This is the Nissan 370Z Roadster, officially unveiled ahead of the New York motor show.
The convertible Nissan 370Z has an electrically powered soft-top rather than a folding hard-top, in order to keep weight down and reduce complexity. The standard Roadster weighs 1554kg, while the Touring model weighs 1586kg. That's about a 100kg weight gain over the coupe.
Nissan says the roof was designed with three aims: to provide a silhouette that matches the coupe's, to offer a roof that opens and closes at the push of a button and to keep wind turbulence to a minimum.
The black cloth top is lined with an inner fabric to reduce noise intrusion, while the rear glass window is larger than on the 350Z Roadster, and heated. It takes approximately 20 seconds to open or close and is operated by a button located on the centre console or door handles. Boot space is limited, however, at 118 litres.
To ensure that occupants are kept comfortable roof up or down, the seats - which are higher backed than the coupe's and are unique to the Roadster - have heating and cooling functions.
The Touring Roadster adds kit such as a Bose CD audio system, digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity and aluminium trimmed pedals. While standard Roadsters are only available with a black cloth interior, Touring buyers can choose between grey, black or white leather.
Touring buyers can also opt for a sports package, which includes 19-inch forged aluminium wheels, SynchroRev Match (a manual gearbox which blips the throttle automatically on downshifts) and a limited-slip differential, and a navigation package. Touring buyers can also opt for larger front and rear brakes - 35.5cmx3.3cm on the front and 35cmx2.03cm on the rear.
The 370Z Roadster is available in seven colours: red, black, silver, platinum, white, blue and black cherry.
Powered by the same 3.7-litre V6 as the coupe, the Nissan 370Z Roadster has 327bhp and 268lb ft of torque. Buyers have a choice of a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearbox.
The 370Z Roadster will go on sale in the UK late this year, with prices starting from around £29,000.
Nissan NISMO 370Z
The Nissan 370Z Roadster was unveiled in New York alongside a NISMO version of the 370Z, which won't go on sale in the UK.
It is powered by a 3.7-litre V6 with 345bhp and 276lb ft of torque. Although this is only moderately more than the standard car offers, Nissan says a reconfigured exhaust system improves its upper-end power output. The NISMO 370Z is only on sale with a six-speed manual gearbox.
Other performance enhancing features include retuned four-wheel independent multi-link suspension, a viscous limited-slip differential, uprated brakes, a strut brace to improve body rigidity and a set of performance dampers. It also has what Nissan calls "body dampers". These are tiny shock absorbers mounted on the front rail and below the boot to help cut vibration through the body from the car's frame.
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