A weird phenomenon seen more heavily by enthusiast cars is the first-year sales burst. A combination of hype and desire usually starts things off strong, but sales can eventually taper down without revision to keep the interest of a fickle audience. Recently, automakers have turned to special editions to spur sales, and while not all of them are desirable, here’s one with huge visible alterations. The 2024 Nissan Z Heritage Edition is here, and my word, is it ever delightfully orange. You’re essentially seeing a Tokyo Auto Salon show car come to life in U.S. showrooms, and while it looks brilliant, this pricey special edition isn’t what the Nissan Z needed.
This special edition’s direct lineage had an inauspicious start, as the last Heritage Edition Z was a little tragic. The last 370Z Heritage Edition was just a tape stripe and upholstery job on a base car, which meant that it got an open differential, small brakes, and a relatively spartan interior. The new one rectifies that, but it might be too much of a move upmarket.
The big story on the 2024 version, aside from being bathed in wonderful New Sight Orange paint, is a new front bumper that Jason wrote about previously. It does a sublime job of breaking up the new Z’s gaping maw, all while doing an impression of a period-correct air dam thanks to a flared valence. Add in a set of retro stripes and some laurels around the Z emblems on the C-pillars, and this visual treatment works.
Just as important as the paint and the front bumper are new eight-spoke wheels inspired by iconic RS Watanabe racing wheels that are popular on everything from classic Japanese sports cars to race-prepared Dodge Ram Vans. I’m normally a certified hater of black wheels, but there’s just something about this design that totally works. Two thumbs up.
If this limited-run Heritage Edition is giving you deja vu, there’s a reason for that: It’s nearly identical to a show car that debuted at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon. The only truly new addition is a set of tacked-on fender flares borrowed from the Nismo model, which suit the retro vibe well, but just because we’ve seen a visual package before doesn’t mean it doesn’t look great. This limited-run model makes a superb first impression, but there’s one big problem — the Nissan Z Heritage Edition lists for $60,275 including freight, and a new $60,000 trim isn’t what Nissan’s rear-wheel-drive coupe needs right now.
The biggest argument against the new Z is that the Toyota GR Supra 3.0 is a substantially better performance car than the non-Nismo Z for only $2,385 more than the Z Performance trim with the big brakes and limited-slip differential, but even then, the GR Supra isn’t selling well. Through the first quarter of 2024, Toyota only sold 484 GR Supras in total, down 44.4 percent year-over-year. Between high interest rates and a general cost-of-living squeeze over the past few years (remember, slowing inflation isn’t the same as deflation), lots of people just don’t have the budget for a sports car that’ll be $60k out the door after taxes and dealer fees.
Part of the genius of the old 370Z in later years wasn’t just that it was relatively cheap, it was that all the performance goodies weren’t locked in with all the luxury trappings. The Sport trim added big Akebono brakes, a limited-slip differential, forged wheels, Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires, some subtle aero tweaks, and a Bose stereo to a cloth-upholstered base model, and sold for thousands less than the luxe Sport Touring trim.
If Nissan needed a way to beef up sales, a fresh clubsport-style trim for the new Z slotting in between the $44,110 Sport trim and the $54,110 Performance trim could prove an attractive proposition. Bundle the brakes, limited-slip differential, and spoilers together, skip the Bose stereo, upgraded infotainment screen, and leather seats, and then unleash it on the public for less than $50,000 including freight. At the end of the day, price is everything and a more affordable model with desirable equipment could go a ways to putting butts in seats.
(Photo credits: Nissan)
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Lipstick on a porker.
$60k buys a lot of toy cars. If it’s not a daily driver, then I’d probably pick something else like a used Porsche or Corvette. Manual, track prepped and who cares about the mileage. I’d just drive it and autocross it. Alas, my sports car budget is more like $6000. So perhaps a beat up Miata.
You’d think after the previous cycles of trying to upmarket the Z from Sports Car to Grand Tourer that Nissan would have learned. It’s one or the other, not both.
It looks good.
I can’t imagine the circumstances that could get me to buy one of these. I guess getting an insurance auctioned Z for a race car could happen.
I need those wheels….
Black rim, black hub, eight black wheel spokes. Five chromed lug nuts. Mismatches like this usually hurt my eyes.
