NEW NISSAN Z SPORTS CAR – 400ZX – TO SPAWN 475BHP V6 NISMO MODEL
Nissan has given the 370Z successor the green light. Likely titled the 400ZX, the flagship Nismo version will have a hot V6 and four-wheel drive. A possible 400ZX? Sounds incredible!
The new sports car, dubbed the 400ZX for nostalgia's sake, was expected to be shown in coupé guise before the end of 2019. Shortly thereafter, in 2020, sales should start in Europe before making their way down here to South Africa. Some 50 years after the original Z car was launched, we hope for the Z title to return, this time as a 400ZX.
Future generations of the Z model are understood to have been in doubt because of struggling profitability in the sports car segment, an issue felt more widely across the industry. Honda has admitted a similar quandary about an S2000 replacement, while Toyota and BMW had to team up in order to cut costs in the creation of their respective Supra and Z4 sports cars.
Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa, told Autocar in 2018 that he was in favour of a new Z car to replace the 370Z. In all likelyhood, it will probably be called the 400ZX. He said the sports car market was a challenging one but was “personally advocating” a new 400ZX concept.
The forthcoming model is known internally as the Z35 – a codename that continues a process started with the Z31 model launched in 1983. According to senior officials from Nissan, the 400ZX has been twinned with the next Infiniti Q60, with which it will share its all-wheel-drive platform, engine line-up and electric system, which is not a bad thing at all. We all love the 350Z, which in fact, shares the same engine as the Renault Espace, so the 400ZX sharing engines doesn't mean much.
Dimensionally, the new 400ZX is set to mirror the more upmarket Q60. At about 4520mm long, 1890mm wide and 1240mm tall, it will be slightly larger than the 370Z, which has been in production since 2009. As well as a coupé version, Nissan plans a 400ZX Roadster, although this model is unlikely to arrive in showrooms until 2021.
Power for the new 400ZX coupe and convertible is planned to come from Nissan’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine used in a number of existing models, including Infiniti's Q50 and Q60. In standard versions of the new Z car, the engine, which has a 60-degree V angle, is expected to run a similar state of tune to that of the Q60, which develops 399bhp and 480Nm. That horsepower figure is possibly why it's been given the 400ZX name for now.
By comparison, the outgoing 370Z has a turbocharged 3.7-litre V6 powerplant that delivers 323bhp and 360Nm.
The highlight of the new Z-car line-up is set to be an all-wheel-drive Nismo version. Due to arrive in 2021, this is earmarked to run a powered-up version of the turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine, with a claimed 475bhp and 610Nm.
Although it's still early days, we understand that Nissan intends to reveal the styling of the new 400ZX in concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show in late October or Early November 2020. That is, as long as we've got over the COVID-19 pandemic that has most of the world in lockdown.
Roll on Nissan 400ZX, we're eagerly awaiting!
Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for more great content! And don't forget to subscribe!