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New Nissan Z. New Nissan Z NISMO. New Nissan Z GT4. In case you couldnât tell, the Z is important to Nissan, and much of the manufacturerâs effort to push the Z to the forefront centers around the GT4 program.
âThe Z-car is the sports car DNA of Nissan,â says Yuzo Ishikawa, corporate vice president for NISMO. âThatâs why we released the new Z-car. Thatâs why we developed the GT4 car. For the grassroots motorsports [driver] and the gentleman driver who drives on the weekend, we want to sell to them. We had a GT-R, but thatâs for GT3. We didnât have a grassroots car.â
Nissan and NISMO teamed up with TechSport Racing to develop the Nissan Z GT4 in the Pirelli GT4 America Series.
âWe have the history with the 370Z,â says Deborah Popolizio, co-owner of TechSport Racing. âWe also have the history in developing the homologation for a number of other cars.â
In Japan, Nissan faced primarily other Japanese automakers. In the U.S., the competition comes from around the world. Aston Martin. BMW. Mercedes-Benz. Porsche. Toyota.
âWe need the competition,â says Kazuya Magoori, senior manager for Nissan in Japan, âto enhance the Nissan brand and Z-car brand.â
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âThe car was developed in Japan over a handful of races,â TechSport Racing team principal Kevin Anderson says. âThe Z GT4 car was developed in parallel for both Japan and the U.S. racing series. However, the car was not fully developed for U.S. tracks.â
U.S. tracks tend to have bumpier surfaces, bigger curbs and often greater elevation changes than Japanese circuits.
To adapt the car to those conditions, Nissan and NISMO brought engineers from both sides of the Pacific Ocean to U.S. GT4 races. The Japanese contingent includes Koichi Ogawara, NISMOâs Chief Track Engineer who had worked as an engineer for the Super Aguri F1 team.
âRight now weâre a little bit off, but the bones are there,â says Kevin. âItâs just a matter of getting it dialed in.â
Like all GT4 cars, the Z version is based on the street version.
âBut it takes very little effort to make [the Z car] competent on the track,â says Kevin.
While the production car weighs about 3500 pounds, the race car is 3100 pounds. Both versions use a double-wishbone front suspension and a multi-link rear suspension. However, the race carâs suspension is adjustable and uses Ăhlins two-way dampers.
The street car and GT4 car use the same 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6. The production version puts out 400 horsepower, 350 lb.-ft. of torque; the race car, with a different engine tune, delivers 450 horsepower and 443 lb.-ft. of torque
