2014 NISSAN 370Z Roadster Review

You’ll have to push the V6 all the way up to 7,000 rpm to feel its full power, so you shouldn’t worry about having too much oomph though the city. Torque isn’t quite in a rush to arrive at the first touch of the pedal either. All this makes the Nissan 370Z display a “not bothered” attitude when traffic gets rough.

The fact that you have to work to extract the performance means that you’ll be able to pull occasional city sprints without breaking the law. You should mind your manners though, as the speedometer doesn’t provide too much help with this. Its enthusiastic scale makes something like 50 mph (80 km/h) seem like an innocent thing.

It’s amusing how the city seems to hide all the imperfections of this sports car. Let’s take the noise, for example, or rather lack thereof. You won’t even make yourself noticed too much when stepping on it, since the exhaust is rather shy. And whereas the wind proofing of the 370Z Roadster isn’t brilliant to say the least, driving with the top down at city speeds won’t reveal this.

Alas, the Nissan 370Z Roadster urban driving experience isn’t all bells and whistles. For one thing, the visibility is rather limited. The massive dashboard and A pillars will get in your way at times.

However, there’s no time for such details right now. We’ve reached the open road and, before we through the car at it, we have to remind ourselves of the further updates brought by the facelift.

The Nissan 370Z landed in America before Europe, but now the Sport Package-fitted US models get... Euro-tuned dampers. The same Sport package includes a Red finish for the brake calipers, as well a set of fresh 19-inch forged wheels.

Moving out of the Roadster area, we have to mention that those seeking pure performance now get a NISMO 370Z Coupe. A tweaked exhaust and new ECU software bring the output rating from 332 HP and 268 lb-ft (363 Nm) to 350 HP and 276 lb-ft (374 Nm). This is only offered with the six-speed manual, leaving the seven-speed automatic for the standard models.