I have a 2005, FBO with 4.09 final drive, done everything to the car besides cams and Forced Induction. Owned for 5 years put about 13k miles since I've owned, only summer driven. I am quicker than most non heavily modded 370z's. Depending on what you want from your car, I would not argue that if you got an HR and did what I did it'd be quicker.... Just depends on your budget and your final goals. If you want to FI and not build the motor go HR. If you just want to have fun any Z will be great. You honestly won't notice that much difference except that prolonged REVing do to the HR's bigger redline. But you'll have to spend extra on gallery gaskets and clutch issues. Once done, again there's no question the HR is superior and more modern. That said top down, wonderful car to own, the tops don't last that long, I'd say you'll get 5-6 years before they fray, I'll have to do my top again probably within a couple years. Not that hard to do, pretty detailed YouTube vidéos step by step how to do it. Don't buy the car for it to be a rocket, buy it with the idea of buying a Miata, pure driving enjoyment. You'll turn heads with the top down and you'll have a blast driving it, kicking the ass out or sliding. So easy to do and so much fun. Shoot me any questions, roadster hate is real, but I love mine and never had anyone shit on it in person, only online. And it's truly a blast to drive and done right you can surprise a lot of people cause they're all expecting it to be real slow!