two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo review: Nissan’s greatest Z-car is an aging prizefighter that’s still got the moves

The good The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo’s spectacle upgrades convert the sports coupe into a street-legal race car. The stiff suspension offers fine track feel and the broad, gooey tires give slew of grip when cornering. SynchroRev Match makes every shift a flawlessly timed one.

The bad The $Trio,500 Tech package adds outdated navigation and an eight-speaker audio system. You could do better with a smartphone. The rock-hard rail and narrow seats are penalizing over rough roads and for longer trips and the shallow trunk makes the Z impractical as a daily driver.

The bottom line After experiencing it at the track, I’m observing the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo in a totally fresh light. However, as the competition resumes to refine, the Z is a harsh sell for all but the most hard-core.

Roadshow Score

I can admit it: I was wrong. sort of. The last time I spotted the Nissan 370Z Nismo, I didn’t love it. The rail was harsh on the street, the boy-racer aerodynamics were just obnoxious, the tech felt a decade old and the spectacle bump didn’t feel like it was worth the significant price bump over the standard Z.

This time, after spending a week with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo, I caught myself considering buying one of my own. This car’s not so different from the one I drove before, so what gives?

Treating upgrades

The laundry list of Nismo upgrades is of the old-fashioned sort: big wheels, meaty tires, stiff suspension and naturally aspirated power. It’s not the very first car that I’ve described as Japanese muscle, but it’s very likely the one that fits the description best.

Working from the ground up, the Z Nismo’s upgrades commence with a set of gooey Bridgestone Potenza S001 high-performance tires. The rubber is packaged around 19-inch forged alloy wheels built for Nismo by Rays, a manufacturer of high-end racing and tuner wheels. The wheels feature a staggered fit with 9.5-inch broad rollers up front and even broader Ten.5-inch wheels out back.

The Z Nismo has more contact patch on its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners.

On display behind the wheels’ spokes are bright crimson sports brakes. The Nismo uses four-piston aluminum calipers on 14.0-inch discs and two-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs for the front and rear axles, respectively. But Nissan’s tuning division didn’t stop there; it also upgraded the brake lines with rigidity hoses and packed the system with R35 Special II brake fluid to reduce fade at high temperatures such as those you’d practice at the track.

Still working up, the chassis is suspended over the rolling stock with a Nismo-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, dampers and stabilizer bars. In the engine bay, the strut towers are tied together and to the figure with a reinforced 3-point brace. After all of that stiffening, Nismo has also installed front and rear chassis dampers to help cut down some of the stimulation and harshness over rough surfaces. Even with the chassis dampers the Nismo is a pretty noisy and rough rail over uneven pavement and city streets.

One of my fattest nitpicks with the previous iteration of the Z Nismo was that the aerodynamics package was just a bit too boy-racerish, too attention grabbing and just plain goofy looking. The two thousand seventeen 370Z Nismo has a smaller rear spoiler that no longer blocks what little rear visibility the Z has to suggest. The GT-R-inspired assets kit is plainly more attractive than the old catfish fascia.

Trackside with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo

Inwards the cabin, the driver and one passenger wedge into a set of Nismo/Recaro racing seats with Alcantara inserts. The racing buckets are gorgeous but too taut and awkward on the street. On the track, however, the tall bolstering did an exceptional job of keeping my butt in place during cornering. I’d go as far as to say that they actually get more comfy the stiffer the Z is shoved at the track; because I didn’t have to brace myself with my knees I was freer to see to the business of actually driving closer to the thresholds. either that or I was too amped up on adrenaline to notice that my bottom was sore.

Meantime, the steering wheel and shift lever also both get the Nismo treatment and are packaged in Alcantara and leather, respectively.

If it ain’t broke: Powertrain upgrades

Not much has switched in the engine bay, which is just a teensy bit of a frustration. I can proceed to wish for a factory-installed and warrantied twin-turbo system, but I don’t realistically expect any drastic powertrain switches this late in the 370Z’s life cycle.

The heart of the Z Nismo is essentially the same naturally aspirated, Trio.7-liter VQ-series engine (VQ37VHR) V6 engine that powers the standard 370Z. It’s basically a tweaked and higher displacement version of the VQ35DE that’s powered the Z since the two thousand three launch of the 350Z. Nissan puts some variant of the VQ into everything from the Frontier pickup to the Maxima sedan; it’s a proven and reliable powerplant if nothing else and Nissan seems to be taking an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” treatment to this element of the Z Nismo’s spectacle.

The VQ-Series V6 engine can be found under the fetish mask of many Nissan cars and trucks. Here, it makes a respectable three hundred fifty horsepower.

