Driving the 370Z Roadster and NISMO 370Z in Northern California

Last week Ryan and I got the chance to drive the new 370Z Roadster back to back with the NISMO 370Z in Northern California. And I’m not talking about a quick test drive around the block. I’m talking about several hundred miles on the twisty backroads near Santa Cruz. We flew down to San Jose, signed a waiver and the Nissan folks tossed us the keys, along with a suggested route which included a catered lunch and a place to swap cars. Is this a cool job or what?

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I can’t see that the Nissan 370Z faces a whole lot of direct completion. Nissan said that buyers don’t cross shop with the Mustang or Camaro, which of course aren’t true sports cars. Ditto for the Hyundia Genesis Coupe. The S2000 is basically history and the Miata is smaller, costs less and is pretty much gutless in comparison. And the Vette, Boxster, Elise and Z4 all cost a lot more. So the 370Z is in a very good space, and Nissan says it is currently the sales leader in the sports car segment.

After a quick pep talk in front of the Hotel Valencia, Ryan and I jumped into a grey Roadster and blasted out toward Santa Cruz. Overall, the new Roadster is a more successful design than the 350Z Roadster that it replaces (it’s also lighter and more powerful). But honestly, the car still looks kind of odd to me. The proportions are great, but something about all details don’t add up to a very flowing or appealing design in my opinion. The interior is nicely done, though, and the newly designed ventilated seats are super comfy and supportive. We didn’t mess with the top much. It was beautiful day so we just left it down.

The first thing I noticed was how stiff it was for a convertible. Nissan said it’s up to 60% stiff than the car that it replaced, and I believe it. It didn’t have quite the carved-out-of-granite stiff feel of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster I drove last year, but that’s a slightly different price point…

Neither of us had driven the new 370Z, so the main thing that got our attention was the SynchroRev Match, which blips the throttle as you downshift. I don’t consider myself any kind of heel and toe master, so even though I’m something of a Luddite, I thought the feature was pretty cool and strangely easy to get used to.

The car has 332 hp, but doesn’t have the low end torque you find in Detroit’s V8 pony cars. Still, the V6 has plenty of power for a car that weighs around 3,400 pounds. So basically, it’s fast, but not scary fast. The exhaust note was a bit of a disappointment, though–it was incredibly muted until you wound the engine out toward its 7,500 rpm redline. But other than improving the exhaust note, all we could ask for was a slightly stiffer suspension. So we were definitely eager to get in the NISMO.

We got our chance after lunch out near Pescadero. Nissan gave us two of them so Ryan and I could chase each other around on the tight twisty roads right off Highway 101. The NISMO comes with a very distinctive body kit which adds six inches to the length. The NISMO seats are supportive and no-nonsense. And that wing has a definite Porsche GT3 vibe.

The NISMO packs an extra 18 hp and a different and slightly more throaty exhaust, but it’s the NISMO-tuned suspension that makes all the difference for this car. This was doubly confirmed when we got to compare it directly with a blue 370Z coupe. The NISMO just hugs the road and never comes unglued.

We couldn’t keep the two cars the whole afternoon, so we turned the silver and red car in for a white NISMO and headed back up Highway 84. I veered off the official route to take Ryan on some of the sketchy roads I used to ride back in my Stanford Cycling days. The NISMO was super confidence inspiring, even on the tightest, twistiest and bumpiest roads.

The NISMO is an absolute blast to drive. This is definitely a car I would want for a weekend and track toy. We were sad to have to turn the keys back over to the Nissan folks.

Ryan and I compared notes on the plane ride back to Seattle. We decided that the car had the perfect match of power and handling for the price. It’s well proportioned and a hoot to drive. But neither of us was sure we could live with the boy racer looks.

Many thanks to Nissan for the opportunity, and for keeping the Z alive all these years. It’s truly in a class by itself.

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