The Nissan Z remains an outlier in the sports car market. It rides on old bones compared to its archrival, the Toyota Supra, which is soon to see a replacement. Despite this, the Z is still a hot ticket item, outselling the Supra by three-to-one through the first half of 2025.
For 2024, the Z gained a new Nismo variant, which gets a standard limited-slip differential, stiffer suspension, stronger brakes, as well as a slew of aerodynamic upgrades. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 gets a power bump to 420 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque—up 20 hp and 34 pound-feet, respectively. It’s all paired to a nine-speed automatic.
The downside for Nismo fans was that the only transmission was an auto. Thankfully, that’s about to change.
Taking a page out of the Supra handbook, the Nissan Z Nismo will gain a six-speed manual option, according to a podcast interview from Automotive News. Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier said, “We have a Nismo manual transmission coming,” without elaborating on the tuning or whether the stick-shift option would be offered with its own set of performance upgrades.
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Still, this is good news for enthusiasts fighting to keep the clutch pedal alive. The manual may be dying, but it is surely a long way off from becoming extinct, thanks to buyers like you, the reader, perusing this article right now with elated glee.
That’s not to say you can’t buy a Nissan Z with three pedals right now, though. The base Z Sport and Performance trims come with your choice of a six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic at no additional cost.
If you want an automatic performance car, there are steep discounts on 2024 and 2025 Nismo Zs. For those wishing to row their own gears, you may be in for a wait. Nissan didn’t share a timeline for when the manual Nismo will arrive.
