Nissan 350Z (2007) CAR review

Nissan's new-for-2007 350Z is still a cracker

The 2007 350Z looks the same as the old one, doesn’t it?

If you look carefully there’s a bulge in the bonnet and therein lies the story. The new-for-2007 350Z gets an engine that’s 80% new – and 8mm higher. Hence the purposeful swelling on the bonnet. The charismatic 3.5-litre V6 gets longer con rods, a wider range of operation for the variable valve timing and equal length exhaust manifolds. For the first time too, there are dual intake manifolds. The compression ratio is up from 10.3 to 10.6 to 1, all of which allows the new unit to produce 309bhp. It’s what Nissan’s sports car always needed.

I’ve heard that the engine started life as a Renault unit

So the story goes. In reality this V6, in 2.5 and 3-litre guise, gestated in the infinitely forgettable Maxima QX and was then adopted by Renault in 3.5-litre form for the oddball Vel Satis and Avantime. In the 350Z it started life in 2003 with 276bhp, which then rose to 296bhp in its 2006 iteration. Now its got 309bhp – a useful 33bhp hike over the original, but only 13bhp more than the 2006 model.