When I was a member of the Z club (as in nissan/datsun z's) we used to do at the beginning of every year down to a drag strip for opening day. Had some ridiculously fast 300zx's and 350z's down there. One of our guys had a twin turbo 300zx that ran around 700 hp when we went to the strip. He would tune it down to around 500 hp for daily driving lol. Another 350z was running over 500 hp daily, and this was before he got his nitrous setup installed. I had a (mostly) stock 350z at the time, all my upgrades were meant to unleash the cars natural power and to improve traction and handling. Had very few power upgrades (later got a twin turbo kit for it.........and now it's sold lol). And for those of us that had the mostly stock cars, the subaru wrx sti's were our constant competition. In the 1/4 the subarus would usually take us by a little bit, but when we would mess with them in top speed runs, we could usually pull away on top end.
Now I loved my 350z, and there are days when I still miss it. Seeing that I don't really have a fun car to drive right now, it only makes it worse when I think about my old Z. That being said. I think the 350z looked pretty good. But I think my cuda has absolutely gorgeous body styling in comparison. And when it is all said and done, my cuda will be sitting at around the same hp level (way more tq) and will have cost me about the same amount of money. All for something better looking, more rare, and a true classic.
Those sport compacts have their charms. But old muscle is where it's at for me!
