Nissan Motor Co.’s NISMO division is responsible for the go-fast side of the company’s race cars. A play on the words “Nissan” and “Motorsport”, NISMO is not unlike M to BMW, or AMG to Mercedes-Benz. You know right away that if one of Nissan’s cars gets the NISMO treatment, it’s bound to come out something rather special indeed.

So it was that, with the outgoing 350Z, that Nissan chose to grace us with the NISMO version of the model as the car’s goodbye token.  Previously, NISMO versions to Z cars were available in Japan and Europe only and that kinda left the North American public feeling a bit left out. Well not anymore.

Nissan is once again bringing their NISMO-Z to the states. This time though, we will see it much earlier in this model’s life-cycle. Bringing cars like this to the United States is vital for keeping brand interest alive, especially these days. A little spice to attract the clientèle, eh?

The last 350Z’s NISMO option was like the bargain of the century for sports car drivers. For roughly $2000 more on top of the base price (already installed!!!) you got a whole lot of performance goodies. New wheels and tires, sports suspension, better brakes, new exhaust system, stiffer sway-bars, and a host of aero add-on components gave you a balanced and tuned package that was finalized by Nissan’s best race engineers, what more could you want!?!? It is only obvious to think that we will get the same treatment for the NISMO-370Z, only 30-40% better everything, sweet.

With photos of the Japanese spec NISMO-370Z  floating already floating around the net, it’s easy to see that this new one will be better in every respect. Just one glance says “bad-ass”, plain and simple. When it finally does reach our shores sometime next year it will surely give some of its more snob-nosed competitors a run for their money.

Source: Car and Driver

Photos: Nissan Motor Co.