The Comeback of the Legend

Taking into account the price, Nissan 350Z is one of the best offers in the segment of sport-coupe. The car has recently undergone some minor renovations and I couldn’t resist depriving myself of the pleasure to take it on a test.

At first, let’s find out the innovations.
Basically, the power of the engine has been increased by 20 HP, but on the other hand, the torque has been reduced to 10 N m; as a result, the torque curve has become smoother, which leads to a better elasticity of the transmission. This is because the design of the engine has been optimized, for instance, there have been applied new pistons, camshaft cams, a new intake manifold with a large flow section and a shorter inlet section.
The oil pump and timing chain have also been improved. The squeezing out of some extra 20HP in such a complex manner is a typical Japanese approach, isn’t it?

The exterior hasn’t changed very much. The shape of the lights is the same, but the content is new: the taillights are equipped with LEDs (42 pieces in each lamp), the shape of the headlights are slightly corrected. The bumpers also got modified, but almost unnoticeably.
In the salon there are much more soft plastics. The dashboard design has also been improved (indications are read more easily). The buttons of emergency lights and heated seats have moved to a different location.
Well, the innovation list for a car which has been on an assembly line for more than four years is quite impressive.

Can I feel the difference on the go?
When leaving the parking lot, I noticed that the steering wheel was not as heavy as that of the previous version at a low speed. There is one more innovation in the steering system: power steering with a variable gear ratio. This system was specially designed with an aim at parking speeds. The steering wheel got heavier and heavier as I accelerated the car, and the reactions of the car to its movements were no different from the pre-modified version.
To be continued…