ALL-NEW Z CAR TO PACK OVER 400HP

Nissan’s next ‘Fair lady’ is confirmed, with flagship Nismo version getting a hot V6 and 4WD

Nissan has given a 370Z successor the green light. The new sports car, aka the Fairlady, is expected to be shown in coupe guise before the end of next year ahead of global sales starting in 2020, some 50 years after the original Z car went on sale. Future generations of the Nissan model are understood to have been in doubt because of struggling profitability in the sports car segment, an issue felt more widely across the industry. Honda has admitted a similar quandary about an S2000 replacement and Toyota and BMW have teamed up in order to cut costs in the creation of their respective Supra (see story below) and Z4 sports cars. Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa last year said that he was in favour of a new Z car to replace the 370Z. He said the sports car market was a challenging one but was “personally advocating” a new Z car. The forthcoming model is known internally as the Z35 – a codename that continues a process started with the Z31 model launched in 1983. It has been twinned with the Infiniti Q60, with which it will share its rear-wheel-drive platform, engine lineup and electric system, according to senior officials from Nissan. Dimensionally, the new Z car is set to mirror the more upmarket Q60. At about 4,520mm long, 1,890mm wide and 1,240mm tall, it will be slightly larger than the 370Z, which has been in production since 2009. As well as a coupe version, Nissan plans a successor to the 370Z convertible, although this model is unlikely to be in showrooms until 2021. Power for the new coupe and convertible, which insiders suggest could be called the 400Z, is planned to come from Nissan’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine used in a number of existing models, including the Infiniti Q50 and the Q60. The engine in standard versions of the new Z car will have a 60deg vee angle and is expected to run a similar state of tune to that of the Q60, which develops 405hp and 475Nm. By comparison, the outgoing 370Z has a turbocharged 3.7-litre V6 powerplant that delivers some 330hp and 365Nm. The highlight of the new Z car line-up is set to be a four-wheel-drive Nismobadged version. Due to arrive in 2021, it is earmarked to run a powered-up version of the turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine with a claimed 475hp and 613Nm. Although it is still early days, it’s understood Nissan intends to reveal the styling of the new Z car as a concept later this year. The definitive production version is then planned to be unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show in 2019.