Nissan Z Nismo manual unlikely, but not ruled out – report

The Nissan Z Nismo’s unveiling was met with mixed emotions from car enthusiasts, with some throwing their support behind the track-ready sports coupe while other fans of the model asked why it is not available with a manual transmission.

Last week, Nissan announced the Z Nismo would only be sold globally with a nine-speed automatic transmission – forgoing the six-speed manual gearbox available in the ‘standard’ Z.

For the Z Nismo, the nine-speed automatic transmission from the standard Z has been upgraded with new clutch packs and software, which Nissan claims reduces shift times and has improved the driving experience.

Despite these claimed improvements, many car enthusiasts went online to vent their frustrations at the lack of a manual gearbox for the Z Nismo shortly after it was revealed.

MORE: 2024 Nissan Z Nismo price and specs

In response to its critics, Nissan’s North American director of advanced product planning – Paul Hawson – told US publication Road & Track a majority of customers said the faster lap times achievable with an automatic transmission were more important than the extra level of driver engagement offered by a manual transmission.

"Any product we're conceptualising always starts with the customer," Mr Hawson told Road & Track Motorsports Editor, Fred Smith. 

"So the customers we talked to, when it comes to the Nismo, they were track-oriented people. These are people that are concerned about lap times, they're not concerned about the nostalgia for Z. We have something for that. It's the Z. 

“This one, in particular, is lap time and performance, and it is faster. If you benchmark it, look at other manufacturers that are making sports cars, a lot of them are two-pedal now. Even the upper grade, performance versions are two-pedal because it is faster."

However, the Nissan executive did not rule out the possibility of a three-pedal Z Nismo being produced – provided there is enough customer demand to make it a viable exercise.

"Because we're so customer-oriented, if there's a groundswell of 'I've got to have this in manual,' we can do it. It's just, again, for the purity of the concept, it was about lap times."

Mr Hawson’s comments about the Nissan Z Nismo being faster as an automatic than manual were backed up by Hiroshi Tamura – the company’s Chief Product Specialist who was responsible for the new-generation Z and GT-R.

Mr Tamura – also known as ‘Mr GT-R’ – told UK publication Top Gear an automatic version of the standard Z was even faster than a Z Nismo development car with a manual gearbox, claiming it would have been hard to sell the model which was slower than the base car.

"To be honest, base car (Nissan Z) with two pedals (is) faster than Nismo with three pedals," Mr Tamura said to Top Gear journalist, Steven Ewing. "Base, 400hp (298kW); quicker than Nismo.

"Time is not important, but some people said Nismo must be quicker than base."

As previously reported, approximately 60 per cent of Nissan Z orders in Australia are for manual-equipped versions – though this is down from the 70 per cent figure when the sports coupe was launched locally last year.

The Nissan Z Nismo is due in Australia later this year, with the first batch to be limited to 100 cars – priced from $94,000 plus on-road costs, the highest list price ever for a Nissan Z-car locally.