 Road Test + Sports Car = Great Ocean Road
Differentiating between equally boring cars is the bane of every motoring writer's life but an arguably bigger problem with reviewing different cars every week is finding somewhere different and interesting to drive them.
Of course, as soon as we book up a sports car, in this case the Nissan 370Z Roadster, there is only one place to go testing – Victoria's Great Ocean Road.
Choices with the 370Z are really pretty simple. It's available in coupe or roadster form with either a 6 speed manual or 7 speed auto. Apart from picking your colour, about the only other options are rear park assist and mud flaps!
Our test car was the 370Z Roadster with automatic transmission. Now you purists might question how a car can be called a sports car when it has an auto transmission, but this 7 speed auto with paddles is superb. With Nissan's SynchroRev Matching system it's the best imitation of a dual clutch gearbox you could imagine.
The Great Ocean Road is limited to 80km/h for most of its length and is heavily policed - it's also thick with tourists. On the surface, no place to test a sports car, but with so many tight low speed bends it can be a lot of fun and still be legal. The Roadster handles superbly - the 3.7litre V6 produces 245kW of power and a blistering 363Nm of torque, making for exhilarating acceleration out of tight hairpins. Stopping is not an issue with massive ventilated disc brakes front and rear (355mm rotors at the front and 350mm at the rear).
The 370Z has all the usual primary safety features you'd expect including ESP, Traction Control, ABS with BA & EBD. Secondary safety includes 6 airbags – dual front, dual side and dual side curtains.
The Roadster's soft top is fully automatic, opens or stows in 20 seconds and has a glass rear window. A tempered glass wind deflector between the dual rollover bars is designed to reduce turbulence. The roof stows without encroaching on the available boot space.
Inside, the 370Z is generously appointed – Keyless entry, push button start, heated leather sports seats, Sat Nav and Bluetooth set the tone. The Bose system has 8 speakers, 2 sub-woofers and a 6CD in-dash stacker.
Nissan quote a 'combined' 10.9litres/100kms for the auto roadster, but we managed an impressive 10.5 for our 600kms of reasonably brisk driving. The 370Z has a 3 year/100,000km warranty with 24/7 roadside assist.
A manual Roadster will cost you around $83,000 on the road and the auto around $86,000. The Coupe starts around $76,000 for the manual and $79,000 the auto.
The 300Z Roadster is a real sports car and while strictly a two seater it has impeccable manners around town, thanks to the superb auto transmission.
Tested July 2010
Vehicle provided by Nissan Motor Co. (Australia) Pty Ltd
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