Revised 370Z base meets retro styling, modern tech and twin-turbo V6 with 400hp, but it’s not coming to Singapore

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New York City, USA – Nissan announced today a new sports car, the Nissan Z, which is ‘approachable sports car for the modern age’ with a decidedly old-school spin thanks to its design, plus a six-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive.

Is it coming to Singapore? Sadly, no. This car in particular is aimed at the US market and doesn’t look like it’ll be coming to right-hand drive markets, and local Nissan distro Tan Chong has confirmed that it won’t be sold here. There will be a JDM version debuting later this year though, so truly dedicated Z fans here could eventually get their hands on one. 

The Nissan Z name is of course a nod to history that began with the Nissan Fairlady/Datsun 240Z all the way back in 1969, and was most recently seen in the 370Z which debuted in 2008. 

The new Z has familiar underpinnings from the 370Z, but it’s the ‘69 original that’s echoed in the car’s bodywork, especially with the squarish-flat taillights, and the wide-spaced, oval headlights.

2022 Nissan Z and 1989 Nissan 300Z on the right

The new car’s underpinnings are a revised version of the 370Z sport car’s, as mentioned, but with various improvements to deliver better performance. This includes revised double-wishbone suspension, dampers, and springs, plus overall increased rigidity.

The 370Z’s 3.7-litre non-turbo V6 will be replaced by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, which we bet is the unit seen in the Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400 since it’s quoted as making the same 400hp and 375Nm of torque. The Z will have a nine-speed automatic but also a six-speed manual option – the latter is particularly interesting since it has rev-matching and a carbonfibre driveshaft.

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Inside there’s two digital screens as standard in the 2020s – 12.3-inch driver’s instruments and a 8.0-inch infotainment screen, while there are sports seats derived from the Nissan GT-R’s development. 

There’s also a 240-unit special edition in the USA, shown here in yellow, dubbed the ‘Nisan Z Proto Spec’, which has yellow brake calipers, bronze alloy wheels, special seats and a yellow interior.

What do we think the car will drive like? We found the 370Z a decidedly old-school two-seat roadster even back in 2010, with a much more aggressive, oversteer-y attitude than a Mazda MX-5. With the torquey biturbo V6, the new Z should be a flyer and easily hit 0-100km/h in under 5.0 seconds. 

Nissan says the car won’t be available in Europe or the UK due to increasingly strict emissions regulations, and the same reasoning could be applied here – a S$25k VES penalty could also make relatively affordable, old-school petrol-only sports cars a thing of the past.

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