Nissan's Zed car goes topless

A new Nissan roadster has arrived in New Zealand. Driven through the lonely roads of Otago and Southland, it's a sensation, ROB MAETZIG says.

We are on the roads around Moa Flat, south of Roxburgh, with big, sweeping bends and tricky brows as you charge up one side of the hill, and equally involving corners and brows down the other side.

We are in the ideal car in which to make this drive, the new Nissan 370Z Roadster, the top down.

The noise of the sports car's 3.7-litre V6 engine combines with a rush of open-top air and the roar coming from 19-inch tyres.

The big V6 produces a muscular 245 kilowatts of power and 363 newton metres of torque, and for New Zealand, the engine is mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission, able to be operated manually via paddles on the steering wheel. And the front midships rear- drive platform gives the car an engaging handling personality.

The new Nissan retails for $81,000, which is a lot of money for any two-seater, but it immediately impresses as a genuine competitor against more expensive European roadsters such as the BMW Z4, Audi TT and Porsche Boxster.

The new 370Z Roadster is quite a bit different to the 350Z Roadster. Built on exactly the same floorpan as the 370Z Coupe we have had in New Zealand since last year, it is shorter, wider, and with a 100-millimetre shorter wheelbase.

Whereas the model it replaces had a hip that flowed smoothly over the rear wheel arches, this new version has a distinctively muscular bulge over the rear wheels that helps give it a pacey look, almost as if the Nissan is squatting down on its haunches, poised to get up and go.

There is big use of aluminium in the bonnet, doors and boot, and there are other lighter materials and components in the body structure and mechanical layout. The end result is a new roadster that is 45 kilograms lighter than the 350Z version, and despite a lot more stiffening in the A pillars and side sills, it is only 49kg heavier than the coupe version.

Despite that lightish weight, the Roadster feels substantial. Climb into the car and it is immediately obvious it is strictly a two-seater, with just a little room behind the two seats to place a jacket. But it is very comfortable, with well-bolstered seats sunk 10mm closer to the floor than before in an effort to enhance the Nissan's race car feeling.

When the soft top is up, there is a feeling of good quality, thanks to a fabric inner liner that also helps reduce noise intrusion, and the rear window is glass with an integrated demister. But the Roadster looks even better when the button has been pulled and the roof has electronically folded down and stowed itself into a compartment just forward of the boot - it takes 20 seconds.

When the roof is down, there is a glass wind deflector in place between the seats to help reduce wind turbulence, and when the side windows are also up, it all works well to the extent that things are nicely comfortable at 100kmh.

At that stage, the only really intrusive noise is the road coming from the tyres, but you can get over that by driving with enthusiasm.

This latest 3.7-litre development of Nissan's famed VQ engine has 35 per cent new components, and not only is it now more powerful and with a higher rev limit, but it also offers more bottom-end power and a wider spread of torque.

A major change is adoption of what is known as variable valve event and lift (VVEL), which continually alters valve lift and therefore the quantity of air in the combustion chamber, all in the interests of giving more powerful combustion.

The engine really performs.

A manual version isn't available here. Nissan New Zealand says more than 75 per cent of all 370Z sales are automatics, so there isn't much point in bringing the manuals in.

The new roadster's shorter wheelbase improves its agility, while its wider track enhances grip, and that gives the vehicle excellent handling. Helping things along are a viscous limited slip differential and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), combining traction control and stability control.

Topping off the package are big brakes - 355mm at the front and 350mm at the rear - which, believe me, are sometimes needed.

Nissan New Zealand hopes to sell up to 40 Roadsters a year. One of the first sales has been a bright-red model to a customer in Alexandra. I hope he takes it for regular runs at Moa Flat. It deserves nothing less.

- © Fairfax NZ News