370Z...zzzz (From The Northern Echo)

Nissan 370Z Roadster GT (Price, as tested, £31,254)

9:53pm Monday 19th September 2011 in Reviews By Matt Westcott

DANGER is under-rated.

Danger, or the fear of it at least, is what keeps us on this side of a meeting with St Peter.

In cars, it ensures respect.

With muscle car looks, a 3.7 litre V6 under the bonnet, top speed of 155mph and a 0-60mph time of less than six seconds you might expect the Nissan 370Z to come complete with a Government health warning.

Instead, it feels as dangerous as the end of the swimming pool occupied by mums and their armband-clad youngsters.

No doubt there are those among you who think this is a good thing, but, personally speaking, I like to know that I am fallible. It keeps me level-headed and ensures that my impressions of Michael Schumacher are restricted solely to the Playstation.

The latest in the Z mould, the 370Z replaced one of my favourite cars the 350Z. Its DNA is obvious, but Nissan says this car is more agile, has more power and is more focused - being lighter, but offering greater rigidity.

Engineered from the start as both a hard-top coupe and a drop-top roadster, the company says that, unlike with some other sports cars, there has been “no dynamic compromise” for those seeking a little wind in their hair and having spent a week with it, I’d have to agree.

Due to my preferred driving position, with the seat pushed forward and the steering wheel dropped, I found getting in and out somewhat of an exercise in acrobatics. I could have just reversed the process, obviously, each time I wanted to enter and leave, but I’m a little stubborn in that regard and so had instead to contort my not so nimble frame to deposit myself within its confines.

Once in I was pleased with the amount of space afforded. It is possible to stretch your legs right out and, while the sports seats do hug, they do not attempt to squeeze the life out of you as others I could mention have.

The instrument panel is purposeful - three dials, simply laid out, with the gauges attached to the steering column so that if you need to adjust it they always remain in perfect visibility.

For a two-seater, there’s also a decent amount of space to hide your belongings, including a perfectly serviceable boot that is not encumbered by the lowering of the roof. All things are relative, obviously, but you could get a couple of weekend bags in and I’d imagine if you have a 370Z you either have another car for day-to-day stuff or are footloose and fancy free and like to travel light.

But you don’t buy a car like this for such practicalities, no, you buy them for what they do when you turn the key, or in this case, press the button.

The first thing you notice is the noise. Roof up or roof down it is an ever present. Now I am a lover of aural massages, but the 370Z’s is, well, just noise. The Audi R8, for example, emits the kind of sound that would make Meg Ryan go weak at the knees, but, combined with road noise, this is just loud. Nissan has worked hard to reduce the latter, it has to be said, but it still remains, though that probably says more about the state of our roads than anything else.

As eluded to earlier, though, the biggest gripe I have with this car is that it just did not engage me enough.

Technically, it is brilliant, the wizardy under the bonnet and beneath your behind, makes this a car that your gran could drive with ease. It sticks to the road like a limpet to the underneath of an ocean going liner and it handles with the poise of an upper class lady straight out of the Sorbonne, albeit with a hard edge to the ride.

The problem is though, as the driver, you just feel a little detached from the whole experience.

Nissan has injected a modicum of fun with the inclusion of its Synchro Rev System - which allows even the most rank amateur of driver to experience silky smooth gear shifts every time and perform them, significantly faster than even the most experienced driver could do using the traditional ‘heel and toe’ method.

However, that was where the fun ended for me. For as good a car as this is technologically, it just doesn’t feel like it possesses a soul. It is, if it is possible, too clinical.

You are left with the feeling that no matter what you do, you will never become part of the countryside furniture and I, for one, miss that. Given the right circumstances, a track day with perfect weather, I can imagine myself pushing and pushing in search of the extremity of the envelope.

Anyone who knows me will know that I hardly live my life on the edge, but every now and then it is good to peer over it.