Nissan’s Christian Meunier states Z NISMO with manual transminssion is coming

[Drago86]

The independent ignition timing control of the GTR is on the Nismo variants of the VR30.

Interesting thank you. That is still just the PCM tune though, the actual z engines are identical.

 

[Nis Mo Z]

Interesting thank you. That is still just the PCM tune though, the actual z engines are identical.

"We know 20 hp isn't a huge improvement over the original Z, but the technology behind it is still fascinating. We're told the turbo spins faster, but most of the performance increase comes from enhanced cooling, such as the oil coolers, sub-radiators, intercoolers, and a transmission cooler. One piece of technology that carries over from the GT-R's VR38 is the independent ignition timing control. This gives the twin-turbo V-6 on-the-fly individual cylinder ignition timing for optimized combustion. Instead of having one computer manage all cylinders, the Z Nismo has six separate ones for perfect timing and extra power—and the setup even makes the engine run cooler."

-Motortend


That sounds like more than a tune.

 

[Katum68]

"We know 20 hp isn't a huge improvement over the original Z, but the technology behind it is still fascinating. We're told the turbo spins faster, but most of the performance increase comes from enhanced cooling, such as the oil coolers, sub-radiators, intercoolers, and a transmission cooler. One piece of technology that carries over from the GT-R's VR38 is the independent ignition timing control. This gives the twin-turbo V-6 on-the-fly individual cylinder ignition timing for optimized combustion. Instead of having one computer manage all cylinders, the Z Nismo has six separate ones for perfect timing and extra power—and the setup even makes the engine run cooler."

-Motortend


That sounds like more than a tune.

How about putting the GTR engine in a the NISMO and keeping it at $60K.

 

[Nis Mo Z]

How about putting the GTR engine in a the NISMO and keeping it at $60K.

The GTR motor I think is around 150-200 lbs heavier which would make an already front heavy Z Nismo worse.

 

[Katum68]

The GTR motor I think is around 150-200 lbs heavier which would make an already front heavy Z Nismo worse.

Except the GTR motor has a lot more HP.

 

[Nis Mo Z]

Except the GTR motor has a lot more HP.

Except the GTR motor has a lot more HP.

I know that but imagine having a Z with the same front bias weight of a front wheel drive car and 3900 lbs of weight? Power isn't everything. Balance is key.

 

[Katum68]

I know that but imagine having a Z with the same front bias weight of a front wheel drive car and 3900 lbs of weight? Power isn't everything. Balance is key.

I had a 370Z with twin turbos with 513RHP. It was fine. The GTR has the same size engine as the 370.

 

[Hubert]

I had a 370Z with twin turbos with 513RHP. It was fine. The GTR has the same size engine as the 370.

The GT-R has a 3.8L, the 370Z has a 3.7L.

 

[Katum68]

The GT-R has a 3.8L, the 370Z has a 3.7L.

Thanks.

 

[CPerdomo]

There's a lot you don't seem to understand about the Nismo and I'll just have to be that guy and inform you. First lets talk about your point of "Porsche territory". I have driven a 70k Cayman and that car is trash for the money because you get a lousy 2.0 liter turbo and no options inside for that money. I get the point however about the M2 and Dark Horse Mustang around 70k but I would never purchase either of them because of personal reason about their looks and size.

Small additions? You obviously have never researched the difference between a Performance and Nismo because the differences is similar to a 718 Cayman GTS vs a GT4

Uprgaded brakes/wheels/tires
Upgraded body kit
Upgraded track tuned suspension/braces/bushings
Recaro Seat/Nismo steering wheel/red adonized buttons
Upgraded engine components from the GTR/upgraded transmission internals and logic
2 extra aux cooler for tracking


Seeing that you and I came from the Supra 3.0 you talk about the adjustable suspension and imho I think adjustable suspensions suck, especially when a car is setup sharp from the get go(but I understand having it on the non track model Z's). Why would I want a soft mode on a track edition car? Imagine a GT3/GT4 with soft ass suspension mode? I had my Supra bimmercoded to be in Sport suspension 100% of the time and I would take the feel of the Nismo suspension over comfort and sport mode in my Supra because the car still felt very squishy and soft despite sport mode and lowering spring/sway bars


The price of the Nismo is high just like the price of everything else. Inflation has warped peoples minds because wages don't match the inflation. The Z Nismo is supposed to be a 60k + car if you factor in that the original Nismo in 2007 was around 38-40k.

One of the improvements that did it for me was the rigidity added at both the front and rear shock towers. Braces between the towers. That happens during build up. One of the reviewers talked about it in one of the videos shown here. There is no comparison between them. The Nismo is in its own class. I owned a 6MT Performance. I can tell you that I won't switch back. I still wished the Nismo was MT, but I rather stay with this one.

