I am currently trying to decide between both of these cars and was wondering if anyone who has driven both has an opinion on them. I currently own an E36 328I Coupe with a welded diff, upgraded fan etc. But the car needs a complete overhaul of subframe reinforcements and bushings etc. I want to build a reliable car that I can drive with minimal issues, how do people find the power difference and reliability between the cars and which would be a better option over all?
E36 is a better chassis, 350 are heavy and not new enough that it wont need all the work your e36 needs now. Bush kits are cheap enough if you can do the work yourself.
There is only about 100kg between the two unless you're running a completely stripped E36 and the heaviest variant 350z. My Z33 weighs in at 1250Kg with new seats, exhaust and a few other bits removed. As far as a chassis is concerned, why exactly is the E36 "better" than a Z33? You can't really compare them, one is a purpose built sports car, the other is an economical saloon designed around about 5 model variants.
E36 has a trailing arm, for grip it wins every time. M3 track cars are everywhere and fast(both saloon and coupe). 350 not so much even though it's a two seater sports car as you put it. I'm not saying 350z is shit, it'll just never compare. Even just look at numbers of both cars competing at top level across the world
How exactly do trailing arms always equal more "grip" from a geometry perspective? Do you mean max lat g's. Because an E36 M3 pulls similar max lat g's as a Z, both in stock form, ofc. I only had a 325, and it was a while ago, but there was no way mine could ever put power out of a corner faster than the Z could. Both have pretty shit camber retention during bump.
