The Japanese answering salvo to Porsches and Corvettes, the 370Z is the best Z ever in most respects. It fails only in a couple of key areas, but it’s well-suited to those who desire strong engine performance, style, and value for money more than a perfectly balanced package.
Prime Numbers
Price: MSRP: $35,790. As Tested: $41,715
Engine: 3.7-liter DOHC longitudinally mounted V6
Horsepower: 332 hp @ 7,000
Torque: 270 @ 5,200
Drivetrain: Rear-wheel-drive with 7-speed automatic transmission
Suspension F/R: Aluminum double-wishbone/multi-link independent
Length: 167.2-in.
Width: 72.8-in.
Height: 51.9-in.
Wheelbase: 100.4-in.
Weight: 3,314 lbs
Who’s The Buyer
This car is for you if:
- You have the American passion for incredible acceleration.
- You appreciate the blend of interpretive Japanese design that pulls strongly from the previous BMW Z4 coupe.
- You can’t afford a Boxster S or Cayman S, and might not like the overheated image of the Corvette.
This car is not for you if:
- You’re a sports car purist with the wallet to buy a flawless driving experience rather than a merely great one.
- You appreciate a quiet interior and a smooth ride.
Alternatives To Consider
Porsche Cayman S, new or used. A thoroughbred rather than a Japanese hot rod. Far superior in steering and chassis balance, but lacking the gutty torque of the Nissan. This is the purist option, but it comes at a much, much higher price (you can easily spend $30,000 more on the Cayman S). A used Cayman is the more obvious competition. You can find used Boxster S’s for under $40,000. Here the coin toss is used with no warranty versus brand-new. You also want to know that the first-year Caymans have trouble with that steeply sloped rear hatch–it drums at speed so look for a later one. And though not a coupe like the Z or Cayman, the Boxster S is still the best value and best sports car in the Porsche lineup.
Chevrolet Corvette. Bigger, thirstier, but a more thoroughly sorted chassis and drivetrain. However, the Corvette’s interior is cheap, the man-to-machine relationship is not ideal (you can’t tell where the corners are, and you feel like you’re sitting in a deep bathtub). And Corvette has that Wolfman-Jack-on-Viagra image.
Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Might seem an odd choice, but pricing is similar (starts at $35K), and European rally cars aside this is a Japanese approach to high-performance. With Mitsubishi on the ropes, Subaru’s WRX STi assumes a nearly unrivaled position in the market. A practical car, too, for hauling surfboards, mountain bikes and the like.
SINCE THE ORIGINAL 240Z, Nissan has consistently offered a value-for-money alternative to Porsche’s lesser models, first the 924/944/968 and now the Boxster S and Cayman S. Exterior design was revised a year ago, with heavy influence from the previous BMW Z4 coupe, resulting in a great looking car.
Engine, Transmission, Drivetrain
As with any Nissan or Infiniti fitted with the 3.7-liter V6, the engine is the star of the show. Though the engine gets rough in the upper rev band, its phenomenal torque delivers instant-on acceleration that lets the Z knife through urban traffic. The engine song is not as sweet as a Porsche—an over-sized V6 can’t match the sounds of a 180-degree flat engine—but everything about the engine and drivetrain speaks to aggression, and delivers on those words.
Our test car had a paddleshifting 7-speed automatic, the same gearbox used in the Infiniti line. The top two gears are overdrives and fifth is one-to-one, each ratio stacked on top of the next, which I assume pleases the EPA. On a trip to Vegas, it delivered the advertised 26 mpg highway, posted at speeds between 75 and 90 mph. That’s impressive.
The transmission has exceptionally good computer controls that blip the throttle when you drop to a lower gear. The engine note from the throttle blip makes the car more engaging, viscerally and emotionally. Based on recent experience with the Aisin 6-speed manual, we’d recommend most people get the automatic. You’ll be happier in the long run unless you really want to play Racer X.
Here’s an intriguing point. Fitted with the 6-speed manual, the 2010 Z offers a very cool technology: SynchroRev Match, which does pretty much what the name implies. As our car had the 7-speed auto, I called an old friend and former colleague who’s arguably the best driver in the editorial game. He said the system works very well, providing virtually perfect revs for any up- or downshift. We’d like to sample it for ourselves. With this system, nearly any ham-fisted beginner can “heel and toe” downshift like a professional race car driver. As with everything in modern cars, there’s an ECU involved, gathering data from the engine, gearbox and points along the drivetrain to make sure the math all works out. Instead of spending your days practicing how to squeeze the brake smoothly while blipping the throttle while moving the shifter and working the clutch, you can focus on braking and steering into a corner and let the ECU do the rest. It’s part of the optional Sport Package. If you prefer the challenge and satisfaction of doing the work yourself, switch off the system.
Suspension, Steering, Brakes
Steering precision is the Z car’s most significant flaw. We spoke with folks from Nissan, and they contend Nissan has dealt with the issue of on-center vagueness on all the Skyline-derived vehicles (rear-wheel drive Infinitis and the Z). However, on the long haul to Vegas, I repeatedly set the car on the straight and narrow and found it wandering into the next lane within seconds, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left—it’s not the fault of the massive 19-inch wheels and tires. This trait is only irritating on a long haul over interstates and has little impact when moving quickly over a two-lane or in city traffic, but Nissan should give serious thought to engaging a team of American or British suspension engineers to set this problem to rest. Clearly the Japanese aren’t going to solve it.
Optional RAYS 19-inch wheels are wrapped with positively massive summer Bridgestones, a full 275/35-19 at the rear, a tire not long ago you would only have found on a Lamborghini. The wheels are some of the best looking you’ll find on a factory car. The negative is tire noise, though one does not get any sensation of too much unsprung weight. (On the original Audi TT Quattros, the huge tires felt like giant dumbbells at the four corners of the car. The Z car is not so afflicted.)
