Nissan 370Z
As someone with a passion for small, two seat sports cars the Nissan 350Z has been a perennial favourite on my “cool cars to perv” list for many years. While the 350Z is a very cool car it’s got two very glaring issues. The first is that it’s got looks only a mother could love and the interior was an extreme let down. The incoming replacement, the 370Z looks to remedy all these issues.
The 370Z is the sixth generation of Nissan Z cars and visually borrows heavily from the Nissan halo car, the GT-R. The 370Z is a lot rounder than its predecessor the 350Z and is slightly wider. It’s certainly no revolution on the theme but it is a nice improvement on what wasn’t exactly the nicest looking car in the world. Underneath the hood is a brand new 3.7 liter V6 a pretty heady 248KW of power. The engine is mated with either a 6-speed manual or 7-speed automatic. The manual is particularly clever as it has a little light that tells you when to shift up to a higher gear ensuring optimum timing. Both transmissions also have a “synchronized downshift rev-matching system” that matches the cars rev’s with a lower gear when shifting down. This is useful to keep optimum power when going relatively fast.
2008_nissan_350z_interior
The other major stumbling block of the previous model was the interior and here the 370Z excels. Look, it’s still very Japanese engineering in style but it is certainly a lot nicer than than before. Features include satellite navigation, iPod connectors and a lot less plastic than the old model.
Pricing in South Africa is yet to be confirmed but estimates are around R500000. It’s certainly not cheap and at that price is going up against the Porsche Boxster. The Boxster has a lot less power but certainly has a higher snob value. I personally cannot see a point of getting the Boxster is the 370Z is as dynamically brilliant as it’s been reported to be. At the moment only a coupe is available but a convertible is coming soon.
Another amazing looking car from Nissan. If you’re in the market for a two-seater rocket then look no further.
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Very nice- good taste for a change!