Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - What do you like from the 350Z better than the 370Z?

Fishey · 10-10-2014, 08:58 PM

I think it’s just personal preference and the cars are pretty dang similar in terms of overall design. I prefer the 350Z early 2003/2004 would top my list because I think it’s a great bargain and I like the overall feel of the car better but its personal opinion. The major difference I have noticed between the two in terms of doing setup and driving them are the following.

The 370Z was built to be more nimble then the 350Z and the way they went about doing this was they decreased the wheelbase by 4 inches. Then on the front suspension Nissan used a few other tricks to change the feel of the car like decreasing the amount of caster from 7.6 to 8.9 degrees to 4.4 to 5.9 degrees for the 370z. This change in Caster reduces steering effort along with the reduced wheelbase makes for a car that feels far more nimble and is likely is a bit more nimble. However, to do this they had to increase the SAI from 4.3 to 5.8 degrees on the 350z to 6.9 to 8.4 degrees since caster will help promote camber gain during cornering. The 370Zs increase in SAI is a more mechanical change to how fast the suspension increases camber as it really is the measurement between the long arm and short arm in the suspension. In a 350Z the top arm is longer so it has less SAI vs the shorter top arm of the 370Z that allows for faster camber gain during compression.

I think this is the major difference in the car the 370Z feels light and nimble. The 350Z feels a bit more heavy but more stable. I think both setups have their ups and downs depending on what type of corner you are approaching.

The good news is if you have a preference for one feel or the other you will end up with a fantastic car.

10-10-2014, 08:58 PM	#38 (permalink)
Fishey Base Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lebanon Posts: 159 Drives: Volvo T5-R Rep Power: 12	I think it’s just personal preference and the cars are pretty dang similar in terms of overall design. I prefer the 350Z early 2003/2004 would top my list because I think it’s a great bargain and I like the overall feel of the car better but its personal opinion. The major difference I have noticed between the two in terms of doing setup and driving them are the following. The 370Z was built to be more nimble then the 350Z and the way they went about doing this was they decreased the wheelbase by 4 inches. Then on the front suspension Nissan used a few other tricks to change the feel of the car like decreasing the amount of caster from 7.6 to 8.9 degrees to 4.4 to 5.9 degrees for the 370z. This change in Caster reduces steering effort along with the reduced wheelbase makes for a car that feels far more nimble and is likely is a bit more nimble. However, to do this they had to increase the SAI from 4.3 to 5.8 degrees on the 350z to 6.9 to 8.4 degrees since caster will help promote camber gain during cornering. The 370Zs increase in SAI is a more mechanical change to how fast the suspension increases camber as it really is the measurement between the long arm and short arm in the suspension. In a 350Z the top arm is longer so it has less SAI vs the shorter top arm of the 370Z that allows for faster camber gain during compression. I think this is the major difference in the car the 370Z feels light and nimble. The 350Z feels a bit more heavy but more stable. I think both setups have their ups and downs depending on what type of corner you are approaching. The good news is if you have a preference for one feel or the other you will end up with a fantastic car.