When Nissan first rolled out the Z Nismo a few years back, we were all very excited about its more aggressive looks and stronger performance numbers, but something was missing: a manual transmission. You see, every Z Nismo shipped with Nissan’s less-than-thrilling nine-speed automatic, but that’s about to change. During an interview on an Automotive News podcast, Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier said the company will soon add a six-speed manual to the Z Nismo.
During the interview, he discussed several upcoming Nissan models, including “a Nismo manual transmission,” but he didn’t add much other than that. Nissan has been on a bit of a hot streak lately. It’s bringing back the Xterra, returning the Pathfinder to a body-on-frame chassis, getting ready to release the new Leaf, and coming out with a manual Infiniti sports sedan, plus it just released two really neat QX80 concept vehicles. Who knew Nissan had it in ’em?
Of course, all of these plans rest squarely on the back of Nissan’s newly minted CEO, Ivan Espinosa. It remains to be seen if stuff like this — and everything else Nissan has planned for the future — will actually come to fruition, but one thing is certain: Espinosa is hitting the ground running. He sort of has to. Nissan doesn’t have much else to lose.
NISMO YEAH
If we had to guess, the Z Nismo with share a manual transmission with the regular Nissan Z, though it’ll probably be beefed up ever so slightly to handle the extra 20 horsepower and 34 pound-feet of torque its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 makes over the standard car. All in all, the motor puts out a very respectable 420 hp and 394 lb-ft of torque. With numbers like that, the automatic-equipped Z Nismo can hit 60 mph in a Car and Driver-tested 3.9 seconds. The manual will almost certainly be slower, but who the hell cares? If you do, please touch grass, I beg of you.
Other goodies the Nismo gets over the standard Z are a limited-slip differential, a stiffer suspension setup, stronger brakes and that aforementioned aggressive bodywork. All in all, it’s a nice little performance package that helps you stand out in a sea of Zs. OK, to be fair, with how the Z is selling, it’s more of a pond of Zs, but you get the idea.
There’s no word on exactly when we can expect the Z Nismo manual to hit the streets, but the second it arrives, you all better show up at that dealership with cash in hand. We all remember when everyone on Al Gore’s internet complained and said they’d buy one if it had a manual transmission. Well, here you go, dammit. Go get it.
