Nissan 370Z GT Pack Auto review

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Nissan 370Z 3.7 V6 GT Auto Road Test

Test date 20 July 2009 Price as tested TBA

For Muscular styling and pace, value, honest steering response, paddle-shift ’box

Against Tyre rumble,engine unrefined at high revs, thirsty when driven hard

Both in its spirit and in its execution, the Nissan 370Z is very much a natural progression from the old, much-loved 350Z.

Although its styling is more modern and arguably more striking than before, it clearly emanates from the same gene pool and has similar proportions to those of its predecessor.

You could easily make the assumption that Nissan has adhered to an age-old rule of car design in this instance – the one that says that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Except that there are several important areas in which Nissan has improved the 370Z, mainly to make it better and/or less raucous to drive.

As a result, there is an all-new 3.7-litre V6 engine in the nose, and it is attached to a new seven-speed paddle-shift automatic gearbox in the case of the GT Pack car tested here. Nissan claims also to have improved the Zed’s refinement in every respect.

At the same time, however, the company has tried hard to keep the old car’s unashamedly butch personality intact. The question is: has Nissan succeeded?