Ultimate 350Z Buyers Guide

350z Buyers guide

This is a write up that has been floating around the internet for a while. I will continuously add to and modify it to cover common questions about 350z engines and such when one is looking to buy a Z and knows little.

Model year:

In general, Stay away from DE Rev-up. Its still a decent motor. Thats if its taken care of properly and maintained properly. Nissan knew it wasnt the greatest and stopped manufacturing within 2 years. the RevUp was in production as long as the original HR. Both engines were used for right about two years. HRs tend to have gallery leaks (low pressure) and DEs tend to burn oil. (De Rev-up tends to burn more than DE) Learn the difference between DE, HR and DE Rev-up. 06 Auto DE is the better version of the DE you can buy. Most updated model. But if you want a manual, then 04-05 is the best. 03-04.5’s don’t have wideband AFR sensors and have a SH7055 ECU. Which requires a dyno tune. Which is the lowest grade compared to the other years. All pre-06 autos are on the lower end scale as well. The TCM+valve body got a major update for 06+ Z’s making them a bit better.

Things to look for when purchasing a 350z:

Door trim panels will show scuffs. Driver seats will show tears on the side when you slide in and out. Cruise control feature as well can help indicate towards what trim you are looking at. Shake the wheel back and forth (engine off) if you hear a slight clunking noise it might have worn out lower control arm inner bushings. ***Learn what your goals are before you buy and ask how much it is to swap auto to a manual*** A full bolt-on tuned DE on average will make about the same as a HR with just a tune. But A FBO RevUp with shorter gears and no tune will be faster than HR’s and VHR’s (depending on the driver and other factors but this is the generalization). DE is a bit more cost effective but lacking power but also provides reliability. As does the HR. HR is more costly but you get slightly more power. (This is from what ive seen over the years) DE Revup have 4 cam sensors while DE has 2. The regular DE is easier to diagnose over the DE RevUp. Oh yea. The doors are shin killers.

*I will continuously add to and modify this write up, and link my YouTube video when i film it 😅*