2023 Nissan Z Automatic Review

It’s been a tough few years for the sports car market. Many offerings have simply left the market thanks to lack of demand and thanks to everybody’s obsession with SUVs. Still selling – let alone developing a new model – a sports car in today’s market is something to be celebrated. Enter the 2023 Nissan Z, which is the latest in a long line of Nissan’s Z sports car heritage, a new model offering big performance gains over the 370Z it replaces. If you’re after a sports car, is it worth your dosh? Let’s find out.

Sports cars are few and far between these days and there is only really one main rival to the Nissan Z: the Toyota Supra, though the new Ford Mustang will provide serious competition when it arrives next year. Like the Z, the Supra uses a turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine, a rear-wheel drive layout, manual or automatic transmissions and a tiny bit of practicality.

Price & Equipment: 9/10

Interestingly these days choosing between a manual and an automatic in performance cars does not change the price of the car. The 2023 Nissan Z is priced at $73,300 plus on road costs (roughly $80,000 drive away, depending on location), no matter whether you choose the manual or the automatic.

The Z comes with a decently long standard equipment list. This includes a staggered 19-inch wheel setup, keyless entry with push button start, electric-folding mirrors, dusk-sensing automatic all-LED lighting, a suede and leather-accented interior, heated and four-way electrically adjustable seats with manual lumbar and seat base angle adjustment for the driver, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, two USB ports, an eight-speaker Bose sound system, a mechanical limited-slip differential, launch control and paddle shifters for automatic variants, downshift rev-matching for manuals and active noise cancellation and active sound enhancement to both lessen road noise and pump engine noise into the cabin. 

The Z offers a reasonable safety equipment list with six airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, auto high beam, speed sign recognition, tyre pressure monitoring, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

Features missing from the Z include lane keeping assistance, satellite navigation, a rear wiper (the 370Z the Z replaces and shares its body with had this), auto-folding mirrors, wireless smartphone mirroring, automatic wipers and dual-zone climate control.

The 2023 Nissan Z’s main rival is the Toyota Supra, which is priced from $87,000 plus on-road costs for the entry-level GT. The Supra adds auto wipers, dual-zone automatic climate control, an extra airbag, rear AEB, Matrix automatic high beam functionality, satellite navigation, auto-folding mirrors, a 10-speaker sound system and electric lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat to the Z’s standard equipment list. But do we think the extra equipment is worth the extra $13,700 before on-road costs are added? Absolutely not.

As for other sporty coupes available for under $100,000, you could buy a Subaru BRZ, a Toyota GR86, a Ford Mustang or an Audi TT, but that’s it. The under $100k coupe market really is few and far between.

Engine & Performance: 9/10

Powering the 2023 Nissan Z is a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6 engine known as the ‘VR30DDTT’, which has been seen before in a few Infiniti products previously and is rumoured to power the next-generation Nissan Patrol SUV. In the Z, it produces 298kW of power (at 6,450rpm) and 475Nm of torque (between 1,600rpm and 5,600rpm). As you’d expect for a sports car, it sends its power solely to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or our test car’s nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission. Nissan doesn’t quote a 0-100km/h time, but in real life, it feels comfortably under the five second mark. Top speed? In overseas markets, it’s limited to 250km/h.

While it’s not the most characterful, the Z’s engine is very strong and muscular. Peak torque hits at just 1,600rpm and stays throughout the rev range just before peak power kicks in. Even despite its relatively porky 1,589kg tare weight, the Z feels very fast. There’s a touch of turbo lag, but one they kick in, it’s properly rapid. It’s especially impressive compared to its 370Z predecessor, which wasn’t slow, but feels it in comparison to the new Z.

Our test car was fitted with the no-cost optional nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission, which we were generally quite impressed with. While not dual-clutch fast, its shifts are quick, decisive and it’s a generally painless transmission to use. Its lovely big paddle shifters are also a joy to use and they provide crisp downshifts when you’re on it. Having said that, like we recently said with the Toyota GR86 GT automatic, cars like this should always be fitted with a manual transmission.

