When the Toyota GR Supra was launched, everyone chided it for not offering a manual gearbox. As good as the ZF 8HP automatic is, being told two-pedal or kick rocks in regards to a sports car stung. Several years later, vindication came in the form of a three-pedal car that’s everything we wanted it to be. We all saw it coming, but we didn’t see Nissan making a similar mistake. The 2024 Nissan Nismo Z is automatic-only and for the first time, Nissan has released a hardcore Nismo variant of its Z-car that I don’t want.
We won’t go into huge depth on the Nismo Z’s appearance as I’ve previously covered it, but the car does get revised fascias over the standard car. The updated front bumper draws inspiration from the G-nose Zs of the 1970s, and I reckon it works. Just watch, it’ll be a hot commodity in the aftermarket soon enough. As for the rest of the visual package, it’s typical Nismo, which means red stripes and skirts. If you like this sort of thing, chances are this car’s right up your alley.
As far as rolling stock goes, the Nismo Z starts with 19-inch forged RAYS wheels up half an inch in width over the Z Performance’s rollers at each corner. For tires, Nissan chose Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT600s, an aggressive summer tire trusted by the brand. Are there better and cheaper tires out there? Sure, but consider this a DNA link to the GT-R. Sitting beneath this wheel-and-tire combination are the same calipers as the Z Performance, but with one-inch-larger front discs and a pad compound more suited to performance driving.
It wouldn’t be a Nismo car without comprehensively reworked suspension, so the Nismo Z gets stiffer springs, new dampers, new anti-roll bars, and a whole load of new bushings over its more common brethren. While revised suspension bushings sound swell, I’m more interested in the stiffer bushings used in the steering rack mounts. The possibility for a little bit more steering feel sounds nice. Oh, and closely related to suspension is extra front and rear chassis bracing claimed to increase torsional rigidity by 25 percent. Considering the age of Nissan’s FM platform, that bracing sounds much appreciated.
Power is up, but only slightly. An extra 20 horsepower and 34 lb.-ft. of torque aren’t massive gains, but they are appreciated. More important is the improved cooling package, with a new oil cooler to keep temperatures happy during spirited driving. However, just downstream of the engine is something that kills the mood altogether.
Confirming prior rumors, the only transmission option on the Nismo Z is a nine-speed automatic gearbox. Granted, it’s not quite the same nine-speed automatic gearbox as in the standard car — it features upgraded clutches and can shift nearly 50 percent quicker than the standard ‘box — but it’s still a two-pedal job with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters and the option to trundle along in the right lane just off idle at 65 mph.
Now, that might make me sound like an insufferable manual-or-die twat but trust me, I’m not. I couldn’t imagine how much worse some of today’s techiest supercars like the McLaren 750S would be with h-pattern ‘boxes, nor do I think that every family crossover should come with a slick-shifting six-speed with a defined clutch bite point. That would just be idiotic. However, some performance cars need manual gearboxes to feel their best. Hot hatchbacks, pony cars, compact sports sedans, and reasonably attainable sports coupes all fall into this basket.
Since driving idiotically fast rarely happens during the lives of these cars, they better give us involvement. The trouble is, involvement is harder to find than ever before. The motors used for electric power steering are huge mass dampers compared to hydraulic fluid, increased focus on small-overlap protection has added weight, general consumers driving more mainstream cars on the same platforms as many enthusiast vehicles want ever greater noise isolation, ever smoother rides, and ever more ways to forget that roads aren’t perfectly flat and smooth. All of that can cut down on engagement, and a manual gearbox is a relatively common-sense way to add it back.
Plus, if you really love driving so flip-flapping much, you’d know the satisfaction that comes with a perfectly-matched heel-toe downshift. Like the first time the training wheels came off your bicycle, the first song you learned to play, the first step in your career, and the first time you truly knew you loved someone, skilled operation of a manual gearbox requires effort, reflection, and learning. It’s humanness spent on a mechanical thing, moments of reality in an era of doomscrolling and 24/7 availability. Who wouldn’t want to feel something that feels real?
