2023 Nissan Z review: Australian first drive

Jump ahead

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• Warranty and running costs
• VERDICT

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Introduction

We've waited a long time for this. It was back in September 2018 that Nissan head of design, Alfonso Albaisa first broke the news that the company was indeed working on a new Z car.

“The Z-car, oh my god. Huge pressure,” said Albaisa when reviewing the to-do list of Nissan design work. “You can imagine I’m completely excited that I am in the position to work on that.”

While rumours had swirled, this was the first time that Nissan had actually confirmed that the project was a go. And now, almost four years later, we've finally got some seat time in a car that many thought would never be built.

It's easy to see the case against. After all, not many others are launching powerful rear-drive coupes that are supplied solely with an internal combustion petrol engine and offer the customer a three-pedal option. In order to bring such a car to market, it was clear that the Z couldn't be a money-no-object exercise.

The question we're looking to answer here is whether the wait has been worthwhile. Has Nissan delivered something that will delight Z enthusiasts the world over, or is this a case of cobbling pieces together from a parts bin and charging handsomely for it? Can it even be both? Let's dive in and take a look.

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The question we're looking to answer here is whether the wait has been worthwhile.

How much is it and what do you get?

One novelty on this Z is launch control, which tries gamefully on a frankly hideous weather day at the airstrip Nissan has booked. It's fitted as standard to both the manual and automatic cars and we'll reserve judgment on its effectiveness until we can try it in the dry. In both instances, it seemed easy to activate and not particularly finicky when it came to engine temperature prerequisites.

Other new aspects are an EXEDY racing clutch – don't worry, it's as benign as that of your gran's Micra – and a carbonfibre tailshaft on the manual model which, incidentally, is priced at the same $73,300 (before on-road costs) figure as the auto. Then we come to the cabin.

You always suspect that the Z has been developed relatively inexpensively. I have no issue with that. Sports cars are niche products and in order to bring this model to market at all, Hiroshi Tamura and his team needed to demonstrate that it could be done in a cost-effective manner.

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You always suspect that the Z has been developed relatively inexpensively. I have no issue with that.

As a result, it's a melange of Infiniti bits, carryover 370Z parts, adapted or updated components and so on. It's a credit to Nissan that it feels so cohesive, given its genesis.

The cabin is where the belt-tightening is most obvious. You won't find a head-up display, rain-sensing wipers, a phone charging pad or wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. In fact, you'll search in vain for any form of navigation at all in the recalcitrantly unresponsive infotainment system.

As recompense for failing to invest in the development of these systems, Nissan has thrown a bunch of gear at the Z including a Bose eight-speaker stereo, leather and suede heated and powered seats, an impressive safety suite, a multi-function 12.3-inch instrument panel and active noise cancellation.

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How do rivals compare on value?

Available options here in Australia are virtually none. You'll pay $700 for premium paint, while premium paint and a contrast roof will part $1200 from you. In other words, MSRP with all the gear but before on-road costs is $75,200.

That's not bad considering the fact that the less powerful Supra GT currently opens at $87,303 before you start ticking boxes and applying on-road costs. Additional perspective is happily supplied by Ford, who will sell you a 339kW Mustang GT from $65,290 plus on-road costs.

Of course, if you really wanted to save a packet on your rear-drive manual or auto Japanese coupe, you could opt for the equally entertaining Subaru BRZ at around $40K, but you would be ceding a tall stack of power and torque.

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If you're looking at the Nissan Z because you appreciate sharp aesthetics, then Audi's TT 45 TFSI Quattro might also enter your equations at $85,300 excluding on-road costs, but do bear in mind that the pretty Ingolstadter isn't available with a manual gearbox. With 180kW and 370Nm available, it'll struggle to keep up with the Z on anything other than a streaming wet road.

Should you really want some additional perspective on the Nissan's value proposition, then consider that it fronts up with more power and torque than a $180K Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0 or, come to that, an entry-level 911 Carrera at more than $240K before the inevitable options spend.

Suddenly $73,300 doesn't seem an unreasonable demand. Don't get too hung up on the $80K+ figure of the limited-run and mechanically identical Z Proto launch edition. That one's sold out already.

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If you really wanted to save a packet on your rear-drive manual or auto Japanese coupe, you could opt for the Subaru BRZ at around $40K, but you would be ceding a tall stack of power and torque.

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Interior comfort, space and storage

Get out of the claustrophobic Supra, rub your head because you've smashed it once again on the cant rail, then drop into the Nissan Z and you'll be very pleasantly surprised at how generously cut the cabin is.

