2024 Nissan Z NISMO
Motor Trend|January 2024
Nissan Z chief product specialist Hiroshi Tamura says his aim was not to deliver an ultimate numbers car but rather a “willing dance partner” to enjoy a favorite challenging road with.
Frank Markus
2024 Nissan Z NISMO

That talk smacks of shaping a plausible narrative to fit the unfortunate reality of introducing a new car built on legacy architecture that left it larger, heavier, and older than rival Toyota’s GR Supra. However, NISMO now claims to have taught this dance partner how to boogie at a track day. Is that plausible?

We arrived at California’s Sonoma Raceway with modest expectations. We’ve reported the NISMO’s 100 pounds of upgrades are offset by 20 additional horses and 34 more lb-ft of torque. That brings the totals to 420 hp and 384 lb-ft; it all adds up to a weight-to-power improvement of a whopping 3.2 ounces per horsepower. Those upgrades include a binder full of chassis-sharpening, rigidityboosting, and downforce-enabling additions, but how much better than the Z Performance could this realistically be?

This story is from the January 2024 edition of Motor Trend.

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This story is from the January 2024 edition of Motor Trend.

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