7 Reasons You Can (And Should) Daily Drive a 2025 Nissan Z NISMO originally appeared on Autoblog.
A legacy of success
In case you didn’t immediately spot it, the Z is a brilliant tribute car to the Fairlady Z, which first debuted in 1969. Its sleek design, surprising agility, and truly underestimated power for its size at a more-than-fair price helped the Fairlady Z sell more than 520,000 units—a personal best for Nissan, and for sports cars in general. Then came the 240Z, 280Z, 300ZX, 350Z, 370Z, and finally, the Z. That is a long way of saying something simple: Nissan has been making badass cars with a “z” in its name for a long, long time.
Finally, the company decided to put its all into the newest generation of the Z: the 2025 Nissan Z. At the very top of the line is the NISMO (short for “Nissan Motorsports”) edition, which comes with a host of premium features that make it $13,000 more expensive than the Performance edition. At $64,990, some reviewers say it’s “too much” for “just a Nissan.” After driving it for a week and having driven cars with fewer options for a lot more money, the Z quickly raced its way to my heart. My husband even said he’d drive one daily. Here are 7 reasons why we’d do it.
1. There’s more cargo space than meets the eye
When my eyes first landed on the Z NISMO, I assumed it suffered a case of Miata syndrome: looks cool and drives great, but lacks space to make it suitable for daily driving or errand running. I was wrong. The back of it slopes down for aerodynamics, giving the illusion that there was next to no space under the rear hatch. I lifted it to take pictures of it and was shocked. There was a long, flat surface with a cargo net attached and cubby holes behind the driver and passenger seat. I’d put my filming and photography gear in those spaces, and then the rest of the trunk would be open for whatever else I needed.
DeLand NissanThe net came in handy when I made grocery runs. It held gallons of milk, eggs, wine bottles, and other breakables without incident. I can’t confirm or deny this, but even driving like a hooligan didn’t set those items loose. There’s easily enough trunk space for a suitcase (or two), backpacks, gym bags, or a racing suit and helmet. Since you know, you’ll probably be headed to the track. Aside from trunk space, the center console had plenty of usable space, the door panels had deep pockets, and the glove box was respectably large.
2. Nissan didn’t skimp on interior quality and tech
Most sports coupes I’ve driven have very bare-bones interiors, save for cars from companies like Mercedes or BMW. The Nissan Z’s interior was impressive, to say the least, as every bit was lined in Alcantara, and the high-resolution gauge cluster was responsive, intuitive, easy to customize, and attractive. The Z came with a 9-inch touchscreen for the media center, and when paired with your phone, connected wirelessly to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. To boot, the NISMO comes with a premium 8-speaker sound system from Bose was an amazing way to hype myself up while I zipped and zoomed (see what I did there? With the “z” theme?) through the mountain roads of Central Oregon’s Cascade Lakes Highway.
Kristen BrownThe Recaro seats that come with the car were firm and heavily bolstered but still comfortable for extended drives. I spent a solid three hours in the driver’s seat looking for places to take photos of it and I wasn’t sore at all. I’m typically sore after an hour and a half in performance-style seats. But not in the Z NISMO. I also found the cabin to be quiet, even with a loud exhaust. Long trips wouldn’t be much different than driving across state lines in your friend’s loud Subaru.
3. The twin-turbo V6 is surprisingly efficient, thanks to versatile driving modes
Before you roll your eyes, get this: even after a spirited driving session in the mountains, driving through busy downtown Bend during commute time on a weekend, and bumper-to-bumper traffic on my way home from Sisters, I was achieving an average of 25 mpg. Which is astonishing for how primal this car is when its potential is employed. I spent the majority of my drives in Normal mode. This mode tames the 9-speed transmission to be better suited for daily driving, as it’s less aggressive and prioritizes keeping the Z in the low-rev range. But most of the Z’s torque is midrange, so a good chunk of its power is still usable in traffic without putting a lot of strain on the engine or transmission.
