The Z factor

Say hello to the poster boy of gorgeous yet relatively affordable fast cars — the 370Z, from Japanese carmaker Nissan’s stables. Yes, it looks stylish from almost any angle and it lives up to its looks with the help of a 3.7-litre V6 putting out 332bhp and 37.32kgm of pulling power or torque via a seven-speed gearbox. It zips from zero to 100kph in 6.5 seconds and Nissan is proud of the Z’s near-ideal weight distribution (claimed to be 53 per cent front/ 47 per cent rear).

The way the Z steers and handles is simply brilliant. Ultimate body control and outright grip take a back seat to the feel-and-fun factor on offer. The 370Z is amazing on twisty roads, combining taut body control with strong grip and meaty, communicative steering.

It turns into bends sharply. Manual versions will benefit from a traction- and stability-enhancing limited-slip differential (it’s an option on the automatic). The ride is surprisingly supple, making it friendlier on Indian roads.

But there is one rather significant caveat that almost undoes all of the 370Z’s good work here: the tyre roar. How loud and how intrusive this becomes depends almost entirely on road surface you’re travelling on. And the six-cylinder engine sounds a bit like an appliance. Sports cars need to sound good, but this one simply sounds thrashy.

The 370Z is strictly a two-seater, but there’s plenty of head- and legroom. The car’s cabin and its driving position are good with snug seats and a nice chunky steering wheel to hold. Build quality is flawless and everything in here is pretty uncomplicated to use.

There are also several useful cabin cubbyholes, including bins behind the seats. But the boot is shallow and the suspension towers intrude into it quite badly. Still, it has got a lot more space than other sports cars’ boots and there’s a luggage cover to keep your valuables out of sight.

Every 370Z comes with alloy wheels, powered seats, climate control, electric windows, keyless engine start-up, xenon headlamps, Bluetooth and a socket for an MP3 player. GT models get heated leather and suede seats, a CD-changer and cruise control.

The good thing about the 370Z is that if you drive it normally, it feels like any other car and feels just as comfortable driving around on city streets as it would out on the racetrack. Priced at Rs 53.5 lakh for the manual and Rs 54.5 lakh for the automatic transmission, the 370Z undercuts its main rival, the BMW Z4 by a good margin. When Nissan called it an everyday sports car, it wasn’t kidding.



The Personal Telegraph