Nissan 370Z Forum - Motor Trend: 2010 Nissan 370Z new uncamo pics 10.13.08

The Deal: Nissan called us late last week with a special offer. In an effort to quiet speculation sparked by recent leaks of spy photos and videos, the Nissan PR department offered us special access to a camouflaged preproduction prototype of the next generation 2010 Nissan 370Z sports car -- as long as we followed a few rules.

The Rules: Nissan allowed us to crawl all over the car as well as shoot photos and video of it. But as part of the agreement, we cannot disclose anything related to how the new Z drives since the car they showed us is not a final production model. We are also forbidden to show or discuss any part of the interior or what's under the hood. Not much of a deal? Actually, it was -- in our few hours with the car and analysis of the images and footage we captured, we learned a ton. Here is all we know so far about the next generation Nissan Z.

It's shorter: Compare profile shots of the new Z the current 350Z and it's pretty clear the new car is significantly shorter. The present 350Z has an overall length of 169.9 inches (173.6 for the NISMO version) with a 104.3-inch wheelbase.

Where have the inches been cut? We broke out a tape measure and discovered that while the car is shorter overall, most of length is lost between the wheels, specifically aft of the B-pillar. This makes sense, as shortening a vehicle platform can be costly. One of the ways to contain those costs is to limit the amount of changes required to a car's complex and complicated subassemblies -- doors, for example. Though the new Z's door shape and window openings may have changed, they don't look any shorter. Nissan has clearly removed length from the space between the trailing edge of the door and rear wheel well opening. The front and rear overhangs are also markedly shorter. Nissan forbade us from saying exactly how much is gone, but it's significant enough to impact not only the styling, but ride and handling as well.

It's wider: The gain in width was harder to confirm, because the shorter wheelbase and reworked sheet metal -- particularly at the rear -- give the impression of additional breadth. In truth, our tape measure reveals that the base car is only a bit wider than the current 350Z. With 18-inch wheels, today's Z has a 60.5-inch track; on staggered 18- and 19-inch optional wheels, front and rear increase to 60.6- and 60.9-inches respectively. We expect to see the same kind of increase in track width as the next Z goes from base to high performance spec models.

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