Kristen Brown Sport mode was great for the mountains, as it kept the car in the gears longer to get every ounce of torque to the wheels. Twenty-five miles to the gallon, switching between Sport and Normal is phenomenal when you look at the numbers. Sport+ is a trim-exclusive driving mode that makes it even MORE aggressive for track driving. It shifts even quicker than Sport mode, which makes the rear drive wheels receive all 420 horsepower from the mid-mounted 3.0-liter engine quicker. That way, you can keep up with your local track’s frequent Porsche, BMW, Toyota Supra, or Mustang track day racers without breaking a sweat.
4. The NISMO is auto-only, which isn’t as fun, but is statistically better for daily driving
Before I had kids, I drove my 2002 Subaru WRX daily. It had a very easy five-speed manual, and it was so much more fun and engaging to drive. I do think the NISMO’s extra 20 horsepower over the Performance edition is put to better use with an automatic, since, statistically, a human can’t shift as quickly as a computer can. I would have loved to drive the Z with the optional six-speed since I’ve heard nothing but great things about that transmission, but the Z NISMO’s automatic is responsive, quick, efficient, and fun, so I didn’t miss the manual too much.
Kristen BrownPlus, as much as I like to think I’m a smooth shifter, there’s no way I’d be getting 25 mpg on average with a twin-turbo V6 if it were a stick. I’d wager I’d be getting more like 19 mpg if I were driving a manual. Which still isn’t bad for the kind of car it is, but you’d be at the pumps more often. Since it takes premium and premium only, that can be an expensive daily driver.
5. If you like people drooling over your whip, the Z is certainly an attention hog
Admittedly, Nissan’s marketing for the Z wasn’t as enthusiastic as it probably should have been. There’s so much history, incredible engineering and tech, and raw power, and it’s a shame that the one I tested was the only Z NISMO I’ve seen in the wild. They’re sort of rare, which is a damn shame if you ask me. Its rarity made it quite the spectacle in my quiet mountain town, and every time I was at a stoplight, I’d hear the person in the car next to me asking the driver, “Is that the Z NISMO?” I saw troves of people taking pictures, kids jumping and pointing, husbands watching it longingly drive away, it was truly a sight to behold.
Kristen BrownWhen I parked near the docking ramp at Elk Lake to take photos, a line of people came to ask me about it. My favorite game was to ask people how much they think it costs after rattling off the specs of it. Most guessed over $80,000, and when I said it was $64,990, they were all stunned. Everywhere I parked, even at the grocery store, people wanted to know about the sleek, sexy, and somewhat loud Z NISMO. Introverts would hate it, but I love talking cars.
6. The visibility from the driver’s seat was surprisingly good
Most sports cars make me feel like I’m sitting in a bathtub, leaning over the steering wheel to see the end of my hood, the corners, and beyond the fat A-pillars. The Z NISMO was shockingly easy to see out of, and even though it came with all the bells and whistles of Nissan’s safety suite (like pedestrian detection, auto emergency braking, etc), I didn’t need them while driving. I could see everything at all times, which made me feel much more confident and comfortable. Plus, if you think about it, that would be an advantage on the track, too. A car that’s easy to see out of is a car that’s easy to drive.
Kristen Brown7. For what it is, it’s really not that expensive
Even if you were driving to the dentist for a root canal in the Z, you’d be smiling the entire way there. The most mundane drives were so much fun in the Z, thanks to the cozy and sporty interior, the pleasant exhaust note, the sporty driving feel (even in Normal mode), the amazing sound system, and the user-friendly technology that helped it feel less like a gutted engine on wheels for the sake of speed. The Z NISMO is incredibly quick, but it isn’t just quick. She isn’t just a pretty face; she also has an amazing personality.
Final thoughts
All of these reasons are why I’ll tell people over and over again, $64,990 for a Z isn’t that much, especially after driving comparable cars. Aside from the BMW M2, the Z was a very pleasant and surprisingly efficient daily driver. Even my husband said he’d daily drive the crap out of it if he had the opportunity.
7 Reasons You Can (And Should) Daily Drive a 2025 Nissan Z NISMO first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 6, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
