Track Car - Honda S2000 vs Nissan 350Z
Discussion
Chaps
Im just planning my next project and would be keen to hear your opinions of my 'shortlist' cars that fall within my budget. I'm looking at either the S2000 or a 350Z, as Im after a road-legal track car that I can mod to suit. I'm tending to think the 350Z might be a touch on the heavy side for track but would be interested in views on both.
TIA
Chris
Im just planning my next project and would be keen to hear your opinions of my 'shortlist' cars that fall within my budget. I'm looking at either the S2000 or a 350Z, as Im after a road-legal track car that I can mod to suit. I'm tending to think the 350Z might be a touch on the heavy side for track but would be interested in views on both.
TIA
Chris
I'd have a look into the price of parts between the two in terms of getting it more track-biased quite carefully.
I have an S2000 and I'm gradually making this more biased towards track work and there aren't many mid-range options for suspension, brakes etc. whereas the 350Z already has the Brembo brakes for example and may have more options for suspension also (i haven't looked into 350Z's much as I just wanted an S2000).
Also aftermarket S2000 wheel choice is slightly limited due to needing high offsets (if planning to change those).
I don't think either would be a bad choice, it probably comes down mainly to which you want the most!
If you go S2000, get one that has had the suspension bolts checked recently as a seized up car could have you end up with a bill approaching 4-figures if you have to pay someone to get trigger happy with an air-saw to replace them all.
I have an S2000 and I'm gradually making this more biased towards track work and there aren't many mid-range options for suspension, brakes etc. whereas the 350Z already has the Brembo brakes for example and may have more options for suspension also (i haven't looked into 350Z's much as I just wanted an S2000).
Also aftermarket S2000 wheel choice is slightly limited due to needing high offsets (if planning to change those).
I don't think either would be a bad choice, it probably comes down mainly to which you want the most!
If you go S2000, get one that has had the suspension bolts checked recently as a seized up car could have you end up with a bill approaching 4-figures if you have to pay someone to get trigger happy with an air-saw to replace them all.
I have had two 350z's and one S2000 and a friend who regularly tracks his S2000, get the S2000 every time, the 350Z is great on paper but is less than the sum of its parts on track. It is heavy and you have to manage that weight, bigger brakes etc.
Which is not to say you can't track a 350Z and people do so, but do so with your eyes open.
The S2000 is a very capable track car with a lovely rifle bolt precision gear box. I would get a 2002 or newer (Will have a glass rear window) to avoid the twitchy handling earlier model.
Which is not to say you can't track a 350Z and people do so, but do so with your eyes open.
The S2000 is a very capable track car with a lovely rifle bolt precision gear box. I would get a 2002 or newer (Will have a glass rear window) to avoid the twitchy handling earlier model.
my track car is a 350z GT - it really is not that heavy, it handles lovely and sticks to the road, very wide. The noise of the v6 is beautiful (far nicer than my daily car).
The car just keeps asking for more and wants to be treated as such.
I would recommend if you do get a 350z, get the GT spec and not an import.
The GT comes with Brembos and LSD as standard.
Strip the interior, set of bucket seats and upgrade brake pads and fluid... you will have a blast !
I have had 2x 350z and managed to pick them up fairly cheap (2.5-3k) they normally go for 4k+
I am at Abingdon track on the 6 July if you live local and plan to go, happy to take you out on the track.
Peter
The car just keeps asking for more and wants to be treated as such.
I would recommend if you do get a 350z, get the GT spec and not an import.
The GT comes with Brembos and LSD as standard.
Strip the interior, set of bucket seats and upgrade brake pads and fluid... you will have a blast !
I have had 2x 350z and managed to pick them up fairly cheap (2.5-3k) they normally go for 4k+
I am at Abingdon track on the 6 July if you live local and plan to go, happy to take you out on the track.
Peter
Edited by Welsh_Meat on Wednesday 20th June 15:46
350Z is great on track. It's not even 'that' heavy.. and certainly does not feel it. Having had a 450hp 200sx in the past the 350Z i've driven hard on track would certainly have kept up with it. Very composed and gives great feedback, slides progressively and doesn't bite in any nasty ways. The brakes are great so long as you change for racing fluid and the engine has a decent amount of power, certainly enough to have fun with straight out the box without the need for modifying.
