TMW

Have any of you guys done this? Right now I have an S13 and an S14, but I've been thinking about getting rid of them for a 350Z. More power, newer, etc. They're also getting pretty cheap now. Just use this thread for opinions on S-Chassis versus Z33 and to share pics of cool Z33 (dont see too many cool drift styled ones).

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@tannermwilson

BNASTYs13

Yeh. I went from a bolt ons SR making around 280 whp (s15 t28 and 550cc) to a 03 enthusiast and the 350z felt really slow. If you are going from a KAde then yeh itll feel nice. Z33 are great platforms i like them alot but i sold mine after 4 months.

coupesallday!

There's already a thread for Z's...

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jr_ss

This should probably not have its own thread and be located in the small questions thread.

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My SR20VET

TMW

well we'll see, if admin wants to lock so be it

but i could really care less, there isnt any good threads pertaining to z33

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@tannermwilson

az_240

I used to work at a Nissan dealership and drove quite a few Z's... never liked em that much. My first impression was the interior is kinda cheap looking, HORRIBLE blind spots... can hardly see out of the thing, it's slow and felt heavy in the corners. WRX/Evo and ~300 hp 240 are way more fun to drive IMO.

ixfxi

the z33 drives totally different than an s-chassis with sr20det

i felt that the handling was a bit over-sensitive and twitchy...

very linear power though, but that should be given (na vs turbo)

ksuberk54

I've had a 350z for three years. Love it to death. Wouldn't change a thing about it other than being boosted!

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2006 Black 350z - K&N, Megan, Motordyne, Nismo, SPC, Tanabe, XXR

Bushido

350z is superior to 240sx in BULBOUSNESS.

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simmode1

Gonna be honest, after I leave the 240 world, I'm going to S2000's. Honda chassis engineering and the F20/22C are pretty damn amazing in that package. Makes me not so scared of N/A to turbo projects anymore. GTX3076r on the S2K = Oh, hello low end torque! Kicks the raw dog shit out of the Z33 in terms of power production. Plus the S2k still looks good on 17's, which means tires are less expensive. Not necessarily a strong pick for drifting though.

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

TMW

i like the s2000 a lot, but the fact that its not really too "driftable" steers me away from them

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@tannermwilson

simmode1

^^^One of the many reasons I'm liking the S2000 more and more. I can only hope that the driftards continue to steer clear of it. What a terrible fate awaits the thousands of cheap 350Z's on the road today...

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

jr_ss

Maybe, just maybe, they'll move on from the 240's when they are cheap enough to drift into a wall.

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My SR20VET

ixfxi

Chassis & suspension felt good, (lack of) torque from motor felt like poo. S2000's are good cars though, but its a convertible... and a convertible will always be a convertible. Once you own one, you'll know what I am talking about. Good rigidity, all things considered.

Plus, its pretty sad how often their seats get stolen..


Says who? I had no problem sliding the S2000. I found the Z33 more snappy and difficult to control.

simmode1

^^^Shhh... just let him think what he wants. Yeah, S2000's CAN'T be drifted...

I'm also not a fan of its lack of torque in stock form, but what that motor is capable of when turbo'd is nothing short of amazing to me. That is one crazy flowing head. Smokes even a SR20VET VVL, I think, in terms of flow.

As for the convertible, yeah, I'd prefer a T-Top really like the SW20 MR2 or Z32TT. But lets be honest: S2000 is dramatically superior to them. I think I can live with the vert top, but there are hard top options.

Dude, this is already happening. The Z33 is already becoming the cheap weapon of choice for drifters. Grab a 2003, get coilovers, Welded diff, straight pipe. Boom. Ready to go. No expensive mods like engine swaps are needed. The broad powerband takes all the work out of building an amatuer drift car, so the lazy asses are flocking to it for the relative simplicity.

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

ixfxi

honda is not known for over-engineering their cars. what i mean is, they're engineered to support what they make (unlike toyota, for example)

i may be wrong here (though i doubt it), but the rear-end in the s2000 (7" ring gear) cant handle too much power and the high-compression isnt exactly turbo friendly. i would think if you start boosting, you're going to need internals and stronger drivetrain...

going NA -> turbo isnt a walk in the park. do it wrong and your car can easily become a garbage can...... you know, like most of the builds here.

LoneStarSilvia

I owned a S2000 out here in Japan and it's a DAMN good car. You only need to see one perform and an AutoX or Circuit event to be convinced. The lack of torque is pretty lame, but a supercharger, let alone a turbo makes up for it.

I was a convertible hater too, but I didn't mind it one bit when the weather was perfect. Although I did rock an OEM hardtop, some days I couldn't resist but to leave the hardtop in the garage.

I also thought the interior was perfectly simplistic. Having all the controls a fingers length away is genius.

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simmode1

^^^I totally agree about the rear-end (Hell, the drivetrain in general) not being ideal for drifting or putting tons of power/torque to the ground. But there are remedies for that.

However, I was completely surprised to see what a bone stock internal F20/22C was capable of under boost. It seems to defy that conventional logic. 600hp seems to be their 'safe limit' that most choose not to surpass on the S2000's stock internals and those cars have been running fine for a long time under considerable abuse.

http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/9234...can-they-hold/

From what I've been reading, the GTX3076r is a preferred turbo because it will make an ample but not excessive 450hp(ish) with a quick spooling 370+ ft/lbs to produce some real low end torque.

Its a way more fascinating motor than most give it credit for. I mean, it's not bulletproof, but there are alot of examples out there showing that it's much stronger than you'd expect from Honda. I mean, everybody knows that 240hp from a 2.0 is special, but I don't think anyone knew exactly how special it was until they started throwing more boost at it. Like I said earlier: it murders the VQ35 under boost. The HR needs 1.5L more to keep up. The DE's can forget about it.

