Nissan wows fans with 370Z NISMO reveal

The 2015 Nissan 370Z NISMO. (Nissan)

(Relaxnews) The Japanese car company arrived at this year's ZDayZ -- the annual gathering of American Nissan and Datsun performance car enthusiasts -- with a surprise guest: the latest iteration of its hardcore sports coupe.

Due to hit the dealerships in July, the 2015 370Z NISMO is more a subtle reworking than a complete overhaul. It still has a 350-horsepower 3.7-liter DOHC V6 engine under the hood, but suspension has been tweaked significantly for the new model so more of that power can be used more of the time.

But for the first time, the car will be offered with a seven-speed automatic transmission complete with rev-matching on the downchange and a manual mode complete with paddle shifts. However, the purists needn't worry as the six-speed manual transmission is still alive and well and will continue to be offered as the standard configuration on the car.

Apart from the transmission, the biggest changes are in terms of exterior styling and internal in-car tech and comfort. The car gets new alloy wheels and a redesigned aerodynamics package which includes a smaller rear spoiler.

Inside, the sports seats have been redesigned in collaboration with Recaro, meaning that they're exclusive to the 370Z NISMO and have been developed to offer comfort, feedback and support tuned to the car's handling and performance characteristics. And they're trimmed in leather and Alcantara too.

Other new toys include a hard-drive based navigation system with 7-inch touch screen, a Bose sound system, reversing camera and everything the connected driver needs to synch a smartphone handset to the dashboard.

When the car goes on sale this summer, the 370Z NISMO will be offered in a choice of just four colours -- red, black, silver or white.

The car's reveal was one of the highlights of this year's ZDayZ, which was held in North Carolina and concludes Monday. As well as giving fans the chance to see the 370Z NISMO before anyone else in the world, the event offers racing, a car show, fine dining and mountain road drives.