Tuesday 19th April 2016

Nissan 370Z NISMO: Spotted

The forgotten Japanese sports car, available for even less than you might think

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Now you may have noticed a great deal of discussion around sports cars on PistonHeads recently, what with the Mustang, the revised GT86 and, of course, the four-cylinder Porsches too. Yet in all that time, the Nissan 370Z NISMO hasn't really been mentioned. And it probably should have been.

Sure, it's not perfect. The interior is fairly plain, the kerbweight is a bit porky and it will cost a good chunk of money to run compared to most rivals. There will be those who maintain their Japanese snobbery too.

However, look at what else is on offer in a 370Z NISMO. There's a really well sorted front-engined, rear-wheel drive chassis, a six-speed manual gearbox with an effective rev matching function you can easily toggle on or off - take note Porsche - and a large, atmospheric V6. Sure, it's a fairly gruff and quite inefficient old lump, but there's a lot of power (344hp) and a redline on the exciting side of 7,000rpm as compensation. No doubt there are a few aftermarket tweaks that could enliven the engine also...

The original Nissan Z-car, the 240Z, was of course a Japanese response to the muscle car phenomenon in the US. Now we have right-hand drive versions of both the Mustang and the Zed in the UK, presenting another alternative. It doesn't look great for the Nissan here, with the Mustang having the car-of-the-moment excitement around it, that super V8 and a name that's better known in the UK. The NISMO is more enjoyable to drive, but it's more expensive than the V8 Mustang as well.

At least, it should be. The 370Z's list price of £38,050 always looked optimistic, meaning deals have been widely available. But they probably haven't been this good. For the 800-mile red 370Z NISMO seen here - a rare colour that really seems to suit it - Nissan Glasgow is asking £26,985. Yes, really.

Not only is that a huge saving over the RRP, it opens up a whole new group of rivals. It's a lot less than even a four-cylinder Mustang, it's cheaper than a TT 1.8 (just) and in fact brings it in line with the Toyobaru twins as the nearest rivals. The BRZ and GT86 will remain the better handling cars, but the appeal of another 144hp should not be ignored.

So don't forget the NISMO Zed if you're in the market for a sports car; it presents a good case for itself in any circumstance, but it's especially strong at this money. It's not the freshest offering out there, but how often do you see responses on these pages clamouring for a taste of the old ways? The Zed most certainly offers that, and you can be sure its replacement will be a very different car.

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NISSAN 370Z NISMO
Engine: 3,696cc, V6
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 344@7,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 274@5,200rpm
MPG: 26.7mpg (claimed)
CO2: 248g/km
First registered: 2016
Recorded mileage: 810
Price new: £38,050
Yours for: £26,985

See the original advert here

[British Beef]

At that price actually represent excellent value for money.

Although I never understood why Nismo seemed to spend more effort on the styling than actually improving performance, personally I would rather the other way round.

The Mustang has fresher clothes, a V8 and +2 seating, so would probably still get the nod if I was in the market for a £30k fun car.

[James Junior]

I run a 370Z GT as a daily. It has also fulfilled track duties and toured Europe, after which it resumed daiy activities with casual ease.

I bought it as a cheap stop-gap at the time; something fast and good value that I could have some fun with until I could move into an RS5 or M3. However, its brimming with personality and has totally exceeded my expectations. I now don't want to part with it and it is the first car I have owned for a long time where I am not looking at 'what next'?

I agree that the meagre power hike on the Nismo is a bit disappointing, but I imagine given the handling tweaks they are great fun. A lot of car for the money.

[300bhp/ton]

I rather like the 370z. Not too sure on the over fussy NISMO look, prefer a clean looking normal model.

[M1C]

I think the look great in the metal.

They arent too different to the standard one but the changes here and there do give it more presence on the road.

VFM too at £26k practically new!

[famfarrow]

Great deal there. All it needs it 2 more seats and I would be in!

[Squirrelofwoe]

British Beef said:

The Mustang has fresher clothes, a V8 and +2 seating, so would probably still get the nod if I was in the market for a £30k fun car.

I agree completely regarding the Mustang, however the V8 is the best part of £10k more expensive than this particular 370z so it wouldn't necessarily be on the radar of someone looking at this.

The Ecoboost Mustang is a bit closer in price, but then I'd take the Z all day long as the idea of a 4-cylinder engined Mustang holds no appeal for me whatsoever.

[Shanemrb]

Incredible value for money! If I had 27k to spend on a (new) car then I couldn't imagine anything better. I have in the past considered a 350Z but unfortunately need 4 seats but maybe one day.

[cib24]

Great car. How is the rust on these as they age?

[300bhp/ton]

cib24 said:

Great car. How is the rust on these as they age?

The oldest one is 8 years old. Not sure this can be gauged yet, although if 8 year old examples were rusty, that would be very very poor.

[vimfuegoturbo]

Good car for the money I reckon, but the interior is a bit too 't@rt's handbag' for me. One of the reason's it's so reasonably priced?!

