New Member, New-to-me Nismo with Questions
 

Picked up a 2020 Nismo last month and have been enjoying the ride. The car has just over 5K.

First, the headlights: The book says these are bi-xenons. They behave like bi-xenons when first turned on, then the brightness falls to near halogen level quickly. Is this common? I have other vehicles with bi-xenon headlights which don't do this.

Second, the driver's side mirror seems to distort images. The passenger side is fine.

Third - the vehicle information display on the left pod has a service maintenance option as one of its functions. It allows the driver to input distance to next oil change. The recommended interval is 7.5K miles (or 6 months). So, what is the usefulness of this function? I can see setting the mileage to less than 7.5K but...The input has two display segments - right one for distance. Is the left segment for duration? I have not been able to change the display on that segment.

Fourth - someone must have wiring DIY to get the red lamp at rear bumper to come on. How do we do that?

I am still reading the manual and figuring out things. I'm sure I will have more questions.

Thanks all.

Congratulations on your purchase. The light in your rear bumper in your American Z is a dummy. You will have to start by replacing it with the real unit that lights up:

https://conceptzperformance.com/niss...l1a_p_9107.php

I have a Canadian Z and it comes with that exact part that does light up from the factory. I think Nissan thinks that all Americans live in Arizona with 24 hour sunshine or something.

Now, I also have a extra dial on the left stalk that controls the light. I don't believe this part is available for order in America. If you need it and can't get it online from Canada, I would have no problem swinging by the local dealership here and forwarding it to you.

Don't go 7500 miles between oil changes. You will probably hit the sever duty limit which is 3750 from what I remember. Oil is cheap.

The standard projectors do not emit a ton of lights compared to the newer LEDs on many of the other cars on the road. Just make sure they are aligned according to the spec in the manual.

I agree with Spooler, don't go that long without changing your oil. If you don't drive it hard (aka like my mom drives her Z) 5000 miles is perfectly fine. I do 3500 on my Z, and sooner if I ever go to the track.

Viiv has you covered on the rear fog light.

Finally, the mirrors are behaving as they should the passenger mirror is a wide angle vs the driver side. That is mandated by the federal vehicle safety standards, so it's not unusual.

Yes congratulations on the purchase of your Nismo Z! From what I have seen it’s not worth risking to have to do a possible engine rebuild due to cheaping out on oil changes. Due to the duty my Z sees I will perform oil changes every 3K miles and when I attend track events oil gets changed right before the event and after the event is over. I recommend doing your oil changes before the oil change indicator it works.

For the 4th brake light on the bottom of the rear bumper, the others above have it. USDM cars do not have an actual light, it's a reflector. Canadian and other market cars have a real light

The OEM part from Nissan Canada or Japan or whatever will be fine

One additional option is aftermarket:
https://store.ijdmtoy.com/products/l...l-light-72-002

Different look, LEDs and such


For your headlights - I do recall one of the big retrofitters saying that the OEM projectors were pretty crappy. Remember this is a 2009 car that hasn't been updated in over a decade. If you're comparing headlight performance against modern cars, you will be disappointed.

If you want an upgrade, there is a (mostly) plug and play option from Morimoto:
https://www.morimotohid.com/morimoto...hts?quantity=1

They sold by various retailers. There's also a thread in the exterior forum that discusses user performance

The Morimotos are a very aggressive looking setup. For (probably) more money, you can get a retrofitter like Houston Halos, OneEightyNYC, Lightwerks or Yunique LED to make you a custom setup

Recommend ester based oil such as Redline.

You have a final year Nismo. Recommend you stick with OEM for rear light etc... to maintain resale value and desirability.

The rear light is a couple screws and plugs, its not gonna kill your value and its reversible

It shows that the rear light does not fit nismo edition?

Nismo rear from 2015 and up is identical

I have the iJDMtoy on my 2015

Where are you seeing it won’t fit?

Thanks. A couple of things 1 - The ConceptZ one you link says "...except Nismo," and required additional wiring. I don't that as a big problem. Can you post a pic of your stalk controls for this feature? Thanks.

