As is Nissan's FM (front mid-engine) platform. The Z's 53% front and 47% rear weight distribution, closer to 50/50 when accelerating, brings balance to its handling characteristics. It's more tautly sprung than the G35 sedan that shares its basic architecture, including the front and rear independent multi-link aluminum-alloy suspension pieces and ripple-control shock absorbers, but the ride is hardly rough. At the edge it's predictable, but not boring. The Z exacts razor sharp steering without that nervous feeling exhibited by some of its competitors - the Ford Mustang comes to mind. It's a car that rewards better than average skills with exhilarating results but doesn't bite back when your right foot is too eager out of the corner.
And it doesn't take a heck of a lot to coax a 5.5 second 0 to 100 km/h run out of it either. A little dab at the drive-by-wire throttle and it's off to the races thanks to a silken smooth 287 horsepower 3.5-L V6. It's virtually the same engine made legendary in the Maxima sedan, tried, tested and ruddy quick. Nissan has gone to great lengths to keep the weight down to 1,463 kg (3,247 lb), even including a carbon-fiber composite driveshaft - cool. The standard short-throw 6-speed manual is a dream to run through the gears, provoking a bedeviling snarl to bark from its fat twin pipes between shift intervals. I found myself blipping the throttle at stoplights, as if the car didn't get enough attention, and then revving the engine up to its 6,600 rpm redline between shifts just for fun, even though maximum power is made at only 6,200. Its 274 lb-ft of maximum torque, however, arrives much sooner at 4,800 rpm. Keep the power down in 6th gear and it's capable of 250 km/h (155 mph), though common sense and a deep regard for my driver's license prevailed therefore we'll have to trust Nissan's performance stats. All that performance and it still manages 11.9 L/100km (24 mpg) in the city and 8.2 L/100km (34 mpg) on the highway, unless equipped with the automatic transmission in which case fuel economy worsens to 12.8 / 8.5 L/100km (22 / 33 mpg) respectively. Also, it is LEV certified. Impressive.