In the Z Nismo, output has been massaged to three hundred fifty horsepower and two hundred seventy six pound-feet of torque (up from the standard 370Z’s three hundred thirty two horsepower and two hundred seventy pound-feet of torque) thanks to more aggressive tuning. Fuel economy is stated at twenty six highway mpg and eighteen city mpg.

The 370Z Nismo comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission with a feature called SynchroRev Matching. When shifting up or down range, the Z’s computer can hold or automatically blip the throttle, matching the engine speed with your fresh transmission speed for slick shifting. It’s sort of like an electronic heel-and-toe. If you don’t like the computer intervention, the SynchroRev Matching system can be defeated with a single button press, but I actually found that I liked it. The Rev Matching made me feel like a racing god without getting in my way.

There’s also a seven-speed automatic transmission with spanking paddle shifters available, but people will laugh at you when they peek into your Z and only see two pedals.

Rounding out the Nismo upgrades is a viscous limited-slip differential on the rear axle that makes sure that both of the Z’s meaty rear tires share the geyser under stress and effectively do their job when accelerating out of a corner.

Let’s get this over with. the tech

The 370Z Nismo’s cabin technology is better than the last time I spotted it but still pretty terrible. But since tech’s not even near the point of this car, I’m grading it on a generous curve this time. but that’s not the point.

All of the electronic doodads are lumped into an all-or-nothing Tech trim level that bumps up the MSRP by $Three,500. This package includes the Nissan HDD Navigation — which still looks a decade old despite many petite improvements — Bose Audio with eight speakers and a HomeLink transceiver for gate and garage door openers. This is pretty basic stuff for a $Three,500 Tech package, and you could lightly do better with a climb on for your smartphone.

The Nismo/Recaro racing bucket seats are penalizing on the road, but a welcome addition at the track.

The gem of the Tech trim level is the inclusion of a rearview monitor — the foot driver aid feature you’ll find in the Z’s list of options. Gratefully, the camera’s feed now outputs to the center display, rather than a lil’ monitor set into the rearview mirror. That camera alone is almost worth the cost of the Tech trim level’s admission thanks to the Z’s terrible rear visibility, but $Three,500 buys a lot of track days and tires. I’d personally think twice before checking that box.

Attack the track

The Z Nismo just comes alive and makes sense on a race track. I suppose I shouldn’t be astonished based on the length of the “Treating Upgrades” section of this very review.

The sports coupe puts its power to the road with surprising efficiency and possesses an ungodly amount of just plain mechanical grip when cornering. It’s no wonder; those 285/35YR19 rear tires give the Z more contact patch on just its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners. Leave behind complicated computer-controlled traction systems, jamming the widest stickiest tires you can find underneath the arches is how you make grip!

The 370Z Nismo is an effortless car to trust at the track because of its old-school mechanical treatment to spectacle. Without much computer intervention — save the SynchroRev Matching and standard, defeatable traction control — I never found myself at odds with what an electronic brain thought I was attempting to do.

The more certain I felt around the track, the more capable the Z Nismo felt. When I made a mistake, the Z would let me know so I could learn from it for the next lap.The spin side is that if I made a big mistake, there’s not much of a safety net to save my bacon, but that adds a jumpy energy to the practice that I love. My daily driver is a compact roadster that doesn’t even have Six pack, so I can appreciate Nissan’s plain treatment to spectacle.

There’s a good amount of feel through the steering wheel, excellent support from the Recaro bucket seat and consistent spectacle from the suspension and brakes. I was able to lap the car for hours without any noticeable brake fade; I think I got tired before the car did.

The treating thresholds are generous if maybe a bit ill-defined at the limit. The car would understeer a bit if shoved too hard, but oversteer infrequently introduced itself unless I either specifically asked for it or was particularly hammy on the throttle — the meaty tires feel like a good match for the engine. Within the thresholds and at my skill level, the Z felt antsy to rotate around an axis that seemed to go straight through my spine. Rear and side visibility wasn’t good, but the car was still effortless to place exactly where I dreamed it on the track.

An aging prizefighter

The entirety of my two thousand fourteen Z Nismo test took place on the street but the thing that truly switched my mind about this two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo is that this outing involved a long day lapping on a wide-open racetrack. So, while I was right last time that the Z Nismo is pretty terrible on the street, I was also wrong to call it a frustration because it turns out that the only way to truly appreciate this car is to take it on the track and truly just cane the hell out of it. I’m watching this car in a totally fresh light.

Potential buyers should weigh whether the terrible tech, penalizing rail on the street, poor visibility rearward and parkability and middling mpg are worth the excellent closed course spectacle. Basically, if you’re not going to hit the track regularly, think twice about the Nissan Motorsports model.

