Even with the 2023 Nissan Z having been fully introduced and officially drifted live back in January at the Tokyo Auto Salon, there’s still no official confirmation on the production/market arrival schedule (more on this below). Nevertheless, this rendering proposes an interaction of the new Z that seems to have “Nismo version” written all over it.
Last month, an allegedly leaked Nissan schedule told us that the Z would enter production this March (hey, there’s still one day to go!) and be offered to the media in April. Subsequently, the sports car would see its sales kicking off (probably along with the first deliveries) in June, while the massive marketing campaign for the new arrival should come in August.
The expected $40,000 starting price making the 2023 Nissan Z some $10,000 more affordable than its main rival, the Toyota Supra, remains to be fully confirmed by the automaker.
Then there are the rumors about a more capable Nismo version that would push the twin-turbo 3.0L V6 shared with Infiniti past the 400 hp output of the standard car. Having surfaced back in 2018, this unofficial talk also included AWD on the list of features for the Nismo.
Alas, this rumor only leads to more questions: will the GT-R, which is on its way out, remain on the side for a while as the said AWD arguably covers its segment of the market? Would the front axle be engaged by an electric motor?
Returning to the Supra comparison, this seems to demand a Nismo iteration of the new Z. We’ll remind you that Toyota, which has gifted its sportscar with a BMW turbo-four, an option not available on the Nissan, at least up to this point, is rumored to be working on a more potent Supra GRMN. The newcomer should land next year as a 2024 model, sporing the current BMW M3/M4’s S58 twin-turbo 3.0L inline-six, which would bring the game to around 500 horsepower.
A 2024 Nissan Z Nismo in the virtual world
Until we get our answers, digital artist Ted Li (aka flathat3d), who came up with one of the first, if not the first, 3D model of the new Z last year, has prepared a beefed-up incarnation of the JDM toy.
Last time we discussed one of his adventures, the Z and the Supra had gone down the drag car route, duking it out on the strip. This time around, though, Li introduced a conversion that appears to be rooted in the Z car’s Nismo DNA, hence the Nismo label we used for the projectโnote that the 2023 Z used an updated platform of its 370Z predecessor, which, in turn, was based on the 350Z of the early 2000s.
As opposed to the Mk V Supra, whose design has been criticized for being busy and packing faux vents, the new Z sports a clean appearance with retro influences.
Well, this particular example packs a high-mount rear wing reminding us of the various Nismo iterations the 350Z and 370Z enjoyed (you’ll two 350Zs and one 370Z in the final part of the image gallery).
And while the rear louvers and the tastefully restrained widebody seem a bit much even for a fictional 2024 Nissan Z Nismo, these could come as official accessoriesโmore and more automakers aim to capitalize on the aftermarket interest for their go-fast machines and are expanding their accessory offer these days.
Expect even bolder mods to arrive soon
As you can notice in the Instagram post below, the artist is threatening to release a slantnose conversion for the Z and we can’t wait to virtually place this alongside The Khyza’s G-nose Z rendering.
Meanwhile, in the real world, three-time Formula Drift Champion Chris Forsberg is stuffing a GT-R twin-turbo V6 into the engine bay of his future 2023 Z sliding instrument.