Over a year ago, in the inexorable ramp-up to the introduction of the Nissan GT-R super car, the NISMO 350Z was introduced at the 2007 New York International Automobile Show. In a way, it's almost as if it got lost in the shuffle, and with an as-delivered price of $39,615, it flew under most enthusiasts' radar. So what's it like?
Well, after eight days, two intense road trips to the California Desert, and almost 2,000 miles, I have a very clear idea. After all that seat time, I discovered an athletic performance car—unheralded in many ways—that's capable of showing its tail pipes to a host of far better-known and more-expensive competitors.
The NISMO 350Z is a high-content, limited-edition package that includes a special racing-inspired aerodynamics package combined with specific handling upgrades to the already sweet-handling 350Z chassis. I felt a great deal of satisfaction that despite nearly 2,000 miles behind the wheel, I didn't ding the low-hanging front chin spoiler even once.
The benefits of the aero package came into play on a private, deserted road where I was able to wind out the 306-horsepower V6. On a five-mile-long straight in sixth gear, I watched the needle go past 120, 130, 140, 150, and after a down-shift to fifth, I didn't lift until I achieved a GPS-verified 165 MPH. What was so remarkable about this high-speed run was just how uneventful it was; it was if I was cruising at half that speed. All I could imagine was how much fun it would be to have this same tool on a section of the Autobahn.
For the NISMO edition, the already stiff 350Z chassis is enhanced with additional body welds and additional supports have been added front and rear. When a car has such a high performance envelope, it's essential that the brakes are up to the task. Here, the NISMO team specified Brembo brakes with four-piston front and two-piston rear calipers (with 12.8-inch front and 12.7-inch rear rotors) and special NISMO-branded gunmetal gray RAYS super-lightweight forged-alloy wheels (18x9-inch front and 19x10-inch rear with 245/40WR18 front, 265/35WR19 rear Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tires). While the Potenzas transmitted some noise into the cabin, that was a small price to pay when it came time to throw out the anchor; panic stops from extra-legal speeds were completely controlled with absolutely no sign of fade.
At $40K you might expect to find leather on the inside, but in the place of cowhides, you'll find grippy black cloth seats with red inserts, red stitching, and a special NISMO white-faced tachometer. All NISMO 350Zs also receive a serialized NISMO-etched aluminum plaque mounted on the center console, designating its limited-edition status. Mine was number 0839.
The standard 6-speed manual transmission features close-ratio gearing from first through fifth gears for high-performance driving, and an overdrive 6th speed for highway fuel economy. In 1,900 miles of mixed city and highway driving, our road rocket delivered 22.9 MPG; pretty damn impressive given its performance capabilities and my own tendency to mash the right pedal.
My first road trip was a one-day sojourn to the California Desert where I snapped some shots of the 2010 Mk VI Volkswagen GTI and several prototypes from  Mercedes-Benz, including the upcoming gull-winged supercar and an AMG S63. While the Mercedes-Benz guys ignored me, allowing a clear shot of all their prototypes, the Volkswagen engineers in their chase vehicles made our job as difficult as possible. With the temperature hanging around 120 degrees, cool for that part of the world in late August, I can tell you that the air conditioning was fully up to the task.
The second trip involved first a half-day drive from my base near Temecula, California to Santa Barbara to attend the 2009 Dodge Ram launch. This was followed with a return trip to the desert on the way home, where we were able to grab great shots of Suzuki's upcoming Camry/Accord/Altima fighter, the mid-sized Kizashi.
You can get a good idea of how much impact your car has when the valets run to open your door even though the courtyard of the tony Bacara Resort is populated by almost a dozen examples of Teutonic luxury sedans from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Upon checking out for the drive across California the valets asked if we wanted water to go. Little did they know.
I drove from Santa Barbara to Ojai, then through Fillmore, and over to CA 14 for a run up through Lancaster. After that, went past Willow Springs and through the high desert on my way into Death Valley, where I arrived around lunchtime. I was just in time to catch the first of what appeared to be a half dozen Suzukis conducting hot weather torture testing.
As I headed down below sea level, the thermometer climbed all the way up to 127 degrees, which is what I've come to expect when visiting Death Valley in late August. It was impossible to remain inconspicuous given that the Nogaro Red NISMO 350Z with its California M-tags stood out among all the flat black prototypes. I took care to tell the test team from Suzuki that we weren't industrial spies from Nissan; we were just auto journalists in search of a great spy shot. I think they appreciated the publicity even though they didn't say it.
With all the great performance machines that have been introduced over the last 18 months, it was easy to overlook the NISMO 350Z. But it's a highly-tuned and balanced sports car that does almost everything right with no glaring faults. My only quibble is a lack of an integrated satellite radio-enhanced navigation system with real-time traffic. With its closest logical competitor the utterly flawless Cayman S priced $15,000 more when comparably equipped, the NISMO 350Z is a worthy adversary that deserves, in this political season of blue cars and red cars, to be on your own personal short list of performance car candidates.
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