The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo starts at $41,990 plus $865 destination charges, a substantial leap up from the standard Z’s $29,990 base price. The top-tier Z only truly offers two options that aren’t dealer-installed styling upgrades: a $520 set of Nismo brake pads for the track and the Tech trim level that adds a $Three,500 bump to the bottom line.

The best true current competitors to the 370Z Nismo, in my opinion, are American pony cars. The Asian competition is lacking since the Hyundai Genesis Coupe exited the market and the European sports coupes are all more expensive (and more luxurious) than the aging 370Z.

For the around $46K that this Z Nismo stickered at, you could buy one heck of a Ford Mustang GT with the Spectacle package for the track, much better Ford Sync three tech, an actual trunk for your daily errands and have bucks left over for mods. Another beloved alternative of mine is the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack which is nowhere near as good as the Z or the ‘Stang on the track but offers much more power for bragging rights and those traffic light haul races, similar fuel economy around town and a much more livable rail and accommodations.

The 370Z Nismo is like an aging prizefighter. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth and around town it can be a bit of a lumbering brute. You may think it awkward, outdated and maybe even a bit stupid. But when it steps into the ring, the Z Nismo takes on a grace you wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s still got some extraordinaire footwork and there is a practiced intelligence and practice behind its still astounding spectacle.

Roadshow Newsletter

Love cars? Climb in the driver’s seat for the latest in reviews, advice and picks by our editors.

2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo: review

two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo review: Nissan’s best Z-car is an aging prizefighter that’s still got the moves

The good The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo’s spectacle upgrades convert the sports coupe into a street-legal race car. The rock-hard suspension offers good track feel and the broad, gooey tires give slew of grip when cornering. SynchroRev Match makes every shift a flawlessly timed one.

The bad The $Three,500 Tech package adds outdated navigation and an eight-speaker audio system. You could do better with a smartphone. The rock hard rail and narrow seats are penalizing over rough roads and for longer trips and the shallow trunk makes the Z impractical as a daily driver.

The bottom line After experiencing it at the track, I’m observing the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo in a totally fresh light. However, as the competition resumes to refine, the Z is a raunchy sell for all but the most hard-core.

Roadshow Score

I can admit it: I was wrong. sort of. The last time I witnessed the Nissan 370Z Nismo, I didn’t love it. The rail was harsh on the street, the boy-racer aerodynamics were just obnoxious, the tech felt a decade old and the spectacle bump didn’t feel like it was worth the significant price bump over the standard Z.

This time, after spending a week with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo, I caught myself considering buying one of my own. This car’s not so different from the one I drove before, so what gives?

Treating upgrades

The laundry list of Nismo upgrades is of the old-fashioned sort: big wheels, meaty tires, stiff suspension and naturally aspirated power. It’s not the very first car that I’ve described as Japanese muscle, but it’s very likely the one that fits the description best.

Working from the ground up, the Z Nismo’s upgrades commence with a set of gooey Bridgestone Potenza S001 high-performance tires. The rubber is packaged around 19-inch forged alloy wheels built for Nismo by Rays, a manufacturer of high-end racing and tuner wheels. The wheels feature a staggered fit with 9.5-inch broad rollers up front and even broader Ten.5-inch wheels out back.

The Z Nismo has more contact patch on its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners.

On display behind the wheels’ spokes are bright crimson sports brakes. The Nismo uses four-piston aluminum calipers on 14.0-inch discs and two-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs for the front and rear axles, respectively. But Nissan’s tuning division didn’t stop there; it also upgraded the brake lines with rigidity hoses and packed the system with R35 Special II brake fluid to reduce fade at high temperatures such as those you’d practice at the track.

Still working up, the chassis is suspended over the rolling stock with a Nismo-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, dampers and stabilizer bars. In the engine bay, the strut towers are tied together and to the figure with a reinforced 3-point brace. After all of that stiffening, Nismo has also installed front and rear chassis dampers to help cut down some of the stimulation and harshness over rough surfaces. Even with the chassis dampers the Nismo is a pretty noisy and rough rail over uneven pavement and city streets.

One of my thickest nitpicks with the previous iteration of the Z Nismo was that the aerodynamics package was just a bit too boy-racerish, too attention grabbing and just plain goofy looking. The two thousand seventeen 370Z Nismo has a smaller rear spoiler that no longer blocks what little rear visibility the Z has to suggest. The GT-R-inspired assets kit is plainly more attractive than the old catfish fascia.

Trackside with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo

Inwards the cabin, the driver and one passenger wedge into a set of Nismo/Recaro racing seats with Alcantara inserts. The racing buckets are gorgeous but too taut and awkward on the street. On the track, however, the tall bolstering did an exceptional job of keeping my butt in place during cornering. I’d go as far as to say that they actually get more convenient the tighter the Z is shoved at the track; because I didn’t have to brace myself with my knees I was freer to see to the business of actually driving closer to the boundaries. either that or I was too amped up on adrenaline to notice that my bottom was sore.

