2027 Nissan Z NISMO (6-Speed Manual) - POV More Driving Impressions

Today, we are driving the 2027 Nismo Z. We have 420 horsepower and finally a 6-speed manual transmission. Now, Nissan hasn't just slapped this manual in from the Z Performance. They've tweaked some things. This has a different state of tune to accommodate the manual shifting and driving experience, especially versus the 9-speed automatic car. We have a revised steering rack, tweaked suspension, and a lot of little changes that usually add up to a big difference in a car in its mid-cycle refresh. The big news, of course, is the manual gearbox. There's a strengthened casing, a shorter throw shifter here, and a little bit different of a feel to this. It feels a little bit tighter, a bit more secure, and also a bit more precise. And precision wasn't a word that I was using with the last Nissan Z Performance that I drove. Suspension's been tweaked for improved comfort and performance. We've got a really big set of upgraded brakes, 380-millimeter rotors from the R35 GT-R, which is just insane. And then we have these massive Akebono calipers. Same Dunlop SP Sport Max tires, 255s in the front, 285s in the rear on these forged wheels. The Z just looks fantastic now. In the front end, there's some more cool stuff. We've got a Z logo instead of the Nissan badge, as well as a revised front bumper. Notice this bar that separates it, as opposed to the massively squared-off grille that we had before. The grille area is wider to still accommodate a lot of cooling capacity, and this car was developed at Willow Springs Raceway to handle a 30-minute track session at 95 degrees ambient temperature, which is pretty good for an out-of-the-box, factory track-day car. These front brakes shave off 19 pounds of unsprung weight from the previous Nismo Z, which is awesome. And we also have a revised fuel tank with some baffling inside, so there aren't as many fuel starvation issues at low fuel on track. That was a complaint that a lot of owners and enthusiasts reached out to Nissan about in the changes that needed to be made with this new Z. Basically, the theme here is Nissan listened to their customers, gave us a manual, and they've tweaked it in a way that I think it's a better manual to drive than even the Z Performance was. I'm filming this walk around after having driven this car today, and I've got to say, these are all the changes that needed to happen with this Nismo Z. This is truly, in my opinion now, finally a class-leading competitor in this segment. Is it better than the Supra? You'll have to wait till the end of the video to find out. This new Nismo Z will be going on sale this summer. No final word on price as of filming this, but I don't expect it to be too different from the 2026 Nismo Z. Under the hood, we still have the same 3-liter twin-turbo V6. With this state of tune, it makes 420 horsepower. Because of the twin-turbo, power is surprisingly linear. It almost, in some respects, feels naturally aspirated. Maybe just a little bit lazier in terms of throttle response. Still, it pulls nicely on track today. It never heat-soaked. Engine oil temps stayed under 250 degrees Fahrenheit, which is awesome. And a neat little feature on the gauge cluster, there's even a gauge for the differential temperature, which is always nice to see. Let's hop inside and walk around this interior a little bit. We have a Bose sound system, lots of suede and Alcantara around the interior. These Recaros are absolutely stunning. Here's what your shift action looks like. And then look at this. Boost pressure, engine oil temp, engine oil pressure, diff oil temp, and water temp. And you can just turn off your screen by holding this button, which is what I was doing on track today. We still get our boost, PSI, turbo speed, which is a bit of a gimmick, and then your battery volts in the three classic pod gauges up there. There's also a new wireless charger that Nissan is very proud of. The neat thing about this is that it has a magnet, as well as some space for cooling. So not only is it always going to be staying on the element under high G cornering situations, spirited drives, but it's not just going to overheat your phone. It's actually going to charge it and keep it in place, which I really like. Very clever stuff. We also have one of the few last vehicles with a mechanical handbrake. We still get rev match downshifting with this S mode. That's always cool. And let's take this thing for a drive. All right, we're just going to get a few more laps here in the Nismo Z. Having a lot of fun out here at Sonoma today in this car. Everything seems to be holding up great. Brakes, tires, temperatures with fluids. The car is just really solid on track. It's very much at home out here and consistent too. Aside from just straight up hoonage, haven't felt the need to