Damn. Foiled again! Nissan pulled a bit of a fast one at the launch of the facelifted 350Z in Port Elizabeth last week. After arriving at the airport and selecting our cars from the gleaming line-up in the parking lot, we were handed directions to the Aldo Scribante racetrack. The assembled media jumped, like lemmings, to the unanimous conclusion that, once there, we’d be able to drive the cars like we’d stolen ’em. That meant, of course, that we could treat the 100 km roundabout drive to the racetrack as a gentle walk in the park – why risk speeding tickets and petrify your co-driver on the road, when you can give the car a proper spanking around the track? We leaned back and enjoyed the scenery around the Marine Drive and on to Maitlands River Mouth, resisting the temptation of the long straights punctuated by some lovely twisty sections, looking forward to the action that was to follow. We arrived at Scribante positively foaming at the mouth with anticipation, only to find the pits already occupied by the competitors practising for the weekends nationals. Nissan had arranged for us to do one lap each with their works drivers in their production racing 350Zs, and I got to be chauffeured rather briskly by Gary Formato, but it wasn’t quite the same as scaring ourselves by going half as quickly.
Anyway, back to the car.
I’ve long maintained that if I came into some toy money, the 350Z Coupe would be my weapon of choice. The car looks great, it goes well and, I believe, offers serious value for money. When I drove the pre-facelifted model with its 206 kW and 363 Nm, I reckoned that it felt like a true musclecar, although another 30 kW would have been welcome. With the 0-100 dash taking around 6,3 seconds and a top speed (electronically limited) of 255 km/h the car was quick enough to get you into serious trouble with the law.
Of course, one of the problems with motoring journalism is that there are so many conflicting views on the same vehicle. Our own very well respected Car Magazine had this to say when they tested the Nissan Coupe in March 2004. “Looks great, sounds glorious, communicates through the wheel and seat-of-the-pants – and goes very quickly….. It’s one of those very rare vehicles that make any journey worth looking forward to.”
So far so good – Car pretty well agrees with me, and so, I thought, would any other tester given just ten minutes in the car. Then I read Jeremy Clarkson’s take on the convertible version of the same car in May 2005: see Times Online at http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1630541,00.html )
“But the weight-saving programme hasn’t worked. This car still feels like it’s made from ebony and lead. It feels as though it’s dragging an anchor. … Then there’s the noise. A car like this should sing or howl or impersonate thunder. Whereas it sounds like . . . a noise. A drone that just gets louder and louder as the revs begin to wage their war with the weight…. The 350Z, then, feels like a mishmash; like a Japanese car designed by an Indian from Leicester in America and then altered for Europe. Which shouldn’t be a surprise because that’s exactly what it is. And worse, when you’re at a party and someone asks what you’re driving you have to say: “A Datsun with a Renault engine…. It wasn’t the road, then, or the traffic that spoilt my drive in this car. It was the car itself.”
Confusing, isn’t it? It gets worse if you go to the Top Gear Website, where Clarkson’s colleagues all wax lyrical about the virtues of the Nissan 350Z. Let me put an end to all this, and say that I Like It Very Much. Perhaps Jeremy just had a bad hair day… On second thought, he always does.
The latest version of the 350Z as nearly launched in Port Elizabeth has undergone a number of improvements. The 24 valve VQ engine – actually a Nissan unit used by Renault, Jeremy – has been tweaked to produce ten more kW, taking it to just twenty short of my target of 236, while torque has come down slightly to 350 Nm at 4 800 rpm, where last year’s model offered 363 Nm at the same revs. Nissan claims that the car now gets to 100 km/h in 5,9 seconds, and that’s about as strong as it felt during our subdued drive to the racetrack. As before, the car delivers the torque to the rear wheels via a very pleasant six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential. The speed-sensitive power-steering has been made lighter, and new shock absorbers and ABS brakes look after the fancy new alloy rims and low-profile rubber. It’s also still available as a hardtop coupe, or a soft-top convertible.
From the outside, the new model can be identified by its broader front bumper and new grille, different head and taillights, and the new-style rims. The interior has been upgraded through the use of new soft-feel materials, and genuine brushed aluminium panels replacing earlier plastic imitations.
I don’t know if the Nissan 350Z was designed by “an Indian from Leicester in America,” but if it was, I wish him well and hope he comes up with more of the same. The coupe looks stunning from every angle and it’s a beaut to drive. At R430 000 the Roadster convertible costs R32 000 more, and although it looks gorgeous with the roof down I’m put off by the soft top, even with its easy-open electronic operation.