The Nissan Z carries the mantle of decades of Z cars on its back. From the original 240Z all the way to the 350z, Nissan’s history, DNA and essence boils down to the Z marque.
Introduced late last year, the hotly anticipated Z, had a lot on its shoulders. Another issue was that the Z’s nemesis, the Supra was also new on the block. Whereas the Supra was made with BMW’s backing, the Z was made by all by Nissan’s lonesome.
So, instead of working with a brand new platform, Nissan had to stick with a heavily revised version of the 370z’s, along with its transmission. So, it gives this new Z a well worn feeling behind the wheel. The controls are familiar, if not feeling a bit old and the options are a limiting.
There is no adaptive suspension, no multiple drive modes, an ancient infotainment system, no automatic climate control and a bewildering set of seat controls lifted directly from the old 370z.
What also causes you a momentary pause is the way the Z rides. It’s not sports car battering ram to your spine. It’s supple and damn comfortable. It soaks up bumps effortlessly and so well damped that is borderline GT levels of refinement.
Which would be great but runs in contrary to the Z’s power delivery. The throttle tip is abrupt and gets only worst in ‘S-Mode’, which makes the throttle a hairtrigger but it is the only way to enable the auto rev match. Pair the hair-trigger with a springy and vague clutch, you can’t just jump in and drive the Z smoothly.
Getting all of that to work unison though, the Z can fly down the road. Riding the 350 ft/lbs of torque, launches the Z in 4.2 seconds and the instant throttle makes it feel a lot faster. The steering direct, weighted nicely and offers decent amount of feedback.
It’s not quite as visceral as the Supra nor is it a bargain in comparison either.