Nissan is fixing one of its more baffling recent decisions by offering the Z Nismo with a manual transmission.
The “old-school” manual transmission is a rarer option these days, but one segment where it’s actually hanging on is in the world of enthusiast cars. At least, that’s largely the case, as automakers have made some head-scratching decisions with their offerings in recent years. First, Toyota launched the fifth-generation Supra with no manual transmission (something it eventually corrected), and then the Nissan Z Nismo launched with exactly the same omission. Fast forward a couple years, and now it seems Nissan is also waving the white flag and giving enthusiasts what they want.
Perhaps coincidentally, it took Nissan about the same amount of time it took Toyota to come to the same conclusion. Who’d’ve thought?
If you need a refresher, the Nissan Z Nismo is a slightly more hardcore version of the standard Z coupe. You get 20 more horsepower and 34 lb-ft additional torque, as well as beefed up suspension and brakes, 19-inch forged alloy wheels, aerodynamic upgrades and Nismo-branded Recaro seats. Until now, though, you’ve only been able to get the flagship Z with a 9-speed automatic transmission. On a recent episode of Automotive News’ Daily Drive podcast, Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier confirmed a manual transmission is on the way for the Z Nismo (SoonTM).
Granted, that’s not a whole lot of information to go on, but it’s a promising crumb for the #savethemanuals crowd. It should use the same 6-speed manual transmission as the non-Nismo models. Technically, the automatic Z Nismo will still be the quicker car to 60 mph — it’ll do the run in about 4 seconds flat — but point-blank, the manual Z is just more fun.
Meunier’s nod comes at a time when Nissan is positioning to woo back buyers with more enthusiast-minded models like the Z and perhaps the new Xterra, too. We could see the manual-equipped Z Nismo arrive within the next model year, since you could argue swapping in the manual behind the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 isn’t that difficult. However, since we’re already headed into the 2026 models…we may see it in 2027 instead. On that token, Toyota is sunsetting the current Supra, so Nissan may be the go-to option as we await the next-gen Supra’s arrival (and who really knows whether that one will still have a manual?).