The automatic 2023 Nissan Z has a claimed average fuel consumption figure of 9.8L/100km with CO2 emissions rated at 227g/km. It is worth noting that a car with this much performance on tap is not going to be economical, though in our week with the Z, we saw a very reasonable 8.9L/100km with a mixture of urban and some highway driving stints.

Ride & Handling: 9/10

While the Z’s styling might suggest that it’s a corner-carving, Nurburgring lap time-chasing hardcore sports coupe, it’s not like that in real life. There’s no doubt that it’s fast and fun, but the Toyota Supra – or its lesser GR86 and its BRZ twin – are noticeably sharper and give more of a driver’s feel. The Z offers a compromise however: it’s very comfortable, even on rougher roads. Its ride is firm but well damped and it’s definitely more of a grand tourer cruiser than an all-out track star. In our opinion, that makes it all the better and definitely in line with Z models of the past.

So it’s not as sharp as a Supra, but it’s more comfortable. Do we have any complaints? Really, our only complaint with the dynamic package is the relatively odd steering, which doesn’t offer enough feel or the weighting that you’d expect for a sports car – especially in comparison with the meaty steering fitted to the 370Z that came before it. More weight and feel would give more of a connection with the driver, in our view. The Z’s rear vision is not great, neither is its road noise levels, but its active safety kit is well tuned and provides a helping hand if needed.

Interior & Practicality: 7/10

As you’d expect for a sporty coupe, the interior design of the 2023 Nissan Z is very performance oriented and the bucket seats and centre dash-mounted gauges make you feel like you are in something special. While the Nissan Z looks completely different to the outgoing Nissan 370Z, it is ultimately a very heavy facelift and part of that is shown through the interior: the door handles, heated seat controls, indicator and wiper stalks and the key fob are all carried over from the outgoing model.

In a nod to the 370Z’s era of interior quality, the quality throughout the cabin of the 2023 Nissan Z is quite good. There are some hard plastics throughout but the dash is soft to the touch, the seats are covered in leather and alcantara and the steering wheel feels like a quality item. Storage throughout the interior is rather sparse, however. There is a centre console with a 12-volt power outlet, two small cup holders, a large glove box, small door pockets and some storage in front of the gear selector where two USB charging ports lie.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen in the centre of the Z’s dash uses Nissan’s older infotainment software and is easy to use, though it could offer more features. The lack of inbuilt satellite navigation is disappointing but the wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto did work well. The rear view camera quality could be nicer too– we hope Nissan’s latest infotainment system makes it to the Z soon.

No rear seats are on offer in the 2023 Nissan Z, but opening the tailgate reveals a 241-litre boot, which is less than the 290-litres on offer in the Toyota Supra. The Z’s boot is quite shallow with a high floor and no side or underfloor storage space. The 370Z also had a space-saver spare wheel – the Z, however, does not.

Service & Warranty: 8.5/10

Like all other Nissan models in Australia, the Z comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is on par with what is offered on the Supra (though the Toyota features up to seven years of mechanical warranty if serviced through a Toyota dealer). The Z also comes with five years of roadside assistance – the Supra comes with no roadside assistance at all.

Servicing the Z occurs 12 months or 10,000km, which is more often than the Supra which only needs to be serviced every 12-months or 15,000km. The cost to service the Z over the span of five years or 50,000km is $2,513 ($502.60 per year), which is less affordable than the Supra’s $2,075 equivalent cost ($415 per service).

2023 Nissan Z Coupe DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.5/10

The Nissan Z is a car that you buy with your heart, not your head. You buy it for the pedigree, the performance and the styling – but not for its equipment list or lack of practicality. We overall think the 2023 Nissan Z is a great car and above everything else, celebrate its existence in a world that’s obsessed with SUVs and electrification.

Sure its handling could be sharper, its steering could offer more feel, it could feature more equipment and it could feel more modern. But it’s great value compared to its main rival, it’s very quick, it offers great comfort from behind the wheel and above all else, it makes you feel special. Is the 2023 Nissan Z worthy of its famous badge? Absolutely – buy one before they stop making it.