The Z is considered to be one of the greatest sports cars in automotive history because, being a Japanese marvel, every generation of Z was built to last longer and was also kept affordable for the masses, so we enthusiasts can have a taste of the thrill of driving a sports car without emptying our whole bank account. And luckily, Indian enthusiasts too got the chance to experience the Z because back in 2003, Nissan launched the 350Z at 40 Lakhs in India and as a replacement to the 350 Z, Nissan also launched the 370Z at 55 Lakhs in 2013, but both the 350Z and 370Z didn’t get enough appreciated by the Indian buyers because at that time the performance car scene in India wasn’t the same as what it is now. But in 2021, when Nissan came up with the 7th generation of the Z, it wasn’t considered for the European market because of stricter emission norms. Also, it won’t get considered for the Indian market anytime soon because currently, Magnite is the only bread and butter for Nissan in India, so they are not taking any risk to bring the Z to the Indian market. But, internationally, Nissan has now revealed the 2024 Z NISMO, the most powerful Z NISMO ever, gets an aggressive cosmetic upgrade inside and out to give it an athletic look than the regular Z.
The overall design of the 7th gen Nissan Z is a mixture of Zs from the past. And with the NISMO treatment, the overall design has got a bit more aggressive than the standard Z, like it has an all-black redesigned front grill with aero bits on the front bumper with the new extended front splitter finished in red. Moving to the side profile, the 2024 Z NISMO gets extended wheel arches covering forged 19″ Nismo wheels coupled with 15″ brake disks, red accents on the ORVMs, and also gets extended side skirts with red accents and now moving to the rear to increase the aggressiveness, or I say the NISMOness of the Z, it gets a redesigned sportier bumper with the red accents continuing from the side skirts and with a twin-exhaust setup, and all these cosmetic upgrades enhances the sportiness of the Z NISMO and doesn’t look shabby like many other modern performance cars.
Talking about performance, the 2024 Nissan Z NISMO is powered by a 3.0L twin-turbo V6 same as in the standard Z, but power is gone up by 20hp with 420hp at about 6,400rpm and 520Nm of peak torque, which is 45Nm up than the standard Nissan Z, comes up in between 2,000rpm to 5,200rpm with rear-wheel-drive, unlike the standard Z is offered with a 9-speed automatic as well as a 6-speed manual transmission, the Z NISMO will only be available with a 9-speed automatic. And for the improvement in handling, Nissan has retuned and stiffened the suspension, dampers and chassis to handle more effectively around the corners and to make the driving experience more engaging.
To enhance the sportiness, the cabin of the Z NISMO gets a red strat-stop button and red drive-mode selector switch, with red stitching on the seats and the steering wheel with the steering centre mark also in red and inside the digital instrument cluster, the tachometer dial feature a red outline which also showcases NISMO logo with a red flash while cranking it up with that the standard comfort sport seats are now replaced with Recaro bucket seats finished in Alcantara and leather, and all these sporty interior enhancements increase the fun factor of the Z NISMO from inside.
With the arrival of the Z NISMO, Nissan proved that they still want to produce cars focused towards enthusiasts to give them an engaging driving experience without spending a massive amount. If we compare it with the competition, there isn’t any apart from the MK5 Supra, which only produces 377hp, which is 23hp less, even than the standard Nissan Z.