Car Review: 2023 Nissan Z

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The Z has always managed to be the right car for the times. In the 1970s, it appeared as a low-cost purist sports car with performance like a Porsche 911 and a price tag like an MGB. Later, the 280ZX took the Z in a more luxurious direction as performance softened in the latter half of the 1970s. Japan’s rising economy in the early 1990s gave us the 300ZX Twin Turbo, a technical tour-de-force showing Japan’s engineering might be for those who could afford it. Then, in the 2000s, the 350Z democratized the Z’s appeal once again and brought sporty RWD driving to the masses. Since then, the 370 only mildly improved on that recipe, adding some more horsepower and updating the styling. That was in 2009 and now some 13 years later, the new Z is here. And once again, it’s a car for the times.

The new 2023 Nissan Z is just called the “Z”. For the first time, there is no reference to the car’s displacement in its name. (Nissan has ignored my many phone calls and letters requesting them to badge the car as the 300Z.) And I’m calling it the new Z but really, this is a thorough refresh of the 370Z, which itself was a refresh of the 350Z that debuted back in 2003 when I was 12.

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None of the body panels from the 370Z will bolt to the new Z and it must be said that cosmetically, the re-skin is an absolute triumph. The new Z is 5.6″ longer than the 370 but the car rides on the same wheelbase. Length seems to be added ahead of the front wheels to increase the length of the new hood.

Under that new hood is the engine the Z has been begging for for years: a twin-turbo 3.0L V6 called the VR30DDTT by Nissan. The DD denotes direct injection and the TT denotes twin turbos. Those twin turbines produce 14.7 psi of boost and result in 400 hp at 6,400 rpm and 350 lb-ft from 1,600 to 5,600 rpm. That means versus the outgoing 370 model, horsepower is up by 68 and torque is up by a full 80 lb-ft. As you can imagine, this has drastically affected acceleration times and according to Motor Trend’s instrumented tests, the new Z can run from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, shaving 0.9 seconds from the time of the 370. Weight is also a larger number on the Z versus the 370, but not by much. The old car weighed 3,386 lbs and the new one is up by 150 lbs to 3,536.

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But you’ve waited long enough.

What is the new Nissan Z like to drive?

Well my first impression of this car was how fast it felt! The new turbo power will absolutely haze tires in first gear, send the traction control light flashing for its life in second, and then third would send you into hyperspace. This is a lot of performance for the money. And unlike the 370’s naturally-aspirated VQ engine that needed to be revved to moon, the turbo torque is available to the driver basically anywhere in the rev range here. It’s endlessly fun to watch the boost and turbo rpm gauges swing to the opposite sides of the dial as you floor it. My test car was equipped with the six-speed manual but a nine-speed automatic is also available.

The other thing you need to know about the new Z is that it likes to slide. I would describe the chassis setup as “loose” and it honestly drives more like a new Mustang than a sports car. The Supra is far more precise in terms of handling. If you have driven a BRZ/86 lately, think of that tail-happy experience but with roughly double the horsepower. The flip side of this is that the Z has a very comfortable ride. There are no adaptive dampers by the way, just coil springs.

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Inside, more than a few elements remain to remind you of this car’s very long lineage. I don’t mean things like the three dash-top gauges that throw back to the original 240Z. I mean things like the distinct interior door handles and controls for the power seat which very clearly date all the way back to the 350Z. That said, the seats are very comfortable and supportive and the large thin-rimmed steering wheel is nice to hold. The touchscreen infotainment screen is well-integrated and while the native system is archaic, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available, so you don’t have to use it. The interior design looks great and I like that Nissan offers fun interior colours like blue. Our test car was boring black. But at this price point, not all of the interior materials are up to par.

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Ah yes, price. The Z is available in two trims, Sport and Performance, and with two transmissions, a manual or an automatic. Both trims can be specced with either transmission so there are four possible combinations to spec your Z. The most affordable one in Canada is the Sport MT which has an MSRP of $46,498. My test car was the Performance MT which starts at $58,498. Upgrading to the Performance trim gets you a limited-slip rear differential, larger Nissan Performance brakes front and rear, forged 19″ Rays wheels, heated “leather appointed” seats, heated steering wheel, and eight-speaker Bose premium audio. Manual-transmission models with the Performance trim also receive a carbon-fiber driveshaft. The automatic transmission is a $1,500 option on top of either trim and all Zs are saddled with a rather hefty $1,950 freight and PDI charge, so keep that in mind when pricing one out.

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This means the Z occupies a very odd price bracket. It’s notably more expensive than the Subaru BRZ but far less costly than a sports car like the C8 Corvette. Interestingly, it costs just about the same as the GR Corolla I reviewed recently. I will say that among options in its price class, the Z makes far more horsepower than its competitors. So if you want big power for small money, the Z is pretty good.

People will also likely draw comparisons between this new Z and the new Toyota Supra. They are both retro-modernist designs with storied names and both of them can be had with a turbocharged 3.0L six-cylinder and a six-speed manual. The Supra officially makes 382 hp but those in the know figure the Supra is putting out closer to 400 horsepower. With comparative transmissions, the acceleration times of the two cars are almost identical. The largest difference between the two is how they handle and what they cost. The Supra is a far more precise driving experience. The traction control is more advanced and the body movement through corners is far more controlled. Both offer satisfactory manual transmissions but neither will give you the tactile joy of a Porsche unit or the one found in a Civic Type-R. The cost is the largest factor, pricing the Z against the MT six-cylinder Supra, the Supra costs $22k more than a base Z and $10k more than a Z with the Performance trim. For that cash, you get the same amount of forward performance but a nicer interior. It must be said that the Z does turn more heads on the street than the Supra.

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I think Nissan has watched how Dodge managed to keep the LX-chassis Challenger current and exciting for some 14 years. Dodge just kept adding horsepower to keep buyer interest, kept the old platform, but occasionally updated the styling knowing that horsepower and fun colours would continue to sell units. They were right and the Challenger easily outsells the far more current Camaro. How did Nissan make this Z the right car for the times? They did the same thing.

The Z rides on an aging chassis. But Nissan gave it an undeniably good-looking body, oodles of horsepower, and the result is that they’re selling excitement over sophistication. It’s arguably too much power jammed into far too old of a chassis but dammit, it works —  it’s fun and I love it. These are the twilight years of the gasoline-powered sports car as we know it. This is the last hurrah. And Nissan has absolutely made the right car to ride the internal combustion Z into the sunset. And if you don’t like it, remember this: the new Z could have been sold to you as a badge on the Rogue. Kudos, Nissan.