2024 Nissan Z (Performance) – Road Test

The Nissan Z is an iconic 2-seater sports car that just about everyone loves the look of, and many more would love to own. Nissan have chosen to throw away the numbers and just name it… the Zed (in the U.S. they call it a Zeeee).If you look on-line at other reviews of the Z (video or website) you’ll find that 99% of them are based on a couple of hours behind the wheel. That is NOT enough time to experience this road rocket. This review is based on an entire week and 2 drivers with plenty of experience with manual transmissions and quick cars… and it’s brutally honest too.

What Is It?

2- seater Sports Car
400 hp / 350 lb-ft of torque (68 hp more + 30% increase in torque over previous gen)
We’re driving the Performance version that adds a few unique items
0 L Twin Turbo V6
A close-ratio 6-speed Manual Transmission comes standard and incorporates an Exedy high-performance clutch and a carbon-fiber driveshaft that saves 33 kg over the automatic
SynchroRev Match is also standard in the Performance trim
RWD
The Z Performance adds a barely noticeable rear spoiler that creates positive pressure to mitigate rear lift
If this isn’t enough for you then there’s the Z NISMO – it gets 20 more hp and more torque +34, a limited-slip differential, bigger wheels & brakes, an even stiffer suspension and fancier bodywork
The Nissan Z was All-New last year (2023), so the only upgrades for ‘24 is Amazon Alexa Digital Assistant is now built in
The test vehicle was a 2023 MY

How Does It Look?

What’s not to love about a 2-seater sports car?
It’s a Modern Retro car – plenty of nods to the past with all that is good from the present
Perfectly proportioned with a traditional rear-wheel-drive sports car design – a long hood, short rear, lower rear stance and a silhouette that perfectly pays homage to the first-generation 240Z (later generations just didn’t match the uniqueness of the original)
It looks fantastic from any angle – including the front, which was a concern after seeing pictures of it. In real life it’s a non-issue
Great looking 19” Super lightweight Forged Alloy Wheels – not usually a fan of black rims, but they work on this car – especially with the 2-tone paint job
The Seiran Blue metallic paint is really nice with plenty of shine in the sun – it almost glows
The two-tone Blue/Black paint job is a $950 option – and the only option on this vehicle

What’s It Like Inside?

Interior layout is perfect and almost a carbon copy of the original 240-280Z with the dials high up on the dashboard (boost, turbo speed, volt) – a nice retro touch, but the same info is also available in the digital driver’s screen
A 12.3-inch fully customizable digital instrument cluster with a wealth of details and options comes standard
Everything is placed where it’s easy to see and reach at a glance
An active sound enhancement for inside the cabin sounds fairly good, and the exhaust note as you shift gears is pretty good. Apparently the automatic sounds even better
The Automatic climate (HVAC) controls are ACTUAL dials and buttons (yeah)… but they are so small and hard to read you have to set them before heading out – it doesn’t help that they are set so low and in shadow most of the time – because of the shape of the dashboard– you actually have to stare at them to see what they are, or let your co-pilot make the adjustments
The Nissan Z has my favourite safety feature – a flashing light on the A-pillar when BLISS detects a vehicle in your blind spot. This is a life-saver, so many times you don’t see a vehicle there – even after checking your mirror, and if it wasn’t for that flashing light you’d pull out and side-swipe them. The placement is the key – on the mirror is useless after you’ve experienced it on the a-pillar
The seats are firm but very comfortable, and even though I’m vertically-challenged (5’7”) the seat cushion is a little too short, ending half-way down my thigh – I like a seat the goes all the way to my knees
The driver’s seat is a combination of manual and power adjustments. The seat up/down as well as the lower seat tilt is manual (dials), but the forward/back and seatback tilt are power (little buttons on the seat to the right). The bolster/lumbar adjusts manually using a lever on the side of the seatback (standard Z’s get 8-way manual driver’s seat and 4-way manual passenger)
The passenger seat gets the power forward/back and seatback tilt (little buttons on the seat to the left), but no height adjustment
Placing the power-seat (fore/aft) switch on the seat right next to transmission-tunnel is a nice change of pace and something that makes it stand out. The driver’s side has a little more room for fingers than the passenger side. I liked it, wife hated it
Both seats are heated but not cooled
Dual-zone auto temperature control isn’t available because that would be stupid in a car like this
There’s only one cup holder…until you raise the centre armrest and surprise, there’s another one there – or you can slide the entire console back (it includes a small storage compartment)
The bottle holders in the doors are on the small side and due to experience – not recommended for coffee cups
Storage is extremely lacking in the Z – the glovebox is tiny, even after throwing away the manual. The armrest storage is very small too
There’s a couple of little shelves behind each seat that might hold a tissue box, but not much else – you have to move the seat forward/back to get to it because neither of the seats tip forward. Behind the passenger seat is a perfect storage spot for a piece of paper that you don’t want anyone to see (see pictures)
Rear cargo is very shallow and has probably just enough space to get a week’s worth of groceries, but not sure you could get groceries AND a case of beer in there without ditching your passenger and using that seat – it’s MUCH better than the previous Z 370 we drove however
Nissan call it a “RearView Monitor” – it’s actually a camera in the rear that was used extensively in our week with the Z. There’s limited view out the rear because of the slanted window and the seat backs – it helped save our blushes plenty of times while reversing into parking spots
Cargo Space: 7 cu.ft (198 L).
Kerb weight: (manual) 3,527 lbs / 1,600 kg

