
July 2006
350Z GT-S concept show at July 2006 London Motor Show with Novidem supercharger raising poert to 382PS and torque to 425Nm. 0-60mph cut to 4.8 seconds. 2.5 seconds cut from 0-100mph time.
May 2007
Mild facelift May 2007 with with 80% uprated engine and 80% another boost in standard power output to 309bhp with torque up to 358Nm. Distinguished by bonnet power bulge. From £26,795 OTR for the Coupe and £28,295 OTR for the Roadster, representing an increase of £300. GT Pack £2,500 more.
What to watch out for
www.350zukownersclub.co.uk and Telegraph readers report a lot of early clutch failures. at between 9,000 and 25,000 miles.
On 06 build gunmetal grey cars the paint over the plastic parts changes colour. Seems to be a general problem of paint blistering, leaving damage that looks like untreated stone chips but isn't. As of 8-6-07 Nissan would not acknowledge this as a fault.
Report of "splinter' in first gear of 3 year old just out of warranty.
17-12-2013: By 8 years old, 350Z Roadsters need to be carefully inspected for rust underneath.