I’ve been lucky enough to have some seat time in the new Nissan Z and found it promising but rather soft. The one thing it didn’t need? More power. In an era when manufacturers like Ford, Toyota, Honda, BMW, and even Hyundai are going all-out on blowout last-of-the-manuals high-performance models, it feels wrong to see Nissan sitting on the sidelines. So instead, here’s how I’d build a manual Nismo Z — sort-of.
I’d start with the 6MT Performance trim as it gets the wicked fixed calipers and clutch-type limited-slip rear differential we all want. From there, we’ll add a set of Super 200-treadwear tires (RE-71RS sound fun), rear subframe collars, and Nismo’s own coilovers, adjustable camber and toe arms with sealed spherical bushings, anti-roll bars, and pads. From there, we stiffen the body with a triangulated strut tower brace, add a large aftermarket oil cooler, and keep the powertrain otherwise stock. Sure, the end result will likely be harsher than the showroom-stock Nismo model, but all these parts should add up to the harder manual Z we all really wanted. The 2024 Nissan Nismo Z should satisfy those who just want the largest possibly payment on a Z. For everyone else, there’s the possibility of building your own interpretation of what a Nismo Z should be. Alternatively, there’s a chance the ECU for the Nismo Z is unlocked, at which point it’s pretty much just a gearbox, shifter, pedal box, console, driveshaft, hydraulic system, and tune away from being manual. Wouldn’t that be nice?
(Photo credits: Nissan)
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So I have no intrest in an Auto only Z.
but releasing this when customers have been waiting over 12 months for their normal ones is a kick in the guts.
(looks at my Order from June 22 that is expected to arrive in 24!)
Like the first time the training wheels came off your bicycle, the first song you learned to play, the first step in your career, and the first time you truly knew you loved someone, skilled operation of a manual gearbox requires effort, reflection, and learning.
Sure but how many times per day, off the track, on your daily commute, are you making those wonderful shifts? Not to excuse the lack of an MT, but do the math and if you’re DD’ing the a Z I bet it’s 0.01%of the time spent in the car
I heel-toe downshift every time I drive my car. It’s a practice that can be performed when you’re not driving over 7/10th’s, and I find it rewarding even when I’m just commuting or running an errand. The joys of driving a manual transmission are not limited to track driving, or being at the limit.
I don’t even know how to heel/toe, but perfect rev matches are a non-stop dopamine hit. Manual good
Both you and flatisflat are right on – I love nailing that perfect match, no perceptible jerking, just smooth and reorrrrrr (no, I have no idea how to spell it, but you get the idea).
Of course it’s 100% of the time.
Stop being defensive and giving in to your insecurities. Just suck it up and learn to drive stick. The stuff manual drivers say all the time is true.
Just do it. It will be an extremely rewarding experience.
OK, I’m off to completely reevaluate my life..
I commute 30 miles each way currently. I LOVE shifting as much as I can, practicing rev matching or heal-toeing, and taking roundabouts with a racing line (usually only going 20 mph). You don’t have to go fast to have fun or make something otherwise boring, fun.
I know I’m a minority, but I’d take the fun of the manual all the time over the potential of having stop-go traffic some of the time.
I have yet to see one of these in person outside of the SEMA show. I love the styling but I guess the value proposition isn’t there compared to rivals. I’d love to know sales figures.
I’ve seen Supras, two Lucids, multiple Rivians (including the SUV), the Tesla semi, a 6×6 Jeep Gladiator, Urus’s (Urii?) and all sorts of uncommon new cars but not a single Z.
I know that it’s auto only because they didn’t want to do anything to strengthen the same manual that they’ve been stringing along for 20 years now, but it still manages to impress just how underwhelming of a difference this actually is. They couldn’t even bring themselves to bother to do anything to try and keep a manual for the 20 more horsepower that this has over the base car for the absurd margins the NiSMO Zs have always had?
