I was waiting for such a suject. About a month ago I traded in my 03 350Z on my 06 GT. Believe me it was'nt an easy sell. I bought the Z after going to the 03 LA Auto show, which was showing lots of Z's, but it was also the premier of the next Mustang, silver coupe and red convt. concepts. They were awsome, but were still 2 years away. The Z available now, so we bought one on the way home in Reno, never regreted a minute behind the wheel, power, handling, style. I had some of the common issues w/ the Z that most owners had, but I considered it to be a small price for all the +'s. I put 35000+ miles in the 3 yrs. owned, enjoyed them all. So why dump the Z for the GT??? The Z had ample room despite what some have said, low,yes, trunkspace, could of used more, But hey its a sports car. The main reason for the trade, Memories. In my not to distance youth I was hooked on V-8 power by my 68 Torino GT w/ 428 CJ. I do a lot of car shopping hopping, drove many types of cars, but always longed for that feel that the 428CJ gave when you stepped on the WOW pedal, the Mustang GT did it. Don't get me wrong, I may be old enough to recall the muscle car days of old, but not too old to appreciate the handling, power, and style the Z had to offer. I'd love to have both, like another poster, but I already have too many in my stable. Either the Z or the GT, you wont be sorry, go for both and solve your problem, but more important, go with your GUT, Drive both back to back, then make an informed desision.
My best advice is to go test drive both... only you know what truly feels good to you and what you want. You'll know which one is right when you test drive it.
Asking on a Z forum or mustang forum is hard because both groups are going to claim their car is better.
I say the Z. I think it's MUCH better looking than the new stang and it's pretty close power wise.
well this seems to be the placeto chime in so here's my 2 cents, nissan has totally over rated the HP on the 350/G35 it claims a nice 298HP however my buddy has one and got it dyno'd before he started doing mods, and much to his suprise it lay' down 228HP at the wheels, not I understand the whole drivetrain % loss deal but losing 70HP i think not, so he went to the dealer to have the car checked out, everything came back normal. he wasn't very happy and still though that something was wrong, so we took a trip down 1 town south where there was another nissan dealer much closer to the dyno that he used. walked in a he said he was thinking about trading up to a new model and he wanted a test drive, no biggie. we took the new 350 back to the same dyno and straped it down, 231HP at the wheels, well I guess nissan was just over shooting because both cars had close to the same out come.......weak.
No car out there is advertised with the dyno read outs to the wheel. There will always be a good amount of power loss once the power is transfered to the wheels. Thats normal. If you dyno any other car, you'll see that, that amount of power loss is normal. The only company that has ever had a problem with overrating their cars was Mazda with their RX-8's. They were busted for that and had to correct their numbers that they were advertising it for.
in car and driver they drove convertable versions of each car and the gt was 8 tenths faster through the quarter, thats not very close. where are people getting that the performance is close? handling is a different issue though.
in car and driver they drove convertable versions of each car and the gt was 8 tenths faster through the quarter, thats not very close. where are people getting that the performance is close? handling is a different issue though.
The GT is faster than the 350Z, and the covertable 350z is the slowest of all 350Z's and G35s. I know they had to add more reinforcement because theres more top, but they really added ALOT of weight making up for it! IMO, the 350Z convertible is no longer a competitive sports car... its just a cruizer car.
well this seems to be the placeto chime in so here's my 2 cents, nissan has totally over rated the HP on the 350/G35 it claims a nice 298HP however my buddy has one and got it dyno'd before he started doing mods, and much to his suprise it lay' down 228HP at the wheels, not I understand the whole drivetrain % loss deal but losing 70HP i think not, so he went to the dealer to have the car checked out, everything came back normal. he wasn't very happy and still though that something was wrong, so we took a trip down 1 town south where there was another nissan dealer much closer to the dyno that he used. walked in a he said he was thinking about trading up to a new model and he wanted a test drive, no biggie. we took the new 350 back to the same dyno and straped it down, 231HP at the wheels, well I guess nissan was just over shooting because both cars had close to the same out come.......weak.
No car out there is advertised with the dyno read outs to the wheel. There will always be a good amount of power loss once the power is transfered to the wheels. Thats normal. If you dyno any other car, you'll see that, that amount of power loss is normal. The only company that has ever had a problem with overrating their cars was Mazda with their RX-8's. They were busted for that and had to correct their numbers that they were advertising it for.
yeah but what kinda car will loose 70 of 300, thats a 23% loss damn near a full quarter!
2005 Mustang GT Mineral Grey SCT tuned by Brenspeed, Saleen short shifter, Raptor shift light, Flowmaster axleback exhaust BFG DR 275-40-17's on the way! 13.7@102 MPH- Texas Motorplex Texas A&M Car Club Public Relations Officer www.tamscc.org
2005 Mustang GT Mineral Grey SCT tuned by Brenspeed, Saleen short shifter, Raptor shift light, Flowmaster axleback exhaust BFG DR 275-40-17's on the way! 13.7@102 MPH- Texas Motorplex Texas A&M Car Club Public Relations Officer www.tamscc.org
hot did he jump 10 RWHP and 12 RWTQ in a stock car, did they tune it? and even tho claiming 298 your still looking about a 50hp loss, pretty bad to me.
