We know, everyone wants to own at least one sports car throughout their lifetime. Luckily for us, there are a vast array of suitable options on the used market right now. One of your best choices is hands down, the affordable Nissan 350Z.
Underneath the hood of the Nissan 350Z lives a potent naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter VQ35DE V6 that churns out 287 hp and 274 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. This power is enough to send the 3,200 Japanese sports car to 60 mph from a stop in less than 6 seconds. On top of that, the 350Z had some impressive standard features like Brembo brakes, some had a limited-slip-differential, and of course, a manual gearbox.
That said, some yearn to personalize their 350Zs, especially since the new Z has just come out. We've heard your cries for help, and are here to give you some sound advice. Here are some of the necessary mods if you want to make your Nissan 350Z faster, driver better, and look cooler all at once.
10 Wheels And Tires
Upgrading your wheels are tires is essential to any build. Now, since the Nissan 350Z is a rear-wheel-drive sports car, we'd recommend buying tires specifically dedicated to your needs. Meaning, that if you only care about burning rubber, don't spend too much, if your 350Z is your daily driver, get all-season tires, but if you want a track-orientated Z, get some sticky performance tires like Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
Wheels are another vital – and often overlooked – part of your build. The most important piece of advice we can give you regarding wheels is don't buy replicas, these are much weaker and heavier than the real thing. The wheels you're seeing above are Enkei RPF1s by the way, arguably the best wheel for any JDM car.
9 Suspension
There are a few reasons why a proper suspension setup is so important. Foremost, let's talk about aesthetic appeal. No one likes a wheel gap, and there are various ways to fix it from putting on lowering springs, air suspension, or coil overs (our personal favorite).
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Coil overs and lowering springs don't just make your car look more appetizing to the eye, but they serve a purpose regarding handling. A stiffer, and lower ride minimizes body roll, subsequently elevating the driving experience.
8 Body Kit
Body kits are either a massive hit or a gargantuan miss, so be warned. There are a ton of aftermarket kits for the Nissan 350Z available on the market right now. Some brands offer separate pieces like a rear wing, front lip spoiler, or side skirts while others feature an entire widebody kit.
Some of our preferred body modifications include a subtle rear wing, a deep front bumper, and some wide side skirts to match. Furthermore, we have a few front-runner brands that make some wild body kits like Liberty Walk, VIS Racing, and Rocket Bunny.
7 Short Throw Shifter
One piece of equipment drivers tend to overlook more than anything else on their cars is the shifter. No, we're not talking about changing just the shift knob, but we're talking about replacing your factory shifter with a short throw shifter.
Short throw shifters decrease the distance your lever has to travel between gears by reducing the angle you have to row between gears. The time needed to shift between gears is slightly decreased. Although this sounds like a pointless gimmick, we promise the right short-throw shifter makes a world of a difference.
6 Lights
It's not often that we have one entry on our lists dedicated to exterior lighting, but the vast array of options made it unavoidable. The stock Nissan 350Z head- and tail lights aren't necessarily ugly, but they do show the car's true age.
Your 350Z can become an instantaneous modern sports car by replacing your factory lights with LED ones. They don't have to come with dynamic turn signals, or a whirlpool of color options, even just changing the bulbs will elevate your 350Z's presence.
5 Cold Air Intake
Finally, we're talking engine bay modifications. Now, before we dive into the difficult and dangerous stuff, we have to cover the basics – cold air intakes. Cold air intakes are almost like a plug-and-play upgrade available for all cars and are the best first performance upgrade you can do.
By adding a cold air intake into our engine bay, you won't make the engine work any harder, but rather more efficiently by keeping everything cooler. The effect hereof will only be a few horsepowers, but it is essential for any future modifications. Oh, and K&N cold air intakes are some brilliant parts to start with.
4 Forced Induction
There are mainly two different ways of going about adding forced induction into your engine bay. Either by supercharging or turbocharging your engine. The latter is most popular among enthusiasts since it usually garners more power and resembles something like an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R, but a supercharged VQ engine isn't a bad idea either.
Do keep in mind, turbocharging or supercharging your motor is an expensive process. If you decide to do it, remember that you're getting what you paid for, and cheaper parts often lead to more frequent repairs.
3 Interior Modifications
Let's not beat around the bush. The Nissan 350Z's interior is jam-packed with scratchy plastics and is also not the most attractive cabin in the world. That said, there is some hope left.
You can upgrade your interior via a new steering wheel, wrapping some of those plastic bits, or even adding some interior mood lighting if that's more your thing. Interior customization all comes down to personal preference if we're being honest; there's no go-to option.
2 Clutch
Unfortunately, most Nissan 350Zs manufactured between 2003 and 2007 suffered from some severe clutch issues. Some of these clutches had premature wear, and would randomly disengage causing you to roll back, fail to start your engine, or roll down the road helplessly.
On the bright side, this is an excellent reason to upgrade your clutch. Having a performance clutch attached to your 350Z will save weight, and transfer more torque to the rear wheels as a result. A win-win scenario.
1 Exhaust
Now we've arrived at the most controversial topic on our list, the Nissan 350Z's exhaust. Many, if not all, gearheads clown on 350Zs for sounding like actual trumpets, especially if they're straight-piped. There is some hope for these individuals at least.
There are an endless amount of aftermarket exhausts to choose from ranging from single-exit ones, dual-exit ones, and sometimes even quad-exit ones. Just like the interior modifications, this upgrade comes all down to your own taste and whether or not you want to shoot fire, disturb the entire neighborhood, or have a civil valved exhaust.