Meantime, the steering wheel and shift lever also both get the Nismo treatment and are packaged in Alcantara and leather, respectively.

If it ain’t broke: Powertrain upgrades

Not much has switched in the engine bay, which is just a teensy bit of a frustration. I can proceed to wish for a factory-installed and warrantied twin-turbo system, but I don’t realistically expect any drastic powertrain switches this late in the 370Z’s life cycle.

The heart of the Z Nismo is essentially the same naturally aspirated, Trio.7-liter VQ-series engine (VQ37VHR) V6 engine that powers the standard 370Z. It’s basically a tweaked and higher displacement version of the VQ35DE that’s powered the Z since the two thousand three launch of the 350Z. Nissan puts some variant of the VQ into everything from the Frontier pickup to the Maxima sedan; it’s a proven and reliable powerplant if nothing else and Nissan seems to be taking an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” treatment to this element of the Z Nismo’s spectacle.

The VQ-Series V6 engine can be found under the rubber hood of many Nissan cars and trucks. Here, it makes a respectable three hundred fifty horsepower.

In the Z Nismo, output has been massaged to three hundred fifty horsepower and two hundred seventy six pound-feet of torque (up from the standard 370Z’s three hundred thirty two horsepower and two hundred seventy pound-feet of torque) thanks to more aggressive tuning. Fuel economy is stated at twenty six highway mpg and eighteen city mpg.

The 370Z Nismo comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission with a feature called SynchroRev Matching. When shifting up or down range, the Z’s computer can hold or automatically blip the throttle, matching the engine speed with your fresh transmission speed for slick shifting. It’s sort of like an electronic heel-and-toe. If you don’t like the computer intervention, the SynchroRev Matching system can be defeated with a single button press, but I actually found that I liked it. The Rev Matching made me feel like a racing god without getting in my way.

There’s also a seven-speed automatic transmission with spanking paddle shifters available, but people will laugh at you when they peek into your Z and only see two pedals.

Rounding out the Nismo upgrades is a viscous limited-slip differential on the rear axle that makes sure that both of the Z’s meaty rear tires share the geyser under stress and effectively do their job when accelerating out of a corner.

Let’s get this over with. the tech

The 370Z Nismo’s cabin technology is better than the last time I eyed it but still pretty terrible. But since tech’s not even near the point of this car, I’m grading it on a generous curve this time. but that’s not the point.

All of the electronic doodads are lumped into an all-or-nothing Tech trim level that bumps up the MSRP by $Three,500. This package includes the Nissan HDD Navigation — which still looks a decade old despite many petite improvements — Bose Audio with eight speakers and a HomeLink transceiver for gate and garage door openers. This is pretty basic stuff for a $Trio,500 Tech package, and you could lightly do better with a climb on for your smartphone.

The Nismo/Recaro racing bucket seats are penalizing on the road, but a welcome addition at the track.

The gem of the Tech trim level is the inclusion of a rearview monitor — the foot driver aid feature you’ll find in the Z’s list of options. Gratefully, the camera’s feed now outputs to the center display, rather than a lil’ monitor set into the rearview mirror. That camera alone is almost worth the cost of the Tech trim level’s admission thanks to the Z’s terrible rear visibility, but $Trio,500 buys a lot of track days and tires. I’d personally think twice before checking that box.

Attack the track

The Z Nismo just comes alive and makes sense on a race track. I suppose I shouldn’t be astonished based on the length of the “Treating Upgrades” section of this very review.

The sports coupe puts its power to the road with surprising efficiency and possesses an ungodly amount of just plain mechanical grip when cornering. It’s no wonder; those 285/35YR19 rear tires give the Z more contact patch on just its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners. Leave behind complicated computer-controlled traction systems, jamming the widest stickiest tires you can find underneath the arches is how you make grip!

The 370Z Nismo is an effortless car to trust at the track because of its old-school mechanical treatment to spectacle. Without much computer intervention — save the SynchroRev Matching and standard, defeatable traction control — I never found myself at odds with what an electronic brain thought I was attempting to do.

The more certain I felt around the track, the more capable the Z Nismo felt. When I made a mistake, the Z would let me know so I could learn from it for the next lap.The spin side is that if I made a big mistake, there’s not much of a safety net to save my bacon, but that adds a jumpy energy to the practice that I love. My daily driver is a compact roadster that doesn’t even have Six pack, so I can appreciate Nissan’s ordinary treatment to spectacle.

There’s a good amount of feel through the steering wheel, excellent support from the Recaro bucket seat and consistent spectacle from the suspension and brakes. I was able to lap the car for hours without any noticeable brake fade; I think I got tired before the car did.

