Is the New Nissan Z Worth the Price?

The new Nissan Z starts at a little more than $40,000. It’s extremely difficult to find a 400-horsepower sports car for this price, but that’s not all.

The latest Z-car is absolutely one of the most engaging, impressive, and fun cars to drive for the price. This Nissan sports car might not beat some muscle cars, most supercars, or a few other sports cars, but when you consider the price and what it brings, you’ll be more than happy to drive this Nissan wherever you want to go.
Let’s take a look at what the new Nissan Z brings to the table.

Heritage design elements built into a new car

Nissan has a long history of building sports cars. The heritage of the Z family dates back to 1969 with the Datsun 240Z and continued into the new generation of this impressive car. Some aspects of the new Nissan sports car come directly from earlier models. The size and feel of the latest model is similar to the 350Z, which has become one of the most popular and successful cars in the transition of this performance car from the early days to now.

The size isn’t the only aspect that you’ll notice. The new Z wears taillights that appear to have come directly from the 300ZX of the 1990s. This feature helps this new model carry its heritage forward into the modern age.

This Nissan sports car was developed in the United States

Nissan has a proving grounds track south of Phoenix, Arizona, where the company tests nearly every vehicle they sell. During the development of the new Nissan Z, the world faced off against the coronavirus, which meant moving cars between Japan and Arizona became extremely difficult. Instead of being stubborn in its efforts, Nissan’s Arizona engineering team developed much of this new Nissan sports car.

The base model is relatively affordable, but the higher trim is right for fun

Although the base model of this Nissan sports car allows you to pay about $100 per horsepower, if you add $10,000 to the price, you’ll have the Performance trim, which brings features that unlock the track personality of this Nissan sports car. You’ll find items in the higher trim that you’ll love, including:

• A mechanical limited-slip rear differential
• Larger brakes with red calipers
• 19-inch Rays wheels
• Leather seats
• 9.0-inch touchscreen
• 8-speaker premium audio system
• Adaptive cruise control
• Rear spoiler
• Front chin spoiler
• Aluminum pedals
• Heated power-adjustable seats

Keep your foot on the accelerator

The three-pedal dance performed in sports cars is a dying art form. The new Nissan Z features a no-lift shift system which means you can continue to push on the accelerator while shifting into higher gears. This feature is typically reserved for sports cars that wear more expensive price tags. This cool trick ensures smooth shifting while accelerating to high speeds in the Z.

How much power does this new Z car offer?

Nissan has a habit of putting numbers in front of the Z to tell us the size of the engine. When the Z car generation moved from the 350Z to the 370Z, the engine size went from 3.5 to 3.7 liters. The latest Z car has a smaller engine, but one that’s more powerful. This new Z uses a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that produces 400 horsepower. This engine mates to either a 6-speed manual transmission or a 9-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

What does the base model include?

The base version of the new Nissan Z gives you a full package of sporty features and quality items in a two-seat sports car, making it easy to enjoy the drive in this impressive machine. Many of those features are:

• Double-wishbone front suspension
• Independent multi-link rear suspension
• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Dual exhaust with chrome tips
• LED taillights
• Automatic LED headlights
• Automatic high beams
• Digital gauge cluster
• Automatic climate controls
• 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• 6-speaker audio system
• Intelligent cruise control
• Automatic emergency braking
• Pedestrian detection
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Lane-departure warning
• Rear cross-traffic alerts

The Proto Spec Package adds more to the mix

If you go for the Performance trim, you might as well add the Proto Spec package and enjoy the added appearance features offered. This package gives you yellow brake calipers, bronze-colored alloy wheels, Proto Spec leather seats with yellow accents, and yellow interior stitching. Manual versions of the Nissan Z receive an exclusive shift knob when optioned with the Proto Spec package.