2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster

By Cor Steenstra, photography Chris Jones, model Kaylin Omo, hair & make-up Heather Ivy.

We recently had the chance to experience the Nissan 370Z Roadster, and, as usual with our recent convertible tests, California weather was playing bad for most of the time. I have no clue what it is these days with the weather here in SoCal, but it does not seem to want to play along very much.

The Nissan however did its very best to make me forget about that part. It is a very nimble little car, with a smooth gearbox sliding effortlessly through the gears, even at speed. The car never gives you the impression to be out of control. Though clearly more sporty catered than the recent Infiniti and Lexus convertibles we tested, it never become uncomfortable in it’s ride harshness.

The exterior design is not quite as smooth and harmonious as we would have expected from this car. Given that the basic design of the current 370Z is quite well balanced and a clear more modern interpretation of the previous design, the convertible is less so. Gone is the very logical smooth open version of the current car. Instead there seems to be a rather over complicated swoop up towards the headrests, combined with sweeping cut lines for the soft top storage.

With the stance of the car, the basic solid design theme, and the width to height balance, the car still is a head turner whereever we went, so in that respect Nissan design did get a lot out of it, but we feel it could have gotten much more out of it if the car was also simply stunningly gorgeous.

The interior, like the base 370Z, is rather cramped, catering towards the average jockey figure. With such a big eye on the US market and the potential for numbers of sales here, it is surprising Nissan packaged the car so compact, thus disenfranchising a lot of potential customers of average and above American built.