The treating thresholds are generous if maybe a bit ill-defined at the limit. The car would understeer a bit if shoved too hard, but oversteer infrequently introduced itself unless I either specifically asked for it or was particularly hammy on the throttle — the meaty tires feel like a good match for the engine. Within the thresholds and at my skill level, the Z felt antsy to rotate around an axis that seemed to go straight through my spine. Rear and side visibility wasn’t superb, but the car was still effortless to place exactly where I desired it on the track.

An aging prizefighter

The entirety of my two thousand fourteen Z Nismo test took place on the street but the thing that truly switched my mind about this two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo is that this outing involved a long day lapping on a wide-open racetrack. So, while I was right last time that the Z Nismo is pretty terrible on the street, I was also wrong to call it a frustration because it turns out that the only way to truly appreciate this car is to take it on the track and truly just whip the hell out of it. I’m observing this car in a totally fresh light.

Potential buyers should weigh whether the terrible tech, penalizing rail on the street, poor visibility rearward and parkability and middling mpg are worth the excellent closed course spectacle. Basically, if you’re not going to hit the track regularly, think twice about the Nissan Motorsports model.

The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo starts at $41,990 plus $865 destination charges, a substantial leap up from the standard Z’s $29,990 base price. The top-tier Z only indeed offers two options that aren’t dealer-installed styling upgrades: a $520 set of Nismo brake pads for the track and the Tech trim level that adds a $Trio,500 bump to the bottom line.

The best true current competitors to the 370Z Nismo, in my opinion, are American pony cars. The Asian competition is lacking since the Hyundai Genesis Coupe exited the market and the European sports coupes are all more expensive (and more luxurious) than the aging 370Z.

For the around $46K that this Z Nismo stickered at, you could buy one heck of a Ford Mustang GT with the Spectacle package for the track, much better Ford Sync three tech, an actual trunk for your daily errands and have bucks left over for mods. Another beloved alternative of mine is the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack which is nowhere near as good as the Z or the ‘Stang on the track but offers much more power for bragging rights and those traffic light haul races, similar fuel economy around town and a much more livable rail and accommodations.

The 370Z Nismo is like an aging prizefighter. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth and around town it can be a bit of a lumbering brute. You may think it awkward, outdated and maybe even a bit stupid. But when it steps into the ring, the Z Nismo takes on a grace you wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s still got some epic footwork and there is a practiced intelligence and practice behind its still amazing spectacle.

Roadshow Newsletter

Love cars? Climb in the driver’s seat for the latest in reviews, advice and picks by our editors.

2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo: review

two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo review: Nissan’s best Z-car is an aging prizefighter that’s still got the moves

The good The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo’s spectacle upgrades convert the sports coupe into a street-legal race car. The rock-hard suspension offers fine track feel and the broad, goopy tires give slew of grip when cornering. SynchroRev Match makes every shift a flawlessly timed one.

The bad The $Trio,500 Tech package adds outdated navigation and an eight-speaker audio system. You could do better with a smartphone. The rock hard rail and narrow seats are penalizing over rough roads and for longer trips and the shallow trunk makes the Z impractical as a daily driver.

The bottom line After experiencing it at the track, I’m eyeing the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo in a totally fresh light. However, as the competition resumes to refine, the Z is a rough sell for all but the most hard-core.

Roadshow Score

I can admit it: I was wrong. sort of. The last time I witnessed the Nissan 370Z Nismo, I didn’t love it. The rail was harsh on the street, the boy-racer aerodynamics were just obnoxious, the tech felt a decade old and the spectacle bump didn’t feel like it was worth the significant price bump over the standard Z.

This time, after spending a week with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo, I caught myself considering buying one of my own. This car’s not so different from the one I drove before, so what gives?

Treating upgrades

The laundry list of Nismo upgrades is of the old-fashioned sort: big wheels, meaty tires, stiff suspension and naturally aspirated power. It’s not the very first car that I’ve described as Japanese muscle, but it’s very likely the one that fits the description best.

Working from the ground up, the Z Nismo’s upgrades embark with a set of goopy Bridgestone Potenza S001 high-performance tires. The rubber is packaged around 19-inch forged alloy wheels built for Nismo by Rays, a manufacturer of high-end racing and tuner wheels. The wheels feature a staggered fit with 9.5-inch broad rollers up front and even broader Ten.5-inch wheels out back.

The Z Nismo has more contact patch on its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners.

On display behind the wheels’ spokes are bright crimson sports brakes. The Nismo uses four-piston aluminum calipers on 14.0-inch discs and two-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs for the front and rear axles, respectively. But Nissan’s tuning division didn’t stop there; it also upgraded the brake lines with rigidity hoses and packed the system with R35 Special II brake fluid to reduce fade at high temperatures such as those you’d practice at the track.