I've only been passenger in an S2000 so can't comment on driving just that it always felt underpowered.
I've only been passenger in an S2000 so can't comment on driving just that it always felt underpowered.
Have had an S2000 for almost 9 years.
It drives great even from stock and I really loved going through all the different stages of modding it to be a proper track car.
As already stated above, there is a difference in weight between the two cars and for me that is the thing to consider.
Depending on the tracks that you are going to be visiting, that weight difference will play its role into how you are going to be tuning the car, ultimately indicating how much money you will spending on it.
Handling wise, they can both perform about the same with small differences here and there.
Stock form, the S2000 is more powerful on the top end performance.
350Z is great on paper, as again stated above, but the gearing and the engine are not pulling as they should at higher speeds.
If properly tuned though, that engine can sing!
Last but not least, tuning parts should cost about the same.
All the tuner brands make parts for these 2 models.
Of course you can find expensive wheels (Volk, Rays, Weds) but you can also find lower value brands like (Rota, Bola, OZ) that will fit.
The same for brakes and pretty much everything...
To finish this off, I was having the exact opposite dilemma after owning the S2000 for so long.
I wanted to sell this and get a 350Z and supercharge it!!
So good luck with your choice as each path has its own prons and cons!!
Kostas.
PS: After seeing this thread I had to go watch again one of my favourite 350Z on the web....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJNiwlrZ9HY&t=...
It drives great even from stock and I really loved going through all the different stages of modding it to be a proper track car.
As already stated above, there is a difference in weight between the two cars and for me that is the thing to consider.
Depending on the tracks that you are going to be visiting, that weight difference will play its role into how you are going to be tuning the car, ultimately indicating how much money you will spending on it.
Handling wise, they can both perform about the same with small differences here and there.
Stock form, the S2000 is more powerful on the top end performance.
350Z is great on paper, as again stated above, but the gearing and the engine are not pulling as they should at higher speeds.
If properly tuned though, that engine can sing!
Last but not least, tuning parts should cost about the same.
All the tuner brands make parts for these 2 models.
Of course you can find expensive wheels (Volk, Rays, Weds) but you can also find lower value brands like (Rota, Bola, OZ) that will fit.
The same for brakes and pretty much everything...
To finish this off, I was having the exact opposite dilemma after owning the S2000 for so long.
I wanted to sell this and get a 350Z and supercharge it!!
So good luck with your choice as each path has its own prons and cons!!
Kostas.
PS: After seeing this thread I had to go watch again one of my favourite 350Z on the web....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJNiwlrZ9HY&t=...
Edited by Nabu on Thursday 21st June 08:43
I had a 350Z that I did a lot of things to and spent far too much money on it as in the below link .
It was a great car and would be good on track but they are heavy and the S2000 may be the better option .
https://www.cliosport.net/threads/new-car-part-2.7...
It was a great car and would be good on track but they are heavy and the S2000 may be the better option .
https://www.cliosport.net/threads/new-car-part-2.7...
Id say you need to try both and think about which tracks you are likely to go to as that may influence your choice as some short/flat tracks suit nimble cars others with longer straights/gradients may require a bit more brute force
Worth noting with all the talk of weight, a s2000 is around 175-225kg lighter than a base 350z which is around 100-125kg lighter than a E46 M3.
Worth noting with all the talk of weight, a s2000 is around 175-225kg lighter than a base 350z which is around 100-125kg lighter than a E46 M3.
Wh00sher said:
I had a 350Z and they are certainly heavy old things
Dakkon said:
the 350Z is great on paper but is less than the sum of its parts on track. It is heavy
Strudul said:
Stock, the 350Z is too heavy
kaveney said:
I had a 350Z ... they are heavy
This place is very odd. The 350Z weighs marginally more than an E36 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many), and less than an E46 M3 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many). Yet, in spite of this, it's described as "heavy" much more frequently than either of those two...C70R said:
This place is very odd. The 350Z weighs marginally more than an E36 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many), and less than an E46 M3 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many). Yet, in spite of this, it's described as "heavy" much more frequently than either of those two...
