Nissan has been making the iconic Z sports car for 55 years now and through the ages, it continues to evolve and get better. For you this week, I have the 2025 Z NISMO (Nissan Motorsports). The Z car was completely redesigned for 2024, so changes are minimal, but two new colors are available for 2025. The iconic Bayside Blue is available now, as well as the beautiful red with a black roof I am tearing up the pavement with. Other changes include a limited-slip differential, bigger wheels, larger brakes, stiffer suspension, and terrific bodywork tweaks.
Exterior
I love the looks of this Z, you see hints of all the Z cars of the past. One constant through the years is the long hood and short deck.
The 2025 features LED lights all around, 19” wheels, red brake calipers, front and rear spoilers, dual exhaust, a very swooping roofline, and I love the door handles that are flush.
There is a NISMO-specific grill, and the 19” wheels come wrapped with Dunlop 255’s in front and 285’s in the rear. All this results in a beautiful fastback that has a low, wide stance that accentuates the sharp lines of this Z.
Powertrain
Let’s go under the hood, where you will find a heavily-braced 3-liter Dual Overhead Cam V6 with not one, but two turbochargers. It emits 420-horses and an amazing 384-pound feet of torque that gets this 3,600-pound coupe moving from 0-to-60 in 3.8 seconds and if you stay on the throttle, it won’t cut you off before you are hitting 170-miles per hour. The transmission choice is simple: You can only have a 9-speed automatic with the NISMO, which was a bit of a surprise. It does have large shift paddles on the steering wheel, which make it a lot of fun. I would like to try this one with a stick shift for comparison, but maybe that will come later.
Interior
The Z has always had a minimalist interior. I call it the no-frills package, but truthfully it fits this car well. The NISMO comes with Recaro seats that are black Alcantara and heavily bolstered with red toward the top and NISMO badging embroidered into the headrests.
There are no power settings on the seats, instead three round knobs you rotate to change the seating. I personally never find Recaro seats to be overly comfortable, but they do their job by holding you in place in tight turns. They have a real racecar feel to them.
In front of you as you sit is a 12.3” gauge cluster that has a lot of different configurations in the center. It is quite colorful and easy to read. You get exterior temperature, time, miles on the car, and distance to empty. You can choose from three different layouts to see which you like the most.
Upper dash, you get a 9” touchscreen that operates the Bluetooth, an information screen, The Bose audio with 8-Speakers, a menu button, navigation, and a button for connections. The system works well and is quick to go between functions. The info screen gives you a ton of real-time info from weather, to sports scores, to stock prices, movie listings, and more. You have wireless Apple CarPlay, and wired Android Auto. It also has Alexa Built-In, and Sirius XM. Above the touchscreen, I love that there are three analog gauges that are angled toward the driver. They look old-school muscle.
The center console is fairly simple and includes the start button, drive modes which include: standard, sport, and sport-plus, and a pretty cool square shifter. The start button and drive mode switch are in red, part of the NISMO package.
Just above this are the knobs for the air-conditioning system, and even higher is knobs for volume and tuning the radio. You’ll find (2) USB-C ports and a place to put your phone, but there is no charger. Everything is easy and laid out logically. You probably know this if you are interested in this car, but there is no back seat at all, but there is storage back there, and you’ll also notice a brace that runs side-to-side for stability.
Standard Equipment
Most everything is standard on the NISMO. That includes Intelligent cruise control, aluminum pedals, automatic temperature air, front and rear parking sensors, LED lighting all around, and the Recaro seating.
Safety
On the safety side, you get: Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, High Beam Assist, and Intelligent Forward Collision Warning.
Options
Options on my review car include: $95 for Z center caps, $405 for exterior welcome lighting, $895 for the paint, $415 for floormats, and $510 for illuminated kick plates.
Ride and Drive
The Z NISMO is incredibly fast, especially from takeoff using the launch control, the handling is superb, steering feedback is great, and the ride is not overly rough. The exhaust sound is very good as well. Nissan did an outstanding job with the tuned suspension which gets you a double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension. This is a driver’s car for sure.
MPG and MSRP
Fuel economy is rated at 17 city, 24 highway, and 19 combined. MSRP is $69,210 which is a very good value for all you get.
Verdict
If a two-seater will work for you, this is an excellent daily driver and yet a very fun sports car when you feel the need for speed.
- What I liked most: Performance and exterior looks.
- What I would change: Let me have this car with a manual tranny, and give me a phone charger.
- MSRP: Base price $$65,750, as equipped $69,210.
- Fuel Economy: Rated at 17 City/24 highway/19 Combined.
- Official Color: Red with a black top.
- Odometer reading when tested: 1,200 miles.
- Weight: 3,602 pounds
- Length-Width-Height: 173.2” long/73.6” wide/51.8” high.
- Fuel Tank Capacity: 16.4 gallons-filler on the passenger side.
- Towing Capacity: N/A
- Spare tire: None-repair kit.
- 2025 Nissan Z NISMO in a few words: An icon among enthusiasts, and an outstanding sports car.
- Warranty: 3-year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper and 5-year/60,0000 mile power train with roadside assistance, and three scheduled oil changes.
- Final Assembly Location: Los Angeles, CA.
- Manufacturer’s website: NIssan
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