Confirmed: Nissan Shows Upcoming Z-Car With Manual Transmission

by Matt Posky

Updated: September 14th, 2021

confirmed nissan shows upcoming z car with manual transmission

Nissan has issued another teaser for the impending 400Z with clear intent to alleviate any confusion created by the previous marketing materials. We said it looked like the company planned on offering the sports coupe with a manual transmission and are required to revise our claim. It’s now blatantly obvious that Nissan is planning on producing be-clutched examples. We can only assume that Nissan’s marketing department noticed that everyone had started to catch onto the possibility of there being a manual option in its last posting and simply decided to remove all doubt.

One can even imagine the video conference where management tells the person editing the clips to throw in a bare shot of the gear selector this time. Nissan knows few customers will actually buy one but that the automotive press can’t help but mention the last of a dying breed. Some of us wake up in a cold sweat nightly, haunted by the knowledge that carefully using two appendages to change gears isn’t something future generations are going to put up with.

Until then, it remains the more engaging option on sporting vehicles. It’s just not particularly practical in an era where less than 20 percent of Americans can actually drive stick. The rest of Nissan’s teaser was devoted to playing a guessing game where listeners attempted to determine which V6 would be used. Will it be the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 sourced from the company’s luxury arm? Maybe the 3.8-liter that’s in the GT-R will come into play.

We can’t really say and aren’t planning to use another shadowy teaser to make assertions of items that aren’t spelled out for us. Besides, the manufacturer will be showing us the prototype on September 16th. After living for months in relative isolation to avoid getting coughed on, waiting another week to see a car is going to be a breeze.

https://twitter.com/NissanMotor/status/1303981539534008322

[Image: Nissan]

#400Z #Nissan #Nissan400Z #NissanMotorCo #ProtoZ #SportCoupe #Teaser #Z-car

Matt Posky

Consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulations. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, he has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed about the automotive sector by national broadcasts, participated in a few amateur rallying events, and driven more rental cars than anyone ever should. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and learned to drive by twelve. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer and motorcycles.

More by Matt Posky

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 28 comments

Notapreppie on Sep 10, 2020

If they put the VR30DDTT, it'll be an interesting car. Given its low volume, I don't expect them to maintain two trim levels with a turbo-4 alongside a turbo-6. But the turbo-6 gives them the flexibility to have two levels of horsepower with minimum difference between them.

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- Corey Lewis on Sep 10, 2020
  
  The image I found above confirms the VR30TT.
  
  Like
- Art Vandelay on Sep 11, 2020
  
  It's almost like I have seen this somewhere before...A Twin Turbo 3.0 and a non turbo version. Can't for the life of me remember what car that was. on a totally unrelated note, I really wish they had used the Z32 car as the source of inspiration for the "retroness" of this car. I don't hate it, but I'd be writing preorder checks for something that looked like that but was as least as reliable as a modern Nissan, which for all of my love of my time with a Z32 would be a step up.
  
  Like
Slavuta on Sep 11, 2020

"Maybe the 3.8-liter that’s in the GT-R will come into play." No. Hand maid engine in this?? I am thinking. Should I succumb to another Nissan? Remembering 240sx, all that car was missing is more power

Like Reply

Recent Comments

FreedMike Meanwhile...Tesla's market share and YTD sales continue to decline, in an EV market that just set yet another quarterly sales record. Earth to Musk: stop with the political blather, stop with the pie-in-the-sky product promises, and start figuring out how to do a better job growing your business with good solid product that people want. Instead of a $30,000 self driving taxi that depends on all kinds of tech that isn't anywhere near ready for prime time, how about a $30,000 basic EV that depends on tech you already perfected? That will build your business; showing up at Trump rallies won't.
28-Cars-Later "Here in Washington state they want to pass a law dictating what tires you can buy or not." Uh, waht?
Tassos NEVER. All season tires are perfectly adequate here in the Snowbelt MI. EVEN if none of my cars have FWD or AWD or 4WD but the most challenging of all, RWD, as all REAL cars should.
Gray Here in Washington state they want to pass a law dictating what tires you can buy or not. They want to push economy tires in a northern state full of rain and snow. Everything in my driveway wears all terrains. I'm not giving that up for an up to 3 percent difference.
1995 SC I remember when Elon could do no wrong. Then we learned his politics and he can now do no right. And we is SpaceX always left out of his list of companies?