After a brief absence, the Nissan Z Nismo returns. Here are the details!
The New Nissan Z offers up a compelling sports car package against the former 370Z and modern rivals like the new Toyota Supra. Folks have been clamoring for the new Nismo version to turn up, though, and now the automaker is finally ready to spill the beans after teasing us a few weeks back with some tantalizing drifts.
In essence, the 2024 Nissan Z Nismo follows the same path as its forebear, offering up performance upgrades over the base Sport and mid-range Performance trims. New bodywork, stiffer suspension, tweaked brakes and more aggressive tires on wider wheels all come as part of the Nismo package. The hotter Nissan Z also gets a revised lower fascia with a small lip at the top of the grille to show off the Nismo badge. Like the canards at each corner, Nissan says the grille actually has the thinnest mesh of any of its production cars, all for the sake of reducing aerodynamic drag.
The 2024 Nissan Z Nismo features more than chassis and aero changes, though.
Fortunately, engineers also beefed up the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine beyond your standard configuration. At 420 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque, it’s a modest improvement over the normal VR30DDTT, but an improvement’s an improvement. And, at any rate, it puts the Nismo-fied Z farther ahead of the Supra in terms of sheer grunt. This car also gets a better oil cooler, revised electronic wastegate control and an independent ignition timing setup borrowed from the GT-R Nismo.
Inside, the 2024 Nissan Z Nismo brings some special touches to set it apart from the standard model. Not only are the drive mode selector and engine start/stop buttons finished in anodized red, but you also get a Nismo badge in the digital instrument cluster and an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel with a red marker at the center position. Building on the Performance trim, you also get manually-adjustable red and black Recaro seats finished in leather and Alcantara.
There is a catch, if you’re an enthusiast…
Checking out the specs, it’s all “so far, so good”, right? You get 285/35R19 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT600 tires like you would on the GT-R, as well as 19-inch Rays wheels. The Z Nismo gets larger 15-inch front brake rotors, 13.8-inch rear brake rotors, performance brake pads and a host of new bracing and bushings to make the chassis stiffer than ever before.
So, what’s the catch? Well, unlike the old 370Z Nismo, you cannot spec a 2024 Nissan Z Nismo with a 6-speed manual transmission. Instead, all Nismos get the 9-speed automatic transmission, whether you like it or not. If you’re not a row-your-own enthusiast than it is pretty much all upsides, at least on paper. If you’re part of the #savethemanuals campaign like I am, though, that’s a major, major bummer.
I’m still looking forward to driving the Z Nismo, of course, but we’ll have to wait and see how well that raw, visceral sensation translates through in the drive to see how much you lose (if anything) from the manual days. Pricing and fuel economy figures are not available for the Nismo yet, but we should get more detailed information closer to its launch this fall.
More generally speaking for 2024, the Nissan Z Performance and Nismo both get Amazon Alexa built-in capabilty. Other than that, the feature list for the standard car remains the same for the new model year.
We’ll have more on the 2024 Nissan Z Nismo coming up soon, so stay tuned for more!
