Nissan unveiled the Z Proto concept today, as the Japanese carmaker finally prepares to launch a replacement for the 370Z sports car. Shown at a virtual event hosted at the Nissan Pavilion in Yokohama, the prototype car features a new retro-themed design inside and out, as well as a V6 twin-turbocharged engine with a manual transmission.
Nissan’s well-known performance brand, Nismo, made its Middle East debut at a launch event in Dubai. It is the first time that an entire line of Nismo models are offered in the UAE and other GCC countries.
It’s not easy to drift. No, doing doughnuts in a parking lot or sliding out your tail in a left turn is not drifting. My skills are limited to initially mild slides and catching them, hence why I’ve never run a car into a tree in a decade of driving. But drifting requires a precise level of control over the steering, the throttle and occasionally the handbrake, continuously. It’s something that I’ve tried my hand at, in closed parking lots mind you, and mostly failed, except with that one car back in 2007 which had balance so perfect that I was able to hold a few drifts for a few seconds at a time.
There is a Nissan 370Z doing the rounds at events, dressed up in Dubai Ambulance livery. This is the first time we’ve had a close look at it.
Nissan Middle East set a new Guinness World Records title for the longest twin-vehicle drifting. Two Nissan Z cars drifted around a track at the same time without stopping for 28.52 km. The record was set in the second attempt during the launch of the Nissan 370Z Drift Experience in Dubai.
Nissan’s UAE dealer, Arabian Automobiles, reports that sales of the Nissan 370Z have increased by “750%” after its “repositioning” in the market this year in terms of price. That’s basically a roundabout way of admitting they had overpriced the car to Porsche Cayman levels for the past several years, and have now brought it down to realistic levels after following the Toyota 86’s lead.
The Nissan 370Z lineup may have just received some slight tweaks for 2013, but their tuning wing ‘Nismo’ is making it sportier by giving a few more upgrades for 2014. The new Nissan Nismo 370Z debuted at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show.
Nissan turned the sports-car world upside-down with the 350Z a decade ago. Affordable, powerful and stunningly styled, the reborn Z was very popular, and could be found on every street corner of the UAE. And then the 370Z came out a few years ago, a smaller much-better car, and priced as much as a Porsche Boxster in this region. When was the last time you saw a 370Z on the road? However, Nissan has taken the initiative and cut the price down for the facelifted 2013 version — by 30%!
When we first read about the Nissan Juke-R, we dismissed it as a publicity stunt. Built by race engineering shop RML in the United Kingdom with the blessing of Nissan Europe as a one-off project, we figured they’d never put to use the two cars they built. But then we hear they did some track-testing in Europe. And then we hear that they were bringing the cars to Dubai to use as a pace car for the Dunlop 24-hour race in Dubai. And then we hear they’re filming a viral video as well as flying in international journalists to drive it here.
We never even touched the 350Z. We didn’t drive the 370Z Coupe either. And we never asked for the 370Z Roadster. However, we never say no when we get offered a car, so we took this Nissan drop-top you see here for a spin. Trouble is, with 16,000 km on the clock, everybody and their mother has already test-abused this car, so we’re guessing it wasn’t the most ideal representation of what a “Z” car is supposed to be.