Nissan’s latest Z sports car is as subtle as a kick in the backside, with the performance to match, but somewhere in between the noise, the power and the Hot Wheels styling lurks a hidden depth.
To understand where Nissan has taken the latest 370Z, one needs to retrace 40 years of Z sports cars back to the Datsun 240Z of 1969. The Sixties were the era of long-nosed, short-backed sports cars and big, lazy V8s. Part small British sports car, part American muscle car, the 240Z had no qualms about squeezing itself right in the middle. Forget evolution, just look at it: the 370Z is a direct reinvention of the original 240Z, the back is shorter and the rear wheels are closer to the driver. Except now the whole chassis is wider, lower and lighter than anything that’s come before it.
As for the styling atop the retro architecture, it may not look a whole lot different from the outgoing 350Z, but it carries so many aggressive, go-fast embellishments, it makes the outgoing model look like a study in design classicism.
In the metal it really looks like a Hot Wheels number that’s been pumped up for road use. I’m surprised Nissan doesn’t say the paintwork changes colour when you run it under the tap.
It forgoes the crisp Teutonicness you find in every modern German sports car and perhaps because of that lack of restraint, the 370Z sits in the car park looking like it’s wrapped in a big, red, shiny bow.
The seats have a grippier leather inlay in the centre to stop you sliding around (a real problem in the outgoing model) and the sound system is MP3/iPod compatible with Bluetooth connectivity for your phone. The interior certainly has a lot more stuff in it but, if I’m honest, all the new additions don’t feel in the spirit of a traditional Z sports car.
The spartan interior of the old 350Z left you with a singular purpose and, whether by chance or not, that made it feel like a supreme driver’s car. This new one, and it may seem strange to hear, feels as though it’s been made for Americans and there is another major clue to support my hunch — the new automatic gearbox.
You see, chubby Americans called Ron who think this is a “Zee Coup” could never dream of mastering a “stick shift”, nevermind one as heavy and as demanding of precision as the old 350Z’s. Hence the new seven-speed automatic with manual sequential paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. It undoubtedly softens the drive and helps those needing a more user-friendly interface with the Z’s big power.
The long-armed paddle-shifters sprout out at you from behind the wheel demanding instant interaction and, though the system is sharp enough, its real benefit, American or not, will come in stop-start traffic when you can comfortably slip it into drive and save yourself the pain and tears of working the Z’s heavy clutch.
The six-speed manual is still where the hardcore fun is to be had as it accelerates far more vividly. The whole experience feels intoxicating as you let the howling engine run itself out after each shift. The gear knob is big and heavy, but shifts with a sharp, spring-loaded impertinence. It’s old-school hooligan fun is what it is.
The manual may be traditional, but it isn’t without its high-tech Japanese wizardry. As standard on the manual comes a system called SynchroRev, which, through sensors in the base of the gear shift, always matches engine speed to that of the gear you’re engaging.
It blips the throttle on a down-change to ensure there’s no shift shock when you let the clutch out again.
It’s utterly joyous, egging you on with each change. It’s such a simple technology that improves performance so markedly — I can’t imagine why no one thought of it before.
So you see what I mean about hidden depths?
For all the 370Z’s power, aggression and superficiality, it seems to have found a rather likeable character within itself. It’s humble enough to doff its cap to the long line of Z cars before it, yet unique enough to feel as though it’s starting afresh.
It’s softened itself where it needed softening (thanks to the automatic gearbox) and has hardened itself everywhere else. Its new technology is impressive, but by no means the focal point of the car. And, let’s be honest, in this day and age, Nissan’s good, old-fashioned virtues of affordability are tough to ignore.
The new Nissan 370Z is one deeply impressive sports car, especially when you consider all its closest rivals need sporty M and S badges just to keep up with it.