Nissan 370Z

There’s a great deal of heritage behind the “Z” in the 370’s badge. The label adorned Nissan’s first bespoke sports car in 1969, a vehicle that was aimed at the American market, yet managed to gain a worldwide following thanks to its dashing good looks, Japanese spec reliability (the best kind) and its muscly six cylinder motor.

There have been five generations since the Z’s genesis, all arguably better than the last. However there was definitely no doubting the progression the 370Z made over its predecessor, the 350Z. While the 370 retained the wildness in its heart, a few rough edges were smoothed over, adding some much needed refinement to the package.

From the outside there is no doubting the 370’s testosterone fuelled heritage. The overall image largely follows on from the 350Z’s success, albeit shorter and wider, however there are subtle reminders of Z’s gone by, along with a few GT-R influences here and there. The interior underwent the biggest upgrade. Whilst sitting in the 350Z may have had you wondering how you ended up at an imitation Tuppaware party, the overall fit and finish, quality of materials and general layout and appearance was refined extensively to push the 370 to new heights.

Along with all the upgrades, Nissan introduced an automatic version and before you get up in arms over the sacrilege that is a sports car without a manual gearbox, let me try twisting your arm a little bit. The addition of the auto ‘box is not just a token effort from Nissan; this is a properly engineered unit, with seven close ratio gears and a feeling that the car and gearbox have been designed with each other in mind from the start.

In other words it’s not the smoothest unit in the world. While most auto’s are engineered to blend into the background, the 370 does exactly the opposite – even when pottering around at low speed, or just cruising along the motorway it feels heavy and solid.

Don’t think of this as a criticism though. If you’re going to throw an automatic into a “Z” car, make it as raw as possible. I still want that muscle car feel when a new cog clunks into place. And that’s exactly what this gearbox provides. Furthermore the manual paddle shift function does exactly what is says on the tin – so it won’t change gears for you, even at the limiter.

Thanks to a shorter wheel base and stiffer construction, Nissan’s engineers have largely solved any understeer problems from the 350Z – and if you happen to still find some, there’s always the pedal under your right foot to solve the problem. It’s a tremendous car to throw from bend to bend, just enjoying the purity of its handling characteristics.

The best thing about this car remains the 3.7-litre V6. It can pootle about or go bonkers without feeling strained by either task. The automatic ‘box is never having to make constant gear changes to keep up thanks to a mountain of torque – so it’ll happily sit in a higher gear and let the V6 do the work. Yet when you do decide to push on it still feels happy being thrashed to the limiter, just be wary of rising fuel bills if you do.

One thing the 370Z isn’t, is a cruiser. After having the 370 stroke my driving ego on numerous short blasts to nowhere and back, the task of sitting behind the wheel on a long trip was torturous. Not because it’s an ncomfortable car, quite the opposite. But because I knew how enthralling the 370 could be if I were driving along some winding back road.

The 370Z is an honest, simple, old world kind of muscle car that easily holds its own against more esteemed names like BMW and Porsche. While Nissan’s refinement efforts have not gone unnoticed, its brutal personality continues to shine through – and is all the better for it.

Price: R593,600
Engine: 3,696cc six-cylinder petrol
Power: 245kW
Torque: 363Nm
Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 5.6 seconds
Top speed: 250km/h
Fuel consumption 10.4l/100km (claimed)

Miles Downard
First published in Autodealer KZN