Nissan's Real Gran Turismo 350Z Racer

PARIS, February 1 --

    
    - New 300PS Nissan 350Z to celebrate Gran Turismo collaboration
    - Only 700 units available in Europe
    - Two special colours
    - Unique design of alloy wheel
    - Deliveries begin in April

Nissan has developed a very special 300PS version of its award-winning 350Z Coupe to celebrate its collaboration with Sony in the forthcoming launch of the fourth edition of the PlayStation game Gran Turismo. This special 350Z is a version developed to globally promote the 35th anniversary of the launch of the first Z.

Only 700 units of the Nissan 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition will be available in Europe and customer orders will begin in February across Europe to coincide with the game's launch. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in April.

Tuned engine

Changes to the 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition are small but significant, the most important being a power increase from 280PS to 300PS at 6400rpm. The power increase has been achieved by careful redevelopment of the acclaimed 3.5-litre V6 engine.

The changes include reduced friction within the engine and improved stiffness of the block. This, coupled with a revised air cleaner for better breathing, has enabled the engine's red line to be raised to 7,000 rpm (up from 6,600rpm), and has resulted in an extra 20PS over the standard 350Z. Maximum speed remains limited to 250km/h (155 mph), but the 0-100km/h sprint has been cut to just 5.8 secs.

Driving excitement

This new `HO' - high output - engine delivers not only more power, but also quicker throttle response and even more driving excitement. The rev-happy characteristics of the engine will satisfy those drivers who love to exploit the full potency of the VQ35 engine - much in the same way that they would when they play Gran Turismo at home.

The 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition promises to be highly visible, too. It will be available in just two colours, metallic black or premium sunshine yellow, and sits on unique five spoke 18 inch alloy wheels.

Nissan and Gran Turismo

Nissan's high performance models have been a feature in every one of the previous Gran Turismo games, with models such as the Skyline GT-R, R33, R32 and 350Z Coupe introducing many European enthusiasts to Nissan's sports car heritage.

Sony identified the Nissan 350Z Coupe as one of the `hero' models of Gran Turismo 4 and it will feature in marketing communications for the game as part of the game's launch.

Since the launch of the first Gran Turismo game in 1997, there have been three iterations of the game. Global sales have topped 37 million units. Gran Turismo 4 will feature over 700 different cars from 80 different manufacturers and more than 50 racing circuits, giving players the opportunity to learn racecraft and to challenge for greater honours as their skills develop.

More than 100 Nissan vehicles will feature in Gran Turismo 4, including the 350Z Roadster, Infiniti and Nismo branded car. Nine versions of the 350Z will feature in the game, including the Gran Turismo 4 edition. The game's designer Kazunori Yamauchi is a 350Z fan, to the extent that he personally owns two.