Nissan Sport Brakes measure 14 inches up front, with a massive caliper, and are within a few tenths that size at the rear. The brakes are excellent, though on a sports car I would prefer not to have Brake Assist, a technology meant to help dear old mom or grandpa, people who tend to panic when the ABS kicks in and lift off the brake pedal. If you’re buying a Z with the RAYS wheels and Nissan Sport brakes, you don’t want or need Brake Assist. The inclusion of this technology tells me most Z’s are going to folks who want the image of the car and are perhaps not interested in exploiting its full performance potential. Plus, it’s too expensive to have a Brake Assist delete with the big brakes. That said, I’d much rather have a stability control system that can be disengaged than have Brake Assist.
Body, Design, Quality
A smart evolution of the previous 350Z, the new Z exterior is heavily influenced by the previous BMW Z4 coupe. I was not a vocal supporter of the original 350Z design, finding it unresolved and a bit heavy-handed. The 370Z shape resolves these issues. This is a great looking sports car. Let me repeat, the 370Z is a great looking sports car.
Ergonomics, Interior
Interior ergonomics are to very high standards, especially considering most sports cars come with an odd mix of compromises. In many ways, the Z’s interior is superior to the Boxster S/Cayman S, with marginally more room in all the key areas: foot, leg, hip, shoulder and head room. For tall Americans, this is a significant advantage. The steering column tilts and telescopes, an excellent feature for tailoring the driving position to people of all sizes. The rear deck offers plenty of room for a weekend sports car trip to the wine country.
Criticisms of the interior have as much to do with aesthetics as functionality. I prefer traditional black-on-white round gauges. The Z car has excellent electro-luminescent primary gauges mounted straight ahead of the driver. Nothing but praise here. Secondary gauges are sometimes a bit too cute, like the gas gauge that’s a sequence of small orange dots, with a complete line of dots signifying a full tank. That said, the trip computer delivers accurate fuel range, so you can ignore the foolish gas gauge.
Our test car was equipped a mix of deep reddish-tan suede and leather on seating surfaces and door inserts. The seats had both manual and power adjustments, and were comfortable for the long, dull haul to Vegas. They were also supportive on the multiple trips through a local canyon, which has very tight low- and medium-speed corners.
Materials are above average: soft materials for the dashtop, and a mix of hard and soft materials for the door panels, dash, and center console. The brushed alloy trim is nicely done, though on our long desert run the trim around the navi screen bounced a considerable amount of light around the interior. I’d use a duller surface finish for the navi’s surround.
As our car had no doubt been given a good workout by the previous test driver, the rear tires were badly worn, and we had a rear tire blowout at speed. No fuss or drama and the blow happened close to home. The drama came after the tire was changed. The space-saver spare is mounted on a wheel that mimics the handsome spokes of the full-size wheel. A Bose subwoofer sits on top of the space saver. When we tried shoving the full-size rear tire into that same space, it took a bit of effort. Still, the massive rear wheel fits if just barely, and the hatch closes securely, without the tire rubbing against anything. Why is this important? In a Porsche you have no spare tire, and rely on AAA and Porsche roadside assistance to get you to a dealer with tires. A can of tire sealant would not have worked on the Z, as the tire’s carcass tore itself to shreds. It was either a spare tire or a flatbed ride home. A flat tire will necessitate considerable rearrangement of luggage, however.
Audio, Video, Navigation
Typical of luxury and near-luxury Asian vehicles, the 370Z has a respectable audio system, this one from Bose with two subwoofers. Our test car had Sirius sat radio, and the now-mandatory Bluetooth connectivity for handsets. There was also a pin connector for iPods in the center console bin, though a USB port would be more up-to-date and relevant. Connectivity with all the electronic devices of the 21st century is important whether car companies like it or not. The hard drive-based navi system served well on my lengthy trip. You also get 9.3 gig of hard drive capacity to store music and a compact Flash capability.
AT 41 GRAND AND CHANGE, the well-equipped 370Z Touring might not seem a bargain. Compared with the Cayman S, which starts at an immodest $60,000 and with a few options can easily cost over $70,000, the Z’s value comes into context. With a price advantage of at least $20,000 compared to its most obvious German rival, and comparably equipped a $30,000 advantage, the Z can be forgiven a few faults.
Compared with another rival, the Corvette, the Z delivers value, too. Corvette coupes start at $49,000. The Z is like a 7/8th-scale Corvette in many ways, with its greater emphasis on style and engine performance than the more holistic balance one finds in a Porsche.
Subaru WRX STi? Not hard to spend $40,000, but it’s an exciting car to drive, there’s no end of powertrain and suspension upgrades out there to make it a Porsche killer, and it’s a practical wagon design.
Most Americans judge a “sports car” by engine performance, and here the Z delivers in full. If you live someplace like California or Connecticut where you have access to exceptional sports car roads, and cost is not an issue, you might want to step up to the purer driving experience of a Porsche. Nissan needs to improve the quality of the steering feel, particularly on-center, and also work on the bushings to get some of the noise out of the rear suspension. Given how long this problem has lingered and how it has migrated – the Infiniti G37 coupe and sedan come to mind – we recommend Nissan hire a skilled American or English chassis engineer to finally put these problems to rest. Mid-engine Porsches do not produce as much suspension and tire noise, which can wear you down on a long trip.
That said, the 370Z probably makes the most sense with an automatic and without the RAYS wheels and tires and other performance pieces. The lower MSRP will only strengthen our recommendation of the Z as a value-for-money equation. Compared to the competition, the 370Z offers phenomenal value.
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