Even for taller drivers, the seat is mounted reasonably low, with manual lifters for the thigh and lumbar supports and electric controls – strangely mounted on the inboard side of the seat – for slide and tilt.

Accommodation inside the car is good, with a height-adjustable seat while the steering wheel, which features an identical rim diameter to the iconic R32 GT-R, features enough reach and height adjustment.

Oddments space is good with two cup holders rather than the 370Z's one, but the rear luggage bay is shallow and will just about fit two very intimate carry-on sized cases. For a car with such a rangy, long-legged demeanour, it's a bit of a shame that this so limits the Nissan's grand touring credentials.

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What's it like to drive?

You'll learn a lot about the Nissan Z's dynamics within the first 50 metres behind the wheel. It nerfs over speed humps with a glossy finesse, the ride quality is, if not pillowy, then let's call it cultured, and the steering bucks the current trend for neurotic racks. The Z never feels lax or lazy, but there's a refreshing compliance to it that lends it an everyday utility.

Before delving too far into the details, some of the basics. Up front is a modified version of the VR30DDTT powerplant we've seen previously in the Infiniti Q50 and Q60, a twin-turbo V6 good for 298kW/475Nm.

This drives the rear wheels via either an adaptation of the Mercedes-Benz 9G-TRONIC automatic built by JATCO or a reworked version of Nissan's six-speed manual transmission.

All Australian cars are mechanically equivalent to the US-spec Performance models and are therefore supplied as standard with a mechanical limited-slip differential and uprated four-pot front brakes.

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It probably hasn't escaped your attention that the list of 250kW+, rear-drive, manual cars that cost less than six figures isn't exactly extensive.

Listed in price order, you have the Ford Mustang GT, the Nissan Z, the forthcoming three-pedal Supra and… that's your lot. In terms of how they drive, it marks a convenient continuum from boofy at one extreme to bellicose at the other.

The Z's automatic installation is fine. Like most such transmissions, it has too many gears to make taking control via the paddleshifters an ultimately fulfilling experience, and even when set into Sport mode, it occasionally decides that 1400rpm is where you need to be, which is odd for a car where it ought to be virtually impossible to find yourself somewhere outside a peak torque envelope that stretches from 1600 to 5600rpm.

It slurs gears smoothly and the sound symposer behind the dash gives the otherwise taciturn V6 some measure of aural clout, but you deserve better.

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You deserve a gem of a six-speed manual. If all the justification you require to buy a car is for it to do one thing with absolute elan, well, here's all the excuse you need. Warm it through and the shift action of this six-speed box is to be savoured.

Nissan has re-engineered the detents of the shift, with the check spring load increased by 50 per cent. This means that in the first half of the shift action from gear to gear, it feels as if the force required to shift has increased, while in the second half – as the lever snicks home into the desired gear – the force reduces, offering increased self-engagement feel. You'll find yourself just buzzing up and down the box for the sheer tactility of doing so.

The active rev matching, first seen on a manual production model in this car's predecessor, the 370Z, is as quick-witted as you need it to be but can be switched off if you'd rather get your footwell fandango on.

Warm it through and the shift action of this six-speed box is to be savoured.

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Nissan's data on its rack-mounted electric steering assistance suggests it has been benchmarked against the Supra, but it feels a little less punchy than the Toyota's tiller. It's accurate and offers no nasty surprises, but is hardly overloaded with on-centre detail.

Mercifully, the hideous steer-by-wire system from the Infiniti Q50/Q60 didn't come as part of a buy one, get one free package with the engine. The reason why the steering never feels quite as crisp as the Supra's is, more than anything else, down to the choice of tyre.

The Bridgestone Potenza S007 is a serviceable hoop, but it's certainly not in the same league as any suffix of Michelin Pilot Sport. It's quiet on poor surfaces, and its sidewall hysteresis contributes to the ride quality but there's not much flintiness about it.

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The reason why the steering never feels quite as crisp as the Supra's is, more than anything else, down to the choice of tyre.

It's an easy fix come tyre replacement time and one of the ways that the inevitable Nismo version of the Z can wick things up a bit.

That car will also need to add some sinew to the damping. Really get after the Z on a typical Aussie B-road and you find yourself wishing for a little more control, especially in rebound. Nissan claims the dampers are around 20 per cent more accommodating than those fitted to the 370Z, and I can believe it.

