Friday 13th February 2015

NISMO 370Z Roadster concept revealed

Chicago debut for a drop top version of the fastest Zed looking pretty much production ready

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Give over Nissan. Officially this 370Z is a "one-off design study created to gauge market interest in an ultimate factory Z Roadster." Only one with a showroom ready interior, normal wheels and spaces for numberplates. It even has regular wing mirrors; everyone knows show concepts must have rear view cameras.

What took you so long?

Cynicism aside for a second, the prospect of a NISMO Z Roadster being close to production is a rather exciting one. The coupe is a charming and fairly capable thing, if not the most talented sports car in the world. We've heard the revised car is even sharper still and so there's a decent base to build on. It could be argued the heavier cabrio wouldn't make the best base for the fifth NISMO model but then remember they had a go at the Juke...

Much of the NISMO coupe's details have made it to the Roadster concept. See the wheels, more aggressive front intakes, wheels and red accents. New for this car is the "custom carbon fiber" [sic] rear spoiler. That looks a lot like the spoiler used on the coupe.

Obviously the biggest difference between the two NISMO Zeds is the Roadster's missing roof. Again Nissan isn't helping the "one-off design study" cause when it describes the roof as "just like every 2015 Nissan 370Z Roadster." So it's cloth with a steel tonneau cover and fixed glass wind deflector. It's already a bit of a chubster the 370Z, so it doesn't really need a folding metal roof to pack on more kilos.

There has to be a manual option. Right?

The 3.7-litre V6 is identical to the coupe as well, here mated to the seven-speed auto as that's what the majority of drop-top Zed buyers choose. Predictably enough, the same NISMO tweaked suspension and brakes feature on the Roadster, with a limited-slip diff and shorter final drive ratio also included.

Given all this, it would be exceptionally surprising if a 370Z NISMO Roadster didn't make production at some point soon. More as we have it!

 

 

 

[garypotter]

Still a great looking car even if it is a bit heavy around the middle (like me) has dated well considering how long the design has been in production.