[REVIEW] 2027 Nissan Z Nismo manual transmission

    2027 Nissan Z Nismo Pairs Perfectly With A Manual Transmission,
    Almost Like It Should've Had One From The Beginning
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    For years, I've liked to joke that the new Nissan Z is a fake car.
    Nissan keeps releasing sales reports that claim people are buying
    them, but I've never known someone who's bought one, I don't see
    them on the street, and I've definitely never driven one. Are we
    sure this is a real car? Well, whether the sales figures are legit
    or not, I can at least tell you one thing - now that I've driven
    the 2027 Nissan Z Nismo with its newly available manual
    transmission, I can tell you for sure that it's a real car. It's
    also so good, you have to wonder why Nissan didn't offer the
    manual option from the beginning.

    How does it drive on the street? I couldn't tell you. In a move
    I think we can all agree was deeply unfair, Nissan insisted that,
    instead of driving the three-pedal Nismo Z on public roads, we
    drive the car around Sonoma again and again. It was miserable.
    Every time we pulled into the pits after a session where I felt
    even more confident than I had when we'd pulled out, all I could
    think was, "Why won't they let me see how this car drives in rush
    hour traffic where it was really meant to be enjoyed?" But worry
    not, despite the trials and tribulations I faced to bring you this
    stick-shift Nismo Z review, I have survived. And man, I really
    want to drive that manual Nismo again.

    Full Disclosure: Nissan wanted to trick me into believing the
    2027 Nissan Z Nismo manual is a real car so bad, it bought me a
    plane ticket to SF, put me in a car to a hotel in Napa, shuttled
    me to Sonoma where snacks and cars were provided, shuttled me to a
    different hotel, and then flew me home the next night. Also, they
    allowed me to charge a small stick of deodorant to my room after
    I realized I'd left mine at home.


    New and improved?
    Considering we already drove the 2024 Nissan Z Nismo with its
    nine-speed automatic, it would be understandable if you assumed
    you could read that review, imagine that car with a manual
    transmission, and get a pretty good idea of how much more fun it
    would be to drive. You wouldn't be completely wrong, since the
    cars are pretty much the same aside from their transmissions, but
    they aren't exactly the same, since Nissan also refreshed the Z
    for the 2027 model year.

    It isn't a major refresh, though. The non-Nismo version gets a few
    exterior tweaks, new paint and wheel options, upgraded dampers, a
    frameless rearview mirror and a few other interior updates. In
    addition to its new manual transmission option, the Nismo also
    gets retuned steering and suspension, an upgraded fuel system, and
    way better brakes. So, at least in theory, the manual Nismo Z is a
    more serious track car than the old version that Nissan insisted
    was auto-only for better lap times.

    Did the updates improve the "seriously busy ride at lower speeds"
    that we observed in our first drive of the '24 model? Nissan
    didn't have an older automatic Nismo for me to test, so I can't
    exactly tell you how this one compares to that one. Then again, it
    did have some regular post-refresh Performance models for us to
    try, which is probably the more relevant comparison anyway. Most
    people's biggest question is probably whether the Nismo is worth
    the significantly higher price, not what kinds of minor handling
    and performance differences I might have been able to suss out
    between the '24 Nismo and the '27 Nismo. Unfortunately for you,
    I've spent too much time hanging out with lawyers and can only
    offer "it depends."


    Track-focused for the track
    Technically, yeah, the Nismo gets a small 20-horsepower power
    boost over the Performance, bringing output up to 420 hp, but it
    isn't enough to really notice, or anywhere close to a reason to
    spend around $67,000 (Nissan hasn't shared official pricing yet,
    but expect the manual Nismo to cost about the same as the automatic)
    just to get that power boost. No, you buy the Nismo because it does
    track stuff better than the more street-focused Performance model
    (pictured above), and in that regard, it's absolutely worth the
    higher price. At least if you plan to use it on the track or want a
    daily driver that feels more track-focused.

    As much as the driving instructors wanted to focus on how much
    better the Nismo's brakes were compared to the Z Performance's
    brakes, the first difference I noticed between the two on track is
    just how much less body roll there is in the Nismo than the
    Performance. The Nismo was designed for track use, and it showed
    the moment I turned the wheel. You can certainly have fun on track
    in the Performance, but I don't want to think about body roll on
    track. I want to think about going fast.

    That doesn't mean the upgraded brakes aren't still worth talking
    about, though. They're strong, they stop hard, and most importantly,
    I didn't notice the brakes starting to fade, even later in the day
    when the tires weren't necessarily as fresh. They're good brakes.
    But the Nismo feeling so much more planted is what I noticed first.

    Would I put my Z-loving dad in a Nismo? Hell no. He's more of a
    Heritage Edition guy and would hate everything about the Nismo
    except the manual transmission, although he probably wouldn't
    actually tell me to my face. Even without driving it on the street,
    I can already tell it'll be too stiff for a lot of those more normal
    people who just want a fun sports car that also serves as a
    comfortable daily. But oh, what I wouldn't give to find out whether
    it's too stiff for me to enjoy out here in Georgia, where the
    asphalt is generally smooth and a winding back road is never more
    than a couple of minutes away. Sadly, Nissan broke my heart when
    I asked about press loans. Allegedly, no manual Nismos will ever
    make it into the press fleets, not even in cool cities like
    Los Angeles.


    Stuck in third
    Considering this is a first drive of a sports car with a manual
    transmission, you're probably wondering why I haven't focused more
    on the gearbox. Well, that's partly because I came into this
    having never driven the Z before, but also because I didn't get to
    focus a lot of energy on evaluating the transmission itself.
    Sonoma is a track where, at least at the speed of our lead-follow
    sessions, the manual Nismo handled pretty much everything in third
    gear, and I only occasionally needed to go up into 4th. If that's
    all the shifting you do at the track, you probably aren't missing
    much if you stick with the automatic.

    That said, even if some tracks don't require a lot of shifting,
    we're still talking about a track-focused sports car with a manual
    transmission, and nothing I've said previously changes the fact
    that it's just more fun to drive a car with a stick. I truly
    enjoyed myself in a way I'm not sure I would have in an automatic
    Nismo, and that's what really matters here. And the car itself is
    so enjoyable to push hard on track that I could see plenty of
    enthusiasts deciding it would make a perfect hardcore daily driver,
    since you actually would get to use the transmission on a regular
    basis there.

    Though I didn't get to do a lot of manual shifting, the shifter
    felt good, and I had an absolute blast driving the car. There
    wasn't really anything to figure out, either. I just got on the
    track, did one lap to refamiliarize myself with the course, and
    more or less felt like I understood how the car drove. It was just
    that intuitive.


    Price unknown
    I had more fun driving the Nismo than I've had since Toyota let me
    loose on a different track with the keys to a manual Supra. And
    considering that drive took place at the new RAV4 reveal, back in
    the spring of 2025, you could say it's been a while. Driving the
    manual Nismo just felt spiritually correct. It satisfied my soul,
    and there aren't many cars I can say that about these days.

    Without an official price yet, that's still the elephant in the
    room. The nearly $70,000 you can expect to spend on the manual
    Nismo is a ridiculous amount of money that would also buy plenty of
    other alternatives. You're going to have to really want a Nismo in
    order to justify not buying one of its competitors, but based on my
    time behind the wheel, the few who do decide the manual-equipped
    2027 Nissan Z Nismo is the sports car for them will probably be
    incredibly happy with their purchase. At least as long as they're
    aware the Nismo's suspension likely makes the Performance feel like
    a Mercedes in comparison.


    
<https://www.jalopnik.com/2175166/2027-nissan-z-nismo-manual-track-first-drive-review/>