Man I’ve been eagerly anticipating this car. It’s the successor to a whole series of drift kings after all, Nissan’s most dramatic shape ever (including, to me, GTR), and the real-world application of some awesome new gearbox tech after all.

And yet when it arrived, I took it around the block and hopped right back into the Scirocco. Weird, I know…

Look I’ve had some more time to bond with it now, and it is a superb machine. Much better balanced and with higher levels of grip than the rep suggests, the dramatic prow of a serious ripple in public attention driving through crowded streets, and housing ample RWD grunt. On the Gerotek dynamic handling circuit, I couldn’t get enough of it in the end, handing the key to the track back alone and in some pain at 17:55 on a Friday afternoon, after being told there’d be someone to take them in right up to 18:00…

It’s just really a pity that they’ve taken a perfectly decent engine and promptly gone and ruined it.

Technically superior to the old motor, it clearly never made it to the psycho-accoustic department and makes for a constant, rather unpleasant companion, necessitating the radio being turned up to a decent volume wherever you happen to be heading.

Anyway, as ever, full details next month. Of the 370Z on the track, and how it manages to worm under your skin despite the gruff first impression…