Nissan 370Z Roadster Nissan

Nissan 370Z Roadster

Local Launch
Queenstown, New Zealand

What we liked
>> Well modulated ride
>> Taut construction for a convertible
>> Impeccable cornering traits

Not so much
>> LED warning light system for engine temp and fuel level
>> Tyre roar
>> Moderately noisy roof operation

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 2.5/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings


OVERVIEW
-- Nissan enters hard-to-reach market with flip-top Z
Very few would deny that the Nissan 370Z Roadster is a looker, although it is more attractive still with the top down. But it's what's underneath the folding-roof 370Z that sets it apart from other soft-top sports cars.

Try finding a rigidly-constructed rear-wheel drive convertible that develops the sort of power and torque and offers the comfort, safety equipment and dynamic capability that the Z does for under $80,000 in this market. There's not much around.

Based on the 370Z coupe, the Roadster arrives during the 40th anniversary year of Nissan's Z-car. The first year of the 1970s marked the introduction of the company's 240Z, which began a line of succession that can be traced to the present day. The drop-top model is a recent edition to the company's sportscar family, the 350Z predecessor being the first to spawn a variant with a folding roof. The 240Z through to 300ZX were all coupes, although there were 'targa-roof' models available from the 280ZX onwards.

Building on its own heritage, the 370Z Roadster offers some improvements over the 350Z Roadster it replaces. For a start, it comes with Track suspension standard -- not the Touring suspension of the earlier car. There's a larger rear window; more compact stowage for the roof; fully automatic roof operation (no manual latching and unlatching as in the 350Z); premium quality fabric for the roof in lieu of canvas; and interior lining for the roof.


PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
-- Keeping it under $80,000
Only available in the one level of trim, the 370Z Roadster is priced at $74,990 for the six-speed manual variant or $77,990 for the seven-speed automatic variant. Although the cars driven in New Zealand for the launch featured a large storage bin in the centre fascia, this will be filled by a satnav interface (touch screen) in Australian-spec vehicles, which will also offer iPod/USB and Bluetooth connectivity as standard.

Other comfort and convenience features fitted as standard include: 19-inch alloy wheels, wind deflector, keyless entry/start, one-touch auto-up/down electric windows, electric mirrors, climate control and eight-speaker/six-disc/MP3-compatible Bose CD audio system.

The 370Z Roadster boasts the following safety features also: ABS/EBD, Brake Assist, stability control, traction control, dual-stage front airbags for driver/passenger, seat-mounted side-impact airbags, door-mounted side-curtain airbags, seatbelt pretensioners and load-limiters.

For more on the equipment levels native to the 370Z checkout our coupe launch review.


MECHANICAL
-- Coupe underpinnings carried over
Providing tangible improvements over the 350Z Roadster, the 370Z Roadster also manages to be 25kg lighter than the superseded car. That still places it behind the 370Z coupe for weight though -- 60kg heavier for the auto, 55kg more for the manual, however. Kerb mass is 1608kg for the manual, 1618kg for the auto. Some of the blame for that added weight over the 370Z coupe's kerb mass can be attributed to structural reinforcement in the A-pillars, side sills and door/boot apertures.

In reducing weight (when compared with that of the 350Z Roadster), Nissan has resorted to aluminium panels for the bonnet, doors and boot lid. The 370Z Roadster is shorter, both in overall length (65mm less) and wheelbase (100m) than the 350Z Roadster, but is built on a wider track. Dimensions for the new car are 4250mm (length) and 2550mm (wheelbase).

Designed in a traditional front-engine/rear-drive layout, the 370Z Roadster is powered by the same 3.7-litre DOHC V6 as the coupe. The engine develops 245kW of power at 7000rpm and 363Nm of torque from 5200rpm. According to Nissan, the new engine provides more torque than the car's predecessor, the 350Z Roadster, at both low and high revs.

With its variable valve timing and lift system (VVEL), the powerplant is also more frugal than the 3.5-litre engine in the 350Z. Nissan claims that the automatic variant of the 370Z Roadster uses 11.2L/100km in combined-cycle testing and the manual is good for 10.9L/100km.

