I’ll start with the Porsche 997, the 996 looked alright imo, but it looks “like a 90s Porsche”, the 997 made it look sleeker and more modern. Still looks good today.
As for cars that looked worse after a facelift? Maybe the facelifted 6th gen Camaro? The 6th gen looked great pre-facelift, but they did something weird with the headlights and now it looks so-so…
I’ve had big arguments around 350Z -> 370Z on here.
Same people are having 400z -> 370z arguments now. If they’ve actually seen any of them in person yet is a different story though.
370Z -> 400Z isn’t a facelift, it’s a butt reduction.
Automotive BBL.
I worked for a Nissan dealer, and I don’t know where one thinks it wasn’t a generational change. Especially given 350z & 370z received several “refreshes” within those models life times
2003: 350Z debut 2005: introduction of the VQ35DE Rev-up 2006: projector headlights/LED tails, new front bumper/lip, VQ35DE Rev-up in all models, many options added to lower trims 2007: VQ35HR debut, reportedly changed ~80% of parts numbers compared to the DE engines, Nismo 350Z debut. New hood for all models 2008: Final year of the 350Z
370Z:
I find it hard to believe Nissan would replace 80% of the engine parts, then replace it with the 3.7L the following year
The VQ35DE to the VQ35HR engine changed nearly 80% of the parts.
VQ35HR and 37VHR are effectively the same engine in terms of bottom end. Stroke increased for the extra displacement, bore stays the same. The differences dual-intakes, and VVEL were added for better intake & head flow and maybe a few other things also.
The HR series of the VQ architecture went from 07-2022 in the G/Z cars. It wasn’t a redesign of the engine but more of a final touch
Did the Infiniti M35X receive this new version as well in 2007?
We own a 2007 M35X
Yes, agreed 100 percent. People just liked shitting on Nissan I think. They don’t share any body panels and have a different wheelbase. But I think it’s a case of people not paying attention vs those of us that are.
I’m even one of them myself to a degree, but if you looked anything past a Reddit comment it’s pretty evident the 370z was a major change.
In the G35 -> G37 it was an even more noticeable change as there was a serious effort to deliver a proper interior. Early model G35’s rattled out of the showroom like a 15-year old Chrysler.
The G37 felt like the only time that brand was truly competitive to the European brand comparables. G35 was their first swing, G37 felt like a hit, and Q50 was a bunt
How do you like your M2 comp? A friend of mine not long ago got a 6MT F80 comp, and had M2 comp on their shortlist too. Ended up blowing his budget (and some) on a can’t say no deal for that F80.
It’s funny, i was never a huge fan of the G37, but they’ve been really growing on me recently. I always thought both the 350Z and the G35 were better looking than the G37/370Z, but stepping up their game in refinement speaks to me more these days now that i’m older.
I have a friend who bought an IPL new with a six-speed (and got a great deal on it.) I think his intention was to keep it around long term which feels like a pretty good choice. It offers a lot of stuff that is getting harder and harder to find.
The M2 Comp is pretty great! I’ve had it for more than 4 years and 30K miles. It’s my daily and replaced my old 350Z. I owned both cars for a short while and it was a really interesting experience driving them back-to-back.
The M2 Comp is obviously much faster in a straight line, it’ll easily out grip the Nissan and it turns in way faster…but I have to give Nissan’s engineers credit: it feels like the Z had more travel and felt as though it was inherently working with a lower center of gravity. Some of it may be the seating position too, which is lower and further back in the Z.
The beauty of the M2 is it’s rear diff. It’ll let you slide, but more importantly be nice and progressive when regaining grip when ending that slide. The car does always want to be sideways though, that’s just kind of its personality.
Downsides are the ride quality which is just barely on the right side of “i’ll tolerate it” and the gas tank. Oh man, i miss that big old gas tank in the Nissan. The BMW has a 13.2 gallon tank and has 405 hp. I live at the gas station.
On the other hand, it makes an absurdly practical car for the city. Great visibility, easy to park, a nice big trunk, back seats you can put people in, the list goes on.
The z33 to z34 was a major change. For better or worse though, they still shared the same aesthetic motif, so I can understand where the sentiment comes from.
For me, the biggest electronic change was adding automatic rev matching, which was the first time ever on a production car.
It blew my mind the first time I drove one. However, it’s been adopted by all manufacturers a decade later so many people forget what it was like before.
People rightfully focus on the GT-R during that era more, but people forget how much of a benchmark setting car the 370z was in 2008.