I used to have an 05 6MT coupe (RIP) that I loved. I now have a 2007 RS4 which is a horrible track-day car, but I want to buy a more affordable car with lots of aftermarket support to start taking to the track. I don't want a miata or e36/46 bmw, I want to get something that sounds good and has reasonable power off the bat, so I'm looking at a few cars (G35, VR6 GTI, C30 T5, Catfish Camaro). If you had to pick which year of 6MT g35 to build for a track-day car (not autox or drift), which year would you start with? Off the top of my head these are pros and cons of each year:

03 Pro: Cheapest, the non-revup is less likely to burn oil
03 Con: Lower power/redline to begin with, no brembo included, trans has 1/3/5 syncro issues

04 Pro: Came with brembo brakes, can be found pretty cheap with brembos already on it which is nice
04 Con: Lower power/redline, transmission syncro issues

Early 05 Pro: higher revving/high power
Early 05 Con: oil burning, crappy trans with syncro issues

Late 05 Pro: Got the cd009 trans which is much more durable, higher revving+higher power
Late 05 Con: Oil burning

06-07 Pro: Stronger trans, higher revving/higher power
06-07 Con: oil burning, harder to find at a reasonable price

Am I missing anything? Are the brembos on the 04 pretty good on the track, or are they not particularly helpful? I know that obviously I can upgrade brakes/pads on any car, but it would be nice if they were good out of the box as that's just one less thing to worry about.

Overall I think the early 05 is probably the worst one to get. Crappy transmission, oil-burning engine, but also costs more because it's an 05

 

Overall you're best off getting a 2007-2008 350Z because of the HR engine and the lighter weight chassis compared to the G35.

If you do want to rock the G because it looks Infiniti-ly better then go with something that doesn't have a sunroof. You can buy a BRAND NEW CD00A for like $1600 so that's something to consider if you do have a pre-CD009.

Brembo is nice sure, but what really matters the most is the pads, the 2003-2004 base calipers/rotors can be swapped for the 2005-2007 coupe (2005-2006 sedan) as a viable cost effective alternative to the expensive Brembos.

Oil burning is a non-issue, just check the oil level the day after tracking the car, and on a weekly basis until you get a feel for how much it drinks.

How much of a track car are you talking? Like gutted interior, caged, ???

 

HR 350z are like 2x what I wanna spend on the base platform unfortunately

I'm not thinking full cage immediately, just wanna play it by ear and see how I like it first

 

Ok in that case I'd say probably a 2003-2004, you wouldn't want all the extra goodies like the projector HID's and such anyways on a track car so why bother paying for something newer that's got more expensive hardware.

Ditch the seats and put in something lighter, full poly bushing kit, with some solids if you are going pure race car. Good platform to work from, you're never going to shave that extra 200 lb advantage that the 350Z has though (2003-2005) and a completely stock to stock comparison the 350Z ends up being like 300lbs lighter due to the extremely heavy stock power seats on the G35.

You can probably find a cosmetically beat up 350Z for cheaper than a G35 as well, personally I still stick with my recommendation of a 350Z, even a DE equipped one. Hard to beat for an entry level track car that you can build upon.

 

One thing I was open to was gutting the rear seat and getting something like this https://lrbspeed.com/product/g35-cou...r-seat-delete/ down the road if I get the G, but fair point about the 350z weight.