Topless, but not as sexy 370Z

She looks good from almost any angle.

Like its 350Z predecessor, the new 370Z is a stunning Coupé, both in looks and performance. In fact, it's such a wonderful, well-balanced performer that it has already been dubbed The Poor Man's GTR.

But now on to the stage struts its soft-top sibling and although it shares 90% of its gene pool with the metal top Coupé, no matter how hard it tries, the cloth top Roadster somehow doesn't have quite the same magical appeal as the metal top.

Not that there is anything lacking under the bonnet where you will find the same 3.7-litre 24-valve quad cam V6 power-mill that serves the Coupé so excitingly well.

It's just not the same

The figures for the two versions are identical: 245kW and 363Nm, 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds (in the manual) and 5.8 seconds in the automatic and a top speed electronically governed to 250km/h.

But from there onwards the Coupé surges ahead in the sexy stakes. Traditionally a roadster/convertible/cabriolet should look cool, whether its soft top is up or down, but this doesn't quite work for the 370Z.

The Coupe's elegantly slanting, handsomely sculpted roof just suits it to perfection. It gives the car an upmarket ambience which is almost on par with much more expensive Italian and German sports cars.

While the Roadster is true to sports car tradition of open-air performance motoring it seems to lack presence. Park the 370Z Roadster next to the 370Z Coupé and it's a bit like comparing a local top retail brand to Yves Saint Laurent....

The only problem is that with the top down, you may need to lose your voice or use hand signals to chat to your partner.

But it's more than just cosmetics that set the two apart, as I found out recently while encouraging the new Roadster to grow horns along some fairly quiet, fast back roads and a mountain pass or two in the Boland.

Within the first few kilometers the Roadster made it quite clear that it much prefers perfectly smooth tarmac to even slightly worn roads.

When pushed hard the Roadster becomes a little bouncy and twitchy-bummed in the twisties. Unlike the Coupé, this car is not a relaxing drive when you keep the pedal to the metal.

An 'airy' feeling

The steering tends to lighten up as the speed increases and bonnet tends to feel a little floaty on long straights and through long, sweeping bends.

The reasons for this probably are because the car is considerably lighter (about 120kg) than the previous model and not only shorter, but also a little faster. Over-inflated 19-inch rubbers might also have contributed to the Roadster's feeling of airiness.

Nissan has also done some high-tech work on the suspension (much too long and technical to go into detail here) to make it lighter and stiffer and this too might be making its presence felt on patchy South African roads.

But having said that, the torsional stiffness has been increased by 45% at the front and by 40% at the rear, so there is no hint of the shiver and shake disease so many open sports cars suffer from.

However, where the Roadster really looses Brownie points is when the strip shows commences. It takes just 20 seconds after the press of a button for the cloth roof to open and fold away out of sight.

But then, alas, wind, road and engine noise become intrusive to the point where conversation between driver and passenger becomes a hand-waving, shrugging, shouting encounter.

A wind deflector certainly reduces some turbulence but it certainly doesn't eliminate it.

But then, hey, this is wind-in-your hair stuff and two-door sports cars are made for fun and not for finesse. You have to feel the wind, smell the exhaust fumes and thrill to the aural symphony of its finely tuned V6 thundering in pleasure to really appreciate what this Roadster is all about.

They'll never be mass sellers

As they say in the classics: "If it all becomes too much, turn up the volume of the radio..."

Although quite popular, the 370Z (and the 350Z before it) are never going to be mass sellers and Nissan will be very happy to land and sell about 200 of the new Coupés and Roadsters a month.

Interesting enough, Nissan expects 40% of sales to be Roadsters, most of them automatics, in line with the general tendency in South Africa.

Having said that, the hard-core driving enthusiasts will probably prefer the Coupé and opt for the manual over the automatic version.

Like the metal-top, the new Roadster will be available with either a seven-speed automatic or a six-speed manual (which, Nissan claims, is the only manual transmission in the world with downshift rev matching for perfect racing gear changes).

She's lively - but she knows when to stop!

The manual version of the Roadster had not arrived by the time local motoring media got to drive the new 370Z so we had to be content with playing with the steering wheel flappies or leaving it up to its own auto-brain devices.

Not much wrong with that. The auto shift is creamy and rapid, illustrated by the minimal 0,3 seconds time difference between the auto and the manual in the zero to 100km/h sprint.

A mid-mounted engine putting power down to the rear wheels is a simple recipe for driving fun and this car does it particularly well - and for considerably less pain at the till.

One of the most outstanding characteristics of the sporty Z cars has always been its brakes and the stopping power of the new 370 is phenomenal, to say the least.

Nice layout, but a pity about the steering column.

click to enlarge

Braking performance has been enhanced with larger diameter ventilated discs front and rear and the adoption of a variable ratio brake pedal which provides more movement for easier control at low speeds and a firmer pedal feel when the coals are being poured on.

The new system is also designed to cope with sustained heavy usage, such as on track days, without fading and the brake pad material has been upgraded to last longer.

Stopping power is further enhanced by a full complement of electronic safety aids such as ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA).

Nice kit

Also comforting to know that the Roadster is equipped with six airbags, including side curtain airbags.

Nissan says its Roadster outshines some of its major competitors by between R20 000 and R60 000 in a full specification comparison.

And the Roadster certainly has much to be proud of with standard kit that includes 19-inch alloy wheels, engine stop/start button, electrically adjustable leather seats, Bluetooth connectivity, remote phone and audio controls mounted on the steering wheel, wind deflector and Bi-xenon lights.

The Roadster also comes standard with a premium digital 6 CD/MP3 audio system, with 8 Bose speakers, 2 sub woofers and IPOD compatibility.

Like most true sports car interiors the cabin of the Roadster is an intimate place with dials and switches where you would logically expect them to be.

The soft pads on the central transmission tunnel protect occupants' knees during enthusiastic driving and I liked the big centrally-positioned rev counter and three separate hooded dials (including an oil temperature gauge) sitting centrally on the top of the dashboard and angled towards the driver.

But at the end of the day... it's the Coupé

The generous list of standard equipment features climate control, auto-dimming rear view mirror, automatic interior temperature control with in-cabin micro-filler, power heated leather seats with slide resistant cloth inserts, a viscous limited slip differential and an energy absorbing steering column.

Sadly, the steering column is not fully adjustable...

Available as an option on both the Coupé and Roadster is Nissan premium infotainment and advanced 40GB Satellite Navigation system with a user friendly interface and high quality WVGA touch screen. Features include DVD playback, USB and auxiliary inputs for audio and video, 9.3GB storage for music recorded from CD and Bluetooth® audio streaming.

The new Roadster is a full-house power and fun package, as impressive under the whip over a mountain pass as it is toddling off to work in the morning - and with its appealing price tag this 370Z is a seriously attractive package.

I like it, but I still prefer the Coupé, any day.

The full range of 370Z models and prices (which include a three-year/90 000 km service plan and a three-year/100 000 km warranty) are:

Specifications