Best Year for the 370Z
 

What is the best year for the 370Z?

Few mechanical changes have been made to the 370 over the years. In 2012 they added an oil cooler from the factory. The aesthetics have changed a little, but some, like me, prefer the earlier front ends. So that's a matter of personal opinion.

To answer your question, I don't think there is necessarily a "best year".

I only like the 2018+, I was never a fan of the original silver head lights and thought they looked hideous. However with the change to the blacked out lights and the black rear diffuser with the new tail lights, it won me over and here I am the proud owner of a 2020.

I admit these are really minor changes, but they went a long way to making both the front and rear end look more modern and high end.

buying a 2020 means paying a dealer for 2020 prices
which is pretty dumb since every year is nearly the same

the best year is the year of the cheapest, best condition one near you

the only reason decision is:

Do I want the Nismo v1 body kit?
Do I want the NIsmo v2 body kit?
Do I want an aftermarket body kit (buy the base one and throw the bumpers away)?

Not when you live in Canada. $30,500 CAD for my base model = $22,500 USD for a brand new vehicle with all the latest part numbers with a warranty.

Hey, it's your money. Do what you want with it.

Year over year there has been very minimal mechanical changes. In 2012 (which I have - Sport Touring) they added cooling to help but that was not significant. It still ran hot so I changed to a 34 row. 2015 is when Nissan offered the Nismo Tech and Nismo Spec plus the updated body kit (a kit that I liked and switched to) was more aggressive than the original was pretty good. This was a pretty good release but I like the 2018 Nismo better with everything in it including the Exedy clutch (except for pricing $$$). So for me, a '12 Sport Touring if non-Nismo and the '18 Nismo with everything on it for the Nismo. If you want vert, any year from '12 and after. Two things that I think was a miss for Nissan is with their lame CSC and general lack of power as the car got older. Would have been a good move to add a TT for the Nismo in '16.

OP already has a 2010 roadster.

Just about anything after 2011. The earlier years had ESCLs and updating navigation was a PITA. All changes since 2012 have been minor and mainly cosmetic.

I think 2017 is the best year :tiphat:

I would say this, given how much the Z is kinda an open canvas at this point.
Later models only really benefit from a speculatively better clutch system, but I'd still HD CSC or CSC delete it no matter what. Every M.Y. needs an oil cooler.

Kinda like OptionZero said, from there you're just picking packages. Would throw in 2013+ in his list if you're more inclined to those wheels and DRL's.

Why 12 and after for the verts? I'm feeling bummed out. I have a 10.

Not much difference, just slightly improved cooling and without the dreaded steering lock issue to worry about.

The late Nismo models, 2015+ I believe, have a very unpleasant fake electronic motor sound inside the cabin as you give throttle. It sounds horrible. If you intend to modify your car, the model year does not matter. On the other hand, if you would like to keep your car stock, definitely go for the latest you can find.

2010. Why? Because I said so.

Well in that case, I say 2009. Its the 370Z OG. Or whatever term the kids are using these days to say its the best.

2018+ has the trunk release in the middle console.
2019+ has the rear camera on the rear-view mirror(also duplicate on the screen if you have the models with GPS).

Just throw on a non-resonated FI exhaust & listen to her scream.
That noise is no longer noticeable :driving::driving::driving:

2009 thru 2020

"nuffzed"

2011. Fixed some of the early model issues and before the stupid stock oil cooler.

Of course model years after 2018 or something have the smoked trim (instead of silver) and blacked out headlights (instead of chrome).

Any V1 Nismo. :tup:

2010 for 40th Anniversary edition
2012+ for oil cooler, backup camera, new galley gaskets and galley bolts.

Anyone know what year got non oil burning engine? :happydance:

My 2011 has both of these :tiphat:

I don't think there was a change to the oil galley gasket bolts. They revised the gasket itself but that didn't address the problem of the bolts backing out.

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.

I appreciate the insight. None of those matter for the end user if they don't see it and feel it. Buyers don't care about the sheet metal used. Our special (lol) drive shafts didn't mean much for most. If the metal is too heavy or too weak, and cause bad driving experience, thats it. That's really what drivers cared about. What's the interior like? How does it drive? What creature comfort is there? How fast or slow is the darn thing? That's it. None of us Z owners asked the dealer "what's the rating of the sheet metal used? Its got aluminum panels, ok cool.

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

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.

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

yeah, and those issues aren't fixed through warranty

budget $2k or so for CSC replacement. might as well throw that heavyass flywheel away too and swap in a lightweight one. it changes the car

What about the lower ECU memory on the newer cars? If I had to replace mine I would be looking for a '12-'17 nismo

As the other poster said, it's your money! Your decision to make. However, I just bought a 2019 base with 39,000km for 21,5000 CAD = 16,315 USD from a GM dealer, and I'm happy to have that 9,000 left in my pocket!

I do agree with you....the blackened lights - and black exhaust panels surprisingly make a big difference to me. In fact, I did not like the black rims until I saw it with the new combo....I hated black rims (reminds me of winter steelies) - but they match well with the other small changes. I know also that many prefer the old fangs, but I like the bright DRL LED's, I think it modernizes the look. Of course all of those are minor subjective cosmetics.

:-)

That's a pretty good price! But I live in Vancouver where everything is overpriced. I remember seeing a used 2019 like yours from a Subaru dealer on Autotrader here and it was $26000. For that price differential, a new one just made sense.

Anyways, everywhere I go, I see people driving around in fully loaded Honda Civic Touring models that also cost $30k CAD. Even after having paid full price for my new 370z, I have no issues with it whatsoever when I consider I purchased a brand new, 6-cylinder, 2 seat sports car for the price of a Civic. Where else can you get that?

2014 Hands down.. Looks different than all the others

Oh believe me, here in Alberta, that kind of price is asked for too.....it's one of the reasons I couldn't pass it up once I got them to that price, even though I hadn't planned to buy now. At one point, I said I may pass and wait till next year, and they came down more - they admitted later, they always have cars they didn't want to keep over the winter....

Yes, I can certainly see why for 4000 difference you might well just go new.

Agreed. It's a great value - and actually quite rare here. During the summer you see them here....but not all that often. It's a land of SUV, truck, corollas, civics, and luxury cars...... In the last month, I have had a ton of compliments and people looking - which I did not expect lol. A new(er) Z still catches people's eye in this land of boring vehicles....

The base is so barebones - but at least they come with the backup camera now. In any case, I'm not driving it for tech or comforts - which I could always add later. Wouldn't have minded having the LSD, but I'm not going to the track, and for the street, I don't need it even for aggressive driving! :-)

I appreciate your sarcasm, sir!

Lol