My job affords me the opportunity to drive some truly amazing vehicles, and I don’t take this privilege for granted. I have to admit, the automotive industry is on a steamrolling pace in 2025. Our calendar days are filled to the brim with car launches, content shoots, and other events that consume most of our time. I took the time during one “lean” week to relax, take a break, and enjoy something.
What better thing to do than to just go on a drive? a long drive filled with winding roads, beautiful views, and even better company. I needed a car that could do a grand tour but also excite, and that job fell to the Nissan Z Nismo.
Nissan’s only Nismo
The past year and months have been tough on Nissan, the legendary Japanese automaker, which has been subject to a lot of rumors and changes. One of the most significant blows has been the decision to stop production of the GT-R. The beloved Godzilla has been put out to pasture, with no new model on the horizon yet, this leaves the Z as Nissan’s only sports car, and it just go the Nismo treatment too.
I honeslty like the current generation of the Z, it is for me the best one so far. I like the way it looks retro and modern, I like that it can be both a grand tourer and a sports car, and that there is practicality for it to be considered a daily-able 2-door coupe.
In Nismo Z form, things are dialed up just a tad bit more, no crazy figures, just fine-tuning, and proper upgrading. The Z Nismo has a power bump with a total of 420 PS, reworked Nismo suspension, Akebono performance brakes, and most importantly a 9-speed automatic transmission (we’ll talk about this later).
Lookwise, the Nismo is also more or less the same as the standard, with just a few touches of difference in the form of new rims, and a body kit, complemented by an interesting flat grey color with a black roof, and red accents. I like how it keeps the beautiful aspects of the Z and just looks a little bit more sinister.
Inside, the Z Nismo gets some changes in the form of more Nismo branding, Alcantara leather on the steering wheel, and the most comfortable Recaro seats i’ve ever used in my life. I’m happy to inform also that the Z Nismo is still a practical 2-door, it has all the features found in the normal Z, like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and ADAS functions.
Needless to say, I was excited to get this car on the open road and see what it can do for my thirst for a perfect drive. I realized though that while solitary drives have value, I chose to bring along my closest car guys in Kelvin and of course Carlos with his own built up version of a performance Nissan Z.
Zoomies
I just need to touch on Carlos’ Nissan Z, his personal version is his own expression of what a performance Z is, while it isn’t a Nismo, it is certainly its own beast and something to not directly compare the Nismo with, but rather showcase with as a celebration of the model.
The group was set to meet early on a Wednesday morning to make the most out of the day. I picked up Kelvin in Manila, and we set off to rendezvous with Carlos in NLEX for a fuel top-up. This day was the first proper day I got to drive the Z Nismo, and even on the uneven Metro Manila road surfaces, I could already tell that this vehicle wants to communicate; I could feel every crack and crevice through the steering wheel. The ride is also biased more towards the stiff end of the spectrum, but I honestly didn’t mind how stiff it is; it feels livable.
In the city, the Z Nismo chugs fuel quite well, with the help of the 9-speed automatic, it registered a decent 5-7 km/l depending on traffic, which is expected. What shocked me is the highway cruise I was able to push it up to around 13 km/l, more than decent. I know fuel efficiency isn’t what this vehicle is made for, but I just had to point out that the Z Nismo isn’t a huge fuel guzzler.
Something else I noticed about the Z Nismo is that it feels so good to cruise in; I didn’t have the almighty urge to drive like a crazed maniac the whole time. I actually thoroughly enjoyed chilling and cruising all the way through NLEX. We arrived at Petron Lakeshore to link up with Carlos because he knew the perfect place to drive the Z Nismo, somewhere tucked between the peaks and valleys of the north, lay a relatively undiscovered string of winding roads ripe for driving. This route is so unknown that we only had a vague Google Maps pin of how to get there.
As we made our way to the winding road, I steadily started to poke the bear, so to speak, waking up the Z Nismo for the road ahead. From normal mode, I ticked it over to sport and immediately the car changed, the throttle livelier, the shifts crisper, and the pumped-in engine noise now added simulated pops and bangs (Yes, sadly the Z has simulated noise, but honestly it wasn’t so bad).
We broke through the early morning provincial traffic and drove into the base of the mountain road, Carlos eggs me on to put the Z Nismo in sports + mode (a mode only available in the Nismo version), and by God did the Z break free. As we drove on, the roads got twisty, and I pushed the Z Nismo, and it was as if it directly tapped into my brain and it sycned into the perfect driving companion.
I’m not the most comfortable or best mountain road carver; I’m actually a timid performance driver, but in the Z Nismo, I felt this newfound confidence that I could drive it as fast and as hard as I wanted. From comfortable cruiser the Z Nismo became a lithe, nimble and insanley reactive sports car. The steering is absolutely spot on, I knew where it would go each time, and the suspension kept the whole car on the level through the off camber and uneven corners.
I enjoyed how the Nismo Z would dance through the corners with no hint of danger lurking; the grip was phenomenal, no matter the road condition. Also, while most would lament the lack of a manual transmission, I for one must credit Nissan for this 9-speed automatic. Not once did the transmission get confused. Every time I pulled on the paddle shifters, it gave me the response I wanted and needed; it was absolutely perfect. I was giggling and smiling the whole drive.
We spent about a little over 2 hours just driving through the mountains, and it was honestly the most fun I’ve ever had in a car. I didn’t want to stop driving. I could’ve honestly driven it up to the tip of Luzon and back home without a moment’s hesitation; that’s how great the Z Nismo is to drive. The Z Nismo Cure
The Z Nismo Cure
I could go on and on about how good the Nissan Z Nismo is, but I’d like to be a little more reflective about that whole driving experience. You see, most of my friends will tell you that I’m an easy customer. I normally don’t have many issues with the vehicles I’m privileged to borrow and test.
In the case of the Z Nismo, though, it’s a case of properly falling in love. I just didn’t expect to fall this hard for it because of all the noise surrounding Nissan. That’s not to say that I don’t like the brand, in fact I’m a huge fan, but given the current world, it just didn’t seem like the Z Nismo would be as great as it truly is. Here is a car that truly speaks to my wants and desires, something I can use on a daily basis without heavy compromise, but be this absolutely brilliant sports coupe when I want it to be.
I can say that the Z Nismo has taken the mantle of my new “dream car”, it now has a very special place in my heart for curing my “malaise”, and reginiting a new love for pure driving fun done right. Nissan and Nismo are alive and well, with the new beating heart in the form of the Z Nismo.
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