Nissan Flexes Its 370Z Muscle

Nissan knows you’re calling the 370Z irrelevant, a dinosaur of a sports car in this modern world. But the Japanese automaker doesn’t care, because the Z is still a fun, highly-tunable vehicle and one of the few sports cars still on the market. To celebrate, Nissan Motorsports even made a special car with the help of MA Motorsports for SEMA.

The Project Clubsport 23 project car looks like something straight out of Hot Import Nights. The Nissan 370Z NISMO gets edgy with an APR carbon-fiber front splitter, MA Motorsports air dam, modded rear bumper, Selbon TS-style carbon-fiber hood, Aerocatch hood pins, and NISMO carbon-fiber mirror caps/pillar garnishes. It all rides on NISMO-branded RAYS cast aluminum-alloy 18×10.5-inch wheels, plus Hankook RS4 285/35R18 high performance tires. A customized Gloss Burnt Orange body wrap from Speedesign Custom Graphics helps punctuate the strong statement.

Nissan 370Z Project Clubsport 23 (Credit: Nissan )

This Z is about more than just style. Lurking under that carbon-fiber hood is a factory 3.0-liter VR30DDTT twin-turbo V-6, which surpasses the original engine’s upper limit of 350 horsepower by an additional 50 ponies. The 6-speed manual transmission was saved, despite the new engine never having been used with a stick before.

Other performance goodies make the Project Clubsport 23 a compelling track machine. Z1 Motorsports blow-off valves add some drama and functionality, while the custom dual exhaust system exits on either side of the license plate, like a real racer. NISMO HC Street/Track brake pads that will soon be on the market, plus Z1Motorsports 2-piece slotted discs, and NISMO stainless steel brake lines upgrade stopping performance. To boost handling, the car uses a range of new NISMO suspension components, 3-piece body brace set, KW Variant 3 coil-overs, plus Eibach rear springs.

A new Z should be revealed in about a year or so. Until then, feast your eyes on this thing.