Still working up, the chassis is suspended over the rolling stock with a Nismo-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, dampers and stabilizer bars. In the engine bay, the strut towers are tied together and to the bod with a reinforced 3-point brace. After all of that stiffening, Nismo has also installed front and rear chassis dampers to help cut down some of the stimulation and harshness over rough surfaces. Even with the chassis dampers the Nismo is a pretty noisy and rough rail over uneven pavement and city streets.

One of my fattest nitpicks with the previous iteration of the Z Nismo was that the aerodynamics package was just a bit too boy-racerish, too attention grabbing and just plain goofy looking. The two thousand seventeen 370Z Nismo has a smaller rear spoiler that no longer blocks what little rear visibility the Z has to suggest. The GT-R-inspired figure kit is plainly more attractive than the old catfish fascia.

Trackside with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo

Inwards the cabin, the driver and one passenger wedge into a set of Nismo/Recaro racing seats with Alcantara inserts. The racing buckets are gorgeous but too taut and awkward on the street. On the track, however, the tall bolstering did an exceptional job of keeping my butt in place during cornering. I’d go as far as to say that they actually get more comfy the stiffer the Z is shoved at the track; because I didn’t have to brace myself with my knees I was freer to see to the business of actually driving closer to the thresholds. either that or I was too amped up on adrenaline to notice that my bottom was sore.

Meantime, the steering wheel and shift lever also both get the Nismo treatment and are packaged in Alcantara and leather, respectively.

If it ain’t broke: Powertrain upgrades

Not much has switched in the engine bay, which is just a teensy bit of a frustration. I can proceed to wish for a factory-installed and warrantied twin-turbo system, but I don’t realistically expect any drastic powertrain switches this late in the 370Z’s life cycle.

The heart of the Z Nismo is essentially the same naturally aspirated, Three.7-liter VQ-series engine (VQ37VHR) V6 engine that powers the standard 370Z. It’s basically a tweaked and higher displacement version of the VQ35DE that’s powered the Z since the two thousand three launch of the 350Z. Nissan puts some variant of the VQ into everything from the Frontier pickup to the Maxima sedan; it’s a proven and reliable powerplant if nothing else and Nissan seems to be taking an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” treatment to this element of the Z Nismo’s spectacle.

The VQ-Series V6 engine can be found under the bondage mask of many Nissan cars and trucks. Here, it makes a respectable three hundred fifty horsepower.

In the Z Nismo, output has been massaged to three hundred fifty horsepower and two hundred seventy six pound-feet of torque (up from the standard 370Z’s three hundred thirty two horsepower and two hundred seventy pound-feet of torque) thanks to more aggressive tuning. Fuel economy is stated at twenty six highway mpg and eighteen city mpg.

The 370Z Nismo comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission with a feature called SynchroRev Matching. When shifting up or down range, the Z’s computer can hold or automatically blip the throttle, matching the engine speed with your fresh transmission speed for slick shifting. It’s sort of like an electronic heel-and-toe. If you don’t like the computer intervention, the SynchroRev Matching system can be defeated with a single button press, but I actually found that I liked it. The Rev Matching made me feel like a racing god without getting in my way.

There’s also a seven-speed automatic transmission with spanking paddle shifters available, but people will laugh at you when they peek into your Z and only see two pedals.

Rounding out the Nismo upgrades is a viscous limited-slip differential on the rear axle that makes sure that both of the Z’s meaty rear tires share the fountain under stress and effectively do their job when accelerating out of a corner.

Let’s get this over with. the tech

The 370Z Nismo’s cabin technology is better than the last time I eyed it but still pretty terrible. But since tech’s not even near the point of this car, I’m grading it on a generous curve this time. but that’s not the point.

All of the electronic doodads are lumped into an all-or-nothing Tech trim level that bumps up the MSRP by $Trio,500. This package includes the Nissan HDD Navigation — which still looks a decade old despite many puny improvements — Bose Audio with eight speakers and a HomeLink transceiver for gate and garage door openers. This is pretty basic stuff for a $Three,500 Tech package, and you could lightly do better with a climb on for your smartphone.

The Nismo/Recaro racing bucket seats are penalizing on the road, but a welcome addition at the track.

The gem of the Tech trim level is the inclusion of a rearview monitor — the foot driver aid feature you’ll find in the Z’s list of options. Gratefully, the camera’s feed now outputs to the center display, rather than a lil’ monitor set into the rearview mirror. That camera alone is almost worth the cost of the Tech trim level’s admission thanks to the Z’s terrible rear visibility, but $Trio,500 buys a lot of track days and tires. I’d personally think twice before checking that box.

