Add to favorites Examiner Bio

2009 Nissan 370Z coupe introduced at Los Angeles Auto Show

There’s a new Z in town. Nissan revealed the 2009 Nissan 370Z at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It’s the first major redesign for the Z-car since it was reintroduced as a 2003 model.

 

The 2009 370Z is about as ground up new as a car can get, including wheelbase, body, engine and a lot of technical details. Scratch that. A very much lot of details. And since a new name is inspired by a new engine, that’s a good enough place to start.

As the clever reader will have divined, the 370Z’s new engine displaces 3.7 liters. Picking up 200cc is always a good start to more power, but the 26 horse boost added over the predecessor’s 3.5 liter V-6 is due mostly to a new VVEL valve system.

VVEL stands for Variable Valve Event and Lift, which is a fancy way of saying that valve opening and closing as well as overall valve lift can be varied to optimize airflow through the engine at any specific engine RPM and throttle opening.

 

The VVEL system can also open valves only slightly, reducing camshaft friction and fuel waste, both of which improve fuel efficiency. By reducing the flow-through of air, catalyst warm-up is quicker on start-up and combustion is stabilized while the engine is still cool, both of which reduce emissions.

 

On the other hand, reduced back pressure means the 370Z has a new growl, or so Nissan tells us.

 

In all, about 35 percent of the engine’s parts are new, compared to the 350Z version of the VQ six-cylinder. The VQ37VHR, as the 370Z’s engine is officially known, is rated at 332 horsepower at 7000 rpm (redline is 7500 rpm) and 270 lb-ft of torque. Nissan claims the new engine has “improved low-end power and more high-end torque,” broadening performance across the rev range and making it easier to be in the right gear.

 

Being in the right gear will be easier for those who opt for “SynchroRev Match, the world’s first rev matching manual transmission (says Nissan, but we think they’re excluding “clutchless manual” paddle-shifted transmissions). With SynchroRev Match, the driver uses the shifter and clutch as usual, except that the throttle control system revs the engine to match engine to clutch rpm. It’s an electronic heel-and-toe, and those of us who have developed that skill over years of practice don’t like that electronic cheat one bit. SynchroRev Match, a part of the Sport Package, can be turned off for those who prefer to match their own revs, but it will also raise a whole new generation of whippersnappers who will be able to downshift cleanly without having any idea what just happened. That’s a harrumph from the old f*rts side of the aisle.

 

Otherwise shift feel has been improved with reduced vibration and noise as a result of improved lubrication and, surprisingly enough, a change in the lever angle of the short-throw shifter.

 

The 370Z is also available with a seven-speed automatic transmission which comes with Downshift Rev Matching—the automatic transmission equivalent of heel-and-toe—and Adaptive Shift Control, where the transmission can “learn” a driver’s driving style and time shifts accordingly. The transmission has a “target time” of a half second between shifts in manual shifting, which can be accomplished with either the standard steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters or the conventional shift lever. The automatic also has a new torque converter lock-up logic that lets the transmission feel more direct, eliminating the torque converter slop that’s one reason automatic transmissions and sports cars usually don’t mesh. So to speak.

 

Fuel economy is identical with either transmission, estimated at 18/26 mpg city and highway, an improvement of one mpg city and two mpg highway for the automatic, and a one mpg increase in highway fuel economy with the manual transmission. Ah, a trifecta: more power, less emissions and improved fuel economy. Ain’t life grand?

 

But wait, there’s more. The Nissan 370Z is not only more powerful, it’s smaller and lighter as well. The new Z’s wheelbase is almost four inches shorter than its predecessor, at 100.4 inches versus 104.3 inches. (For comparison, the original 240Z had a 90.7 inch wheelbase).

 

(continued) 

 

Nissan took the length out of the Z by moving the rear wheels forward, basically taking length from behind the driver’s backside. Overall length was shortened by 2.7 inches, down to 167.1 inches (versus 162.8 for the 240Z). The overall width has been increased by 1.3 inches, the rear track (the distance between one rear wheel and the other) by 2.2 inches and overall height by 0.3 inches (not really enough to notice but it’s better than going the other way).

 

Having smaller external dimensions helps bring weight down (less car equals less weight, all else being equal), and Nissan also made weight saving efforts large and small. The 3009 Z has aluminum door panels for the first time and an aluminum rear hatch, plus steel reinforcements are no longer used with an all-aluminum hood.