The engine drives through either a standard six-speed manual or an optional seven-speed automatic to the rear (drive) wheels. Nissan bundles the manual transmission with 'SynchroRev Match', which automatically matches engine speed to road speed on downshifts. The automatic incorporates Adaptive Shift Control, to adjust shift points to suit the driver's style of operating the transmission in manual mode.

Drive from the transmission is relayed via a carbonfibre driveshaft to the differential and on to the rear wheels, which are suspended by means of a four-link IRS system. Brakes at the rear are 350 x 20mm ventilated disc rotors and are actuated by twin-piston aluminium calipers.

Up front, the brakes are also ventilated discs, measuring 355x32mm, and hydraulic pressure is applied through four-piston aluminium calipers.

Rack and pinion steering is power assisted, varying with the road speed. 19-inch alloy wheels are nine inches wide at the front, 10 inches wide at the rear. They're shod with P245/40 R19 Bridgestone Potenza tyres (front) or P275/35 R19 counterparts at the rear. The car comes with a spacesaver spare.


PACKAGING
-- Tight but accessible
Unlike some more expensive sportscars, the 370Z Roadster is not hard to enter or exit. It sits high enough off the ground that you don't need to catapult in or out of it and there's adequate angle of attack to swing your legs into the footwells without doing yourself an injury.

The seats in the 370Z Roadster were snug and very well contoured. Recline and travel adjustment switches were placed inboard, between the seat squabs and the centre console, so they were easy to reach. This reviewer found the legroom to be a little restrictive without adjusting the seat back as far as it would go and raising the recline angle for the backrest to a position closer to upright.

Two dials for the driver's seat four-way tilt/height adjustment were located on the outboard side of the seat, near the door. They were actually quite easy to reach, far more so than you'd expect in this reasonably tight cabin.

Raising the electro-hydraulic roof was very simple and required just 20 seconds to complete. There's just the one toggle switch to raise or lower the folding roof and everything, including the latching and locking in place, is taken care of automatically.

It was, in the view of our co-driver, a 'clunky' affair, however, for its noisiness. It's only an annoyance while the electro/hydraulic roof is operating -- and that's not going to be that often in the life of the car.

The instrument binnacle rises and lowers with the three-spoke steering wheel's rake adjustment, so the view of the instruments is never compromised by the position of the steering wheel. That's definitely a plus, but the steering wheel isn't adjustable for rake, which even a car with the Z Roadster's tight driving position could use.

Minor instruments -- oil temp, voltmeter and clock -- were mounted in three pods over the centre fascia and angled towards the driver.

As far as storage space was concerned, there are two small bins, one behind each of the seats. There was perhaps enough room to accommodate a camera bag or object of similar size. Anything much larger would need to go in the boot.

On that subject, Nissan supplies the 370Z Roadster with a warning sticker in the boot to advise that not all golf bags will necessarily fit. It's certainly a small boot, but can't fit a golf bag within it? No great loss, in this reviewer's opinion. Surely you'd buy a car like this for the enjoyment of driving... The car, not a golf ball!


SAFETY
-- Pedestrian safety a virtue of clever styling
Designed in parallel with the 370Z coupe, the Roadster features additional body reinforcement (see MECHANICAL section above) and gains from safety features already built into the coupe, such as the pop-up bonnet that reduces injury to pedestrians in an impact. It's rare that a vehicle kind to pedestrians can also be attractive. Nissan has succeeded where others have failed.

Active safety measures fitted as standard include: ABS/EBD, stability control, traction control and Brake Assist. Vehicle occupants are kept safe in the event of a collision by the dual-stage front airbags for driver/passenger, seat-mounted side-impact airbags, door-mounted side-curtain airbags, seatbelt pretensioners and load-limiters.


COMPETITORS
-- Where are all the affordable sports cars?
Short list, this one. Honda's S2000 is no more and lacked the modern design and grunty V6 of the Nissan anyway. BMW's 135i convertible comes in at $79,644 and you do get a fair amount of car for your money -- including two extra seats that the Nissan doesn't have. Audi's A3 Cabriolet won't match the Nissan for straightline performance and it's a front-driver, but it is quite a rigid vehicle and has the extra kids' seats in the rear also. It's also quite a bit cheaper.

