Yahoo Autos The 2023 Nissan Z Performance Is a Gorgeous Sports-GT Car
Our Take on the 2023 Nissan Z Performance
The Nissan Z is a sports-car icon. When it arrived in 1969, the Datsun 240Z started the shift away from British roadsters and forever changed the world's perception of Japanese cars. It was affordable, gorgeous, and reliable. Over the next two decades, it evolved from pure sports car to GT car to high-tech twin-turbo monster. The 350Z brought the "Z" car back to its roots in 2002, and the 370Z updated the formula.
Nissan built the 370Z from 2008 to 2021, an age in automaking terms. A consequence of both the diminishing popularity of sports cars and Nissan's flagging fortunes in the 2010s, the 370Z just kept going even as the world changed all around it. We honestly thought the nameplate would die with the 370, but Nissan stunned the world with a new model, simply called the "Z," which is the car you see here.
The 2023 Z is a very comprehensive rework of the 370Z. That makes it feel old-school, for better and for worse. It comes standard with a 400-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 and it packs a serious punch. The recipe is classic sports car: Powerful engine under a long hood up front, two seats and a manual transmission in the middle (a nine-speed automatic is optional), drive at the back. Great ingredients, but how's the execution?
What's New
That depends on your definition of "new." The Z is a new model for 2023, but as we said before, it's based on the old 370Z, itself derived from the 350Z. So it's a new model with decades-old bones. Much of the bodywork is unique for the new Z, with a front fascia that apes the 240Z and a rear that pays homage to the 300ZX of the late eighties and early nineties. Despite sharing major body panels—like doors and roof—with the 370Z, the new Z looks like its own thing. It's gorgeous in person, with just the right amount of throwback touches.
The twin-turbo V-6 is the first turbocharged Z-car engine since the Z32-generation 300ZX, and here it offers 400 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. It's shared with the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400, though unlike the Infiniti sedan, the Z gives drivers the option of a six-speed manual. There are chassis tweaks compared with the 370Z, but this is not a fundamentally different car. It does get all the latest tech, including a modern infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus all sorts of driver-assist features like adaptive cruise control.
Pros
Muscular engine provides strong performance.
Gorgeous styling.
Plenty of comfort for everyday use.
Cons
Ride can be bouncy at times.
Shifter is balky.
Good luck finding one, let alone for MSRP.
Performance, Engine & Horsepower
The 400 hp offered by the Nissan Z puts it ahead of the 382-hp Toyota GR Supra 3.0. That said, the lighter Supra is quicker than the Z regardless of transmission option. Still, the Z feels very quick in the real world, with its twin turbos coming on with minimal lag and boost building smoothly as you approach the 6800-rpm redline. A zero-to-60 time of 4.5 seconds for the manual and 4.3 seconds for the automatic is nothing to dismiss. This car is more than fast enough, and with a $42,085 base price, it's got a great horsepower-to-dollar ratio.
The V-6 puts up good numbers, but it's not long on personality. It can't match the BMW-built straight-six in the Supra for sound, smoothness, or willingness to rev. And it can't match the character and excellent throttle response of the Ford Mustang GT's 5.0-liter V-8. This V-6 is more effective than lovable.
We do, however, love that it comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission. The shifter isn't the best, though. The gates aren't that well defined, making it too easy to go from, say, fifth to second when you really want fourth. It's a shift that can't be rushed, lest you end up in the wrong gear. We haven't tested the optional nine-speed automatic yet, though our colleagues at Car and Driver say that the auto Z is quicker. Still, get the manual if you're able.
Features & Specs
For its $42,085 MSRP, the base Sport model gets the 400-hp V-6 and a choice of manual and automatic transmission. If you just want a fast sporty coupe, this is probably all you need, but the $52,085 Performance model adds a lot of nice features. The extra $10,000 adds a limited-slip differential, 19-inch forged RAYS wheels and larger tires, upgraded brakes with four-piston calipers up front, nicer interior trim, a slightly larger infotainment system, an upgraded Bose sound system, and heated seats. It's a big up-charge, but this does really encompass all you need in a car like this. For 2023, there's also the limited, $56,380 Proto Spec, which mimics the unique yellow bodywork and bronze wheels of the Z concept car.
MPG
Fuel economy depends on whether you go for the automatic or manual. The former gets 19 mpg city/28 mpg highway/22 mpg combined, while the latter drops to 18 city/24 highway/20 combined.
