Thursday 31st August 2017

MY18 Nissan 370Z announced

Fed up with four-cylinder sports cars? That V6 Nissan is still available...

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With the current furore around the 718 Porsches, the 2.0-litre Jaguar F-Type and GT86/BRZ, it's easy to forget about the Nissan 370Z. Alright, it might not be the very best sports coupe around, but it does boast a big V6, a manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential for less than £30K. When you can spend more than £60K on a four-cylinder F-Type, that sounds all the more tempting.

Same old 370Z really - is that a bad thing though?

For the 2018 model year the big Zed has had a spruce up; given it's been on sale since 2009 you could argue that it needs rather more than that but, still, something is better than nothing. So the car now gets the tinted front and rear lights seen on the NISMO, new 19-inch wheels, black accents on the body and the fresh red metallic paint you see here.

The only mechanical change is an Exedy clutch; Nissan claims this "reduces driver pedal effort and delivers even greater levels of gear change precision and comfort." Sadly however there's no word yet on a car sticker to advertise your aftermarket high performance upgrade.

V6 at the front, LSD at the back, manual in the middle

Otherwise it's as you were for the 370Z, with a 328hp 3.7-litre V6, a six-speed manual (incorporating the first ever - and perhaps still the best - rev-match system) and 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds. A seven-speed auto is also still on offer.

The price is £29,185, making it more than £1,000 cheaper than an S Line Audi TT (with a 1.8), more than £1,000 cheaper than a BMW 220i M Sport and only £1,000 more than a Toyota GT86 Pro. That's before the discounts too, this NISMO more than £7K under list with fewer than 2,000 miles. Sure, the 370 is far from perfect, but all that saved money could be put towards modifying... It's on sale now!

[Ved]

Good on them for sticking with it.

[RedSpike66]

My sister's had one of these for a few years and absolutely loves it. She's no racing or track day driver but how many drivers of all those cars mentioned are ?

She was just about to get a new one and had here head turned by the 718 Cayman, which she's ordered.... for not short of £20k more once options added. I'm sure she will love the Cayman, but the 370Z is a lot of car for the money, and you don;t look like a hair dresser like you do it a TT

[AmosMoses]

Cracking car for the money! Would really like a gen 1 car in the next few years.

[RumbleOfThunder]

Seems to represent decent value given those around it. That spec bump is weak though. New wheels and tinted lights = new MY??

[steveb8189]

Given the new VED rule this will be a good buy in a few years. £500 / year really puts me off getting an older one.

[horsemeatscandal]

Did not know these were so cheap, or that they were still being made. I only ever see one regularly. Think it's a Nismo, got some fancy looking bits on it anyway.

I'd have one, wonder why there aren't more about?

[unsprung]

RedSpike66 said:

My sister's had one of these for a few years and absolutely loves it.

Very cool. What man doesn't appreciate a woman who views a car as much more than an appliance.

AmosMoses said:

Cracking car for the money!

Agreed. There's a massive aftermarket for tasteful mod's. And there are thoughtful OEM touches such as a carbon fibre composite drive shaft.

I was a bit surprised to see so few "Z cars" in the UK. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. Or perhaps I hang out with the wrong crowd.

[r11co]

Pah. Focus ST is faster.

[Ursicles]

Didn't realise these had such a big engine in them - just thought 370 was a marketing thing!

[chrismoose91]

Love mine!

[MrScrot]

I think these cars look amazing. I wouldn't mind owning one. Wasn't an all new Z model due or am I making stuff up?

[Alex P]

horsemeatscandal said:

Did not know these were so cheap, or that they were still being made. I only ever see one regularly. Think it's a Nismo, got some fancy looking bits on it anyway.

I'd have one, wonder why there aren't more about?

I think it was the £500 a year VED that put a lot of people off and it really cannot have helped sales of what must be one of the best value sports cars around. The RX8 was really clobbered by this back in 2006 and sales fell through the floor as a result, though issues with reliability didn't help either...

I know that reviews talk about 'a heavy feeling' to it and some complain of road noise, but it would be good to see more of these sold now that the annual VED for any registered from this financial year onward is now the same as a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta - let the good times roll...

[David87]

Why did the 350Z do seemingly so much better than these? Have people got increasingly snobbish about the Nissan badge in more recent years? I've always quite liked them and for they money they seem great (especially with the new tax rules!), but I suppose in the eyes of many it's no good because it's not one of the usual German suspects.

[Jimmy Recard]

This is one of my favourite cars on sale right now. I'm glad to see it continuing, I've been wondering if it would be withdrawn from the UK/Europe at some point

[Dazed and Confused]

Nice. When is the electric version out?

[liner33]

Had two , both MY2012 GT Editions one modified to 345hp remapped etc (They dont make 328hp stock more like 315hp) and had a supercharged 488hp one as well

Nice subtle updates, clutch is a well overdue upgrade, its been a weak point since 2009 hope they changed the master cylinder as well.

Nice to see them get another few years out of it

[daemon]

David87 said:

Why did the 350Z do seemingly so much better than these? Have people got increasingly snobbish about the Nissan badge in more recent years? I've always quite liked them and for they money they seem great (especially with the new tax rules!), but I suppose in the eyes of many it's no good because it's not one of the usual German suspects.

Poor finance deals and indifferent dealer network. They'd rather sell some old biddy a Micra.

Can be good value though used. We bought a 2 year old 370Z GT with just 9,000 miles on it and one owner for £19,995.

Ran it nearly two years and got £18,000 for it

Discounts arent fantastic on new ones. A Nismo is probably around £36,000 from a broker. A GT will be around £31,000 discounted.

A broker like Broadspeed will sell you an M240i for around £31,000 and wrap it up in a better finance package too.

Or a 440i M Sport for around £37K.

It compares well in price to say a Cayman, but i dont think too many people really wanting a Cayman will "save" £15,000 and buy one of these.

Great cars though. We really loved ours.

[Dazed and Confused]

Jimmy Recard said:

This is one of my favourite cars on sale right now. I'm glad to see it continuing, I've been wondering if it would be withdrawn from the UK/Europe at some point

I like the new Infiniti Coupe too.

[TSCfree]

Urgh a V6, the cheapskates

In 2005 I schlepped up and down the M6 for a few years in a BMW 330Ci. it was pretty competent but dull as dish water, so I arranged to test drive a 350Z at the local dealers and spanked it around North West side of Loch Ness for an hour or so. I knew within the first 20 mins I had the wrong car for 2 years!

I didn't buy it in the end as my circumstances changed not long after the test drive, but I still have a hankering for one.

[kambites]

Always felt more of a muscle car than a sports car to me. I'd be interested to see a twin-test with the V8 Mustang.