2023 Nissan Z manual review

The Nissan Z commands respect among enthusiasts, so any time it releases an all-new iteration, everyone stands up and pays attention. Following on the back of a series of reheated and re-served 370Zs, let’s hope the 2023 Nissan Z lives up to the hype.

The 2023 Nissan Z is a line in the sand for the manufacturer after its enduring 370Z was finally retired, and it arrived during a mammoth 2022 for the brand in which it refreshed almost all its SUVs. With a little air since its launch, we’re taking another look at the manual version.

Nissan has kept the line-up simple with the launch of its first new Z car since 2009 – there is a sole variant on offer from $73,300 before on-road costs, though there is a special Z Proto Spec variant that costs $80,700 plus on-road costs. Both the manual and automatic transmissions cost the same amount of money.

But before we get ahead, let’s refresh what the Nissan Z actually is. The Z-car two-door sports coupe was born in 1969 and initially held as an upstart competitor to English and Italian rivals. But it has since garnered a reputation of being a JDM classic, and it now competes against all manner of sports cars such as the Toyota Supra, Ford Mustang, and the new BMW 2 Series.

For the 2023 generation, Nissan has applied styling aspects reminiscent of the Z-car back catalogue, so if you’re noticing elements of the Z32 300ZX in its bum, and the face of the original S30 240Z, then you’re not alone.

The base specification scores an 8.0-inch touchscreen (with smartphone mirroring), heated front seats, leather-accented upholstery, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, eight-speaker Bose stereo system, mechanical limited-slip differential, rev matching (for manuals), and a suite of safety tech we’ll discuss later.

A Z Proto spec adds 19-inch bronze alloys, yellow brake callipers, yellow contrast accents for the interior, and a black-and-yellow exterior colour scheme.

Power is supplied by a twin-turbo V6 that fans have been crying out for. It provides 298kW/475Nm to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual transmission or a nine-speed torque converter automatic.

It doesn’t take long for the Z’s interior to remind occupants of its predecessor, and it’s fairly obvious the cabin is pinched directly from the old model and updated in the key areas that matter.

Save for the new tech suite that has been introduced, the interior feels old, and the prevalence of black plastic isn’t the nicest first impression.

The two-seat cabin gets a pair of leather-accented seats with microfibre textural inserts, alloy pedals, soft-touch dash, and plastics in areas such as the centre console. It’s a tight and cocooned area for the driver to sit without being overly cramped. Though there is good bolstering to hold you in, the seat squab is short, which can annoy taller people.

There are cool elements such as the boost and turbo speed gauges atop the dash, while the ringlet doorhandles are a nice throwback to older Zs. However, the allowance for concessions at this price point is slim – the climate controls are a bit rudimentary for the price and the manual handbrake looks and feels cheap.

The lack of a barrier between the cabin and rear boot space means not only is there a risk of the occupants being unexpectedly reintroduced to the belongings stowed back there, but there’s a wallop of road noise that travels through from the space too.

Nissan quotes a 241L capacity for the rear hatch.

Infotainment is provided by an 8.0-inch touchscreen embedded within the dash, plus the Z also gets a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

Everything is labelled simply and there are some shortcut buttons along the bottom of the screen for easy switching between functions. Interestingly, there is no native satellite navigation embedded within the system – instead, Nissan expects its customers to use the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality as a workaround.

The car comes with a Bose sound system that sounds nice to my ears – you get a nice rumbling bass thanks to the subwoofer. The embedded rear-view camera quality is terrible and lacks the definition expected in 2023.

The digital instrument cluster has a few display modes you can switch between, and my favourite is the sport display configuration.

The 2023 Nissan Z remains untested by crash-test authority, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program. This is common for low-volume sports cars; it is unlikely to be safety-rated.

Though the 2023 Nissan Z doesn’t get an ANCAP rating, that doesn’t preclude it from stocking an array of active and passive safety measures.

In terms of active safety gear, the Z is equipped with autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, lane-departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and tyre pressure monitoring.

The car features front, side and curtain airbags.

Despite a lift in price of over $20K compared to its predecessor, the Nissan Z ($73,300 plus on-road costs) is more affordable than its main competitor the Toyota Supra ($87,000 plus ORCs).

Talking running costs, Nissan expects buyers to service the Z every 12 months or 10,000km (whichever is first). You’ll pay either $1338 (three years’ servicing), $2012 (four years’ servicing), or $2491 (five years’ servicing).

As with all Nissan models on sale today, the Z comes with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and five-year roadside assistance coverage.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage costs approximately $2732 (from one leading insurer) based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Being a sports car with a high-performance powertrain, Nissan recommends the Z only be filled with 98-octane fuel.

It also suggests the Z will return a 10.8L/100km mixed-use fuel rating, though that wasn’t the case in my experience. I saw fuel figures consistently around 12.7L/100km across my time with the car.

The one thing Nissan Z fans have long been crying out for is a turbocharged engine. Nissan has finally relented. The application of the Infiniti Red Sport engine inside the 2023 Nissan Z is not so much a stroke of genius, as a necessity required in order to compete against cars like the Toyota Supra or Ford Mustang.

And compete it does. The 298kW/475Nm outputs from the twin-turbo V6 petrol engine are seriously explosive put into practice. The car pulls hard right up to the redline, with a wide band of maximum torque felt between 1600–5600rpm. Power application is never abrupt, even when pinning the throttle, but there’s no doubt the Z accelerates savagely.

At first the shifter feels tough and is hard to gel with, but the more the car warms and the gentler you are, the throw becomes easier to manage. It doesn’t like to be rushed through the gears, especially at high RPM. Heel-and-toe downshifts are easy to perform thanks to a quick-revving engine.

There’s not an abundance of aural feedback out of the exhaust, though there is a classic VQ note (350Z and 370Z) piped in through to the cabin. With the absence of a cover separating the load area and cabin, there is also a fair amount of road noise reverberating through from the rear wheels that can annoy on sustained highway runs.

The 255mm (front) and 275mm wide (rear) tyres provide a stronghold of grip once up to temperature, but caution is needed when getting on the power in the wet – the car is all too happy to go squirrelly under throttle load.

Handling-wise, the Nissan Z feels floatier and less tied-down than a Toyota Supra, with its nose wandering rather than being ultimately decisive. The steering is light and feels far removed from what’s happening under the tyres. There is no doubt this car will find wide appeal in the United States, where those customers favour a more comfortable grand tourer-type, rather than an out-and-out sports car.

Saying that, the Z’s suspension carries the 1600kg weight well over speed humps and large impacts. With an abundance of grip felt through flowing corners, the Z also stays flat without getting upset by mid-corner bumps.

Big 355mm front brakes clamp down hard to slow the car down quickly and there’s a solid, reliable pedal feel.

This is the Z-car fans have been yearning for. It’s every bit as characterful as its predecessors, while updating key details such as the now powerful engine.

The way Nissan has incorporated looks from its Z series back catalogue is cool, and the manufacturer has done enough to make the new Z compete convincingly with its newer contemporaries such as the Toyota Supra and Ford Mustang.

While it might have strayed from sports car ideology in this generation, there remains ample performance from this grand tourer-leaning coupe, and it’s undoubtedly fast and fun on the right road.