Another thing I like about S2000's? No hunting around for a manual version. They're all manual! Fucking Awesome.

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

No 240.. No id

Owning a 350z suck. Unlike a s2k or other cars. Everyone is now driving a Z. I'm talking about old people, young you call it.

I wish they were like a s2k's and were all made manual, if they where then now they will have value and be unique.

I have a z and i'm keeping it stock, simply because everyone hella flush them and there is really nothing different that you can do. Its a great daily car, but i still like my 180 way more than the z.

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You can sleep in your car, but you can't drive your house.

fliprayzin240sx

Biggest gripe from people I know who owns 350/370Z is the cost of parts. Atleast double what it cost for S-chassis.

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TMW

s2000 driftu (private course)

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@tannermwilson

ixfxi

Yeah but thats given when you're dealing with a V-motor, you have 2 of everything... usually.


The S2000 differential internals are identical to the 1.8L Miata, so whoever makes lots of power with either of those cars inevitably will have rear-end issues: broken axles and damaged diffs. I dunno, I think in stock form the S2000 is very balanced... any upgrades should be done with lots of care and consideration.

I'll say one thing about the 370/G37 - the 3.7L motor really screams. Makes the 3.5L look like junk in comparison. But all in all, these are totally different types of cars. The Z is a very mass produced car. I dont think I can say the same for the S2000.


The Z is not that type of car. The S2000 is a sports car. The Z is too, but its more of a Grand Tourer. In some ways, its no different than the Mustang (with exception to the GT500).

Its kinda funny, after taking apart my buddies S30 240Z a few months back... I was surprised to see that the 240SX has more in common with the 240Z than the Z32 300ZX.

SilviaSR20DET

Drove my fathers z for a while before he sold it and curently own an s14 for 10+ years still prefer the 240sx in terms of fun factor because of the weight difference (acceleration is much quicker on the 240). If you like cruising then the Z is perfect for that and obviously newer but for a track/drift car 240sx hands down.

simmode1

Totally agree. The VQ35HR & VQ37HR are pretty stout. BUT... I'd still think the F20/22C is superior due to it's comparative simplicity. I saw a VQ37Hr being rebuilt last week. No fucking way. Nissan must have lost their minds with that damn head & cam design. I am not a fan of it. It makes good numbers, but the S2000 is capable of comparable performance under F/I with way less displacement.

As for the S2k's balance with a boosted motor, it's got enough aftermarket support to manage. Anyway, I'm gonna stop with the S2k talk since that isn't what the OP asked about in the first place.

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"Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee

jr_ss

Honda heads flow extremely well, hell even the 4G63 and 4B11 heads flow better than the VVL heads. This is because of the valve angle. S2K heads have their valves almost vertical in the head, which is great for flow.

I know "some" have moved on, I'm hoping all the new fucking retards that have come to the scene will in the end.

AP1 S2K rear ends are glass. I've seen a few people blow them. The AP2 seems to be a bit stronger, but not by a large margin. I believe a common swap is to an RX7 rear end, but I'm not sure what all is involved with that.

The nice thing is their motors are fully forged from the factory. Good looking cars, I'm not generally a vert fan, but the Spoon or OE hardtop change the game quite a bit.

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My SR20VET

Memberofthe600hpkaclub

Actually z32 is more common to swap in the back of a s2k they make a kit to make it a bolt in unit

RurouniMidnight

That was my red Z you posted OP. I went from s14 to 350Z and now back in s14 again haha. Nothing wrong with the Zs though I just love the s chassis and it's type of style, but I have been really wanting another Z as well because I miss it, who knows maybe some day.

Good things about the 350z are it is newer car and super reliable NA. The later model HR motor is king if you can afford it, like night and day difference. The Z is super easy as in doesn't take much at all to have a fun nicely modified car unlike taking 1000s of different parts to make a decent 240. It is really easy to drift and a great bang for your buck ride as they are becoming ever more cheaper.

Here are a few pics of mine before I sold it about 2 years ago.

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TMW

haha yeah i grabbed them off your blog, thanks for your input!

one of the best looking z33s imo

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@tannermwilson

LoSt180

Why not both? The G is mechanically the same as the Z, so all of the performance parts fit.

I will agree that everything on the Z/G is expensive, even still on a 10 year old chassis. I started with an SR swapped S13, went FWD in a G20t, then the G35. G35 is waaay superior to the s-chassis, in terms of comfort and features, but it's also big, heavy, and expensive. Looks are subjective from person to person, I think they both are great looking cars. I picked up the S14 last year as a project car mainly because I was familiar with it and it's cheap fun. I've spent almost $3K in performance mods on the G, and have about $3K worth of parts for the 240SX (engine swap, etc) and I'll say the $3k goes a lot further, in terms of performance upgrade over stock, on the 240.

Clean S13/S14s are getting harder to find, they're getting old and the drift craze has turned so many of them into missile cars slapped together as cheaply as possible. So far the first year of owning the S14 has been focused on restoration: new rubber seals around the doors, new dash/radio panels, replacing all of the dry rotted bushings, new sunroof, etc. I started the SR swap last month and luckily am working off a front clip, so it's getting retrofitted ABS, complete rear subframe with VLSD and 3.7 gears, new steering wheel, etc. Goal is to have a clean, tastefully modified Kouki for my wife to drive around. I just happen to like them both.

smokescreen240

i couldn't stress this enough. i went from a ca swapped 240 to a 2008 350z. i thought i was broke when i owned the damn 240. I just chuckle at people who call 240s money pits. lol.

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