 

[CPerdomo]

Power isn't everything. Balance is key.

Exactly! And that's something the Nismo Z is perfect for...

 

[Meg_Z]

I mean, Tariff costs are outside of Nissans control, but you do have a point, I didn't stop to think about that. Tariffs aside however, its an overpriced car for everything that it is.

Obviously its okay to like your car, but my key point here is Nissan isn't really giving me anything of value that justifies it being at that price point.

This is the first Z car I've owned (minus an S30) but out the door its well below its competition regardless of trim level. Granted, I think that is likely intentional on Nissan's part (open diff on sports, the sport trim even existing, awful tires, etc) but that goes back to my point I've echoed before about Nissan not being able to get out of their own way.

They likely would have had a better initial experience if they did the following:

No sport model, Performance for high 40's or low 50's, and the Nismo Z for mid-high 50's with a manual box and you'd have much more people looking to buy if I had to guess.

I traded out of my Supra, and I kind of regret it, but at the same time I do not regret owning my Z at all. Hindsight is 20/20, but at the end of the day I have a car that is truly 100% JDM and actually has android auto, which Toyota couldn't bother to deal with (getting pedantic here, I know, but that annoyed the absolute hell out of me that a $60,000 car didn't have that, it's absurd.)

The fact is it was overpriced before tariffs kicked in.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

The fact is it was overpriced before tariffs kicked in.

It was/is overpriced before the tariffs and will be moreso when that starts playing more of a role. I can understand liking your car as I've said before, but its a pretty obvious conclusion that the differences to the nismo do not justify the price. It can't readily compete with anything at its price point except itself, either.

There is no way in any fathomable universe I would have paid $64,000 for a manual nismo z in 2024 when I bought my performance, the juice just does not justify the squeeze. Add in a different powerplant and that starts to become more of a worthwhile call but that isn't the case here.

People like to talk about the improvements made to the spark timing control but honestly if the car is only 20hp more (and that is likely due to the tune more than anything) how much of that is just Nissan reaching with their marketing?

Even with dealer prices (no Mazda motorsports here, sadface) I can likely price out the front brakes, sway bar, and chassis bracing/bushings for a few grand at maximum. The majority of structural rigidity was already done between the Z34 and RZ34 chassis so the Nismo improvement is negligible; 2.5% was it? You will see more of an improvement by getting rid of those awful S007's and stiffening up the suspension.

The upgraded factory air to water system is already a lost cause being that their own gt cars don't even retain it because its a question of when, not if, the thermal runaway is going to occur.

People can love their Nismo Z's, and that's fine, but my argument here is any similar car at that price point vs performance is not in the Nismo Z's favor, at all. In fact, the performance is probably best for performance and actual price even with it being a bit too expensive itself.

That, and with a day in a garage and parts on hand you can have 90% of the same parts installed on your Performance.

 

[Drago86]

"We know 20 hp isn't a huge improvement over the original Z, but the technology behind it is still fascinating. We're told the turbo spins faster, but most of the performance increase comes from enhanced cooling, such as the oil coolers, sub-radiators, intercoolers, and a transmission cooler. One piece of technology that carries over from the GT-R's VR38 is the independent ignition timing control. This gives the twin-turbo V-6 on-the-fly individual cylinder ignition timing for optimized combustion. Instead of having one computer manage all cylinders, the Z Nismo has six separate ones for perfect timing and extra power—and the setup even makes the engine run cooler."

-Motortend


That sounds like more than a tune.

It's a tune, that journalist just misunderstood what an engineer was telling him. There is one PCM just like the other trim models that differs in part number only. MAYBE there is a faster processor in that PCM to handle the individual ignition timing but I sincerely doubt it , especially given Nismo's and normals Z's use the same tunes and interface identically with ECUtek. Actually given the nearly identical parts and ecu tables, it may be that they all do it but Nissan just saved mentioning it for the Nismo?

 

[Mr. Mac]

Gotta admit that If/when this MT NISMO finally lands it's gonna be a tough decision for me on whether or not to move to it. Been a manual guy my entire driving life, and when I went to go see the new Z NISMO for first time last year I was shocked to learn it was only available in AT. Well, after test driving it back-to-back with a MT Performance I was intrigued enough to give the AT NISMO a whirl. Fast-forward a year later now after settling into how to drive the current NISMO's paddle shifters, particularly in manual mode, and being beyond impressed with it and its advantages, I'm not 100% sure I'd switch the MT version if/when it's available. Who knows though, I may cave and go for it. Dunno. I find both the NISMO's AT and MTs equally fun, just different kinds of fun. Kinda wish the NISMO AT wasn't so damn compelling because if it wasn't that would make this pending decision so much easier. Grrrrr......