Nissan Z review

Right, the good news is that Nissan has kept to the idea that the Z should be a relatively affordable car, and that means the basic Sport comes in at around $40,000. Which would, at current exchange rates, weigh in at something like £31,800, with a model walk-up from there. So you’d be talking well under £40k for a Performance with all the bells’n’whistles. And that’s for a 400bhp, manual sports coupe straight out of the box. With something regular like a VW Golf R coming in at over 40k these days, that’s tremendous value for money, never mind when a Porsche Cayman is just under 50, an Alpine A110 just under 47 and a Jaguar F-Type starting at £52k. Obviously those cars still offer a different experience - especially the Alpine - but it does put the Nissan Z into some sort of context.

Unfortunately for us, emissions and efficiency issues (you’re looking at high teens mpg, realistically), mean that there are no plans to bring the Nissan Z to Europe, so you won’t be seeing very many on these shores. Someone, somewhere will undoubtedly import one for rarity value/interest if nothing else, but after taxes and duties, it’ll suddenly become quite an expensive ‘cheap’ car. Plus, with that blown V6 and fuel prices currently sitting somewhere above vintage whisky, this will not be a parsimonious car to run, even if you’re being especially mild with your right foot. The only other option? Move to America… though that might be considered a little bit extreme just to get your hands on one, even if it is one of the nicest little cars Nissan makes.