2024 Nissan Z Nismo: A Testament to Superb Engineering
Track-ready two-seater is a liveable, remarkably quick, and surprisingly efficient sports car for a reasonable price.
If you Google how much a 2024 Nissan Z Nismo costs, some scoff at the MSRP of $65,750. In talking to a few people during my week-long affair with the Z, one man said, “Yeah, but almost $66,000 is a lot for a Nissan.” It was almost like the name was a slur or a bad taste in his mouth. The Z looks quick, but nearly everyone I spoke to about this car was shocked when I said the unassuming Z made 420 horsepower from a powerful 3.0 twin-turbo V6. For that price, you get a whole lot of car.
Especially when you consider how close in price other stock “track-ready” cars cost out of the box. The Toyota Supra GR, the Z Nismo’s greatest competitor is less with an MSRP of $56,250, but it’s also less horsepower. The Mustang Dark Horse is $61,980, and the BMW M2 is closest in price at $64,900.
So the Nissan, like other reviewers put it, is an acquired taste. But if you, like me, preferred the Nissan, you’re one of the few with distinguished taste buds.
Driver’s Seat Bliss
It has three driving modes: Standard, Sport, and Sport+. Standard is the most efficient driving mode, made for, you know, standard scenarios. Sport is the middle ground between Standard and Sport+, the “track-ready” drive mode. I didn’t get to track the Z, but the backroads of Tumalo had me giggling like a piglet.
Starting from a stop in Sport+ made the rear wheels chirp and spin, but I was up to 85 mph in under eight seconds. I knew it would be fast with a 0-60 time of 4.2, but I didn’t expect that. To boot, the Z Nismo made a lot of people look twice. I pulled up next to a man in a pickup, and I heard him say to the driver, “Wow, look, it’s the Z Nismo. It’s gorgeous.”
Every day that I drove this car, it broke necks, people stared, and some even took pictures. I knew for a fact that if I owned the car (which my husband and I would both love to do one day), I thought to myself, “This car would absolutely give me a complex.”
Purebred Efficiency
No one in the market for a two-seat thoroughbred of a car truly cares about miles per gallon, but this car shocked me with how efficient it was. The day after it was delivered to me, I spent several hours perusing the inclines and declines of the Scenic Cascade Lakes Biway in Bend, Oregon. When I got home, I found the average miles per gallon was 21.8. After doing grocery trips and sitting in traffic, it dropped to 21.6 mpg. Nissan’s webpage for the Z Nismo says it averages 17 in the city and 24 on the highway.
For most modern cars, it’s not an impressive number. But it means the nine-speed automatic transmission is adaptable and more efficient than most would expect.
Sport mode came especially in handy when tackling the mountain twisties, making it easy to power through the corners or use the engine to brake down steep grades. The four-pot brakes are incredibly responsive too, increasing my confidence. Acceleration in Standard mode was unsurprisingly smooth, but when traveling at slow speeds, it felt out of place.
The transmission can be clumsier than a newborn giraffe as it struggles to find the right gear to go through a roundabout or crawl through the downtown lots for a spot, but that was the one thing I didn’t love about the Z Nismo.
Before you ask, the suspension is stiff, but it’s not so stuff that I was shaken and not stirred when I got out of it. Even driving through downtown Bend was noticeably bouncy, but it was tolerable. It’s almost as if the tightened suspension was made to handle turns at high speeds or something. The driver’s seat is so comfortable and well-bolstered that I didn’t think much of it until I got back into my Subaru.
Snarling Beast Loaded with Creature Comforts
While all 420 horses were chomping at the bits to storm the race gates, I found the Z Nismo, marketed to be a track day regular, a surprisingly livable car. It came with all the ADAS systems we’ve all become accustomed to and love, like automatic emergency braking, pedestrian and obstacle detection, parking assist, blind spot detectors, and more.
It also had wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto from a very responsive and high-resolution 12.3″ infotainment screen, the A/C controls were knobs and buttons instead of being buried in the screen settings, and the BOSE sound system was *chef’s kiss.* Of course, I wasn’t using it most of the time, as I was too busy being charmed by the exhaust notes.
The factory OS was user-friendly and adaptable, too. I found all the digital gauges easy to access and customize, and I’m a sucker for any digital gauge cluster that features a cute little picture of the Z as the hero image. As a bonus, my husband said the call audio was clear and crisp, too.
I can’t imagine how it would be useful at a track, but it also came with its own WiFi Hotspot and mobile hotspot as well.
Specialized for Street & Track
All of this paired with the respectable mileage from a race-tuned engine had me thinking I would be comfortable enough to drive daily.
The storage in the rear “trunk” was surprising, too. When I was filming and shooting, all of my camera gear fit in the back with plenty of room to spare. There were also cubby holes behind the driver and passenger’s seats that were perfect for smaller items you don’t want rolling around, like my GoPro mounts and extra batteries.
It also came with a cargo net that can also be handy for wine bottles, eggs, or other breakables you don’t want to be shuffled like a deck of cards while you’re racing home for dinner.
Nit-picky Downsides
While it comes with all the loveable features and drivability, there were a few minor things to gripe about. First, the reverse camera was very blurry and low-resolution, especially since the rear window was impossible to see through. However, considering that some six-figure Porsche models don’t have a camera at all, it’s something anyone could quickly adjust to.
Some complain about the fact that the Nismo edition is auto-only. The Z Performance edition, which is $13,000 cheaper, comes with literally all of the same features as the Nismo (except for bigger wheels, an aero body kit, and Nismo badging, of course) but has 20 fewer ponies. Personally, unless you’re planning to turn the Nismo into a time attack car or be a regular at your local track for track days, I’m not convinced the extra dough is worth it. Especially since a manual would have made the Z Nismo a lot more comfortable at lower speeds. The Performance edition is available in a six-speed.
Photos: Kristen Brown
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