R32, 180sx Or 300zx

[MRSAMO]

You have got to be shitting me.

No I'm not :

Compared to 180s and silvias:

350z looks porky, as the S2K guys would say, "a toad taking a shit" :

I do like the 240z, not a fan of the longer 260z and 70s 280zx/Z31s:

Sorry for those people still using dialups LOL

Personal feedback from driving them. They are very unresponsive in the steering and require a lot of turning of the wheel to actually turn them. Example going straight on a roundabout requires nearly a full turn to one side of the wheel unlike most cars requiring just a flick. They feel very heavy (heavier than a supra which most people on here call heavy) into corners and honestly while having good torque the power delivery doesn't feel that great even on a mildly modified one. They are a bit of a noisy car through the body (rear boot/hatch can have quite the annoying rattle to it), this would obviously be an age issue. Obviously you can make any car great with a large budget. But for the most things people modify on cars (exhaust, cooler, tune, coilovers etc) they just don't seem to feel that great when other cars are out there for the same coin.

Depend what you drove and under what conditions. J-spec TTs had 4 wheel steering (so do GTRs), its no wonder they feel heavy sometimes but its not heavy like no-power-steering heavy. This steering trait comes into play at higher speed where you want stability. Most people don't buy Zs for time attacks, drags or drifting, they weren't designed for that. They are just grand tourers, which is perfect for street driving and highways.

Unfortunately like a lot of other second hand cars, some thrashed, its hard to see just what a car has been through without knowing its full history. A car may have 20000kms on it, but that could be 20000kms of track time. Most of the cars that we are talking about are well over 100ks.

[Marcus89]

300zx = box on wheels (may also give you aids)

180sx = looks pretty decent goes to show why they kept same shape through to 97/98

r32 = Best looking of bunch personally. Wish they had kept this shape for longer instead of series 1 r33 and obviously put the rb25det in them.

[STATUS]

300zx should be on NO to buy list.

[mad082]

funny thing about 300zx's is that i see more people over 50 driving them then i do young people. my mate's parents own one. he's a mechanic and told them if they want it fixed to take it to someone else, LOL

[alr33x]

7k wont get you anything decent a couple grand more get you into a 33 no problems since their a dime a dozen 180s 300zx and 32's will all be fried.

if you wana slide get a 180 and spend money on it

[Marcus89]

7k wont get you anything decent a couple grand more get you into a 33 no problems since their a dime a dozen 180s 300zx and 32's will all be fried.

if you wana slide get a 180 and spend money on it

Although r33's aren't that much better looking than 300zx's although i do much prefer the interior to the r32/180

[kizzagtr]

180sx for sure mate.. sr20det all the way!

[getyayayaout]

300zx should be on NO to buy list.

lol

[TTT]

I don't care how big a 300zx fan you are... there is no way anyone would recommend someone with a budget of $7K to buy a 300zx.

the 300zx had a price tag over $100K when new.

runs lower than 14 flat in factory form

blah blah..

so it's faster and more powerful than the R32 GTST and 180sx, but $7K is what you have.. so stay away.

out of 180sx and R32, it's a personal choice.

someone mentioned that finding a unmolested version of an R32 is going to be easier than a 180sx.

I only ever spend about that sort of money on cars too.

So I occasionally look around for things in that price range.

and it is more common to see an R32 in OK shape with no major mods than it is to get a 180sx.

all the 180's seem to have some sort of "i'mahomo" bodykit glued on...

just drive a stockish example of both and then go looking for $7K ones..

or $10K ones and lowball them lol

[dank]

depends on what your after id go the 180 but if you want power go the 32

[dank]

wtf .. just saw those pics of the 260? fkn hot!

[monster101]

IMO the 180sx looks better than the other two, just personal opinion though

[bozodos]

get the 300 if you like a challenge.

By challenge I mean losing your sanity when it comes time to do mechanical work

[URHYNS]

have owned a 33 and a 180, and been in a 32, and know someone with a 300zx.

if i was owning another import it would be the 33 or the 180sx. never been much of a fan of the 32, and they and the 300zx are the slowest of the group. also getting a bit long in the tooth these days.

also if you like working on cars and plan on doing mods yourself, forget the 300zx. for a reason why, google a pic of the engine bay. it is another reason why they are the slowest. most of them will weigh about 300kg more than when they came out of the factory because there are dozens of tools somewhere in the engine bay that hav been dropped by people working on them that they were never able to find or retrieve because of the lack of space.

hahahaha i love it.... however i don't agree, obviously, having owned mine for 2 years now, i wouldn't get back in a 180 or r32... unless a drift cop... the vg30dett is a great motor. Yep, an absolute BITCH to work on, but it puts out a helluva lot. Supports 350+ rwkw on stock internals, proven on many examples around australia. Very easy to extract power with simple bolt ons. They arnt THAT heavy either, and they handle better than any skyline, no offence boys. I wouldn't get one though, if you cant afford to do all the preventative maintainence. Being such a hi-tech car, yes still by todays standards, there are a few things which need to be sorted out (if not done previously, and wont be on a $7k example) like the 100k service, and plenum pull/water bypass and emission control deletes. This can set you back 3 k.

So i wouldn't recommend it if you have 7k and no more to spend. But if you are tech savvy, or have the money, its a beautiful car to own, very rewarding. Especially a 5 speed 2 seater slicktop (lightest and rare), heaps of fun!

Hope that helps.

[MRSAMO]

The problem is the OP's budget, he is able to put up 7K just for the car only, any of the cars that he's mentioned will cough $2k or more out of him. The fact is that all of these cars are old and probably driven hard. If I was really on a budget with just 7K I'd look at a Toyota lol

Do any of you know anything about Zs? They come in NA and TT versions, 2 +0 and 2+2 as well as convertible (which are NA). With an NA car you are not going to have any problems. They just run like any regular 6 cylinder car and handles great too. With a TT, easy, read up on the history of the car, log books and online reports to find out. If you want to avoid a real headache stay away from a TT RX7, the 300zx is nothing in comparison!