turn off traction control today. It's a really nice progressive system. If you're smooth with your inputs, like you should be at a public track day, you don't really need to turn it off and it can save you in some hairy moments like the bit of water that's up here after the major braking zone. I don't know my turn numbers are on Sonoma, but there's a bit of forgiveness built in, which is nice. The car is super progressive, easily adjustable mid-corner and the suspension tuning here is really nicely tweaked. You can see just how much flatter and more buttoned down the Nismo is compared to the Z Performance from 2026. There's a lot of dive, a lot of squat, a lot of body roll from that car, which is fun on the street, but on the track it doesn't make for the best experience behind the wheel, or at least maybe the most confidence inspiring. Also, this Nismo, the manual driving experience is so much more fluid and connected and enjoyable. Not as much of a dog to drive in my opinion. So props to Nissan for giving us not only a manual in the Nismo, but tuning it properly. This is the best manual Nissan Z I think I've ever driven. It's just phenomenal. He's really hustling there in the Z Performance trying to stay ahead of us. Just from the way the revs drop, the way this car feels on track, it's really interesting following the Z Performance just because you can really see the differences of things going on. A little bit of traction control delay there going over those curbs, that's understandable. A lot of confidence in these brakes. Steering is nice here too. Weights up well around the corner, there's decent communication. Stable over that crest under hard braking. And even without the Performance exhaust, I think this thing sounds pretty good. The extra level of precision here, just with the manual shifting experience is a real welcome change with this Nismo Z. And I really got to give Nissan credit for not only giving this a manual, but kind of perfecting that manual driving experience with tuning. Let's see what they're saying over the radio here. It's also so nice to see Nissan develop a Nismo car that is ready to go out the box for heavy track work. I don't know if there's ever been as capable of a factory track product from Nissan, besides maybe the GT-R, out of the box from the factory. This feels really, really good, really well sorted. Bit of safe understeer, but I think a lot of that can be dialed out with a nice track alignment. Yeah, I saw a little bit of smoke coming out of those brakes. So again, yeah, this Nismo was developed for 30-minute track sessions at 95 degrees. Today is only 71 degrees, and we haven't been doing 30-minute sessions. So we've got a lot of capability in here. The list of track-ready factory cars is a small one, especially at this price point. It used to be Camaro SS1LE, Porsche Boxster, Porsche Cayman used to be a lot less expensive. That's no longer the case. This is fun, engaging. It's really nicely balanced from a power-to-weight standpoint. A bit of drama with the twin-turbo V6 too, pulling out of corners. It doesn't seem to heat soak. It maintains power throughout the session, even with slightly warmer oil temps. Not even seeing 250 degrees with oil temp today, which is excellent for a turbocharged track application. Yeah, overall, pretty high marks for the new Z Nismo. I am very, very impressed. It's kind of a shame that this might be my only opportunity to take one of these out on track, but that's why we're here. That's why we're doing this event, to bring you guys along for the ride. All right, guys, that's going to wrap up my thoughts on the 27 Nismo Z, a very impressive package here from Nissan. I've said it so many times in this video, but it's so great that Nissan actually listened to their customers on us. All the little tweaks and improvements that they've made to this new Nismo Z, I think have added up to a much more enjoyable fluid and just satisfying driving experience on track. And we'll hopefully at some point get the chance to drive this on the road. The manual is definitely the one to get here. And again, they listened to customers, heard the outcries of enthusiasts and journalists alike, and delivered. And not only did they deliver, I think they've kind of exceeded some of the expectations here and built a much better-to-drive manual Z. The difference between the performance package and this Nismo is now a chasm, whereas before it was just a subtle improvement. I think if you do track days, if you're a real Z enthusiast, if you want a good driver's car for around that $60,000 mark, this Nismo Z is at the top of my list. Whereas before, I maybe would have recommended a Toyota Supra or a BMW Z4 M40i. This just made it to the top. I would take this over the Supra. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you guys in the next one.