2027 Nissan Z Nismo First Drive Review: A New 6-Speed Manual Makes This the Best Z Ever

• What's new: The 2027 Nissan Z Nismo finally gets a six-speed manual transmission. Other upgrades include new front brake rotors, retuned steering, revised front suspension tuning and a redesigned fuel tank.
• Why it matters: Enthusiasts demanded, and Nissan delivered. The manual gearbox saves weight and elevates driver engagement, while new steering, brakes and fuel tank make the Z more track-worthy than ever. 
• Edmunds says: The manual Z Nismo finally checks all the boxes. We just wish it didn't cost so much.

Saving the manuals

The reality is, the Nismo's automatic transmission makes the car definitively quicker around a racetrack (sorry). But the manual significantly elevates the driving experience, and if you want maximum driver engagement, it is without a doubt the way to go.

Offering the manual was driven directly by consumer demand, and it comes with a great side benefit: weight savings. The manual Nismo weighs in at a relatively svelte 3,624 pounds, while the automatic is 3,677 pounds. This isn't just the standard Z gearbox dropped into a faster car either. To reliably handle the Nismo's upgraded output — a stout 420 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque from the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 — Nissan fortified the manual with an upgraded, heavier clutch, a reinforced pressure plate and a stronger case housing. And yes, you still get launch control with the manual.

When you're rowing through the gears, you'll notice the physical throw of the shifter has been reduced a smidge; 6 millimeters to be exact, which equates to a 7% shorter throw. The shifting effort is virtually the same, but that shorter throw adds some solidity to the engagement that I personally find satisfying.

The SynchroRev Match system — which automatically matches engine revs on downshifts — works flawlessly. While it's a surprisingly common feature these days, Nissan actually pioneered the technology, introducing it in the 2009 370Z. Driving an unfamiliar car on a highly technical track like Sonoma Raceway is demanding enough. This system removes the stress of perfectly timing your heel-and-toe downshifts, freeing you to focus on your braking zones, your apexes and, well, just generally keeping all four wheels on the pavement.

More Nismo special sauce

To really understand what makes the 2027 Nismo special, I'll start with a few laps in the 2026 Z Performance. This model offers plenty of power and is a genuinely fun and capable road car. But when you push it hard over Sonoma's fast, off-camber elevation-changing corners, you feel the chassis move around and take a fraction of a second longer to settle than you might like. (It's worth noting that the 2027 Performance trim now gets Nismo dampers, but with a softer tune for everyday usability.)

The bigger issue with the Performance model, however, is the braking. At track speeds, the brakes are only good for one or two really hard stops before fade starts to creep in to kill the party.

Jumping from the Performance trim into the Z Nismo, the differences are immediately obvious on my first lap. The Performance's braking issues are solved by dipping into the Nissan GT-R parts bin. The Z Nismo utilizes the exact two-piece brake rotors from the R35 GT-R. That upgrade alone sheds a massive 19 pounds of unsprung weight (the weight not supported by the suspension, which helps the tires stay in better contact with the pavement).

The 2027 model retains the four-piston fixed Akebono calipers from the 2026 Z with a Nismo-specific brake pad compound. Over the course of five or so hot laps, the brakes are mostly unfazed, and Nissan says it didn't change the pads from a full day of tracking these test cars the day before. In the Nismo, I can brake later into a corner, and with less initial pedal effort and more confidence than I ever could muster in the Performance model. Bear in mind that this is still designed as a street setup rather than a dedicated track package, which is impressive.

Because the new Z Nismo lost some weight at the front wheels, Nissan's engineers softened the compression and rebound of the front shocks. This accounts for the loss in unsprung mass and helps achieve a better overall balance. This specific suspension tweak applies to both the automatic and manual cars. However, softening those shocks had an unintended side effect of muddying the steering feel. To get that sharpness back, Nissan introduced a Nismo-exclusive steering rack with tighter tolerances and specific tuning optimized for the new suspension settings.

When you combine the weight savings, the suspension tweaks and that new steering rack together, the driving experience is completely transformed over the standard Z. Turn-in feels much more precise with a linear buildup in effort, and the chassis settles incredibly quick from corner to corner. Attacking those same blind, off-camber turns in a car that feels more predictable, tied-down and trustworthy not only helps you go faster but is more fun. The Nismo's stickier Dunlop summer tires also add an additional layer of speed and confidence without going overboard on grip, which can sometimes make a car feel less lively or underpowered.

On the topic of track-day confidence, Nissan's engineers also addressed a known quirk for regulars: fuel starvation. They redesigned the fuel tank by adding a simple but effective baffle wall in the lowest point of the tank. This traps fuel and eliminates the fuel starvation issues previously caused by high-G right-hand turns when the tank dropped below a quarter full. All 2027 Zs get the new tank, and we confirmed that earlier model year Zs can also retrofit this new tank.

Price of admission

For enthusiasts considering a car like the Z Nismo, there has always been one elephant in the room: the BMW M2. The Nismo and the M2 are priced within a stone's throw of each other, and for many, it's incredibly hard to ignore the Bimmer's 53-hp advantage. But the Z's price tag really comes down to economies of scale. BMW can spread the M2's research and development costs across a massive global lineup, whereas the Z Nismo, as a low-volume passion project, can't. 

While official 2027 pricing hasn't been announced, Nissan has held the Nismo's MSRP flat at $67,045 (including destination) for the last few years. So I fully expect a very small bump, if any, for the privilege of finally being able to row your own gears.