A Nissan Z worthy of the letter
Spirit and heritage continue today with launch of latest reincarnation
ONE of the first sports cars I rode shotgun in as a kid was the 1970 Datsun 240Z. On a race track. Red. Fat tires. Manual shifter. Inline six-cylinder engine. Bubble headlights. Two-door fastback. Hood that went on forever.
Ooooh, I loved that car. No generation of Z has measured up since. Until now.
The redesigned seventh-generation Z sitting in my driveway is a stunner. Perhaps because it’s inspired by the original ’70. Red. Fat tires. Manual shifter. V-6 engine. Bubble headlights. Two-door fastback. Long hood.
Like Mustang returning to its design roots with the fifth-gen 2005 pony car, the Z updates the original 240Z design for the 21st century. Since photos of the sleek “Z Proto” concept car first appeared in 2020, anticipation has run high, and the production car doesn’t disappoint. When I drove it north to Lake Charlevoix for a weekend, it turned heads wherever it went.
“Oh, I would definitely take that over the Supra,” said one male admirer, referring to Z’s Toyota archenemy and its polarizing nose.
“THAT is a gorgeous car,” a female pal said.
“Cool, looks like the original 240Z,” a racing buddy said.
Walk around the sleek coupe, and it’s apparent why Nissan decided to call it simply Z. This is a car in search of its roots.
“The original 240Z was built to bring the joy and excitement of sports car ownership,” Nissan’s media materials say. “That spirit and heritage continue today.”
Though it sits on the same ol’ chassis as the last-gen, Z reaches back to the lean looks of its famous ancestor. The design is simple, purposeful. The bubble headlight theme is repeated in the door handles and fuel door. Nissan Z is more than a pretty dress. Below decks is a modern interior strapped to a rocket of an engine. The old nail 3.7-liter V-6 has been tossed for a glorious twin-turbo, 3.0-liter mill putting out 400 horses and 350 pound feet of torque. That’s a gain of 20 percent and 30 percent respectively. Mmmm, Z-esty.
Pulling onto M-32 east of Elmira, Michigan — my favorite northern, twisty road — I downshifted Z into third, then blitzed a series of S turns, emerging onto a short straightway with the six howling.
The twin turbos (assisted by a lightweight, carbon-fiber driveshaft) do their job, providing the engine with good low-end torque — but it doesn’t stop there. Whap! The tach hits the 7,000 RPM redline before I can shift into fourth, pulling strong across the rev range. The V-6 roar encourages high revs even if it’s not as distinctive as other songbirds in its class: Camaro-mustang-corvette V-8s, Supra inline-6, Porsche Cayman GTS flat-6.
Pushing hard along M-32, I’m aware this is a 3,536-pound sled. It lacks the knife-edge precision of the class standard, 3,200-pound Cayman GTS — but it also costs, ahem, $45K less. Handling is predictable with a welcome push at the limit.
Returning home along M-32, a downpour swept in from Lake Michigan. Wet roads are tricky for rearwheel-drive sports cars, but Z was unruffled. The electronics provided welcome stability even when I tried to fluster the car with excess throttle.
In dry conditions at M1 Concourse’s Champion Motor Speedway in Pontiac, Michigan, Z’s neutral
handling was an unexpected delight. It was poised through Turn 10’s difficult off-camber sweeper. But its Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires and brakes hold it back. Coming out of the Turn 5 hairpin onto the back straight, traction was limited, and after a few laps the brakes got squishy under hard braking.
Seems Nissan is holding something back for the rumored track-focused NISMO edition. Add Michigan Pilot Sport Cup 2s, Brembo brakes and stiffer shocks, and Z would make a fine track rat. For now, playful archrival Supra and Mustang Mach 1 (complete with adaptive dampers) have better track tools.
More problematic is my Performance model’s six-speed stick. In
a coupe that loves to be rowed, the shifter felt rubbery, especially in crucial 3-to-4 shifts. Once again, Porsche sets the bar on manual shifters, but Z also pales next to an Acura Integra.
I’m a member of the #Savethemanuals club, but in the case of the Z, the automatic with steering column-based paddle shifters is worth a look. On the plus side, the stick’s “S-shift” button enabled rev-matching for flawless manual downshifts.
Not only does it sound bold, but S-shift saves heel-and-toe shifting on busy tracks like M1. S-shift is part of a unique set of carry-over controls from the last-gen Z like Forward/ AFT buttons on the console side of the seat.
Clearing the squashed greenhouse on entry ain’t easy for us six-footers. That coupe looks cool on the outside, but inside it’s a pillbox with
limited windshield space. Thank the mirror and front-facing camera behind it. C-pillar visibility? Fuhgeddaboudit. Happily, blind-spot assist is standard — in line with Nissan’s typically generous safety packages.
My reward, once folded inside, was a reworked interior with three dash-mounted classic analog pod gauges mixed with the latest digital display tech. I preferred the customizable Sport setting that rotates the tachometer so the 7,000 RPM redline is in the 12 o’clock position.
The standard tech upgrades are good news for Z drivers who want to hit the road. On a long trip, Z’s standard adaptive cruise control (a rare feature for manuals) is made for easy highway cruising. As did the seats — not a given in a class of sports car where heavily bolstered seats can eat your kidneys. My Performance model’s red leather and Alcantara
seats (also available in blue) fit like a glove.
Some shoppers will regret the lack of a rear seat (which, even in cramped ’Stangs and Camaros welcome small passenger or luggage). But the rear hatchback is roomy and easily swallowed the baggage I needed for my trip north.
The rear of the car is as pleasing as the retro front with its twin pipes and blacked-out light bar punctuated by horizontal corner lights. That latter is another nod to the OG Datsun — and welcome improvement from the sixth-gen car’s awkward boomerang lights. Check out my lights, do they make me look fat? Coming and going, the Z-exy Nissan gets noticed. And at a price that puts it at the affordable end of the midlevel sports car segment.
That’s what attracted me to Z 50 years ago. Welcome back, Z.