Like others I too own both...a 2005 350z and a 2006 c500 GT, and to be totally honest I love them both. The Z is a refined well balanced sports car. Very crisp and loads of acceleration with the revs up. No complaint except for the proformance in wet and bad conditions. The mustang with the low end v8 power is a brute off the line not as refined as the Z...close though. Before my conversion and suspenion upgrades the mustang felt a little loose. Now for what really matters...you wil enjoy both as I do...but since I got my mustang c500 back over two weeks ago, I drove the Z once and that was to put it in storage. Good luck on your dilema...
Hey folks. New to this board and posing this question. I am torn as to which way to go since they both are priced similarly. Need some advice on which of these vehicles give the best bang for the buck.
Watch this video then tell me which car you should buy....
Like others I too own both...a 2005 350z and a 2006 c500 GT, and to be totally honest I love them both. The Z is a refined well balanced sports car. Very crisp and loads of acceleration with the revs up. No complaint except for the proformance in wet and bad conditions. The mustang with the low end v8 power is a brute off the line not as refined as the Z...close though. Before my conversion and suspenion upgrades the mustang felt a little loose. Now for what really matters...you wil enjoy both as I do...but since I got my mustang c500 back over two weeks ago, I drove the Z once and that was to put it in storage. Good luck on your dilema...
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You own both too? Its nice to hear that I'm not the only one. Sweet!! We should start a new club. Very nice pics.
< Message edited by jt14894 -- 2/8/2006 4:34:11 PM >
Posts: 33
Joined: 12/27/2005 From: Northridge, CA Status: offline
I think it's a subjective answer.
However, I have a friend who has owned the Z for about a year now and when he test drove my car (he let me test drive his back then - which was cool but not me) he fell in love. He is trying to convince his wife to trade in his Z. He always bragged about how exports did ect, ect, ect, and thought american muscle cars were a thing of the past. And to think he is a cop and drives police cars....
Get a Mustang cause there is no car like it...
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06 Vista Blue Manual GT Prem, Painted Silver Racing Stripes, Steeda CAI w/Predator 91 Tune, Eibach Pro-Kit, Saleen Short Throw, Bassani X-Pipe w/cat and axle-back, and American Racing Series 612 20's
As with many on the forum, I also cross shopped the 350Z and went with the Mustang. I drove both used and new 350Zs. I thought the Mustang GT has a smoother more powerful drive train and ride. The 350Z probably has he edge in handling. I also thought the interior in the Mustang GT was more comfortable and comes standard with a power seat. Both are good looking cars.
The reliablity is probably about the same. The 350Z has had front suspenson problems that eats up tires and I believe they cannot be rotated due to different sizes.
Fuel costs are about the same since the 350Z recommends premium. The Mustang GT runs great on regular, unless you tune it.
I ordered my Mustang GT the beginning of Nov and it came in the end of Dec about 7 weeks. I was also able to get it close to invoice.
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BluesBro 06 GT Coupe, 5 spd manual, Vista Blue with Charcoal interior, spoiler delete
2 of my friends own 350Zs and they're nice cars. However I'm comparing $33,000 tourings to a $27,700 Mustang GT Premium with IUP,Active Alarm and Upgraded wheels.
The mustang will react very well to mods. You can reduce your 1/4 mile times from 13.6 stock to 13.2 with just a CAI, Tuner and Underdrive Pulleys.
Your 60' times will be in the 2.0 second range.
The 350Z on the other hand has great difficulty getting into the 13's. It's 60' times are in the 2.2-2.3 second range. We have even tried my mustang rims and tires on the 350Z to see if it was a tire issue Mods which work wonders on the mustang do nothing for the Z. Tuners are not available for the 350Z so advancing your timing or adding fuel isn't possible.
Also the 350Z is already tuned to run on 91 Octane whaile the Mustang only requires 87 Octane stock.
If you do a lot of city driving you'll definitely spend more money on gas with the stang, I only get 13MPG city with mine.
I love going drag racing as well as lapping so I bought the mustang and installed full Steeda suspension. Can it hold it's own on the twisties against the 350Z? Yes. Does it feel as refined? No
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05 White GT Premium 5 Sp. C&L Intake w/ Diablosport Predator Steeda Underdrive Pulleys JBA Longtubes and Catted H-Pipe Full Steeda Suspension My Car
Team MF Member #069 Posts: 8571
Joined: 5/21/2004 Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: Rannascar
Which one is an investment of 25 plus years... Look at the prices of the 60's mustang some well over $100,000 now you choose... Just think $ and sence tells you Mustang Baby!!!
I hate to say this but your 05/06 Stang GT will never be worth that kind of money. Only the super limited production cars are worth that kind of $$. I'd still get the Stang over the 350Z of course, but only because I like V8 engines over all else (except Buick V6 Turbos)
Ive owned a supra, 300z, and now a 05 stang. For muscle its the stang. But far and away the 300z was the most agile car at speed. The thing would surprise the heck out of me what it would do through the twists. BUT - you will not get the stang rumble.
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RE: Mustang GT or 350Z? - 
and it's pretty close power wise.
