The Nissan 370Z seems to be a world record holder in 2 categories!
 

Not only is the 370Z the first car to offer downshift revmatching on a manual transmission, but it also seems to be the most powerful rated production naturally aspirated V6 in any car (for the Nismo model). Can anyone think of a naturally aspirated V6 with 350 (or more) horsepower? The Hyundai is an extremely close second with it's direct injected 3.8 V6 at 348hp...but the 370Z Nismo seems to be first, and the regular 370z fourth after the Genesis and Q60 IPL (which with the same engine, I don't know if it really counts).

Whilst technically a "Flat 6", the 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 had 500hp and 339tq from a naturally aspirated 4.0l engine. Pretty impressive.

Does that count???

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 First Drive – Review – Car and Driver

There are a whole slew of other NA 911s that also have/had more than 350hp.

The 2004 BMW M3 CSL had a NA 3.2l inline 6 rated at 355hp.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M3

Not a V6 so, no, it doesn't count...

Exactly, doesn't count..V6 :)

Darn. I'll keep searching...

Impressive! One more reason to love the Z :happydance:

I think i read somewhere that the v6 in the now 6th generation camaro coming out will have around 360 hp. Never liked the camaro, but a 200lb weight drop and the lt1 would make a good combo.

The Z was definitely impressive in 2009. but since it hasn't changed since, the rest of the automotive world is passing it by. time for a long overdue upgrade.

That's true, the Z is still gonna exist as a 2016 model, making it atleast 8 years in production (which is impressive it stuck around for so long, surpassing the 350Z by 2 years, although still 3 years shy of the 11 year Z32 300ZX)...I'm rooting it stays around for as long as possible, because the next Z is gonna hava a 3.0 biturbo mercedes engine, so you can hardly call it a Z anymore...I sure don't like the idea. Atleast the 370Z will also hold the record as the largest displacement Z car in Nissan history. Even thoigh it is dated, I don't wanna see it go and it's nice to know you still have the latest model so many years later, depending on when you bought one :)

If the new Camaro V6 comes out with a 360hp rated V6, it would take the current Nismo's record by 10hp...but let's see it happen first...either way, even if that V6 does come out for the 2016 model year, the 370Z would of held the N/A V6 record for the 2000s (even if late), and for atleast 7 years overall ;)

Since its inception with the 240Z, the Z has become one of the best selling sports car in the world.

Sorry. The Nismo 380RS had a 3.8L VQ engine and was available to the public in Japan from Nissan.

Fairlady Z Version NISMO Type 380RS DEBUT!!

We shall see, but Wikipedia has the new 4th Gen LGX 3.6L V6 at 335hp for the CT6, ATS. and CTS in 2016, and based on past history, the Camaro hasn't had an engine much different than the other vehicles in the GM fleet.

GM High Feature engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damn, overlooked that one...very limited production but still counts.

Ok, largest displacement Z ever to be sold out of Japan then :)

This was somewhat true in the past (70s, 80s, 90s) I guess...and I wish it still was, but right now the Z isn't doing so well unfortunately. There's one Z sold for every 10 or more mustangs and camaros...although you may not consider them "sports cars" but rather "muscle cars", they're still majorly outselling the Z. Imo the next Z should go with a good, Nissan N/A V8 capable of around 420-460hp, and keep the same V6 for the base, V6 model. That way they can sell it for 25g with the V6 base, 35g fully loaded V6, 35g base V8, 40-45g fully loaded V8...that would get the Z back in the competition, and crush it. This 3.0tt mercedes engine thing only looses pride in Nissan enthusiasts and makes the company look bad...when you start looking at what's cheaper to produce rather than what makes a better car...you loose your pride in what you do. Nissan sold plenty of altimas in order to afford the R&D of a brand new, Nissan engine...but rather they decided it would be cheaper to borrow an engine...which is sad for Nissan. With Toyota borrowing a BMW I6...only Honda is left to use their own engines for now...are the Japanese giving up? Sad because IMO they have truly proven to be capable of making some of the best cars in the world since the 70s...and especially in the 80s and 90s.

335hp isn't enough to match the Nismo's 350hp so it's no threat for first place...although it beats the regular 332hp 370Z by 3 horses.

I love my Z and always prefer a car that is rare than a car that i can see 2 or 3 of them every time i stop at a light.

Yes but that conservative way of thinking is very focused on you and is good only for that...so customers feel unique...but the reason the car is unique is because it doesn't sell well, and when it doesn't sell well, it's not profitable for the manufacturer...so the manufacturer doesn't want to invest a lot of money in making a good car if it's not gonna make any profit or even loose money.

The car being rare or unique is only really important to the customer, the manufacturer would much rather sell as many as possible in order to make that model profitable...and that's why nissan updates the altima almost every year and makes a new model every 5...because it makes them a lot of money.

It is why Nissan is gonna borrow an engine from mercedes for the next Z...because they don't wanna invest a lot of money in a car that's not gonna make them any...I hate those investors/accountants/ceos that make decisions based on profit instead of making the best car they can and earn their name with pride, trust, and respect...but that's how the world works now I guess...those old days are gone.

I completely agree! And Nissan going that route it will make the Z in a way not a Z cause it won't have a new VQ engine as it should but who knows it might turn out to be a little monster of a car or the other way around.

Well if it gets a 3.0tt it'll probably be a bit faster but that's not the point of the Z car (for me)...if I wanted a german car with a mercedes engine, I would just buy a mercedes....

Good point!
I know Honda's golden boy the NSX Type R was a 3.2 V-6 making 290 hp & the NSX in general was considered the best NA performer for most of it's loooooong 15 year run.

So, I really can't think of a production V-6 with higher numbers besides the Nismo Fairlady 380RS mentioned already ; )
Fairlady Z Version NISMO Type 380RS DEBUT!!

Or you could buy a Mercedes Benz and install a VQ37VHR in it. I'm just saying...:confused:

Wasn't this the same thing people were saying when Datsun went from the I-6 to the VQ V-6 in the 300zx back in the day? I doubt many people will care what the engines pedigree is if the car is really great.

I think the best policy is to just wait and see what they decide to do with the Z; might be really cool. You never know.

The 300ZX had the VG30 in it. It was again a marvel of it's time. We can only hope that NISSAN will show us how it is done again, but I think they aren't going to put forth the effort.

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Ferrari had rev match back in 1998, not a good one, but Nissan isn't the first.
Merc C32 AMG had a 349hp motor back in 2003. 6 years to make 1 more hp not something to cheer about.

Sorry, C32 AMG was supercharged, not NA.

Haha, so that 1hp is quite something to brag about, coming from an N/A :)

Nissan is the first to use electronic rev matching, that's the difference ; )
By using the ECU and the electronic throttle bodies the revs on a Z are near perfect whereas Ferrari's mechanical system wasn't so hot.

AND Ferrari's system was developed for their F1 platform and installed on "production" cars so that it could be used without scrutiny.

Exactly, innovation...borrowing an engine isn't innovation

Interasting...wonder how it actually worked.

Well that didn't happen, 335hp is the result of the 2016 Camaro V6.