Nissan 370Z - Power to the people

For some, it's just another letter from the English alphabet. For enlightened souls, it is the symbol of affordable super humanness. Nissan's 'Z' cars have not only inspired more than a generation, but they've brought a whole lot of people closer to motoring nirvana than ever imagined possible. They call it the 370 Z, we call it pure seduction.

What started way back in 1969 with the production of the 240Z has now culminated in the perfect symphony of style, power, practicality and affordability in the form of the spanking new 370Z. The new Fairlady has been riding on forty years of tradition and it doesn't let down.

At first glance, those who have seen the legendary 240Z will almost immediately recognise the lines of the new car. The design brief and subsequent product presentations thereafter show off just two strokes of a brush that represent the silhouette of what the original Z was - a curvy, well rounded, low-lying coupe that barely needs any additional aerodynamic titbits to make it look like a thoroughbred

Along the years the Fairlady hasn't changed much in essence through out its varied models. Right from the 240 to the 300 to the 350 and now the 370 carry the same basic design lines on the outside - with slight variations as years have progressed. Compared to its immediate predecessor, the 370 seems a whole lot more modern in appearance.

The long hood flanked by the distinct headlights and the gaping front grille seem almost timeless. The theme is carried on to the rear with the tail lights mocking the ones on the front. But what really gets you excited isn't the overall design. It's when you look closer and notice the subtle details that you really begin to truly appreciate the sheer talent of Nissan's design boffins. Three cheers to Shiro Nakamura for heading an awesome design team indeed.
What has us sold is the simple round blinker on either of the front fenders just behind the wheel arches. Highlighted with a 'Z' symbol perched over the blinker glass, the setup is just simply humbling. Add to that the vertical door handles that blend in with the door lines and the twin tail pipes flanking the diffuser at the back. Step in and the layout of the instrumentation continues the Z's sporty character inside. LED lights for the fuel gauge and engine temperature look clear, simple and interesting.

Despite being a sports car, the 370Z has a whole lot of space at the back for luggage. Additional storage can also be found behind the front seats - as long as you don't have them pushed all the way to the back! Bucket seats themselves are a work of art - something that none of us here would mind replacing the couches at home with. It is this practicality that makes the 370Z more attractive than ever.

And then there's that 3.7 litre V6 aluminium-alloy engine that belches out its maximum of 332 horses at 7000rpm - just 500 rpm short of the red line. Sparking all that to life are Iridium spark plugs and Nissan's Continuously Variable Valve Timing Control System (CVTCS) with Variable Valve Event and Lift (VVEL) on the intake valves. Quite some acronyms, right? But all of that really works to send bucket loads of torque to the rear wheels through a carbon-fibre composite driveshaft. However, the beauty of the new Fairlady Z is not in its engine - it's in the transmission.

The 370Z comes with an option of two trannies - a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed auto box. The manual gearbox comes equipped with what Nissan likes to call the 'SynchroRev Match' system. Making even the worst of drivers sound like gods is this electronic gadgetry that blips the throttle to match engine revs at every downshift. So no need to master the heel-toe shift technique anymore, 'cause the car will simply do it for you instead. The 370Z is the first production car to ever get such a system in place and drivers will find it not only useful, but extremely entertaining and fun as well. Purists though, will want to switch the system off and stick to more traditional physical methods. The 7-speed automatic seems fairly plain Jane compared to the manual gearbox with SynchroRev. It's got a manual shift mode with paddle shifters and a Downshift Rev Matching system as well, but it isn't half as fun as on the manual transmission

When we drove the car in Odawara, Japan up some of the country's countless mountain passes, the Z's agility surprised us. The smallish steering wheel is tight and precise and those who love driving in the twisties will revel in what the Fairlady has to offer. A stiff chassis and suspension make attacking corners pleasurable as ever and the engine just keeps powering on and on. We took the manual gearbox 370Z up and down Odawara's inclines a few times and if it weren't for a strict Japanese time table, I would have been writing this story still from inside the Z's cockpit - it's that much fun. Going downhill was when Nissan's technical marvels really shone through and the SynchroRev Match system kept keeping up no matter what. Add to that traction control, ABS, EBD and all those other acronyms that stand for techno-wizardry and you know the 370Z is going to rack up a huge number of sales for Nissan - especially in the US of A.

Not that it even matters when you're driving a car like the 370Z, but the engine under that hood is extremely efficient. We were averaging about 6 kmpl according to the on-board computer when we kept penduluming up and down Odawara's slopes - all the while revving the engine all the way to the 7500rpm redline before upshifting. On the drive back from Odawara to Tokyo in the automatic transmission Z, we got a figure of 11 kmpl - but that was because we were sticking to speed limits (yeah right!) and were driving in a convoy.

The 370Z is sold in a variety of colours, but if you really want to grab attention you need to get yourself the red or the yellow ones. All that, if you can afford the price tag of almost Rs 15 lakh in the United States. See what we mean when we say 'affordable'? Don't get too excited, 'cause even if Nissan do decide to import these to India on a limited run, our wonderful government regulations will mean that the price tag will double up and then some. Regardless, Nissan should really consider getting this car to India - it will still remain affordable, and will greatly increase brand appeal in the minds of the people. And it'll give the rest of us mere mortals a chance to see these cars in the flesh once in a while. Amen to that.