The ConceptZ link posted by member viiv says "...except NISMO." Does not necessarily mean it wont fit. It also says extra work is need to make it work. I personally don't see these as major obstacles - I like the blinking Subaru ones.

One More Question
 

Thanks everyone for your responses and useful recommendations. Did first oil change yesterday using ester oil and Nismo oil filter from Z1. One question, and found out a couple of things I'd like to hear from you folks.

Question: Driving at supermarket parking lot speed, when I throttle a bit and take foot off, I hear a soft "boom" sound like from a subwoofer. It definitely is audio. Is the throttle tied to the audio in this car, for some reason?

Oil Change Findings

1. Spoke with my tech regarding Nissan Ester oil. He says Nissan has asked them to just use Mobil-1 5-30 (didn't question on specific specs). Note: We are small rural with only one Nissan dealership - pretty much one everything dealership (Benz, Toyota, VW, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Buick, Subaru, Chevy.)
   
2. The Nismo oil filter from Z1 shows P/N 15208-65F00, 65F01. shop says -65F00 is obsolete and that Nissan now uses -65F01, I don't see any problems using the Z1 filter in future, but any comment would be appreciated.

You opened up the flood gates with a "which oil / oil filter should I use?" question.

Oil, any oil you feel comfortable with. Some will recommend whale oil. I myself use only abiogenic oil. (Mobil1 0w-40)

Oil filters, any you feel comfortable with. Take your pick of filters. Me, I use new toilet paper rolls in a canister. (Pure 1)

I figured out why. The 2010-13 Nismo rear doesn’t have a fog light opening. 2014 did, then the 2015+ versions (can be referred to as nismo v2) came out and all use the same which also has the correct opening

Both those part numbers are just normal Nissan oil filters. The actual Nismo oil filter is part number 15208-RN011:
https://nismoparts.nissanusa.com/p/N...208-RN011.html

I actually use that Nismo oil filter in my base model 2020 Z which I baby: https://youtu.be/JTgY20dXHoQ. I like that the Nismo filter is made in Japan, compared with the normal Nissan filters being made in Mexico.

Yes, all 2020 models except base model have a fake engine noise coming through the speakers. If you want to disable it, the dealer can do it by changing settings via software. They will plug in their computer system called 'Consult' and they can turn it on or off.

As optionzero stated, the original Nissan fog light from ConceptZ will fit your 2020. It just doesn't fit older Nismo years before 2014. I will take a photo of my stalk when I get a chance.

This is a RHD one

Ok, here is a pic of mine:

https://i.ibb.co/rktXZLX/DSC-0881.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/k2VVNP4/20211205-221524.jpg

Welcome, I've owned a Z for 12 years (2 cars) never payed any attention to the service thingy in the dash, I do Redline engine oil every 6k or once per year, Redline all other fluids every 12k or 3 years. Nowadays it's the yearly change for me since I work at home now. I drive hard and never had any performance or reliability issues over 170k miles, not a drop of oil burned.

Thanks, @ BMSmith. I've owned a few Zs myself, from 280s to 300. I used Redline exclusively for my Z31. That car hat drove forever until someone wanted it really bad, so I sold it and bought a 96 Z32TT which I still own. I've used Mobil-1 for my Z32, with 4K/6-months oil change. For the Z34, I'll stick with the Nissan oil. I have other vehicles with 10K/1yr oil change intervals, so I don't have any issues with the 7.5K oil change recommendation - it has 5-1/8 quarts, and the fabrication technology is way better than the days of my 280Z - but I'm also leaning on 6K intervals.

Thanks. I don't see the difference between yours and Maldat's. I'll take a look at mine and compare.

LOL! Yes, the age old question of which oil to use. The fluids to use are spec'd by the manufacturer, and printed in the owner's manual. I won't say that anything outside that is whatever one feels comfortable with. I do believe one has to stay within the prescribed viscosity range.