looking to buy a Z soon

[altystreet]

i am wanting a 350 and i have for years i have a altima coupe right now not enough power for my taste and i was wondering how reliable these cars are.. and if i have 18" aftermarket rims will they fit on the Z maybe a stupid question

[jerryd1987]

if your still looking for a answer after all his time, they are reliable to a point i had no issues out of my stock block with 10 psi boost at 100k miles. With that said stock rods bend at 450ish rwhp on the de about 500 for the HR and tons of shops have had all kinds of problems with spun bearings which is why i built my own engine for more power. they are also similar to a supra for price of modding, nothing is cheap. i have about 25k invested(not counting the cost of the car) for everything needed to make 800 to the rear wheels minus lsd and axles. this also isnt including labor only thing i paid someone else to do was machine work. only shops i would trust with my car if i where to pay someone is sound performance or dynosty as they are the only two i have never heard complaints about for bad motors. lsx series is becoming very popular due to engine problems going for big power and if i where to do it again i would of prob went that route.
oh yah 18 inch wheels dosnt say s*** about them, what bolt pattern, what offset? currently i run tsw interlaggos 18x10.5 all four corners with 285/30/18's needed a 7 mm spacer up front, mayby could have got away with 5mm, settled on 10 so i have a good amount of clearance between the tire and knuckle. im not lowered though, dont believe in hurting performance to make my car look retarded.

[orangeNblue]

I'm sorry I missed this one. The VQ35 is one of the most reliable motors that Nissan makes, not to mention in the industry.

As for your second question, the answer is most likely yes. The bolt pattern for the 350z is 5X114.3. You can check your wheels bolt pattern against that.

Anyways if you are seriously into buying a 350z, and haven't yet, I do have some pointers. Look into which model you really want. The headlights and interior change in 2006 and then in 2007 the VQ35HR motor was introduced. Just from personal experience (I've owned a 2003 and a 2008) the HR motor is night and day difference in power! Interior and headlights really come down to preference, but in my opinion if you are looking to buy a 350z buy a 2007-08 model.

[dasoupdude]

^He's right. You can find deals on the more recent 350z from the 07-08 years. They look about the same on the outside, but its motor is about 80% different.

[RicerX]

I would definitely recommend an 07-08 HR 350Z. That is the best configuration powertrain wise for the 350Z. Only thing is boost applications are somewhat limited, but getting better.

Being an owner of an Altima Coupe myself as well as my 370Z, I will say that your wheels will likely fit, but not well at all due to offsets. The AC has a +45mm offset from the factory, while the Zs use anywhere from +22 to +17 in the rear from what I remember. My 370 uses a +40 in the front, but the rear is much more dramatic. I would double check your aftermarket wheel offsets before committing to using them.