2020 Nissan 370Z Coupe Performance

Finding a car that delivers a raw performance driving experience while offering a maintenance warranty is hard to come by these days, but the 370Z waves that banner proudly. Nissan designed its first Z car back in the sixties, with the idea of offering a no-frills, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car experience that delivered back-to-basics driving enjoyment. Absolutely nothing has changed in the past fifty years.

The 370Z still has an engine in the front that sends its power to the rear and manages to do it in a way that makes drivers think they've been teleported back in time. The 3.7-liter V6 found under the hood features a twin-intake system and delivers 332 horsepower, 270 lb-ft of torque, and a soundtrack that wouldn't seem out of place at a 1960's Goodwood Hillclimb event. Zero to sixty times around the five-second mark can be expected, but nail the perfect launch and the 370Z will dip below that barrier and will continue on to a top speed of 155 mph.

The 370Z is powered by the tried and tested 3.7-liter VQ37VHR V6 engine which features continuously variable valve timing, a twin intake system and pushes out 332 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque available at 5,200 rpm. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission which features automatic rev-matching in the Sport and 50th Anniversary models for improved downshifts. A seven-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode comes standard in the Sport Touring model.

Compared with modern turbocharged competitors like the Supra, the 370Z feels sluggish when being driven at anything other than full throttle. The engine doesn't reach peak power until around 7,000 rpm, so the car basically begs you to rev it out every chance you get. There is a joyous feeling to nailing the perfect gear change while the engine screams at high rpm but it certainly isn't faster. The manual transmission and clutch both feel heavy, so the 370Z can be slightly tiresome to drive in traffic. Having driven the automatic, we can still say without a doubt the manual is the transmission to get.

Enjoying the rawness of that V6 engine comes at a price: the 370Z will return an EPA estimated 17/26/20 mpg city/highway/combined in six-speed manual guise, while the seven-speed automatic will improve that number slightly to 19/26/22 mpg. With a 19-gallon gas tank, strict adherence to the light-foot philosophy should yield around 418 miles rang in mixed conditions. In real-world testing, the 370Z proved to be more frugal than the EPA predicted and we managed to squeeze over 30 mpg from it on the highway.