No wonder this thing is selling so putridly. Just buy a Supra.
I’m an insufferable die hard manual only twat.
This thing sucks, solely because it has no manual.
If you don’t drive and prefer manuals, you are not an enthusaist.
The key to the gate is knowing how to drive a motherfucking manual.
If you prefer your minivans and crossovers with an automatic over a manual, we are not friends, and I’d like to meet you, so we can have an argument.
Anything with a stick is the holy grail.
Just kidding, I love and appreciate you all.
I know how to drive a manual and generally prefer manual over non-manual, but the only car I own has a three-speed automatic and it’s still my favorite car in the world regardless. Manual is best for sports cars, sure, but yeah not every car needs one.
Definitely true that not everything needs a manual, but I desperately wish I could have one in my RAV4.
The 2.4 can produce decent thrust but there is no driving fun to be had with the 4 speed auto controlling the show.
With a manual it would actually be a fun car.
I would love to have my wife’s minivan in a manual as well, but then my wife would not be able to drive it. This is what autos are for.
I actually miss 3 speed autos with or without OD vs today’s shitshow of way too many gears the transmissions constantly hunt through, auto-shifting at the wrong time, delayed downshifts—if they even register—and the need for way too many downshifts due to the number of gears.
Who’s this car actually for? The sub-prime Altima crowd that will be interested in this isn’t going to be able to get the financing.
I actually really like how the new Z looks, this version is super cool too. The automatic only is puzzling.. I agree with some other commenters that maybe it’s a ruse to drum up internet chatter? Orrrr it’s just Nissan being Nissan, I guess we will see in time.
It sounds like Nissan may be trying to drum up interest to later release a limited edition manual Nismo or some such. I can’t imagine fumbling such an easy task unless there was a deeper motive.
It seems like they sort of took the Hyundai N aesthetic for this which is a weird choice. I saw the pic and took it as the Elantra N at first glance.
That sort of bothers me more than being auto-only here though that is disappointing.
In general, I like the look of the new Z, but with this model & color choice it really looks like they’re trying to channel the Hyundai Elantra or Kona N… good cars but an odd choice of inspiration for the Nismo Z
Great advertising opportunity for Hyundai though…
It does look like an N car doesn’t it? And although I clearly love my N and the N brand overall….it does seem like a weird place to look for inspiration. In my experience JDM fanboys don’t want anything to do with Korean cars. They’re as singularly focused as any car following I can think of off the top of my head….and I assume the average JDM bro who will pay $10,000 over asking to have the first one of these will have a small breakdown at Cars and Coffee as soon as someone says “hey this reminds me of the Veloster over there”
To be far to Nissan, the red highlights have been a thing since at least 2010 starting with the Nismo Juke and GTR oddly enough. It may have started earlier with a JDM model. Typicality the hero Nismo color is white and red though, so don’t why they went with the the fall storm of the coast of Cape Cod blue. Anyways, the red highlight thing predates N by like two years.
Oh, everyone’s doing the red stripe thing, going back further than that for GTIs etc, but the combination of that stripe with the angular look of the bodywork thats at odds with the more flowing general shape and the grey-blue color all together that really give me that impression
Angler body work on a smooth is a thing on most faux track specials, as that’s how downforce works well. And the blue-grey is homage from the 280, which no one but Nissan die harder would know, but did start in 1980.
“Plus, if you really love driving so flip-flapping much, you’d know the satisfaction that comes with a perfectly-matched heel-toe downshift.”
Gatekeep-y alert. Normally I overlook it but I became a member last week and looked through older Tales From The Slack, where this is an issue I know you’ve discussed among yourselves.
I get satisfaction taking curvy roads and maintaining speed through corners.
Despite driving manuals for many a year (and often doing so in quite spirited fashion) I have NEVER mastered the heel-toe downshift because I have big feet and the pedals on my cars have always made it exceptionally difficult to even attempt. But taking corners at much higher than sensible speeds – well, that’s my jam.
