I think Nissan overall did not do a bad job with the sales of the 350Z..As far as being a sports car i think it fits right in..Just think of what a sports or GT car is suppose to accomplish..somewhat affordable and perform well..which the 350 clearly does..Car handles phenomenal out of the box even the base model..Nismo has always tuned for more aero dynamic performance look at the R or S-tune and previous Skyline models they were tested at tracks around Japan..You say "rice" i say 100% functional.