2024 Nissan Z NISMO Driven: More Fun Than An M2?

MotorTrend

The new Nissan Z came out last year in Sport and Performance levels

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 We were first introduced to this new Z car back in 2023.

00:15 I don't think I'm alone in thinking

00:16 it's one of the best looking Z cars

00:18 that Nissan has ever made.

00:21 It's a really charming mix of the original 240Z

00:25 and it's got some styling cues from the latest stuff

00:27 like the 300ZX, which I think is a really cool combination.

00:31 It's really the fitting of this kind of retro future

00:35 modern era that we're in of car design.

00:37 Design first, we've got a redesigned front end.

00:41 It's a little bit lower profile,

00:43 which is just gonna help to reduce drag.

00:45 We've also got a redesigned front grill with wider mesh,

00:49 which again, Nissan say helps to reduce drag

00:52 but doesn't inhibit the cooling factor

00:55 of that air coming up through into the engine.

00:57 Indeed, cooling is one of the ways

00:59 that Nissan managed to extract some extra horsepower

01:02 out of this engine.

01:03 More on that later.

01:04 Continuing on with the aerodynamics,

01:06 we've got canards at the front,

01:07 which help to disperse the air away from those front wheels.

01:11 We've also got a wider, taller rear wing,

01:15 which just helps to add a little bit of extra downforce

01:18 over those powered rear wheels.

01:21 Initially, you could buy the Z as either a sport edition

01:24 or a performance edition.

01:25 Now for 2024, we have the Nismo edition.

01:28 Nismo, of course, standing for Nissan Motorsport.

01:32 And with that in mind, all of the changes that have been made

01:35 have been made with performance

01:36 and specifically track performance in mind.

01:39 But here's the thing,

01:41 in the pursuit of all these performance upgrades,

01:44 this car got expensive.

01:45 In fact, it's a lot more expensive than most of its rivals.

01:49 So the question is, is it worth it?

01:52 (upbeat music)

01:55 (car engine roaring)

01:58 So then, performance was the name of the game

02:09 when it came to making this Nismo edition of the Z.

02:14 Let's do this.

02:15 Change it from drive to manual.

02:18 Now we've got these fluffy pedals

02:21 behind the steering wheel, which we can use.

02:23 And also let's change the engine mode from standard to Sport+.

02:28 See if this Nismo is indeed

02:33 a new performance Z car.

02:37 Power is fed to those rear wheels

02:41 via a nine-speed automatic transmission.

02:45 Of course, in the regular Z, you can get a six-speed manual,

02:50 but no such luck here, unfortunately.

02:53 It's nine-speed auto or nothing.

02:56 I imagine that's because an automatic regular Z

03:01 would have been quicker around the track

03:02 than a manual Nismo, but who cares?

03:05 (car engine roaring)

03:08 Woo, there it is.

03:13 Power, peak power is delivered all the way from 2000

03:18 to a little over 5,300 RPM.

03:23 And there's a quite remarkable lack of turbo lag.

03:28 They've done a really good job of getting that in the bus.

03:34 So yeah, you can get this Nismo going pretty rapidly.

03:40 And it sort of doesn't matter where you are

03:41 in the rev range if you need an extra boost.

03:44 Wow, you can get one.

03:47 Woo!

03:49 These have gone to great length

03:53 to firm up both the suspension chassis strengthening

03:56 and some revised dampers,

03:59 which are specific to this Nismo model.

04:03 Give the car a very direct ride.

04:05 It's certainly firm.

04:08 I didn't find it to be too firm on the roads coming in here.

04:12 It wasn't too uncomfortable,

04:15 but it certainly is a sports car.

04:17 There's no mistaking that.

04:18 We've also got revised, slightly uprated brakes,

04:23 wider rear wheels,

04:26 sticky Dunlop summer compound tires.

04:33 The Nismo features unique strengthening bars on both ends,

04:38 revised dampers, firmer spring rate.

04:45 It also features electronic steering.

04:47 It's the first Z car to have that.

04:49 Previously, of course, they've all been rack and pinion.

04:53 And the steering is one of the bones of contention

04:55 that we found with this car.

04:57 It's a touch light.

04:59 I don't think it's too light,

05:01 but it could certainly be heavier.

05:04 That said, you get a good amount of road feedback through it.

05:07 Nissan claim that all of these changes to the suspension

05:12 and the steering have been an aid of creating

05:14 what they call one-shot steering operation.

05:17 The idea being, of course,

05:18 that you should be able to predictably turn in with this car

05:21 and not have to adjust your steering mid-corner.

05:24 And I've got to say,

05:25 it is one of the more well-balanced,

05:28 stable cars that I've driven.

05:31 Very impressive.

05:32 The Nismo benefits from some nice upgrades

05:38 on the interior too.

05:39 We've got red anodized start button here,

05:43 and same with the drive mode.

05:45 We've got these nice manually adjustable Recaro seats.

05:50 They're a bit of a throwback, aren't they?

05:52 Some Alcantara-lined steering wheel

05:55 with this little red notch here signifying 12.

05:57 From the driver's seat, the ride feels good.

06:00 Seat hugs you in nicely.

06:02 The steering wheel's at a great position.

06:05 Pedals are nicely offset.

06:07 Beyond that, the only other criticism I have

06:09 of the AutoBox, which functions fantastically,

06:12 is the switch gear.

06:13 Look at this little thing here.

06:15 I don't know, it looks like an old-school desktop mouse.

06:20 Now, of course, I have the obligatory digital dash

06:25 in front of me, and it's infinitely customizable.

06:28 You can kind of modulate it

06:30 and put any bit of information anywhere you want

06:32 on the screen, pretty much.

06:33 Also got quite a lot going on on the steering wheel

06:35 for a sports car, but such is life, I suppose.

06:39 We've got another touchscreen down here,

06:41 a nice little nine-inch digital display,

06:44 which has CarPlay and all those sorts of things.

06:47 Physical controls down here

06:49 for my heating and air conditioning, that's nice.

06:51 And of course, look at this, this trio of gauges

06:54 for the boost pressure, boost speed,

06:57 and of course, the voltmeter for the battery.

06:59 That's a nice old-school touch, we like that.

07:02 It looks good, it sounds good,

07:04 drives really rather well.

07:06 With this, Nissan has done a really good job

07:09 of modernizing the car without losing its soul,

07:12 without losing that inherent Z-Car quality,

07:17 playfulness, spirit that we all know and love.

07:21 Overall, though, we really like this car.

07:24 We think that Nissan has done a great job

07:26 of playing the heritage of Z-Car's past,

07:30 add a little dash of GT-R goodness,

07:32 and make a car which I have a feeling

07:36 is gonna be around for a little while to come.

07:39 (car engine revving)

07:42 you

Category

Transcript

Recommended