Have you tried using the sides of your feet? I tried it the “real” way once and found it awkward, inaccurate, and tough on my damaged knee. I suspect this is a reason that people think heel-and-toe is a race only technique. Then I adapted the method I used to hold a car on a hill using the left side of my right foot to hold the brake and the right side of my right foot to actuate the throttle and was matching shifts in minutes and I use it every time I drive even just casually.
Which a manual helps with as you can balance the chassis and be in the power band for the turn rather than relying on the auto to hopefully do the right thing or—if operating it manually because the auto likes to shift mid corner—to respond to a manual downshift, likely after a delay, then needing to downshift three more times because there are too many damn gears and it works like a sequential gear box.
Orrr I have an EV (well, PHEV) and don’t have to worry about such pesky things as “gears”.
You can do 65mph in a Z right off idle?! Like, at 1,000 rpm?!
Psh, you pretty much sold me on an automatic Z at that point alone, because I’m pretty weird like that.
I don’t understand how so many brands (BMW, Mercedes, Nissan…) have converged onto these confusing shifters. The old style ones that actually moves through a pattern, or rotary ones like Ram has seem like obviously better options.
It also adds a failure point to the car because they’re electronic. I’ve heard horror stories about them as well as electronic parking brakes glitching out and leaving folks stranded. There are certain parts of a car that just shouldn’t be electronic. Shifters and parking brakes are in that category.
I’ve got the rotary in my Grand Cherokee 4xE and honestly I wish it had a more traditional shifter. Its kinda annoying when you need to make a multi-step maneuver.
I love sports coupes, but everything I like about this one is countered by something I hate.
The body proportions are excellent, but the front looks designed not to be fun, but to be as inoffensive as possible, and the headlights look comically small.
The taillights look great, but everything below looks like generic trash, especially that accented wider at the bottom trapezoid shape that’s stealing attention from the great taillights.
The engine seems a riot, but unfortunately, the transmission is the riot police.
Most of the interior looks classy, but the center stack and transmission tunnel don’t look especially functional, yet are downright boring.
There are so many far better options for the same money. The biggest factors about how many will sell are how many moneyed hardcore fans they have left, and how many people they can get to take a test drive.
I’m so going to steal that riot analogy. Well played.
Ever since the 350, I’ve struggled to understand the market for the car now. Previous 20th century Zs seemed halfway between a pony car and a sports car, a completely alluring combination. I’m not sure the niche that the 21st century model fills.
I’m honored by your offer of thievery. Have at it!
Wow.This actually looks great. I hope they put this grill design on all models.
Agreed. But did you see the rear?
Ouch.Yes that’s weird.I didnt take much notice before
Pretty lame, but then again the entire new Z is pretty lame. As you all are well aware, I often find the manual or die crowd to be insufferable, and while I can drive stick competently I don’t find the overall experience to be as quintessential or life changing as so many enthusiasts insist it is.
With that out of the way, this is unfortunate. Cars like this are the exact applications where a manual makes sense. You’re already giving up any semblance of practicality to focus solely on driving enjoyment in a two seat sports coupe, why not go the extra mile? This is also just a tuned version of the ancient (and I believe truck derived) in house torque converter 9 speed. It’s not like it’s…you know, a GOOD automatic like a ZF8 or DCT. For whatever reason Japanese manufacturers have 0 interest developing an actual modern auto.
Also, look at the competition here. I assume this will sell for around $60,000. That’s Dark Horse money. It’s also used ZL1 or GT350 money…as well as new M2 money, etc. Every single one of those cars comes standard with a stick, has back seats, and will mop the floor with this on a track or even during stoplight pulls. Also…all of those cars sound better than the Z too. In stock form the current Z sounds like an NPC mobile. In livened up/aftermarket form it sounds like any clapped out drug runner/Big Altima Energy Q50 you see doing 90 on the highway.