[leglessAlex]

The article said:

the kerbweight is a bit porky

See, this always gets repeated a lot but in this day and age it's not all that bad. Wikipedia has the curb/wet weight listed as 1,466kg, which compared to a lot of todays cars isn't bad at all. It's significantly lighter than two of it's US and EU rivals, the Mustang and the F-Type respectively.

[Oddball RS]

leglessAlex said:

The article said:

the kerbweight is a bit porky

See, this always gets repeated a lot but in this day and age it's not all that bad. Wikipedia has the curb/wet weight listed as 1,466kg, which compared to a lot of todays cars isn't bad at all. It's significantly lighter than two of it's US and EU rivals, the Mustang and the F-Type respectively.

Best part of 100Kg less than the M2 then!

[Matt Bird]

leglessAlex said:

The article said:

the kerbweight is a bit porky

See, this always gets repeated a lot but in this day and age it's not all that bad. Wikipedia has the curb/wet weight listed as 1,466kg, which compared to a lot of todays cars isn't bad at all. It's significantly lighter than two of it's US and EU rivals, the Mustang and the F-Type respectively.

Fair point, but when you compare it to cars like the RCZ R, GT86/BRZ, TT and so on it's a good deal heavier. Weight provided by Nissan was 1,535kg.

[egor110]

There were a couple of 350-370's on the pistonheads welsh run and they sounded awesome.

[V8RX7]

The ONLY reason I don't own a 350z / 370Z is that it's a 2 seater - it should have been a 2+2

They only have to be token seats to get two small children a few miles to school.

[OwenK]

I'm going to continue my Nissan hate parade from the GT-R thread and say: it's a shame it's so bloody ugly. I've never heard of anybody lusting after one of these, which as an entirely non-sensible heart-driven purchase, you probably would want customers to feel... All you ever hear is people saying it's "actually quite good" as if it's a surprise, and it might win a group test with that big engine, but still, nobody wants one.

Nissan were putting out some lovely designs up to the early 00s but they lost their way around the time of the first R35 GT-R concepts and everything after has been funny-looking at best (350z went well though)
The new Pulsar and Qashquai are fairly handsome, id like to see a sports car from that design family.

Saying that, it's obviously working for their boring car sales as they can't make enough Jukes.

[BuzzBravado]

V8RX7 said:

The ONLY reason I don't own a 350z / 370Z is that it's a 2 seater - it should have been a 2+2

They only have to be token seats to get two small children a few miles to school.

The Infiniti G35 is a 4 seater 350Z.

Edited by BuzzBravado on Tuesday 19th April 15:04

[leglessAlex]

Matt Bird said:

leglessAlex said:

The article said:

the kerbweight is a bit porky

See, this always gets repeated a lot but in this day and age it's not all that bad. Wikipedia has the curb/wet weight listed as 1,466kg, which compared to a lot of todays cars isn't bad at all. It's significantly lighter than two of it's US and EU rivals, the Mustang and the F-Type respectively.

Fair point, but when you compare it to cars like the RCZ R, GT86/BRZ, TT and so on it's a good deal heavier. Weight provided by Nissan was 1,535kg.

According to Autocar the TTS kerb weight is 1460kg, so hardly a good deal heavier. (Edit: Audi list the unladen weight as 1385kg, so ok then it's a bit heavier, but still more powerful. I wonder why Autocar has it so wrong?)

It is a good deal heavier than the RCZ R (1355kg) and the GT86/BRZ (1250kg) but then has 100bhp and 150bhp more than each of those respectively.

For all I know it may feel very heavy when you're driving it, I haven't driven it so can't comment. I just think it's very unfair to label it porky when many other cars are as heavy or much heavier and they get away with it (unless, of course, Kambites is commenting in which case they don't get away with it ).

Edited by leglessAlex on Tuesday 19th April 15:08

[sandys]

Matt Bird said:

Fair point, but when you compare it to cars like the RCZ R, GT86/BRZ, TT and so on it's a good deal heavier. Weight provided by Nissan was 1,535kg.

I don't see how they compare really.

It's a RWD NA V6 Sports coupe, it is less than 100kgs heavier than a 4cylinder turbo FWD Pug but with more power, about 50kgs more than an AWD Audi with comparable performance but the Audi has less power from its 4cyl turbo?

The BRZ can only compare if it had an engine to back up.

To me its weight is not bad for what you get, performance is good, steering is great, it drives well, its like an MX5 on steroids. I am itching to buy one and its only the fact I cannot fit in with a helmet on that has put me off so far, as it means custom seats, mounts etc and I don't want to do that on a new motor, reach an rake would have sorted it for me but for some reason like my MX5 they only do rake, on my 5 I just put the roof down and let my big head pop out the top

EDIT- I obviously type a lot slower than others

Edited by sandys on Tuesday 19th April 15:21

[Parsnip]

Was pretty tempted by this exact car, but it is already reserved - moved about 2 days too slowly!

I like the look of the facelift Nismo (the older one is too fast and furious IMO).

They are simple beasts that can easilly put a smile on your face - lots of the alternatives are a lot less fun or a lot more expensive for comparible age/mileage.