Attack the track

The Z Nismo just comes alive and makes sense on a race track. I suppose I shouldn’t be astonished based on the length of the “Treating Upgrades” section of this very review.

The sports coupe puts its power to the road with surprising efficiency and possesses an ungodly amount of just plain mechanical grip when cornering. It’s no wonder; those 285/35YR19 rear tires give the Z more contact patch on just its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners. Leave behind complicated computer-controlled traction systems, jamming the widest stickiest tires you can find underneath the arches is how you make grip!

The 370Z Nismo is an effortless car to trust at the track because of its old-school mechanical treatment to spectacle. Without much computer intervention — save the SynchroRev Matching and standard, defeatable traction control — I never found myself at odds with what an electronic brain thought I was attempting to do.

The more certain I felt around the track, the more capable the Z Nismo felt. When I made a mistake, the Z would let me know so I could learn from it for the next lap.The roll side is that if I made a big mistake, there’s not much of a safety net to save my bacon, but that adds a jumpy energy to the practice that I love. My daily driver is a compact roadster that doesn’t even have Six pack, so I can appreciate Nissan’s plain treatment to spectacle.

There’s a good amount of feel through the steering wheel, excellent support from the Recaro bucket seat and consistent spectacle from the suspension and brakes. I was able to lap the car for hours without any noticeable brake fade; I think I got tired before the car did.

The treating thresholds are generous if maybe a bit ill-defined at the limit. The car would understeer a bit if shoved too hard, but oversteer uncommonly introduced itself unless I either specifically asked for it or was particularly hammy on the throttle — the meaty tires feel like a good match for the engine. Within the thresholds and at my skill level, the Z felt antsy to rotate around an axis that seemed to go straight through my spine. Rear and side visibility wasn’t good, but the car was still effortless to place exactly where I dreamed it on the track.

An aging prizefighter

The entirety of my two thousand fourteen Z Nismo test took place on the street but the thing that indeed switched my mind about this two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo is that this outing involved a long day lapping on a wide-open racetrack. So, while I was right last time that the Z Nismo is pretty terrible on the street, I was also wrong to call it a frustration because it turns out that the only way to truly appreciate this car is to take it on the track and indeed just whip the hell out of it. I’m witnessing this car in a totally fresh light.

Potential buyers should weigh whether the terrible tech, penalizing rail on the street, poor visibility rearward and parkability and middling mpg are worth the excellent closed course spectacle. Basically, if you’re not going to hit the track regularly, think twice about the Nissan Motorsports model.

The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo starts at $41,990 plus $865 destination charges, a substantial leap up from the standard Z’s $29,990 base price. The top-tier Z only indeed offers two options that aren’t dealer-installed styling upgrades: a $520 set of Nismo brake pads for the track and the Tech trim level that adds a $Three,500 bump to the bottom line.

The best true current competitors to the 370Z Nismo, in my opinion, are American pony cars. The Asian competition is lacking since the Hyundai Genesis Coupe exited the market and the European sports coupes are all more expensive (and more luxurious) than the aging 370Z.

For the around $46K that this Z Nismo stickered at, you could buy one heck of a Ford Mustang GT with the Spectacle package for the track, much better Ford Sync three tech, an actual trunk for your daily errands and have bucks left over for mods. Another dearest alternative of mine is the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack which is nowhere near as good as the Z or the ‘Stang on the track but offers much more power for bragging rights and those traffic light haul races, similar fuel economy around town and a much more livable rail and accommodations.

The 370Z Nismo is like an aging prizefighter. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth and around town it can be a bit of a lumbering brute. You may think it awkward, outdated and maybe even a bit stupid. But when it steps into the ring, the Z Nismo takes on a grace you wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s still got some amazing footwork and there is a practiced intelligence and practice behind its still outstanding spectacle.

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2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo review

2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo review:

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Roadshow Editors’ Rating

The Good The two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo’s spectacle upgrades convert the sports coupe into a street-legal race car. The rock hard suspension offers fine track feel and the broad, gooey tires give slew of grip when cornering. SynchroRev Match makes every shift a flawlessly timed one.

The Bad The $Trio,500 Tech package adds outdated navigation and an eight-speaker audio system. You could do better with a smartphone. The rock-hard rail and narrow seats are penalizing over rough roads and for longer trips and the shallow trunk makes the Z impractical as a daily driver.

The Bottom Line After experiencing it at the track, I’m observing the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo in a totally fresh light. However, as the competition proceeds to refine, the Z is a rough sell for all but the most hard-core.

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• 2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo

I can admit it: I was wrong. sort of. The last time I spotted the Nissan 370Z Nismo, I didn’t love it. The rail was harsh on the street, the boy-racer aerodynamics were just obnoxious, the tech felt a decade old and the spectacle bump didn’t feel like it was worth the significant price bump over the standard Z.