It’s bad, but for some reason it doesn’t look as bad as usual.
Gatling Gun! That’s why it looks okay.
Nuts o’ lug?
face looks better than it was but still not right, I know what they are trying to reference, but it just doesn’t work the way they have implemented it and forcing it isn’t helping.
I think that it looks absolutely fabulous, I can afford it, it’s not at all my typical style and I’m still super tempted, but I’m just not going to want to be thinking that everyone who actually knows what I’m driving believes I’m an idiot.
Having said that, “putting butts in seats” is not the job of any corporation. Making the most money for the least investment is the job. We’ll see whether that works in this case or not, but what we want is not especially important to a manufacturer.
They’re counting on the Halo effect to make this car worth 60k, but the last two decades of Nissan history would beg to differ.
GRZs come standard with a LSD for half the price. Slower, but not slow, and more fun to drive in everyday traffic conditions, with emergency rear seats, better mileage, and looks IMO. I don’t like the split bumper here. The opening in the lower valance needs to be reduced or split and reprofiled to really resemble the airdams of the S30s that they’re trying to match. Here. it’s bigger than the grille opening above and has different lines, which I think looks discordant.
Slower? In a straight line or stoplight race, sure. Around a circuit? Debatable. As I said in my other comment GRZs can absolutely fly, at least at Dominion Raceway in VA where I do my track days. The fastest guy in my run group last weekend had a GR86. I don’t think it was stock and I didn’t get the chance to ask him what he’d done to it, but those things can carry a ton of speed through the turns.
I had to point him by on the back straight after the most technical section of the track almost every time. Where most people have to bleed off or at most maintain some speed before they punch it the GR86 was absolutely hauling ass. They’re nimble little things, and he was keeping up with a Cayman most of the time.
I have a new found respect for them. I thought the journalist slobberfest over them was excessive but now that I’ve seen what they can do when pushed I definitely get it. You’ll probably want to do brakes before you take one to the track (or spend the extra money on the TS/Trueno editions) but they’re impressive little cars if you know what you’re doing.
Generally, most people mean acceleration when they say things like “slower, but not slow” as that’s a metric everyone understands and most readily use, not tight tracks the 1% of 1% drive on and the Z is certainly quicker to accelerate. From the reviews and specs, I think the Z wouldn’t be great on a track—too heavy, poor communication, questionable Nissan cooling system engineering.
I have GR86. According to the computer, it can pull over 1g on average HPASs and has excellent chassis communication with the stability full off. Handling is not an issue and I think most of the complaints about power—besides the usual suspects who don’t get it as they need power to compensate for their driving shortcomings or those who should be getting paid to race—it’s the way it’s delivered with the still-present torque dip right in the midrange (and the brakes are only OK even on the street, no way I would use them on a track). It’s fine in normal driving or on a track where you keep the rpm in the higher band, but for more daily fun street driving, it’s seems to be right where the next gear up falls on an upshift and I suspect that’s what earns the calls for “needing” more power (when it’s really torque or more even delivery of it that it could use). It’s still quicker than a new WRX.
Allegedly it’s going to get the GR turbo 3 cylinder, which should be a hoot and make them a little less peak-ey
Yeah, I’m still suspicious of that engine at that displacement and tune and have read a few things that are kind of worrying. Of course, it’s not like the FA24D is a slant 6, either, and I would love a flatter torque curve as, while I’m a small-car-fast or sports car fan mostly, I don’t care for high rpm peaky engines. I would have hated the first gen GRZ. This one isn’t bad and the torque is about third on the list of things I’d change, first being better steering feel (not just good for EPAS), then the terrible throttle calibration, then the full nannies off mode allowing the standard gauge display. Those are all fairly minor things, so it shows how little the engine really bothers me. It’s mostly that the car is so good that small deficiencies stand out more. I love that I can be stuck behind an SUV on the winding roads around here and still enjoy the drive (as long as they’re not unreasonably slow).
I hear that engine in Corolla tune is old school laggy, not new-style like my Focus ST that felt like an ’80s V8. Don’t know if I’d like it or not. I prefer no or minimal lag, but having driven a modded Saab 900 SPG, there’s a certain charm in driving around it, even if IDK about for a daily (and I doubt it’s anywhere near the lag of that Saab). Either way, I haven’t driven a GR Corolla to say—I’ve only even seen a few of them, though that’s still probably three times the number of Zs I’ve seen. That’s the car this article was about, right? Damn, Nissan, you used to be cool.
