Z Sports Car
After years of sitting on the sidelines, Nissan is finally getting around to developing a successor to the 370Z.
The automaker has been spotted with a test mule at the Nürburgring, and even though the body shell is from the current 370Z, we can still gather a few clues about the next generation of the Z sports car line.
B Sports Cars
The 370Z's front fascia has been modified with extra openings on this test mule, suggesting a new powertrain is being developed. More telling is the overhang in each of the wheel wells, which points to the redesigned Z having a narrower track than the 370Z. Yes, we could be looking at a smaller, more nimble successor.
Nissan's New Z Car
This makes sense as Nissan toyed with the idea of launching a smaller sports car to sit below the Z and GT-R, and even rolled out the funky IDx concepts in 2013 to gauge interest. Plans for the smaller sports car have been dropped and as a result Nissan will likely slightly downsize the Z.
T he Japanese automaker seems to be taking the path of least resistance when it comes to facing enthusiasts’ loudest rallying cry because a teaser for the upcoming new Nissan Z prototype suggests.
2022 Nissan Z sports car test mule spy shots - Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
Speaking to Motor Authority in April, Hiroshi Tamura, chief product specialist for the GT-R and Nismo, said the redesigned Z might not be all the much lighter, but it might drive like it is.
- Like many sports cars of today’s time, they 2013 Chevy Corvette ZR1 worked exceptionally well at top speeds. Although the max speeds of cars seem to go up every year, this model would still be able to keep up with modern releases. This is easily one of the most underrated, but also best sports car from Chevy.
- Z Sport Automotive is a company that has been founded on working on performance enhancements and maintenance of Nissan’s Z Car. Since then we as a company have grown, working on many types of cars, but we have never stopped working on the cars that inspired our company.
In line with this new positioning, expect the redesigned Z to also offer multiple powertrains to entice a wider spectrum of buyers. Here's hoping one of the powertrains is the 400-horsepower, 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 found in some Infiniti models. A hybrid option may also be a possibility.
Nissan had a Toyota Supra on hand for benchmarking purposes, so it's clear what level of performance is being targeted.
Z Sports Cars In The 80s
We're still at a very early stage of development, so don't expect to see the new Z revealed until 2021, at the earliest. Such a timeline suggests the car will arrive as a 2022 model. We'll remind you that the 370Z has been on sale since 2009. Incidentally, that's also when the GT-R first went on sale...