To me the “new” Z only makes sense in base form. After that it’s overpriced and not competitive…and it makes me sad to say that, because the Z was a very influential car for me growing up…and I know Nissan is struggling and didn’t have a lot to work with to keep the Z name alive. I’m glad it still exists at all, and I like the styling. But if I was in the market for a $50,000+ sports car it probably wouldn’t even be on my list…and this does nothing to move the needle.
It’s a license built Mercedes 9-speed torque converted auto
If it’s the same one that they use in the AMGs then I stand corrected and it’s apparently pretty damn good.
Well it’s not the AMG one, but and upgraded version of the one that is used in the Frontier and non AMG Mercs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_9G-Tronic_transmission
I mean…it’s undoubtedly better than whatever nonsense is lying around in the Jatco/Aisin dumpsters Japanese companies usually pull from but it’s still probably not anything to write home about. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just use the DCT from the GTR…it’s proven, was developed in house (if I’m not mistaken) and would be a major selling point for the car.
I’m sure it would be pricier but at this point who cares? This car is going to be overpriced and behind the competition no matter what. You’re already primarily selling it to Nissan fanboys anyway…I’m sure they’d shell out another couple grand for “it has the GTR’s transmission” bragging rights and I assume it would easily work with this engine setup because it’s essentially a detuned GTR in the first place.
Pretty sure the ZF8 is in millions of trucks.
And no standard LSD, which the 86/BRZ have in spite of much less torque. I had two S30 Zs and the twins are far more the original Z successor than the one with that name. Of course, Zs have been cruiser GTs for far longer, so this isn’t really a divergence from that, just not a return to original form. Anyways, I have no interest whatever the transmission and, frankly, the auto seems to fit fine with what they’re going for here.
Not only automatic, but a bullshit shifter button and not even some real feel on putting it into drive. These new shifting button things, they are trash and look horrible in every single car I’ve ever seen, not to mention confusing to use for people.
Fuck the entire car industry right now, if I was a journo, I’d be crying because it will NEVER GET BETTER. More and more regulations every day to make this shit worse and worse.
You write an article like this, crying about no stick shifter, but then you guys completely ignore the shitty EPA rules that keep coming out that FORCE this type of shit. And on top of that, you write articles about how GM and others are big baddies for not wanting 58 mpg fleets. It’s a total joke and I can’t imagine the mental gymnastics it requires for you guys to try to be “enthusiasts” and tow the government line at the same time.
I love high MPG and lower emissions but where we are now we’re building cars that are disposable and all the tech and crud that goes into them itself is responsible for a massive amount of pollution, and much less of the materials used in new cars are recyclable at the end of their lives. Personally I think we’d be better off if we stuck with 90’s levels of tech and emissions in cars that last for hundreds of thousands of miles.
I’ve had to deal with so many dead batteries and electrical gremlins in my relatively short life that the only automobiles I’ll drive are mechanical diesels with manual transmissions.
Stupid regs are also why modern Trucks are so damn massive!
I’m too young to feel this old.
I am not even 40 and I am about to give up and just go back to the 90’s in my mind and live there. It’s just all too much.
Dude I am there already, I strongly recommend it, I still buy CDs, I have no social media, I don’t like or subscribe to anything and all my personal cars have physical metal keys.. it’s frankly quite refreshing to have simple things.
Hell, yeah…basic things that work!
I’m on the other side of 50 and I think I could have stayed in 1999 forever. I can’t think of many things that have improved considerably since then.
These shifters aren’t intuitive at all. Similar designs resulted in Anton Yelchin. A rotary dial like on the Ram, or push buttons like Lincoln, or the good old-fashioned shifter that actually moves through a little gate thingy and stops (and stays) at discrete positions…
The little switch on my GTI is ridiculous, however I have grown to appreciate the fact that it’s not there. Honesty why do you want a big T bar in the center console that is only needed a few times you drive the car? It’s a huge improvement on the phallus the Mk7 had in the DSG. Also VW added lights on the switch as well as a large display on the dash to clearly indicate where you are (unlike the Grand Cherokee fiasco). Push forward to R, pull back for D, back once more for Sport. Very confusing..
