First Drive: 2009 Nissan 370Z
Stiffer competition
David Booth
National Post
Las Vegas, Nev. - Sports car dynamics, at least at first blush, are a simple case of Grade 3 mathematics. More power is always good. So is lighter weight. Combine the two so that the power to weight ratio is superior to the previous model's and simple long division would seem to indicate that your hot rod will be quicker. If you can also simultaneously make the chassis stiffer, it might even handle better as well.
Given these criteria, then, Nissan's new 370Z must be considered a success. Its new 3.7-litre V6 is 26 horsepower healthier (332 hp in all) than the old 350. It's also some 50 kilograms lighter, and the combination of the two almost ensures that the 370 will feel sportier than its predecessor. As well, Ian Forsyth, director of corporate product planning for Nissan Canada, says that thanks to numerous undercar stiffening elements, the new Z is stiffer (between 22% and 30%, depending on the criteria) in both torsional and bending stiffness.
Also, in a rare occurrence, the 370 is actually smaller than the 350 it replaces with a wheelbase 100 millimetres shorter (the track width, however, is up by 56 mm). And, in a final ode to performance, the engine has been lowered in the frame by 30 mm and the passenger hip point by 20. The combination, says Forsyth, lowers the 370's centre of gravity.
If the numbers are any indication, then the new 370Z has seen all its performance criteria enhanced.
Of course, junkyards are littered with the corpses of automobiles that were claimed by marketing mavens to be "improved" and "enhanced." Reality is often different. In the case of a sports car, there's nothing like a race track to separate the claimed from the reality.
The proof in the pudding in this case was Spring Mountain Motorsports park in Pahrump, Nev., where, even though there are mountains in the distance, the track itself is as flat as a board save for one giant gully the designers decided to pave through rather than fill in.
It is, however, twisty as a snake slithering across a desert, most of its corners bending through 180 degrees or more. It poses little challenge to the Sport package-equipped 370 (with forged 19-inch wheels, Brembo brakes, P245/40R18 front and P275/35R19 rear sport radials).
As advertised, the chassis feels both stiffer and more nimble than its predecessor while still remaining stable. In fact, even getting those forged wheels a little light through that aforementioned gulch doesn't upset it one little bit; the 370 just hunkers down for the next 180-degree turn that quickly follows.
As for the engine, it is undoubtedly more powerful, its horsepower not quite impressing as much as its torque, which, though only up two pound-feet at its peak, offers up 90 per cent of its 270 lb.-ft. all the way from 2,000 to 7,000 rpm. It's a miles-wide powerband that makes much rapid rowing of the six-speed manual superfluous (a seven-speed auto is also available).
But it is, in fact, said manual tranny that is the 370's biggest advancement, at least on the race track. Besides offering better action - shorter, more precise throws - the 370Z offers the world's first Downshift Rev Matching system for a manual transmission. A plethora of sensors in the rear wheels and gearbox precisely matches the engine revs to the next gear down so that each downshift -no matter how quickly executed or at what speed - is absolutely smooth, all without the driver performing the traditional heal-and-toe pas de deux on the gas and brake pedals.
By not having to worry about matching revs, the driver is better able to concentrate on navigating corners and braking. Manually operable automatic transmissions (manumatics) have offered this automatic rev matching system for years, but this is the first application for a manual gearbox and it is definitely a significant advancement.
All that speed is, of course, appreciated, but performance was never the old 350Z's weakness. An interior that looked like it was designed in the dark and constructed in China was its main problem. There were no less than four different hues of silver-painted plastic inside the previous Z and, yes, they clashed. As well, there was virtually no rear cargo space. The interior was the reason I always counselled readers to opt for the better-accoutred, if slightly slower, Infiniti G35.
Nissan has done a much better job this time around. There is still a lot of silver-painted plastic, but it is of much better quality and uniform of hue.
There's a bunch of the now-trendy suede-like leather in the seats and door trim, and the majority of the plastic bits are soft to the touch. Nissan also makes much of the fact that, this being a sports car, the tachometer takes centre stage over the speedo. Both are well laid out.
However, the fuel gauge just to their left looks chintzy and the entire thing is surrounded by a plastic bit that is painted, rather unsuccessfully to these eyes, to look like milled aluminum. Other downsides inside are the second cupholder being so far to the rear of the centre console as to be all but unusable, and the power seats, comfortable as they are, don't have a single button tilt function so you can easily stow stuff behind them.
The 370's trunk, however, is more useful than the 350's. I don't think these small complaints will have all that much effect on the 370's popularity, however. Though Forsyth will not release the official manufacturer's list price yet, Nissan Canada is promising that the 370Z will start around $40,000, a far cry from the $49,948 that even the cheapest 350Z (which, to be fair, does come with the Sport package standard) now commands.
And that's a number you don't need grade three math to understand.
© Canwest News Service 2008