I’ve read that the torque curve is much improved, and the last gen one was, in fact, slow. But the current ones hit 60 in the 5s which, contrary to popular belief, is more than enough speed to have fun with. While I do appreciate massive power from time to time I really don’t buy into the idea that you need 400+ horsepower to have fun.
I actually think around 300 is the sweet spot for most people. My Kona N has 286 horses/289 pound feet and it’s more than enough to throw you back in your seat and punish tires. I also recently had a V6 Camaro as a rental and thought it was an absolutely perfect amount of power for that chassis…and I’ve driven an SS.
But anyway, I’m getting off track. Not sure if you’ve been part of any of the conversations, but in case you haven’t I’ve mentioned a few times that I’d started the process to get a GR Corolla before I bought my N. I backed out mainly because of what a headache it was going to be and how unexpectedly blown away by the N products I was when I checked them out out of due diligence. My wife also can’t drive stick/I’d personally rather daily an auto in DC so the DCT option in the Ns was perfect for us.
The initial batch of the GRs has had some issues. The first is that they’re not track capable stock. The differentials overheat easily and I’ve heard that the engine cooling isn’t adequate stock. Plus you have the whole Toyota not always honoring the warranty if you track your car deal.
Regardless, you’ll have to modify one if you want to do track work…which has always rubbed me the wrong way since it’s advertised as being a hardcore/track car. There are also horror stories of that engine blowing up. I think you’ll probably be fine if you keep it at stock tune but you shouldn’t really go further because it’s so high strung.
At the end of the day it’s a 200 horsepower per liter engine that needs to be revved out to 7,000 to reach peak horsepower. I personally still think it’s rad, but I’d definitely have some longevity concerns despite the fact that it’s a Toyota mill. Hell, their new turbo V6 has been such a disaster that dealerships aren’t accepting cars with it as trade ins right now.
Toyota may make the most reliable NA engines known to man but they’re comparatively new to standardizing boost…not to mention that I don’t think anyone is really capable of coaxing 200 horsepower per liter out of an engine reliably yet. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but that’s when you start to lose me to an extent.
I see those new 600 horsepower 3 liter Hurricanes and cringe. I think we can pretty reliably coax 100-150 per liter out of turbo 4s at this point, but any more seems like risky business.
Reputation aside (built on using old technology conservatively tuned in mostly boring cars sold to people who don’t drive aggressively), Toyota is still subject to physics and I agree that’s just a lot of power per cylinder and per displacement for me for a daily driver and if I’m buying a toy, I’d pick something else. Even traditionally solid companies are having trouble with modern engines as there are just too many demands being placed on them and operational safety margins have been eroded pretty far and I think a lot of engineering resources to perfect them have been diverted to EVs. I thought the 125/liter on my Focus ST was a nice amount and was dead reliable until 180k when a Ford Ecoboost cooling passage issue took it out. Minus that particular Ford stupidity, the thing was very solidly engineered and when I say reliable, I mean like Corolla. Were it not for the cooling problem, I have no reason to doubt it would still be fine at what would be about 250k now.
I’ve posted this before, but the problem with 0-60 is that it doesn’t tell the whole story about acceleration nor how something feels. I’d say on paper that the GRZs are about as quick to 60 as my Focus ST was (when launched just right, it was ~low-mid 5s), but the Focus had almost 100 more lbs ft peaking at almost half the rpm, so it felt faster all the time in spite of longer gears and more weight and I’m sure it was quicker in most circumstances (even keeping in mind LSPI) without requiring a downshift (or 2). I much prefer torque for the feel of power (and other reasons relating to longevity and efficiency) to the high hp/low torque engines that might get you somewhere in the same time on paper, but not before you have to pass the minivan that took off next to you from the same light and with a rubber band feel that I don’t find exciting. To me, the latter feels slower than the numbers while the former feels faster and feel is what matters to me, not numbers. The GR is somewhere in between with just about enough torque to not feel like a rubber band, though not enough to shove you back much and still requiring short gearing (6th is the same as 5th was in my ’83 Subaru GL with 1/3 the power and 1/2 the torque, though that curve was flat and peak was somewhere just over 2k, so it felt punchy in traffic).
