Thank you, depreciation! The Nissan 350z is now available plentifully under $5,000.

In my continued search for the best drift car for under $5,000, one of the most recommended platforms has to be the Nissan 350z. It is the much younger alternative to the more common drift platform the Nissan 240sx. For the last several years, the 240sx has been receiving a healthy dose of the so called “drift tax” and prices for clean chassis have been going up and becoming harder to find. Taylor Ray has been an advocate of the 350z as the go to platform with his “project seat time” 350z. See below for the first video in the series:

Some things to note on the 350z as reported by those who use them as their drifting platform of choice…

-the factory limited slip is almost worthless… a lot of people who take their cars drifting either weld the differential or upgrade the LSD.

-it is relatively difficult to make a lot more horsepower with the VQ engine naturally aspirated. There are a lot of forced induction options, of course, but, another option I have read about is dropping in a lower gear ratio. There is one option to solve both problems mentioned above: Tomei 2-way LSD and 3.9 Final Gear Drive 

From what I have read online, this combo changes the whole character of the car.

-one of the great things for beginner drifters is that you don’t really need a full angle kit or have to modify the steering knuckles really to get plenty of angle out of the car. You can simply cut down the steering stops and get some tie rods with more threads than factory and a small spacer. Forum post here.

I’ve looked all over the country and have come up with 16 350z’s that cost $5,000 or under with the following criteria:

1. under 200k miles
2. no extensive rust
3. no extensive damage
4. run and drive
5. no grinding in the transmission
6. no check engine lights

Check them all out here: