It’s the kind of car that gets teased sideways and clouded in tyre smoke – the Nissan Z Nismo, that is – and it could be one of the last of its kind from the storied nameplate.
With a short video featuring drift champ Chris Forsberg sending the upcoming top-dog Z sideways, Nissan confirmed it’s coming soon.
But what can we actually expect from a Nismo version of the twin-turbo V6 powered rear-drive coupe? How much more can Nissan really do for its essentially two-decade-old platform and still relatively traditional sports car?
Well, you can bet on more power, for a start. The Nismo version of the naturally-aspirated, VQ bent–six-powered 370Z had 253kW and 371Nm, or 8kW and 8Nm over the standard, though with the Z’s boosted engine and it’s 298kW/475Nm outputs, there’s probably space for a bigger jump this time.
That’s likely to be joined by suspension tweaks for the top Z, firmer and more focused for track driving, while relatively easier interchangeable parts like tyres and seats will probably be swapped out for more hardcore versions.
Recaros verging on bucket seats inside and a set of something like the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx the 370Z wore – those along with inevitable red trim seen in the trailer video on minor bodywork adjustments.
What it doesn’t appear to have is the heavily redesigned nose seen on concepts like the Fairlady Z Customised Proto, which is a dealer option only in its home market of Japan.
More power and performance focus sounds like something we should all celebrate, but reports coming from Z forums in the US like NewNissanZ.com suggest there will be some fans disappointed in the new Z Nismo.
What appear to be screenshots from dealership order forms suggest that, despite the standard Z being available with a six-speed manual, the Nismo variant will have the nine-speed auto only.
If you look back at the drifting teaser, you’ll notice paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. Comments on the official Nissan video have already started expressing concerns, but the reason for the apparent lack of a third pedal could come down to engineering.
The six-speed manual from the Z is a modified version of that which was carried over from the 370Z. If you know anything about the Z cars of this century, you know that probably means the gearbox was also carried across from the 350Z.
It’s likely that the two-decade-old transmission just isn’t ready to cop more than 300kW from the factory.
Given how much of the Z has been (albeit cleverly) recycled from past models, it’s unlikely Nissan would go to the lengths to engineer or replace the gearbox to handle more power, especially with interest in manual variants waning across the world.
Flying in the face of this – or at least providing some hope that maybe there’s a bean-counter at Nissan with a heart – is a story that surfaced when the Nissan Z launched – that Nissan Product Planning Manager and ‘Brand Guardian’ for Nismo Hiroshi Tamura duped his superiors into believing excluding a manual gearbox would be market suicide for the Z.
The story goes that Tamura, who’s essentially ‘Mr GT-R’ and ‘Mr Z’ for the modern era, told his bosses during a slideshow pitching the new Z that 40 per cent of 370Z sales had been manual, and there was an almost immediate acceptance that a manual option was necessary.
Tamura, while leaving it in very fine print on the slide, didn’t explicitly mention the 40/60 gearbox split was for the Nismo variant only, and thus the new Z ended up with a manual option the accountants probably would have left on the shelf if given the choice.
Of course, the fact that sales split was for the Nismo version of the 370Z is only more relevant now that it’s the Z Nismo’s manual future in doubt.
Travis Maher, Nissan Australia Senior Product Manager even told CarsGuide last year that a manual transmission was almost a necessity in terms of the Z being able to earn wearing the iconic 26th-letter badge.
“The new Z had to have a manual option to live up to its heritage and to provide our customers with a transmission option that matches their driving style,” Maher said.
Whether the Tamura story is true or just a fun (and admittedly clever) bit of PR folklore-telling, it’s clear either way that the brand sees the manual gearbox as important to the Nismo version of one of its most enduring nameplates.
If you’re a Nissan Z fan disappointed at the prospect of the sports coupe losing its third pedal, just imagine how Hiroshi Tamura feels.
Keyword: 2024 Nissan Z Nismo: Everything you need to know so far about what could be Nissan's rear-drive performance swansong