Best Year for the 370Z

viiv

Empirically, the 2020 would be the best. I am not saying that because I own a 2020. I also know that a lot of people here with earlier model years like to deny this and say that the 2020 is no different than their 2010. However, I have an engineering background and two words; silent updates. That along with process improvements resulting from any decent OQM (Organizational Quality Management) framework which the Japanese are especially famous for.

With this car having been in production for over a decade, the amount of silent updates and silent revisions likely number in the hundreds of really small tweaks here and there that no one on this forum is aware of. Individually, these are really minor but added all together, they would make for a much more solid car. Once again, we are not talking about functional or cosmetic updates here. We are talking about really minor updates in the grand scheme of things here, things like upgrading the solenoid in a power window motor.

People on here like to harp on the fact that Nissan hasn't made any changes, but Nissan like other auto makers is more of a car assembler, with the majority of parts being produced by third party suppliers. These third party suppliers, being part of the Japanese supply chain produce parts for not only other Nissan vehicles but other Japanese automakers (Mazda, Toyota, Honda etc..). Believe me they are not keeping their R&D and processes in a hiatus for Nissan's limited production 370Z.

Case in point as just a random example, lets take a look at just the high strength steel that make up a portion of our car body. In the last decade there have been major advancements in the mechanical properties of high strength steel. Lets say for example, when the 370Z went into production in 2009, Nissan's specifications required minimum 500mPa tensile strength from their high strength steel supplier in Japan, and they delivered to Nissan 500mPA tensile strength steel.

Now the year is 2019. A decade has passed for this supplier, which supplies high strength steel to all the major Japanese automakers. R&D has led to process improvements and said supplier now offers 600mPa strength and 800mPa strength. This supplier doesn't even make 500 mPa strength steel anymore.

Nissan still produces the 370Z. Nissan specifications requires high strength steel that meets or exceeds 500mPA tensile strength. The supplier is NOT going to make 500mPA anymore, not worth it for the small 370Z production, instead Nissan will now get uprated 600mPA steel which now exceeds Nissan's minimum procurement specs.

Sticking with the metal theme, let's look at sheet metal as another example. A Japanese sheet metal supplier supplies rolls of sheet metal to Toyota, Mazda and Nissan factories in Japan. In 2017 the supplier makes a process improvement in their smelting process. You think they are going to hold back this improvement from the 370Z because it was released in 2009? Nope, economics of scale applies to the supply chain meaning in this case the 370Z will benefit from the process improvement the same way the latest Mazda and Toyota model will.

Nissan may have been frozen in time, but their suppliers have not. The fact is, recent production examples of the 370Z have been benefiting from tiny process improvements made by the suppliers who supply Nissan the building blocks of the 370Z. Once again, these are tiny on their own, but when you add them up, make for a more solid product.

SouthArk370Z

Very interesting.

But those are all very small changes that very few (if any) drivers will notice when behind the wheel. There haven't been any changes made over the years that have actually had a substantial effect on performance. Nothing that I would say makes any particular year better than another. YMMV

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viiv

These silent changes would have an effect though on long term reliability. I talked about sheet metal and high strengh steel. How about the numereous o-rings, gaskets and other seals within the engine for example?

It is very likely that the suppliers have changed the formulations for these components in the last decade, especially to meet the demands of new high compression and forced induction engines. The suppliers even for a car that debuted in 2009, are going to be using 2020 production methods even for a part that is Z specific, with only the molds and tooling being the same, while pouring in the same uprated resin formulation needed for more modern 2020 vehicles that exceeds Nissan's original 2009 requirements. The suppliers would never bother making a batch of resin just for the small run of 370Z that just meets the requirements from a decade ago, that's not cost effective.

While the late model years of the Z are not a different car, they are a more refined car. It's a decade old car, that should, at least in theory if my engineering experience is anything to go by, have partially benefited by 2020 production methods.

Remember, a vehicle is the sum of its parts; I would fully expect all things being equal from new (same climate, driving habits, no collisions, same oil and fluid changes and interval etc...) a 2019 or 2020 model to be a more reliable and 'tighter feeling' vehicle at 100,000... 200,000... etc... miles than a earlier run of the car.

Rusty

And they still stick the same chity CMC and CSC in it. Still gets fuel starve too.

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