2025 Nissan Z Review – Nissan has pulled off a true modern classic …

Nissan never gave up on the six-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive, manual-transmission sports car formula, and the 2025 Z is the payoff. A twin-turbo V6 pushing 400 horsepower, the long-awaited return of Bayside Blue, and a six-speed manual on the base Sport grade all signal a company still building for enthusiasts first. Kirk Kreifels puts the latest Z through its paces to see whether the reputation holds up against modern rivals. The results might change how you think about what a modern sports car is supposed to feel like.

Every few years, some analyst declares the formula dead — inline six or turbo V6, rear-wheel drive, and a shifter you actually have to work for — and every few years, one company quietly proves them wrong. Nissan has never let go of that formula, and the payoff shows up the moment you put your foot down in the new Z. This isn’t a nostalgia act dressed up in retro badges; it’s a genuinely modern machine that happens to respect where it came from. Kirk Kreifels spent real seat time in the latest version to find out whether the reputation still holds up, and what he found wasn’t the compromise most reviewers expect from a car built to satisfy tradition and technology at once. The surprise isn’t in the spec sheet. It’s in what the car does with it.

A Twin-Turbo Heart in an Old-School Body

Under the hood sits a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 rated at 400 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 350 lb-ft of torque spread across a wide 1,600-5,600 rpm band — numbers that would have been supercar territory not that long ago. The Sport grade pairs that engine with a six-speed manual as standard equipment, a decision that runs against nearly every industry trend toward paddle shifters and dual-clutch boxes. It’s the kind of choice that only makes sense if the people building the car actually care whether enthusiasts keep buying it, and that’s exactly the audience Nissan is chasing here.

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Bayside Blue Finally Comes Home

For 2025, Nissan is finally offering the Z in Bayside Blue, the shade most associated with the R34 GT-R and one longtime fans have wanted on this platform for years. It’s joined by two new two-tone finishes — Pearl White Tricoat with a Super Black roof, and Solid Red with the same black roof treatment — alongside returning colors like Black Diamond Pearl and Rosewood Metallic. Small detail, big signal: this is a company still listening to the people who buy these cars for reasons that have nothing to do with commuting.

Sport or Performance — The Real Decision

Buyers choosing between trims aren’t just picking options; they’re picking a personality. The Sport grade keeps things focused with an 8-inch touchscreen, digital gauge cluster, and Nissan’s Intelligent Key, while the Performance grade layers in an 8-speaker Bose audio system, a 9-inch navigation touchscreen, and NissanConnect Services with a Wi-Fi hotspot. Neither one buries the driving experience under unnecessary tech — a balance that’s gotten harder for manufacturers to strike as cabins get more digital.

Why the Z Still Matters

Starting at an MSRP of $42,970, the 2025 Z isn’t cheap, but it’s arguing for something increasingly rare: a purpose-built rear-wheel-drive sports car with a manual option and a naturally aggressive six-cylinder soul, wrapped in sheet metal that visibly nods to four decades of Z-car history. Whether that argument holds up against turbocharged rivals and shrinking manual-transmission take rates is exactly what Kreifels sets out to answer.

The Weight of Nearly Fifty Years of Z History

The Z nameplate traces back to the 1969 240Z, a car that single-handedly proved Japanese manufacturers could build an affordable, genuinely engaging sports car for the American market. Every generation since — the 280Z, 300ZX, 350Z, 370Z — has had to answer the same question: does it still deserve the badge? The 2025 model enters a market where the Toyota Supra and a shrinking pool of V8 Mustang variants are effectively its only direct rivals, and where manual-transmission take rates have fallen low enough that offering one at all is a statement of intent rather than a checkbox. Kreifels’ review lands squarely in the middle of that question, treating the new Z not as a curiosity but as the latest entry in a lineage that has earned the benefit of the doubt.

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