Infotainment System

Standard 8.0 inch touchscreen
Wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto
Hands-free Phone System + Hands-free Text Messaging Assistant and Siri Eyes Free
The haptic touch on the infotainment screen is much better in other Nissan vehicles. I was constantly touching icons several times before something would happen
NO satellite navigation!!!
Bose Premium Audio System with 8 Speakers is fantastic – you can get it so loud and clear your ears will bleed!
The Audio System also comes with Active Noise Cancellation and Active Sound Enhancement
NissanConnect Services with Wi-Fi hotspot
2 illuminated USB charge ports (type A & C)
What looks like a wireless device charge pad sits to the left of the USB plugs and swallows the phone easily –it doesn’t actually charge though

Safety Features – More details are below “What’s The Verdict?”

So How Quick Is It & How Does It Handle?

Is it Quick? Does a bear scratch its back on trees?
Gobs of power and torque
It doesn’t seem to matter what gear you’re in – stomp on the go pedal and it’s off – even without downshifting. I tried it in all 6 gears and it’s… awesome. In the higher gears (5 + 6) with a low 30 km/h it takes a little bit of time to spool up and them – Boom, you’re off
All Performance models (automatic and manual) have a mechanical clutch-type limited-slip differential
Cornering is phenomenal – it really grips corners and asks you – are you man enough to go faster? Not like the Mustang GT that tries its best to kill you on corners
Over potholes and railroad tracks the ride quality is quite superb considering it’s a low-slung sports car
When I first got behind the wheel I felt the clutch was a bit harder to modulate than I’d expected it to be, but after two or three traffic lights it just felt natural and my shifts got very smooth… as long as I wasn’t trying to go fast
The gear shift gates – shifting into each gear is a distinct click – you actually FEEL it engage in each slot… don’t remember ever getting that in any other manual car. According to Nissan: “as a physical touch point between driver and Z, the shifter glides to the next gear, almost instinctively, with minimal effort” BUT…

We are extremely experienced with manual transmissions from a huge number of manufacturers (Japanese and European are the best) – when we drive a manual – fast or slow, our passengers have no idea that the car is a manual, that’s how smooth our shifts are. Driving the Z with some gusto made us feel like we were a baby deer taking our first step after being born. The clutch/shift from 1^st to 2^nd is actually quite hard to do smoothly. Right away the tach drops unless you’re slipping the clutch. The shifter goes into 2^nd nice and solid, but then 2nd to 3^rd you get a little pause and then.. click it engages. From that point on it’s fine all the way to 6^th gear. Gearing down is perfectly fine and the little throttle blip from the Z is welcome too. You can’t take off smoothly in 1^st gear – especially of you mat the throttle once moving – it goes all squirrely and it caught us both out numerous times as it is quite unpredictable as to how the car reacts. An inexperienced person will definitely have some problems if they aren’t gripping the wheel before dumping the clutch. Numerous times we lost track of what/where the gear was when we popped it into neutral – you have to CONCENTATE the entire time you drive this car, there’s no “off” or relaxing. We’d strongly recommend getting the automatic version to get it to its full potential… and that pains us, because we’re die hard manual people

