The Japanese is very good at making existing technology reliable and pushing its performance to the limit. Years ago I read a small SUV comparison by C&D, the previous generation Toyota Rav4 with the 2.5L port-injected NA with the 4-speed auto outperformed the Ford Escape with the then new of 1.6L EcoBoost with a 6-speed auto in
both acceleration and real world fuel economy by a slim margin.
2013 Ford Escape vs., 2012 Honda CR-V, 2012 Hyundai Tucson, 2012 Kia Sportage, 2013 Mazda CX-5, 2012 Toyota RAV4 - Comparison Test - Car and Driver
For the Zs, Nissan not offering DI, Turbo or DCT sure turns off some buyers, but that definitely makes the Z relatively reliable and cheap to maintain.