A loaded 86 with a supercharger would beat a Z in almost anything but a drag race and be thousands cheaper. I’m not sure what Nissan thought the market would be for these at the price that they are
I don’t know how Subaru/Toyota makes money off the GRZs. They’re a steal for the price.
Ok, now fix then headlights and we’ll finally be at the design that the car should have released with
Those head lights are making my brain hurt. Really.
I have no idea how they could get the rear end so right, but everything on the front so wrong
Is that striping pattern an actual Nissan thing?
It looks kinda like a generic “racer” style that the wannabe Fast N Furious with some means add to their Accord or whatever, but I don’t know Z-car heritage as well as I might.
The rocker stripes were common on S30s. Likely a dealer option, though I lost my old brochures and forget. My 260 had them.
The current Z is probably the best argument in favor of the 86/BRZ, Miata, and Supra
For the price of a base spec Z you can have a Toyobaru, modify it to your hearts content, and still have enough money left over for your next 5-10 years of track days…and while it’s still a highly impractical package it’s much better than a 2 seater. I have no goddamn idea why you’d choose a Z over that…and Toyobarus are legitimately fast on tight tacks.
They won’t do much on the straights but in the corners they’ll keep up with just about anything. Some of the fastest cars out on the track whenever I’m there are modified Toyobarus. With a skilled driver and a couple of mods they will absolutely fly.
And hell, if you want a faster 6-cylinder, there’s the Supra, which I’d argue looks better, is far more modern with an actually new chassis versus a warmed over warmed over 350 platform, and has a wider range of trims/engines, and is going to be more tunable given how prolific the B58 is. Also would you rather deal with a Toyota dealer or a Nissan dealer? Easy choice for me.
And to your point, the Toyobaru aren’t super practical, but it’s not like the Z is either, but from every account I’ve read, they’re more fun full stop, and half the price, cheaper to run, likely more reliable, and more modifiable with better aftermarket support. Nissan clearly doesn’t know what to do anymore.
Also, petition to use the new Z as the counterargument to everyone that complains about shared platform development. The Toyobaru twins are incredible by all accounts, and we ONLY get them because the development and sales was split, same with Z4/Supra. Nissan decided to go it alone, and we got a microwave-reheated 370 with a grossly inflated price.
I fit 9′ 1×12 boards in my ’86 and 8 tires. It’s far more practical than it would seem.
I completely believe it! I guess the argument is always “not as practical as a sedan/hatch/crossover” which is somewhat fair, but I’ve met plenty of people that have been able to comfortably and only own an 86 or BRZ because it’s practical enough. Also there’s something to be said about the owners mentality, the Miata Logistics subreddit is a great example of “this shouldn’t fit, but it will”. Compare that to the numerous people with 1.5 metric children that “need” a Yukon XL because there’s just not enough space otherwise, or people that buy a single jet ski and trailer but “need” a powerstroke F250 to tow it.
I don’t have kids, but I make a lot of different things, many of them from wood. Fitting kid seats in is like advanced Tetris and still difficult and then the front seat people are really jammed in, even if they’re short. Older kids out of seats fit better, but I consider them emergency seats only (and Murphy’s Law has come true in that, when I had a 5-seater, I almost never used the back seat for people, so now that I have this, I’ve probably used it more times than the other car in half the time of ownership). For fitting stuff, the biggest fault is that it isn’t a liftback as the trunk opening is awkward. For loading (precut, narrower) plywood and stuff, I often go through the passenger door. That said, I built a utility trailer for a reason (mainly for the kayaks as I can’t put anything on the aluminum roof and two of the kayaks are 17′ long, so even if there was a rack available, I wouldn’t trust them on this car).
Yeah I don’t really understand the pricing of this the 86/brz and Miata (non-rf) are so much cheaper so you could do so much in mods with the 10k+ you are saving or if you are like me and prefer the RF Miata that is still a little cheaper. Could also throw the Gt mustang in the mix at the 40k range also.
The old German lighting site ran an article about how ugly this is and I couldn’t disagree more. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. I love the improved grille, the fender flares, and the subtle but beautiful paint job. IMHO this is retro modern done right. I think it’s quite tasteful and hits at the correct intersection of modern and nostalgic. I still maintain that the original 240 Z is one of the most beautiful sports cars ever made and this looks like what I’d imagine the 240 would if it came out in 2024.
