Nissan 400Z design locked in

Whether you love it or hate it, the new Nissan Z Proto design is essentially what you’ll see when the production car – the long-anticipated Nissan 400Z sports car – arrives in Australia late next year.

The Nissan Z Proto is not a concept to gauge public response to the design; that much was confirmed by Nissan’s global CEO Makoto Uchida during the vehicle’s premiere in Japan this week.

“The Z Proto you see here is not a concept. The look of this is close to final, and the vehicle has been engineered for aerodynamics and body rigidity,” he said.

Nissan’s chief designer Alfonso Albaisa added: “What you see basically has gone through the [research and development] process and it’s something that we love and we feel is right and now the engineers are going to [adjust] very small things.”

The small changes expected to be made include modifications like side gills or bonnet vents to improve thermal dynamics in the engine bay, for example.

As Albaisa explained, Nissan’s engineering team will now “own” the vehicle, making only minor modifications to the design as required to balance the twin-turbo V6 powertrain and chassis.

“We often discuss this ‘passing the baton’ to our engineers, because the engineers now own it and are finishing and fine-tuning and doing all of these things,” he said.

In a regional interview with the automotive media from his home base in Yokohama, Japan, the Nissan design chief detailed how the early-1970s Datsun/Nissan 240Z and late-1980s Nissan 300ZX influenced various design elements on the all-new Z, while the more modern 350Z/370Z donated their square grille.

The public response to the Nissan Z Proto design has been mixed.

The car’s profile has been generally praised but there have been vitriolic comments lobbed at the square grille, which some have argued looks incongruous against a backdrop of retro styling.

However, the sheer number of views on websites and social media the new Nissan Z Proto is generating globally suggests there is massive interest in the car, which when it launches as the 400Z next year is expected to outpower its main rival, the Toyota Supra, and also undercut it on price.

The current Nissan 370Z is priced at $50,490 plus on-road costs, but given the new 400Z is packing a rocket launcher not a ‘pea-shooter’ anymore – in the form of a twin-turbo V6 engine – the new model is likely to cost around $70,000.

Nissan’s design boss said it was clear from the start that the next-generation Z35-series sports car had to be more powerful, and although he wouldn’t be drawn on engine specifics and power levels, he implied the powertrain has been locked in as well.

“Right away when we created our concepts we knew what we wanted to do – and engineers, they did what they do and put things together,” he said.

“And it’s best probably not to talk about drivetrains – they won’t even let us tell you how many litres are in this twin-turbo!

“So I can’t talk about any other kind of things, or you’d see a big hook and I’d get dragged right off camera,” he laughed.

“The selection of the name Proto is important. It’s not really a concept car, this is a vehicle we’ve been developing with our engineers – the chassis, the structure, all these things.

“The paint is more than dry,” he said.