Where that car always felt a little fidgety, the Z flows better down most roads. It's only if you really give it a pummeling that you start to see where a more focused model could work. It's doubtful that it'd be much more powerful, Nissan suggesting that the VR30DDTT V6 is near its upper output limit for series production.

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Brakes? The map for the brake pedal is heavily front-loaded, which can give the stoppers an initially overservoed feel albeit one you'll soon get used to.

Thankfully we don't get the weedy two-pot calipers that the entry-level US model gets, instead being treated to Akebono four-pot fronts that bite down on 355mm discs, with a two-piston 330mm set-up aft.

Nissan chooses not to quote a 0-100km/h time for the Z, nor a Nürburgring lap time. This seems a little rich, given that the same metrics were shouted from the rooftops with a megaphone regarding the GT-R. I guess it's easy to crow when you're winning and, as the first tranche of drag race videos out of the US suggests, the Z will be third in a three-car race with a Supra and a Mustang V8.

Still, the same site that published the most-watched race also presents a leaderboard where the Z outsprints a Lamborghini Gallardo, so it's not exactly slow. Seat-of-the-pants meter says low-to-mid fours, and we'll strap timing gear to one in due course when we pitch it into a comparison. As a pure road car, it's quick enough to fulfil the brief.

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How is it on fuel?

Since you ask, not too bad at all, given it's hefting a twin-turbo 3.0-litre lump.

The automatic is the one to go for if you want to keep a cap on your bowser spend, registering 9.8L/100km on the combined cycle.

The manual version sees 10.8L/100km. Such is the prodigious torque on offer that the Z is quite happy lugging along with less than 2000rpm showing on the clock if needs be, and the nine-speed auto can lope along in top on freeway runs at or near the national speed limit with only around 1500rpm on the dial.

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How safe is it?

Safety provision has been one of the biggest investments with the new Z.

Consider the fact that its predecessor, the 370Z, did without features such as auto emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert and so on.

The latest Z has yet to be assessed by ANCAP but is supplied as standard with a full Nissan Intelligent Mobility suite. This comprises:

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That's on top of additional safety features which include:

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Warranty and running costs

The Nissan Z is supplied with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Replacement rear tyres will set you back around $540 per corner. Should you prefer a more aggressive tyre come replacement time, you'll pay around $50 extra per corner for a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S.

The fuel tank is 62 litres and the Z likes a diet of 98RON, so at $2 per litre, that'd set you back $124 to refill from fumes.

Residual values ought to hold very strong in the short to medium term, especially if you've secured a slot for one of the Z Proto models, of which there are mooted to be around 170 coming to Australia.

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Nissan Australia is fighting for more supply of the Z and looking to combat dealer markups on cars. Around 70 per cent of early orderers have expressed an interest in three pedals which is encouraging.

In case you were wondering who the typical Z buyer is, Nissan reckons it's a 40-year-old, with $130K of household income, neither traditionalists nor progressives whose main goal in life is seeking excitement. More than half consider themselves big spenders and come from an educated white-collar background.

Thus far the most popular colour is Seiran Blue (27 per cent of all orders) followed by Everest White (16 per cent) and then Black Diamond Metallic (13 per cent).

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VERDICT

Had I placed an order for the Z, I'd be more than happy with what Nissan has created. In fact, I'd be delighted.

So is the Nissan Z the 'nearly' car that some have suggested? That very much depends on your expectations. For its target market in the US, it's virtually bang on the money.

You will adore the Z if what you're looking for is a strikingly styled coupe that you can happily use every day, which is more than quick enough to entertain, features a great ride and has a chassis that's as entertaining as you could ask for – so long as you're not expecting dynamics that'd see it emerge from a showroom onto the podium on a tarmac rally.

As a roadgoing system, a totality, it's a very good package, benefiting from a number of mature and pragmatic decisions.

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But what if you do want more? What if you're a little more demanding in your expectations when it comes to ultimate driver involvement? As I see it, you have three obvious alternatives, none of which are unappealing.

You could pay more and buy a Toyota Supra, pay less and buy a Subaru BRZ, or sit on your money until the Nismo version of the Z appears.

Had I placed an order for the Z, I'd be more than happy with what Nissan has created. In fact, I'd be delighted. In chamfering off its attitude by a degree or two, Nissan has endowed the Z with a rare sensuality that we all too often miss when driving hard, fixating on a distant vanishing point.

Dial things back a notch, let the car breathe with the road and relish the silky tactility of that fantastic manual gearbox.

Screw the Nürburgring time. Enjoy the journey.

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2023 Nissan Z specifications