Test Drive
We put around 600 miles on this blue Z Performance on some of the best roads north of San Francisco. It proved to be an ideal companion everywhere from the city streets, to long slogs up and down the 5 freeway, and over beautiful mountain roads. On paper this seems very much like a capital-S, capital-C Sports Car, but it's really more of a Sports GT. Comfortable for everyday use and long miles, yet fun on the right road.
It's not perfect, though. In general, the Z lacks the polish of other sports cars on the market, including cheaper options like the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GR86/Subaru BRZ, and similarly priced rivals like the GR Supra and Ford Mustang. The suspension is underdamped, so the car moves up and down vertically more than it should, and the gearing, throttle calibration, and shifter are such that it's hard to be perfectly smooth with shifts. The brake pedal is also very sensitive, biting down hard as soon as you apply any amount of pressure, but the brakes themselves are excellent. This makes it very difficult to heel-and-toe, though thankfully there's a nice auto rev-match function.
Still, there's something to be said for the Z. It offers old-school charm, and there's no lack of speed available to the driver. And though it's not perfect, it's always engaging, which is something that can't be said about the GR Supra. The Toyota is lighter, but its BMW luxury-car roots are obvious, whereas the Z is much more back-to-basics, in a good way. Plus, it'll cruise all day at 85 mph, and while it sometimes feels too soft for backroads, that improves everyday comfort. And hey, if you want something more hardcore, the Nismo Z is on its way.
Pricing
It's pretty simple to understand the pricing structure for the Z as there's just the $42,085 base model and the $52,085 Performance version. Also notable is that this undercuts the pricing of the Supra, which starts at $45,735 for the four-cylinder base model, and climbs up from there. Pricing for the Z is more in line with the Ford Mustang GT, which for 2024 starts at $44,090.
Typical of a Japanese car, there aren't really any optional extras, just some dealer-installed accessories that aren't worth the money. The only thing that bumps up the base price is two-tone paint, which pairs a lower color with a black roof. We think that's well worth it, as the black roof helps the Z look lower than it is in reality.
Interior
Much of the Z's cabin feels dated, owing to its 350Z/370Z roots, though it more than gets the job done. The seats are comfortable and supportive, and the important things like steering wheel and shifter feel great. The standard digital gauge cluster is also wonderful, with a choice of display themes and all sorts of configurability. Our favorite display renders the tach right in the middle, with temperature and tire pressure gauges on either side. It's everything a sports-car driver needs, nothing they don't.
Special shoutout also has to go to the retro auxiliary gauges on the top of the dash, which display boost pressure, turbo speed—something no other car does—and battery voltage. Are these necessary? No. Are they cool? Very.
Comfort
Despite the GR Supra having luxury-car roots, the Z is actually the more comfortable of the two. Its softer ride just makes it a nicer car to drive on a daily basis, and for longer trips. You don't go into a car like this expecting real grand-tourer ability, but that's what you get with the Z.
Technology & Safety
The infotainment system isn't the most modern either, yet it doesn't matter since you're probably just going to plug in your phone and use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, right? Plus, all models get nice driver assist technology like lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control.
Storage
You don't expect that much storage space in a sports car, and this is the case with the Z. The trunk is just seven cubic feet large and the space is fairly shallow, so good luck with larger suitcases. Up front, there's not much space either, though there are little parcel shelves behind each seat. The Z definitely has enough storage for daily use, though longer trips will require the use of soft bags and careful packaging.
Wrapping Up
It's not perfect, but there's a lot to like about the Nissan Z. It's an affordable, fast sports car that handles well and offers tons of daily usability. Dynamically, it's a little rough around the edges, though if you're not tracking the car, it's not such a big deal. Plus, it looks amazing.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that Nissan can't seem to build them in significant quantities. There was a report about paint issues, but whether or not that's true, what's indisputable is there aren't many Zs out there. Nissan sold just under 1000 in the first half of the year in the U.S., and per Cars.com, there are 117 new examples on dealer lots at the time of writing. With such little supply, a new Z will be hard to find, and one imagines dealers sticking big markups on the limited stock they have.
Hopefully Nissan can solve those issues because this is a great continuation of the Z lineage. It offers affordable performance in a gorgeous package, while remaining comfortable enough for daily driving.
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