The Nissan 350Z offers visceral sports car performance at an attainable price. Its rear-wheel-drive chassis is rigid, and the suspension and tires are up for the challenge of hard cornering. The new V6 engine delivers good torque at reasonably low revs, as well as 306 horsepower with a thrilling 7500 rpm redline. The six-speed manual gearbox is racier than the five-speed automatic, so we recommend the Grand Touring models with the six-speed, because you'll probably be driving it hard, and the GTs have better brakes. But either way you get the style and the engine. The interior is the weakest link, but you can get comfortable with a little time spent living with it.

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Sam Moses filed this report from central California; Tom Lankard and Mitch McCullough contributed to this report.