Nissan calls the new NISMO 370z “Possibly the ‘best-bang-for-the-buck’ sports car available today,” and I’m not sure that anyone in their right mind would disagree.  With the base model starting at $30K (add 3k for the sport package) and the touring ringing in at 35+, the NISMO isn’t that much of a stretch considering all the improvements.

The first thing that you will notice is the entirely redesigned body kit that is supposed to clean up some of the aerodynamic drag and possibly decrease some lift, although I haven’t seen any coefficient of drag numbers yet.  Next to catch the eye are the newly designed wheels.  The have an obvious relation to the sport package wheel that has a more traditional 5-spoke approach.

Beneath the wheels are the Nissan Sport brakes.  They don’t mention if these are an upgrade over the braking package on the Sport Package, I certainly hope they are (Click HERE to see why.)  Nissan also claims to have refined the suspension package for the new model and additional chassis bracing.  The new suspension will have “specially tuned springs, shocks absorbers, and stabilizer bars.”  The car will also benefit from a limited-slip differential fitted as standard equipment, this will help put those few extra hp to the ground.

Which brings me to my final point… power upgrades.  Every one knows that the Z33 (350z) NISMO should have come from the factory with at least a small bump in power and it looks like Nissan have learned their lesson.  The Z34 NISMO will feature an 18hp and 6 lb-ft jump to a total of 350hp and 276 lb-ft of torque.  This not-so-subtle increase is due to an enhanced exhaust system and upgraded ECU programing.  This last part about the ECU makes me excited to see what the future will hold as far as tuning modified 370Zs in the future.  Very interesting….

Gallery:  2009 NISMO 370z

Nissan Official site:  NISMO 370z

As always, there will be more info as I get it.  The full press release from Nissan is after the ‘read more.’

…[read more]

Here is the video that can be seen at www.Nissan370zNY.com that was filmed before the unveiling to the press tonight in New York city.  It contains a quick overview of the convertible 370z as well and the new 370z NISMO edition.

To me it really seems like Nissan has finally realized that owners want a bit more luxury in the convertibles that they have purchased.  This is apparent in the fact that they have made the coupe’s entire buffet of options available in the roadster version.  They also made the top 100% automatic by getting rid of the semi-annoying manual cowl latches on the 350z.  Another nice touch is the option to lower the top using only a button on the key fob.  After all isn’t real luxury having other people, or your car in this case, doing tasks for you?

There is no word yet on structural rigidity numbers or anything of that sort but it looks like Nissan has really taken its time with this car so the performance and solid feel should come close to matching that of the coupe.  I’ll let you know as soon as I get behind the wheel, hopefully headed somewhere sunny.

As for the NISMO edition, most speculators were predicting that the US car would resemble the S-Tune 370z that has been released in Japan.  They weren’t far off.  Luckily for us Nissan has toned down the styling a bit from the JDM S-Tune and thrown in some traces of the outgoing NISMO 350z styling cues.  The wheels look to be a slimmed spoked Sport Package wheel that doesn’t really knock my socks off, but who will really keep the stock wheels and tires on these things?

Now, onto the power.  Nissan claims in the short video above that the new NISMO is putting our 350 crank horsepower, some 27 over base.  Wicked.  I’m thinking that most of this new found oomph is found through refined “cam” timing and possibly small intake or exhaust modifications.  The word “cam” is in quotes because as you may know the new 370z engine, VQ37HVR, carries Nissan’s new VVEL technology which replaces standard camshafts with solenoids that car computer controlled to allow the car to have infinitely variable cam timing and lift.  A rundown of this technology can be found on 370z.com. Interesting stuff.

I’ll have more information for you on both models as it becomes available so keep coming back to ZCarBlog.com for your Z fix.  For now you’ll have to simply enjoy the pictures that I’ll be putting in the TWO posts above this one.  ZCG

EDIT: I put up our Birthday post above this one so that we could enjoy it for the rest of the day.  Happy Birthday ZCG.  WE LOVE YOU.

The photo and spec posts for the 370z and 370z convertible will be up tomorrow.  Have a great night.

EDIT 2:  Yes, I took the video on this post from our friends over at GTRblog.com’s Viddler channel.  There was no point in uploading it again.  Enjoy their watermark in the video and their awesome GT-R website.