Nissan imho got the 370 right this time. But if they don't increase the horsepower somehow in future models i feel the car will be left behind
in more ways than one.

does the car look better and handle better than the so called new muscle
cars yes. but people buy for other reasons.

332 hp is not much at all in todays market. half the cars and trucks sold today have that much........

370Z is up for its mid-cycle refresh for the 2013 model year, expect a small power bump, revised styling such as new bumpers/wheels, new color options, and small interior tweaks.

What exactly is "Nismo tuned suspension" and how does it differ from the sport package model?

Wasn't this rumored about the 2011/2012? I know they had the tsunami... but R&D should have been going on before the disaster.

They need to do something for the Z. The stangs and camoro's seems to be doing a good job of coming out with something new.

The Z is pretty much the same old car since it's release.

I'm sure they've been noodling around with prototype mods but there's a huge difference in expense between developing a protoype and actually ordering the parts and finalizing the tooling and production lines. I suspect that THAT is hold up on a re-design. They have to get the most out of the production investment in the current model tooling that they can and I suspect that they aren't there yet, especially given the numbers that they lost in the tsunami. I'll bet that disaster set them back by at least a year on new model implementation, maybe more that that for a low-volume seller, low priority car like the Z. I'm sure the tsunami saddled Nissan with some significant financial challenges. When they start prioritizing their recovery, I can't imagine that the Z comes anywhere near the top of that list.

The oil cooler that's attached to the filter housing on the 2012? That's gotta be super cheap and a super-simple production line change for them.

Sorry this is old ... but I recall being at Watkins Glen in 2007 for the World Speed Challenge with Team Cadillac (as a supportive fan and CTS-V owner at the time) and seeing Pobst win every race for the weekend (GT win in a GT3 Porsche). Still to this day a record, I think. From his bio:

"Won historic three World Challenge races in one weekend at Watkins Glen (one GT win with K-Pax/3R Racing Porsche GT3, two TC wins and two poles with Tri-Point Engineering Mazda6). Record for both World Challenge and Watkins Glen International."

Anyway, he has plenty of success and seat time in RWD cars to be considered somewhat knowledgeable.

Back on topic, I had read in some other posts about 2012 oil cooling issues. Was there a change in that versus prior years ?

What issues?

Yes, in 2011 they went to the same type of cooling system as the 370Z has for 2012. the ZR1 used it from the get-go in 2009.