2023 Nissan Z First Drive: A Hotter Performer With Newfound Tech Smarts
Cars
Speaker 1: It's a great time to be a Japanese sports car fan, the super's back. We got a great Miata. The BZ in 86 twins have been refreshed and on horizon. There's a Honda civic type R and gr Corolla coming along with this, the new 2023 Nissan Z, that comes more than a decade after the three seventies E launch. Was it worth the wait? Well, I've come to Las Vegas to find out [00:00:30] Thing boogies man,
Speaker 1: From a design standpoint, I'm gonna say, yeah, it was worth the weight in a retro cool sort of way. With traditional sports car proportions, a long hood short deck and draws inspiration for the profile from the first generation Z, while it taillights borrow from the 300 ZX inside the two seater is also fresh built from good stuff and should [00:01:00] be more comfortable for a drivers of a variety of stature. Thanks to a new telescoping steering wheel like the outside. There's some nods to the Z passed with the tree of analog gauges at top the dash and steering wheel with a small diameter center. What certainly isn't old is the Z tech menu. Infotainment is handled by either an eight or nine inch touchscreen with both supporting apple CarPlay and Android auto. While the gauge cluster is a nice looking 12.3 inch customizable display, [00:01:30] But enough about that stuff, let's move on to the meat and potatoes of the new Eve, the performance stuff that begins with a new three liter twin turbocharge V6 making 400 horsepower and 350 pound feet of torque compared to the three 70. That brings an additional 68 horsepower and 80 pound feet of torque, which is substantial
Speaker 1: Brown and power to the rear. Wheels is an updated six speed mail transmission with available no lift shift or [00:02:00] a new nine speed. Automatic that features rev match down shifting and launch control Nissan. Won't give 60 mile per times, but says it's about 15% quicker to 60 than the three 70. So we're looking at a time in the mid four second range. The engine is strong with good thrust down low peak torque is available from just 1600 RPMs onward. I do wish the engine sounded a little throw to your down low, but it does get a little meaner when you wind it up. [00:02:30] As for transmissions, the manual features more fluid shifts, which is always a good thing. And the nine speed automatic transmission that we have here also isn't too Chevy manual shift response is brisk and rev match on down shifts is pretty darn good too. It's just not quite as good as ZFS auto, but it's pretty close.
Speaker 1: Two up handling the chassis is [00:03:00] stiffer there's revised suspension, geometry shocks, steering wider front tires, improved brakes and up level models. Get a limited slip differential during some limited track time. I can say it does feel a touch more athletic. It's quick to turn in with some under steer respectable Mider grip and the car is communicative. Letting you know when the tires are approaching the limit in on road. It's compliant enough. I do miss the hydraulic steering though, as the electronic one is a little numb off center, but tightens as you dial in more wheel angle. [00:03:30] So what's the new Nissan Z gonna cost you when it hits dealers this summer try $41,000 for the bait sport model, which happens to undercut the four cylinder Toyota super buy a few thousand bucks. This performance trim here with a few extra goodies, like a limited slip differential, bigger wheels, and spoiler is a bit price here at $51,000. But if you think about it, getting a great look at sports car with sharp handling and 400 horsepower [00:04:00] for $41,000 to start, ain't a bad deal at all.
