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The 2023 Nissan Z Could’ve Been Better, Chief Engineer Indirectly Admits

Presented in production-ready guise a little over a year ago, the 2023 Nissan Z could’ve been a little better. According to chief engineer Hiroshi Tamura, “carryover of parts was very important for us, and carryover means reality of affordability.” In other words, the Japanese automaker couldn’t make a case for a brand-new platform, instead choosing the FM.
 2023 Nissan Z 76 photos
Photo: Nissan
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Used by the 350Z and 370Z, the Front Midship isn’t exactly a bad platform. It’s pretty old, though. The V35-generation Infiniti G series rolled out in June 2001 for the 2003 model year, which is more than two decades ago.

Nissan further adapted the Front Midship into the Premium Midship for the R35. Speaking of which, the GT-R isn’t available in the U.S. any longer. It was also pulled out of Australia and New Zealand in October 2021 due to not meeting side impact regulations, which speaks volumes about the need for a brand-new platform for both rear- and all-wheel-drive applications.

Currently a brand ambassador due to Nissan’s rather strict retirement age rules, Tamura-san told Drive.com.au that the core structure is carried over, “save for minor suspension changes.” He further noted new bearings for the carryover manual transmission, which is joined by a torque-converter automatic of Mercedes-Benz origin. Based on the still-relevant 9G-Tronic, the JR913E is manufactured under license by Nissan subsidiary JATCO.

We could boo and hiss all day long here, but looking at the bigger picture, what did you expect from the Japanese automaker? Nissan rebounded with a net income of $1.77 billion in May 2022 from a $3.68 billion loss the previous year. The company also happens to be redirecting its R&D efforts into electrification, an expensive ordeal given the rising price of batteries.

We also have to remember the all-new Z competes with another Japanese sports car that could’ve been better, the GR Supra that Toyota developed in collaboration with German automaker BMW. Although the chassis, engine choices, and transmission choices are shared between the two, the Z4 and GR Supra couldn’t be more different from a driver’s perspective because the engineers went their separate ways early in the development process.

Clearly not perfect, the Z is a miracle for the struggling marque, given the state of sports cars in this day and age. The 370Z ended 2021 with 36 sales in the United States, down from 1,954 in 2020 and 10,215 back in 2010.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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