If you want the legit two-seat, rear-drive sportscar equivalent to the 370Z Roadster, you'll need to have something like an extra $20,000 as a minimum. If money isn't too much of an object, there's BMW's Z4, the Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 or the Porsche Boxster. All-wheel drive answers to the Nissan also include the Audi A5 and the TT.


ON THE ROAD
-- Focused enough, but not to the point of discomfort
Ride quality was very good overall, particularly given that Australian-spec cars are equipped with the Track suspension, unlike the 350Z Roadster which came with a Touring specification. We found the 370Z Roadster could be ever so slightly jittery over high-frequency bumps -- a function of wide track, short wheelbase and torsionally rigid body, we suspect.

Tyres were noisy on the rough bitumen roads of New Zealand. We wouldn't expect them to be any quieter on similar roads in Australia, but on better-surfaced roads on freeways, arterials and suburban streets, they may well do better.

There was virtually no scuttle shake from the 370Z Roadster. It feels very taut and rigid, which is definitely to the car's credit. The car maintained benign and consistent handling, adopting a wider line on the exit as power was applied. Steering was communicative and provided a well modulated response to the driver's input. There were no nasties, such as weight transfer or particular throttle sensitivity; the IRS was steadfast in the way it held the road.

The engine was sporty and responsive. There was a sort of induction boom at mid-range revs to really make you sit up and take notice. It wasn't as soulful as an Alfa V6, but it was certainly one of the better V6s on the market, with a sort of 'Germanic' timbre about it.

On the open road, the trip computer showed 9.1L/100km in gentler driving, but got up around 16L/100km when driven harder. In the way it delivered its power, it was responsive, but meted out more torque in the mid-to-high range rather than down low. That's acceptable; it's in keeping with the sporty nature of the soft-top Z, but it's not a lazy car in a straight line.

The Nissan's performance was helped in no small measure by the seven-speed automatic. At least one of the reviewera on the launch preferred the six-speed manual transmission, but there appeared to be some considerable support for the seven-speed slusher. Indeed, the auto was refined enough when left in Drive, but excelled when being used to shift gear manually -- especially with the paddles. It would hold the gear selected if the car were accelerating hard or decelerating, but when the engine was operating on a light throttle, the transmission would change back to Drive.

Plainly, when the lever was pulled right, into the sequential-shift quadrant, the transmission would hold whatever gear was chosen, irrespective of throttle position.

While the manual transmission was easy to use and quite precise, we'd still opt for the auto. With the shift paddles and the extra ratio, the auto Z is probably a faster car, point to point -- and that's an important consideration in a sportscar. Shifting the autobox manually, you could balance the car on the throttle as equally effectively as in a manual-equipped car and the auto variant was just slightly smoother to use at other times.

Traction control and stability control appeared to operate more or less seamlessly. Only on occasions when the warning light was flashing was the driver made aware either system was working. The electronic nannies couldn't be felt underfoot or through the seat or wheel.

Instrument layout and controls were generally easy to use, legible in the case of the instruments, accessible in the case of controls, but the rows of LEDs for fuel level and engine temperature in the left binnacle were moderately hard to read, especially in direct sunlight.

Nissan makes the claim that the 370Z Roadster offers 'bluster-free' motoring. It's not up there with more expensive Euro convertibles for that 'clear air' ambience, but it's a fair effort. We would probably rate it higher, but the jury must remain out in light of the crosswinds that were with us constantly during the drive program.

Despite sharing little affinity with those who enjoy open-top motoring (or golf), this reviewer would opt for the more expensive 370Z Roadster over its coupe sibling. You're not sacrificing spaciousness, ride or dynamics for the convertible Z, so why not? It's a real cheesecake of a car, delectable with a firm base.

If there are any considerations mitigating against the 370Z Roadster at all, they would boil down to soft-top security and the vehicle's styling with roof in place. Even then, that latter point is one to sort out on the basis of personal preference.