The brother of a dead Hollywood car guy.
A very timid car executive who's incapable of dressing himself.
Video of the new Z being driven on a dangerous and broken desert road... because of course.

Man, I really hate these car reveals. They all suck.

No really big news about the car, although I was surprised to hear about a new 9AT. Dual clutch? Doubtful.

The heart says "Hell yes!", and my head says, "Probably not." Won't be available to test drive until Spring '22.

 

I've got a few Canadian friends, and I'm absolutely sure they're asking themselves why this Indian gentleman is calling this car "Zee" and not "Zed".



"Zed" has more character, IMO. But whatever.

 

The front end grew on me since the Proto reveal, I sorta almost like it now. They did something with the rear end, not sure if I like the proto version better. Overall, I like the new Z. Especially in that Blue version. I dunno if I would replace my sedan with a coupe, but it's a cool car for sure. I wonder if they fixed the engine issues with the earlier red sports.

 

Same transmission that is used in Nissan's new line up.

I do like how the blue looked in the reveal. Nissan has a unique offering with the Z because it provides a forced induction platform unlike the BRZ/86 & a manual transmission (take that supra) all for an "affordable" price. The real challenge comes from the Mustang & Camaro both of which offer more power and better handling for slightly less money. The Z platform dates back all the way to 2001 so it will be interesting what changes the engineering team was able to come up with.

 

I didn't know that about the 9AT. So the automatic is parts-bin? Hmm. Haven't been following Nissan's AT tech, the horrible CVT in my kid's Sentra notwithstanding.

The paint, sure. The blue interior... OMG, no. They get credit for effort, though. Genesis is also getting creative with interior colors.

 

I actually like the blue dash and door panels, I dunno about the seats. Maybe if it was 2 tone with only a small area of the seat being blue.

 

I like the blue, given a blue car. There is a shot of a black interior too, so I'm guessing the blue is part of a package that involves that paint color.

 

The best part is it is also available with a red interior. White or Black Z with red interior & red brakes? Yes please!

Spec / Option sheet for anyone interested:
https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/at...pecs-pdf.2017/

 

Between the two trim levels (ignoring the Proto for a moment), you have to step up if you want LSD, rev-match on the 6MT, and the Akebono BBK.

This morning, Car & Driver presented the cost in an interesting way, saying the $40k base price is the same as the base price of the first 350Z when adjusting dollars from then to now.

 

Carbon fiber DS with the Manual as well (premium & proto trim at least)

I think overall it's a neat car. Looks have grown on me; despite being a bit too angular on the front fascia. Side and rear profile are spot on IMO. The weight of this thing + the VR power train is going to be a heck of a combo.

 

Damn pretty car. Lots of good photos on AutoBlog.

AB is awesome for pics, but their blog posts are lacking, and their comment community has a disproportionate number of aholes. I've kind of stopped reading AB and mostly read C&D these days. But you can't fault AB for their photography. It's really excellent. I mean, just look at this pic! Wow!

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/08/18/...tarting-price/

 

Yeah, its really growing on me. I would probably wrap that silver bit black.

 

I've become too accustomed to the newer front/rear ends. This is too square for me. Maybe it looks better in person. When's the refresh.....?

 

I can already see a ton of Q60 (and Q50) folks eagerly anticipating 6MT swaps... myself included... (not counting ConceptZ's "kit" (whatever bacame of that).

 

Wait... is that a thing made more practical by introduction of the new Z? That would be cool... a Red Sport Q60S AWD with a rev-matching 6MT. That would be an aspirational car.

And wait wait... you don't already have a 6MT? I don't know why I thought you did. Oh man, that's so sad.