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A manual version of Nissan's hero Z Nismo looks set to arrive soon, giving Japanese coupe enthusiasts with $100,000 to spare something to buy after the discontinuation of Toyota Supra.
Nissan has confirmed a manual version of its flagship Z Nismo is coming, but whether it arrives Down Under is still unclear.
Speaking on the Automotive News podcast, Nissan Americas Chairperson Christian Meunier stated that “we have a Nismo manual transmission coming”, but failed to confirm exactly when it would arrive.
While Nissan also offers a Nismo version of its Patrol large SUV and Ariya electric car in overseas market, a manual gearbox is not available in either of those models.
This leaves the Z Nismo as the only suitable model to receive a three-pedal option, which would also address outcry over making the flagship variant an automatic-only affair.
As a reminder, the regular Nissan Z is available with either a six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic, both powered by a 298kW/475Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 in Australia that sends drive to the rear wheels.
However, a Nismo-tuned version was launched last year, upping the ante to 313kW/520Nm, while also fitting wider and lighter wheels, beefing up the brakes, retuning the suspension, and adding Recaro sports seats.
Controversially though, the Nismo variant has so far only been available paired with the automatic transmission, but if Meunier’s comment is to be believed, that is all set to change soon.
With Australian pricing of the manual and automatic versions of the Nissan Z at parity ($76,160 before on-road costs), the three-pedal version of the Z Nismo could also wear the same $94,605 sticker price of the auto.
This would still keep it below the price of the top-spec rivalling Toyota Supra GTS ($96,295 for manual or auto), which can no longer be ordered in Australia and production is set to wind down next year.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
