Well I test drove the 69 plates Nismo this morning, just 6500 miles on the clock. Here's my initial thoughts:
Whilst not a fan of black cars, lovely looking car, very menacing and purposeful. Would look amazing lowered a little and with wheel spacers.
Loved the Recaro seats. When I got in I initially felt a really perched compared to the F-type, but soon settled in. Really comfortable and supportive. Be nice if you could lower them. I was surprised by the wear to the lower side bolster for a car with only 6k miles.
Old school, but in a positive way. Sure interior is dated and low rent materials, but that's ok with me for a weekender. In fact the entertainment system didn't bother me at all, not worse than my 2013 F-Type, wouldn't put me off buying it. No creaks or rattles. Quite a lot of cabin noise, that was the first thing I noticed when up to speed, suspect it would make long trips quite tiring. Bose system is ok, nothing special.
Car felt brisk, but never fast. Pulls well from about 5000rpm to 6500rpm. Too tall geared IMO, would really benefit from a shorter ratio diff to liven things up. Little lacking low down, but that's to be excepted coming from a supercharged V6. Again diff would help with that.
Artificial engine noise didn't actually bother me, but definitely needs and aftermarket exhaust. Super quiet for a car of that nature. Didn't have much drama to it.
So much mechanical grip, loads of grip and corners very flat. This was the highlight for sure. Was expecting the ride to be choppy after reading many reviews. But oddly the traction control light was flickering constantly on third gear pulls. Never felt it intervene, but it was going crazy nonetheless, it's not that powerful to be wanting to spin the wheels and as we know, not much torque. Had Goodyear F1’s with loads of tread.
Steering was very nicely weighted, heavy but not too heavy, very direct too. An improvement on F-type, even though both are hydraulic.
Really needs a digital speedo on the taco. Very difficult to read your speed which is fine on the open road, but not in town.
Super strong brakes and look fantastic.
Didn't like the high biting point on the clutch, had hoped the uprated clutch from 2018 onwards had sorted that. I know you can replace the pedal.
Car reminded me of the Z4M coupe (I had the roadster), but way more competent, the Z4M always felt flawed despite the amazing engine.
Exhaust pipes look corroded internally. Was not expecting that, but would be getting replaced anyway
Suspect it will gobble the fuel and be a lot worse than my F-type
F-type feels, sounds and looks more special, but 370Z is perhaps a more focussed car and definitely better handling
So what next?? Well when the F-type sells (absolutely no rush) I'd been really keen to drive the Supra and see if it's worth the extra expense. If I went for the 370Z, it would be white or silver and would definitely change the clutch pedal, throw on a short shifter, lower it by 10/15mm, short tails and wheel spacers. The longer run look at Diff options. That would make for a very interactive, entertaining and competent weekender, with just about the right power for the road.