Nismo 370Z S-Tune

The latest Z-car as decorated by NISMO—for Japan. Will we see these parts in the States?

BY DAVID GLUCKMAN
December 2008

NISMO, Nissan’s in-house tuning arm, is responsible for producing variants of various vehicles as well as a line of performance parts. So when we first caught wind of a Nissan 370Z (or Fairlady Z as it’s called in its homeland) all decked out NISMO-style—leaked images have been clogging the Internet’s many tubes, including at the370Z.com—the possibility of improvements to what we’ve found to be an already-potent performance package intrigued us. After all, Nissan offered a NISMO 350Z here for 2007 as a kind of swan song for that model, and although it wasn’t the most appealing Z-car to look at, the package managed to improve the car’s track prowess for a premium of roughly $2000.

After poking around Nissan’s Japanese 370Z Web site and placing a call to Nissan’s stateside PR, it seems that this car is the S-Tune NISMO 370Z, created from an assembly of Japanese-market bolt-ons, although we wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of the parts made their way here as part of a U.S.-market NISMO 370Z package.

The Japanese 370Z site lists (in English, conveniently enough) the JDM car’s add-ons, which include front and rear fascias, new side skirts, and a rear spoiler. Lest you think those are simply look-fast parts, know that the aero pieces on NISMO’s last Z were developed in a wind tunnel, not simply scrawled on a sleep-deprived designer’s sketch pad. A stainless-steel exhaust system is also noted, as are 19-inch wheels, S-tune brake pads, and an S-tune body brace set that appears to be comprised of improved shock-tower bracing and radiator supports. The site also lists what we can only imagine is a stiffer S-tune suspension. This complement of parts mirrors those found on the NISMO 350Z, save for that car’s larger rear anti-roll bar, further making the case that this car will turn up—at least in part—as the next NISMO-edition Z. For their part, Nissan says no decisions have been made about a new NISMO Z model or accessory NISMO parts for the 370Z.

Delving deeper into the site, our interest was again piqued by what Nissan calls the Stylish Package—more specifically, by one of its included items. The group is mostly made up of dress-up pieces, although our favorite is the “sports horn.” Would that be considered a sound-fast part, and more important, what would it sound like? Leave it to the Japanese to tune a car’s honk for performance.