Finally an upside to not getting the new Z in the UK. This is underwhelming.
I couldn’t care less if it had a manual option or not. Where’s the 2+2 option for this Z?
Not a thing since the Z32, and even then, only the Targa was.
Revising the FM platform to allow for a 2+2 would’ve made the car a no go. Platforms cost HIDEOUS amounts of money. Never would happen, which is why the FM is still going 20+ years later.
Huh? The FM underpins the Infiniti Q60 and Q50. In fact, the answer to CivoLee’s question is that the 2+2 is at the Infiniti dealership with a Q60 badge on it.
Still not going to revise a body and subject it to crash testing when the car sells in the numbers it does.
I don’t think the Z34 sold even 100,000 units over its 12 year run. By comparison. Porsche sells 40,000 911s a year, which are loaded with margin and cost a ton more. I wonder if there’ll be a ZR34 Roadster at all, but a longer wheelbase body style is completely out of the question when Nissan itself is struggling.
The Q60 doesn’t have a hatch. All 2+2s should be liftbacks.
I think I prefer the front grille opening and higher beltline below the headlights, though they do take away somewhat from it’s identity and the gaping mouth makes me thing of a BRZ/86.
The rest of the car’s bodywork is a bit much for me. I know nismo’s been doing the color accent thing for a while, but several other manufacturers seem to be doing it now and it makes it feel more generic (Hyundai…).
Nissan says their drivers are after faster lap times and preferred the slushbox, but I’m still wondering who exactly theyre interviewing. This is a car made for a manual. A sports car. The enjoyment of sporting. Not a supercar aiming at lap times. People will build these for times, they don’t need to come that way from the factory.
Overall still glad the Z can exist in the modern climate and that NISMO is still at it, just hoping for a 6mt version later.
This may be the first NISMO variant of any Nissan that I have disliked the entire exterior package. Making it automatic-only doesn’t help one bit, but I can’t even say I like the wheel selection (nothing against Rays, it’s just that model doesn’t fit well with that ugly body kit). As a former 300ZX owner, this makes me sad.
Shucky Darns, while not a total surprise, it is definitely a couple of quaaludes and a fifth of whiskey a downer, they could’ve offered a stick as an option.
It’s also 100 lbs heavier than the regular one, which makes it the same weight as an automatic Camaro SS
You’ll be able to buy a lot of Camaro for whatever this winds up costing as well….and you’ll get significantly more performance, a manual option, back seats, and a V8. I know what I’d choose….
Yikes. Nismo’s ugly stick was working mandatory overtime on this one.
I’ll be that manual-or-die twat with this alternate headline.
“Nismo brings the ZZZZZs”
Yeah…from this point on, there will always be a faster electric car. So human involvement with the car, not performance stats, will be what gives an enthusiast ride its quality in the years to come. And what’s better than a manual transmission for that, as Thomas so eloquently put it.
While I’m being bitchy.. Can we stop with the red accents on everything “special edition”.
It doesn’t even look good with that color.
Enough all-red-y!
It makes it look futuristic. Which totally undermines the classic retro vibe, esp. from the rear.
At least the calipers look good in red though. The only thing worse than that is…any other color. Every time I see a car with yellow or whatever, I always think “if you’re going to do this, just do red already.”
It’s like why can’t we just agree that taxi cabs are supposed to be yellow and be done with it? Why does every city need its own thing?
It looks like they grafted the Elantra N’s front grille to the rear of the Z. Totally at odds with itself.
If they wanted to do it right they would have picked deep pearl blue as the body color.
They clearly didn’t care enough.
First Paul Reubens, now this?
It’s a sad car news day.
This is the argument I keep giving. Like why get an ICE with a manual, just get a damn ev if you want that speed with no engagement.
Plus then there’s no transmission at all to break, jump gears when you want it to hold, hunt at part throttle, and take forever to downshift if a shift even registers at all, then having to follow up with three more downshifts before a turn because there are too many damn gears.