We covered many of the upgrades and throwbacks of the facelifted 2027 Nissan Z, but Nissan just pointed us to a few more that we missed. One of the coolest is the fact that the Performance trim wheels are inspired by those of the Z31. These are 19-inchers made by Rays, its thin spokes revealing Akebono calipers, and wrapped with wrapped with Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires that are half an inch wider on the rear.
“The new wheel design carefully balances a modern look while paying homage to the
beloved Z31,” explaned Shinichiro Irie, program design director at Nissan who led the
the Z design.
Another detail is the startup animation, which shows an evolution of all seven generations of the Z each time you fire up its 400 horses. From S30 to RZ34, they progress through the years, Animorph style.
Other changes include a new grill that replaces the controversial rectangular one that the Nissan Z debuted with. “When we launched this generation, there was a lot of discussion around the front face and the big grille for cooling,” said Paul Hawson, director of Advanced Product Planning & Strategy at Nissan North America. “We’ve been able to maintain that cooling but have leaned further into the nostalgia by adding a horizontal bar through the mouth so it looks more like the S30 generation.” Nissan had to revise the internal ducting for cooling and adjust the parking sensors.
Perhaps best of all, the badge on the nose uses an old school script “Z”.
We mentioned the new Shinkai (meaning “deep sea” in Japanese) Green Pearl Metallic that’s available for 2027, inspired by the S30z’s Grand Prix Green, but now have some additional details about it. According to Yuta Ueki, a member of Nissan’s anti-corrosion engineering team, the paint is not made up of traditional green pigment, which is prone to degradation from sunlight exposure over time. To combat this, Ueki and his team developed the color by blending ultra fine of yellows and blues that are more fade-resistant.
Paired with Shinkai Green Metallic is a new tan interior, also inspired by the S30. In addition to the green, it’s also available with Black Diamond Pearl, Bayside Blue, Pearl White, and Solid Red, but only on the performance trim.
We’re starting to see more Z’s On the road, even though Nissan is shifting the model’s production towards a more made-to-order system. Customers will be able to choose exactly which one of these combos they like it they’re willing to wait. For a car like the Z, which has the potential to be a collectors car long-term, We think that weight is worth it if you can get exactly what you want. The 2027 Z will be available stateside in summer 2026.
Images courtesy of Nissan.
Is Nissan going overboard with the retro touches all over the place?