This time, after spending a week with the two thousand seventeen Nissan 370Z Nismo, I caught myself considering buying one of my own. This car’s not so different from the one I drove before, so what gives?

Treating upgrades

The laundry list of Nismo upgrades is of the old-fashioned sort: big wheels, meaty tires, stiff suspension and naturally aspirated power. It’s not the very first car that I’ve described as Japanese muscle, but it’s very likely the one that fits the description best.

Working from the ground up, the Z Nismo’s upgrades commence with a set of gooey Bridgestone Potenza S001 high-performance tires. The rubber is packaged around 19-inch forged alloy wheels built for Nismo by Rays, a manufacturer of high-end racing and tuner wheels. The wheels feature a staggered fit with 9.5-inch broad rollers up front and even broader Ten.5-inch wheels out back.

The Z Nismo has more contact patch on its rear axle than many cars have at all four corners.

On display behind the wheels’ spokes are bright crimson sports brakes. The Nismo uses four-piston aluminum calipers on 14.0-inch discs and two-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs for the front and rear axles, respectively. But Nissan’s tuning division didn’t stop there; it also upgraded the brake lines with rigidity hoses and packed the system with R35 Special II brake fluid to reduce fade at high temperatures such as those you’d practice at the track.

Still working up, the chassis is suspended over the rolling stock with a Nismo-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, dampers and stabilizer bars. In the engine bay, the strut towers are tied together and to the bod with a reinforced 3-point brace. After all of that stiffening, Nismo has also installed front and rear chassis dampers to help cut down some of the stimulation and harshness over rough surfaces. Even with the chassis dampers the Nismo is a pretty noisy and rough rail over uneven pavement and city streets.

One of my largest nitpicks with the previous iteration of the Z Nismo was that the aerodynamics package was just a bit too boy-racerish, too attention grabbing and just plain goofy looking. The two thousand seventeen 370Z Nismo has a smaller rear spoiler that no longer blocks what little rear visibility the Z has to suggest. The GT-R-inspired bod kit is plainly more attractive than the old catfish fascia.

Inwards the cabin, the driver and one passenger wedge into a set of Nismo/Recaro racing seats with Alcantara inserts. The racing buckets are gorgeous but too taut and awkward on the street. On the track, however, the tall bolstering did an exceptional job of keeping my butt in place during cornering. I’d go as far as to say that they actually get more convenient the firmer the Z is shoved at the track; because I didn’t have to brace myself with my knees I was freer to see to the business of actually driving closer to the boundaries. either that or I was too amped up on adrenaline to notice that my bottom was sore.

Meantime, the steering wheel and shift lever also both get the Nismo treatment and are packaged in Alcantara and leather, respectively.

If it ain’t broke: Powertrain upgrades

Not much has switched in the engine bay, which is just a teensy bit of a frustration. I can proceed to wish for a factory-installed and warrantied twin-turbo system, but I don’t realistically expect any drastic powertrain switches this late in the 370Z’s life cycle.

The heart of the Z Nismo is essentially the same naturally aspirated, Trio.7-liter VQ-series engine (VQ37VHR) V6 engine that powers the standard 370Z. It’s basically a tweaked and higher displacement version of the VQ35DE that’s powered the Z since the two thousand three launch of the 350Z. Nissan puts some variant of the VQ into everything from the Frontier pickup to the Maxima sedan; it’s a proven and reliable powerplant if nothing else and Nissan seems to be taking an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” treatment to this element of the Z Nismo’s spectacle.

The VQ-Series V6 engine can be found under the bondage mask of many Nissan cars and trucks. Here, it makes a respectable three hundred fifty horsepower.

In the Z Nismo, output has been massaged to three hundred fifty horsepower and two hundred seventy six pound-feet of torque (up from the standard 370Z’s three hundred thirty two horsepower and two hundred seventy pound-feet of torque) thanks to more aggressive tuning. Fuel economy is stated at twenty six highway mpg and eighteen city mpg.

The 370Z Nismo comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission with a feature called SynchroRev Matching. When shifting up or down range, the Z’s computer can hold or automatically blip the throttle, matching the engine speed with your fresh transmission speed for sleek shifting. It’s sort of like an electronic heel-and-toe. If you don’t like the computer intervention, the SynchroRev Matching system can be defeated with a single button press, but I actually found that I liked it. The Rev Matching made me feel like a racing god without getting in my way.

There’s also a seven-speed automatic transmission with spanking paddle shifters available, but people will laugh at you when they peek into your Z and only see two pedals.

Rounding out the Nismo upgrades is a viscous limited-slip differential on the rear axle that makes sure that both of the Z’s meaty rear tires share the geyser under stress and effectively do their job when accelerating out of a corner.

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