The facelift 350Z GT (almost all of them come in GT spec) actually weighs 1550kg, the same as an E46 M3, and the vert is 100kg heavier still.At a guess, the Z is deemed heavy more frequently because it gets compared to other sports coupes such as the Elise / S2k / Z4 / Boxster which are much lighter.
Despite the M3 technically being a coupe, it's much more saloon-esque, and it still manges to be as "light" as the Z despite having 3 more rear seats.
Could also be due to how the car feels? The Z feels heavy, dunno about the M3?
Strudul said:
C70R said:
This place is very odd. The 350Z weighs marginally more than an E36 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many), and less than an E46 M3 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many). Yet, in spite of this, it's described as "heavy" much more frequently than either of those two...
The facelift 350Z GT (almost all of them come in GT spec) actually weighs 1550kg, the same as an E46 M3, and the vert is 100kg heavier still.At a guess, the Z is deemed heavy more frequently because it gets compared to other sports coupes such as the Elise / S2k / Z4 / Boxster which are much lighter.
Despite the M3 technically being a coupe, it's much more saloon-esque, and it still manges to be as "light" as the Z despite having 3 more rear seats.
Could also be due to how the car feels? The Z feels heavy, dunno about the M3?
I take your point about the 3 extra seats, but if we're talking about track cars then surely this is a largely irrelevant comparison? The odd thing is that the E36 is often described as some kind of bantamweight (someone here even said it was "easy" to get one stripped to under a tonne, FFS), when it's only about 7% lighter than the 350Z.
C70R said:
This place is very odd. The 350Z weighs marginally more than an E36 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many), and less than an E46 M3 (a.k.a. 'the greatest track car ever' according to many). Yet, in spite of this, it's described as "heavy" much more frequently than either of those two...
I assume the people who describe an E36 as the greatest trackcar ever are probably not the same people saying a 350Z is too heavy as they're obviously not so bothered about weight! If you asked me I'd say they're both far too heavy and the greatest trackcar ever would probably have to be the mk1 MX5Edited by T0MMY on Friday 22 June 18:33
C70R said:
The M3 is a great car with a fabulous engine, but in standard trim it feels every one of its 1500+kg.
I take your point about the 3 extra seats, but if we're talking about track cars then surely this is a largely irrelevant comparison? The odd thing is that the E36 is often described as some kind of bantamweight (someone here even said it was "easy" to get one stripped to under a tonne, FFS), when it's only about 7% lighter than the 350Z.
Depends how serious a track car it is, but popping out the rear seats for track days is easier than drilling out all the spot welds to remove the spare metal in the boot of the Z.I take your point about the 3 extra seats, but if we're talking about track cars then surely this is a largely irrelevant comparison? The odd thing is that the E36 is often described as some kind of bantamweight (someone here even said it was "easy" to get one stripped to under a tonne, FFS), when it's only about 7% lighter than the 350Z.
The lightest you are ever gonna get a Z is 1100kg.
iguana said:
C70R said:
E36 is often described as some kind of bantamweight (someone here even said it was "easy" to get one stripped to under a tonne, FFS),
What is it that warrants your FFS then?C70R said:
iguana said:
C70R said:
E36 is often described as some kind of bantamweight (someone here even said it was "easy" to get one stripped to under a tonne, FFS),
What is it that warrants your FFS then?
Your (iguana - remember your mk2s on cgti way back!) Bmws are a fair bit more stripped than most peoples idea of stripped which usually consists of rear seats, rear door cards an some carpet which is 25kg if that and not the 200kg+ to get a E36 (with a I6) down sub tonne.
Remember weight in track cars can be saved by removing non essentials but you will end up adding weight back in for example bigger brakes, additional braces, roll cage, larger wheels/wider tyres hence why weight is important but don't get too obsessed about it in a non competitive environment.
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff