16 Jun 04
The Nissan 350Z Roadster hasn't been officially confirmed for Europe yet, but we drove an American-spec model during a recent trip out to San Francisco. The 350Z, or Fairlady Z, or simply Z depending on where you're buying one, is a 3.5-litre V6-engined rear-drive sportster.
The V6 gets a little more power across the pond, up 7bhp to 287 and up 4lb ft of torque (pulling power) to 274lb ft. On the road, though, you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference. One of the most striking differences is the American Z's saggy suspension, which makes it waft over bumps instead of transmitting them up through your spine. I know which I prefer, but I do have a good chiropractor... If and when the car reaches our shores, suspension will be sharpened up for European tastes, and the Z will ride on standard 18-inch alloy wheels.
The roof is remarkably quick to lower, taking just 20 seconds to fold under the solid boot. All you need to do is put your foot on the brake, twist a handle mounted in the centre of the windscreen and then hold down a button to the left of the steering wheel - simple. To refit the hood, just apply brake and hold down the button again.
Creating a convertible version of a coupe isn't just about chopping off the roof and throwing in a bit of fabric - it takes a lot of engineering, even more than when creating a convertible from scratch. Losing a solid metal roof seriously affects the structural rigidity of a car. Imagine a shoe box with a lid. Try to push the sides in - not a lot happens. Remove the lid and the structure goes quite floppy. To overcome this, Nissan strengthened the underbody of the Z Roadster with a cross-member between the side sills, an A-shaped cross bar at the front and additional reinforcement between the cabin and sides.