 

Nissan was also able to chase literal pounds out of various Z-car parts. Nissan provided examples: the fuel tank was reduced by 13.9 pounds, the exhaust system by 3.8 pounds, and 3.5 excisable pounds were even found in the audio system. About 225 pounds was shaved from the 19-inch wheels, reducing overall weight and unsprung weight, a handling bonus. Consulting with Isaac Newton, Nissan lowered the engine by 0.6 inches and the driver’s hip point by 0.4 inches to lower the center of gravity. The shorter wheelbase had the side benefit of a shorter driveshaft which along with carbon fiber construction reduces rotating mass for quicker acceleration (a lighter drivetrain equivalent of a lighter flywheel).

 

Some of the found weight was put back into the car, overall body structure being revised reducing front body torsion by 30 percent. A new front suspension cradle reduces front body lateral bending. There are new rear structural reinforcements and an underbody “V-bar” reduces rear lateral bending. A carbon fiber composite radiator housing also provides stiffening. Nissan says, however, that even with all the extra strengthening, the new “body in white” (the basic body with nothing bolted to it) is still lighter than its predecessor.

 

A stiffer chassis improves handling by allowing more precise suspension travel, but the suspension was also reengineered to reduce weight, increase strength and improve camber change and lateral displacement. The lower multi-link front suspension used in the 350Z was replaced with a double A-arm arrangement using lightweight forged aluminum arms and a light and rigid aluminum-alloy cradle. Suspension engineers also specified a lighter anti-roll bar.

 

The four-link rear suspension was stiffened and lightened, and the rear cradle is now one piece rather than welded up. New shocks all around have been ride comfort through reduced friction.

 

Standard 370Z wheels and tires are 18 x 8.0-inch front and 18 x 9.0-inch five-spoke lightweight aluminum-alloy wheels with 225/50R18 front and 245/45R18 rear Yokohama ADVAN Sport maximum performance summer tires.

 

The optional Sport Package includes 19-inch RAYS forged lightweight aluminum-alloy wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A performance tires, 245/40R19 front and 275/35R19 rear.

 

Braking has been upgraded with a new variable ratio brake pedal. Nissan says it makes the “pedal stroke feel…more direct.” The standard four-wheel vented disc brakes have ABS with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist. Opting for the Sport Package upgrades to Nissan Sport Brakes with pie-plate diameter 14.0-inch front and 13.8 inch rear rotors (standard discs are 12.6 and 12.1 inches respectively) with four-piston front and two-piston rear aluminum calipers.

 

The rack-and-pinion steering has vehicle-speed-sensitive power assist has new mounting bushings and a “column insulator” that enhance response. The standard-equipment vehicle stability program has all-new logic and new electronic hardware.

A driver does not live by mechanical bits alone, however. Some accommodation must be made for driver and passenger and the 370Z is very accommodating. The 350Z’s theme of curves and scallops continues on the new Z. The gauges are larger with the tachometer still in the middle where it belongs, with the speedometer to the right. Individual pods with oil temperature, voltmeter and clock sit dashtop, a Z-car icon.

 

Nissan recontoured the 370Z’s steering wheel for improved comfort and control while the manual shifter was redesigned with padding in different areas “to improve the accuracy of diagonal shifts and to feel softer in the hand for forward and backward motions.” At least that’s what they say.

 

Nissan made the driver’s seat different from the passenger’s, providing cut-outs on the sides where the thighs rest, thus eliminating interference when the driver operates the pedals. Both seats have anti-slip surfaces, whether the woven cloth standard model’s seats or the power-adjustable leather-appointed seats standard on the Touring trim level. (Note: “Leather-appointed” means only some surfaces are leather from bovine sources rather than from a test tube).

 

Owners of the 350Z will be pleased that a reinforcement brace no longer blocks the cargo area, replaced by other structural reinforcements, and there’s also a new “shelf” behind the seats.

 

Even in base trim the Nissan 370Z is quite well equipped. Standard features include a proximity key with pushbutton start, one-touch auto up/down power windows, automatic climate control, and an AM/FM/CD/AUX four-speaker audio system with illuminated steering wheel controls.

 

The upgrade 370Z Touring adds standard four-way power-adjustable heated sport seats with synthetic suede and real leather surfaces, six-CD Bose audio system with eight speakers (including dual subwoofers), MP3/WMA playback, satellite radio and Bluetooth.

 

An optional navigation package includes a nav system with XM NavTraffic with traffic information, 9.3BG Music Box hard drive and interface system for iPod.

 

For a sports car enthusiast, there’s little to not like about the 2009 Nissan 370Z, at least not from a distance…and other than the fact that we’re not driving one. It’s worse for roadster enthusiasts, however. The Nissan 370Z Roadster  won’t arrive until the 2010 model year, though the 350Z Roadster will continue to be available through the 2009 model year. In the meantime, the wait is until January, 2009, until the new 2009 Nissan 370Z really is the new Z in town.