2009 Nissan Murano Sl on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Daily Driver: 2016 Nissan 370Z

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2016 Nissan 370Z, reviewed by Seyth Miersma. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. And don't forget to watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. Show full video transcript text Hey, all. This is Seyth, and I'm behind the wheel of a 2016 Nissan 370Z. That's right, the Nissan 370Z is still for sale in the 2016 model year. It would be lying to say that this car is anything but old in the tooth. It's been around since around 2009 and it has been updated since then but not dramatically, so it's still essentially the same car. The version that I'm in is really the essential version of the same car. This is a base, base model. It's right around $30,000. The only options are for floor mats, which are $125, meaning you're getting the Z at its most distilled. For this car that means that it's still using the 3.7-liter naturally aspirated V6 engine. It's making 332 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, figures which feel about seven years old. It's made it up to a six-speed manual transmission that does not have Nissan's SynchroRev Match technology on it. This is a nice, steady, short throw gearbox. It feels a little bit notchy if you're going really fast. Not the smoothest in the world but it really gets the job done. Even over the last couple days of driving, I've really grown to like it. Now what Nissan delivers with this car is a really pure-feeling sports car experience. It's not that heavy. It's about 33, 3,400 pounds, which makes it a few hundred lighter than a Mustang. It's a little bit heavier than the BRZ, FRS twins, but with more power as well. The steering is hydraulic power assist. It turns in really quickly and really nicely. It handles challenges of direction very well. Generally, this car on a curvy road in third gear is a really, really enjoyable thing. Of course you're not getting a lot in terms of refinement. There are people who definitely argue that the 370Z has never been a refined sports car ever, and a lot of people point to the engine and the exhaust that they don't like. Right now I'm just cruising around at 3,500 RPMs and it's got a low hum that is neither exciting nor quiet. There's a lot of tire roar.

Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."

Modified Trabant takes on Nissan GT-R in 1/4-mile battle

The little yellow guy in the right lane above with the "Flitzer" license plate looks like a Trabant 601 wagon and it's called a Trabant, but it's got little to do with the impoverished East German runabout that did its part to drive Communist ideals further into the ground. You'd almost be forgiven for not knowing there's a turbocharged 3.0-liter engine up front, until you have look at that rear track... and the wheelie bars in back.
So with a power-to-weight ratio akin to an LS9-powered scooter, it's no surprise that the Trabbi puts a pasting on a slightly tuned, 580-horsepower Nissan GT-R - we don't know what happened with Godzilla's shifting, but it was all over from the hole shot. It's still fun to watch, though, and you can do that in the video below.