Speaking of automatic transmissions… the manual has a ‘Sport’ button prominently displayed on the centre console, but I it doesn’t do anything (actually when I returned the car I was told it was for match-revving when downshifting). In the automatic it’s the ‘standard’ and ‘sport’ mode button

Horsepower: 400 @ 6,400 rpm
Torque: 350 @ 1,600 – 5,200 rpm
Top Speed: 249 km/h / 155 mph
0-100 km/h (sec): 4.5 approx.

What Does It Cost? For up-to-date pricing and options visit: www.Nissan.ca

To Buy…
Starting prices: $58,498
As Tested: $59,448
Options: 2-Tone Paint $950
To Operate…

Rated at (L/100 km): City – 13.4 / Highway – 10.0 / Combined – 11.9 (25 mpg)
Requires 93 octane, so that’s 20¢ /litre or more on a fill up, but not out of line with other performance cars
I averaged 10.1 in plenty of stop and go traffic on the highway (75 kms (46 mi), 60 minutes, average speed 46 km/h (28.6 mph) according to the on-board system) so that would be “city” in my book with plenty of full-bore ‘bury the throttle” every chance I got
For the week, we drove 224 kms, using 29.25 Litres = 13 L/100 km (18 mpg) – very acceptable
On a one-way trip on the highway doing 80-130 km/h I got a whopping 6.9L/100 km (34 mpg)
Annual cost to operate (Transport Canada): $3,451 [20,000 kms @ $1.45/litre fuel]
Actual fuel costs were $1.90 and $1.80/litre. Transport Canada needs to get realistic, prices haven’t been $1.45/litre for +18 months now!

Warranty:

Comprehensive: 3 years/60,000 km
Powertrain: 5 years/100,000 km
Roadside Assistance: 3 years + 3 years Travel Planning

The Competition
BMW Z4, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Porsche Boxster, Toyota Supra

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: Like its predecessor generations – it looks fantastic… just more modern and more gorgeous
More Good: Goes like stink and the suspension can handle it as well
Extra Good: Flashing BLISS light on the A-pillar instead of in the mirror
The Bad: No navigation
Ugly: It’s out of my reach, financially… but if you click the links in my articles and buy stuff I might be able to afford one in about ten years…

What’s The Verdict?
I’ve now driven 3 generations of the Z series (280, 370, Z) and they are a joy to drive. We LOVED the previous iterations of the Nissan Z, but this one takes it to a whole new level with its gobs and gobs of power and torque. (un)Fortunately the manual version didn’t rev our motors, but we’re 100% sure the automatic would indeed make it the ultimate sports car. This is a driver’s car and you can’t help but have fun in this car (as long as you’re the one doing the driving of course). As with any car it has its quirks and foibles, but honestly you can pretty-much overlook any negatives in seconds once behind the wheel!

SAFETY – Safety Shield 360

Predictive Forward Collision Warning (P-FCW) – It watches two cars ahead, monitoring your speed and distance, and when it detects sudden deceleration, it can give you a warning to slow down.
Intelligent Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection (PAEB) – can provide audio and visual alerts and even apply the brakes to help avoid or mitigate a collision
Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) –
Blind Spot Warning (BSW) – LOVE the placement of the blind spot light – nice and high on the A-pillar where it’s very easy to get your attention
Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) – can alert you to approaching cars that might be out of sight
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) – The beeping might annoy some people, but I found it helpful. The light flashes, but I never felt any vibration through the wheel, so either it doesn’t come with that feature, or someone turned it off
Intelligent Cruise Control – didn’t try this, it’s completely useless having cruise control in Ontario
Front and rear sonar sensors

Copyright © 2024 by Iain Shankland. All rights reserved.
Text: Iain Shankland / Images: Iain Shankland

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