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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.

Tier 1 suppliers call GM the worst OEM to work with

Among automakers with a big US presence, General Motors is the worst to work for, according to a new survey from Tier 1 automotive suppliers, conducted by Planning Perspectives, Inc.
The Detroit-based manufacturer, which has been under fire following the ignition switch recall and its accompanying scandal, finished behind six other automakers with big US manufacturing operations. Suppliers had issues with trust and communications, as well as intellectual property protection. GM was also the least likely to allow suppliers to raise their prices in the face of unexpected increases in material cost, all of which contributed to 55 percent of suppliers saying their relationship with GM was "poor to very poor."
GM's cross-town competitors didn't fare much better. Chrysler finished in fifth place, ahead of GM and behind Dearborn-based Ford, which was passed for third place this year by Nissan. Toyota took the top marks, while Honda captured second place.

Robert Llewellyn fast-charges long-distance Leaf EV drive in UK

A British actor likely best known in his country for his role in the 1980s and 90s comedy series Red Dwarf has just made a pretty good case for driving green automobiles. Last week, Robert Llewellyn has completed an 862-mile round trip between London and Edinburgh in a Nissan Leaf and says he was able to save time by finding enough fast-charging stations the entire way, UK website Excite/Motoring says. Llewellyn, along with co-driver David Peilow, knocked out the London-to-Edinburgh leg in a single day, in part because of the British network of about 150 fast-charging stations. Llewellyn used his Twitter feed to update the general public of the two drivers' progress, noting that the first leg took about 13 hours. The round trip was completed January 26. Nissan can use all the positive publicity in can get, as UK sales of the all-electric vehicle failed to keep pace with the surging rate of demand in the US, where 2013 Leaf sales more than doubled from a year earlier to 22,610 units. In fact, in the UK, Nissan started offering incentives last month, things like free quick charging at Nissan dealerships, the ability to borrow gas-powered Nissans for free and free towing.