It’s well done on that front. Hell, I think the current Z is fantastic looking overall. But at this stage I can only conclude that Nissan is trying to ease the Z through a slow and gradual death…because outside of the design team knocking it out of the park every single decision they’ve made for this car has been wrong.
Paywalling the necessary performance bits by combining them with a luxury package? Wrong. Making the Nismo automatic only and using a godforsaken torque converter auto that primarily sees duty in trucks? Incredibly wrong. Pricing on the damn things? Patently absurd.
No one will drop 60-70,000 on this or a Nismo. Here is a non-exhaustive list of what else you can buy in that range:
1). C8 Corvette
2). ZL1 Camaro
3). Mustang Dark Horse
4). M2
5). Porsche 718
6). Manual Supra/Z4 M40i
7). A Miata AND a Toyobaru
8). A wealth of performance sedans
There is no market for this car or any Z other than the base trim, and even that’s pushing it when you can get a Mustang GT for the same price or less that has 4 seats, more cargo space, a better automatic option, a V8, and a standard limited slip differential. Hell, you can still get a new Camaro SS for that price that has one of the best V8s in the game and standard Tremec manual. I don’t have the times in front of me but I’m positive the Camaro will run circles around even the Nismo on the track.
It’s a goddamn shame. I love the Z as an institution but I just don’t see why the current one exists. I guess I’m glad it didn’t get the axe entirely but the pricing is hilariously bad. It’s a fucking 25 year old car underneath the skin and Nissan has the audacity to charge MORE than the competition for the privilege of throwing it back to 2003. It’s a perfect microcosm of today’s bizarro world car market. Pay more, get less.
Agreed. The Z is a cool car just not $50-$60k cool.
I’m with you on the design (aside from the headlights which haven’t looked right since the moment they dropped this model), but the pricing on the Z has made zero sense since launch. The only chance this thing has was to be a good value, but that went out the window due to the examples you have given either being better for the money or equal performance for less. A performance trim for $45k would be great, but the Z over $50k (and especially over $60k) makes it a bad value.
Plus $10k dealer markup! You can’t forget that!
Good point! That makes it even worse, especially on the used market where the people who paid over sticker will want to recoup their bad decision to pay over sticker.
Found this when checking prices. MSRP on this car is $67k (still a lot). These guys listed it for $83k last October. Cut it to $58k in May. Lets hope it sits there until next October.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/3f0dca8d-c1f3-445d-a46d-d9a3ee452395/
Yeah, it’s always been a questionable value, the 350Z launched at $27,000 base price in 2002, which is equivalent to $47,000 today, inflation-adjusted. And there’s still loads of that car under the skin of the current Z.
Didn’t the Camaro just stop production at the end of last year for the 24 model year? But even then yeah at 60k+ for the Nismo there just seems to be much better cars you can get. I really liked the look of these Z’s but yeah for the price no thanks.
Nissan does make better cars than BMW, so there’s that 😛
but you’re right, the Z is still overpriced. Also, it should have a rear wiper. And a ZX model with T-tops would be nice, too
Maybe a base 4-cylinder model would help as well
A 300 hp 4cyl turbo is a good idea, especially if you could get the upgraded brakes and LSD as an option still
The brushed aluminum trim ruins it entirely. All other trim is black, and that aluminum piece should also be black.
I don’t think they actually want to sell the Z’s to anyone beyond the dealerships to have in the showrooms. They would much rather you buy a Rouge
I suspect this is indeed true.
Beat me to it! I think Nissan dealers are in a contest to see who sells the fewest number of Zs. I put 18-20K miles on my car a year and see all brands and models. I have seen 2 new Zs. One yellow and one blue. That’s it. I’ve seen more Lamborghinis and Ferraris than Nissan Zs. This car’s death was caused by Nissan’s MSRP being too high and then greedy dealers. Maybe it should have been a return of the 240SX instead so it’d compete with the MX-5s and Toyota/Subaru twins.
My lifetime tally of seeing them in the wild is still stuck at 1. And I live in a fairly crowded metro area with plenty of people with the means to buy one. I’m more likely to see a Ferrari, Lambo, or Bentley on any given day.