Will 2021 be The Year of the Z?

ZCanadian

For what it's worth...

From Car and Driver
By Joey Capparella
Jan 21, 2020

(apologies if it's been posted before - I looked at subject lines but not in each thread)

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a3...z-future-2021/

* I had to delete the image as it was way oversized - find a "rendering" that is worth nothing anyway, at the link above *


The wait for a new Nissan Z sports car is almost over. As we approach the arrival of a replacement for the long-in-the-tooth 370Z—finally!—the rumor mill is running at full capacity, giving us some exciting tidbits about the new two-seater's powertrains, platform, and design. Here is what we expect from the new Z.

Twin-Turbo V-6 Power

The most powerful engine currently in Nissan and Infiniti's mainstream lineup (apart from the GT-R) is the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that makes up to 400 horsepower in the Infiniti Q50 and Q60. This is the logical choice for the new Z, then, and sources within Nissan dealerships told Autoblog that this powerful mill will indeed be under the hood. A seven-speed automatic is the only transmission choice for this engine in the Infinitis, but we're hoping and praying that a stick shift will be offered as well; remember, Nissan did hint that this was possible by bolting up a six-speed manual to this engine for its modified 370Z concept for the SEMA tuner show this past year.

This engine's displacement calls into question what the new Z will be called. 300Z would be rational (or 300ZX, for nostalgia's sake), but we'd guess that Nissan will instead choose a number corresponding to the car's output rather than its displacement, like 400Z, to clarify its superiority over its predecessors.

Rear-Wheel Drive, as God Intended

A front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is the only real way to set up a proper sports car, and the Z will continue on with a newer version of Nissan's FM platform and share many components with the Infiniti Q60 coupe. That's from an earlier report from Autocar, which also said that the new car is code-named Z35.