The 2027 Nissan Z NISMO With a Manual Transmission Starts Under $70K

There's a short list of sports cars you can buy new today with a real manual gearbox, a proper engine up front, and rear-wheel drive. The Nissan Z has been on that list for a while now. For 2027, Nissan added the six-speed manual to the Z NISMO, which was previously automatic-only at the top of the range, and now we know exactly what it costs to take one home.

The number is $68,505, including destination. That's for the NISMO. And here's the part worth pausing on: that price is the same whether you want the six-speed manual or the nine-speed automatic. Nissan didn't charge a premium for the stick, which is increasingly rare in a market where three-pedal cars are treated like a specialty item. The six-speed is actually the standard transmission across the entire 2027 Z lineup. If you want the automatic, you have to opt into it, at no extra cost either way. It's a small thing, but it's the kind of small thing that tells you something about how Nissan is thinking about this car.

The lineup runs three trims. The Sport starts at $45,725 with destination, which makes it one of the more affordable ways to get a twin-turbocharged 400-horsepower sports car with a manual gearbox in 2026. You're not getting the fancy brakes or the forged wheels at this price, and the seats are cloth with manual adjustment, but the engine is the same 3.0-liter VR30DDTT that runs through the whole lineup. The Sport comes with an 8-inch touchscreen, automatic climate control, and a six-speaker audio setup. It's honest transportation with a very dishonest engine.

The Performance trim, at $55,725, is where the Z starts to feel like a track-capable tool rather than just a sporty coupe. RAYS-forged 19-inch wheels replace the 18s on the Sport, which saves some unsprung weight. The front brakes step up to four-piston calipers. Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires replace whatever came on the Sport. And the Performance gets a clutch-type mechanical limited-slip differential, which on a rear-wheel-drive car with 400 horsepower matters more than most of the other upgrades combined. For 2027, Nissan also added larger diameter shock absorbers to this trim to sharpen the damping. Inside, you get heated suede and leather seats, a 9-inch touchscreen, and a Bose eight-speaker system. New for this year, you can also spec the interior in tan instead of black, which pairs nicely with the new Shinkai Green Pearl Metallic exterior color Nissan added to the palette, described as inspired by the original S30-generation Z's color. That combination is genuinely great.

The NISMO at $68,505 gets everything the Performance has and then adds a layer of purpose to it. Power climbs to 420 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque. The suspension gets firmer tuning and additional chassis bracing. The wheels are RAYS forged units a half-inch wider at all four corners, and the tires swap to Dunlop SP Sport MAXX GT600s. The brakes get upgraded front rotors derived from the GT-R that shed 19 pounds of unsprung weight compared to the previous NISMO setup and are built to handle sustained track use without cooking. Recaro seats wrapped in leather and alcantara take care of you on the inside, and there's trim-exclusive badging, special graphics on the digital cluster, and exterior differences including a three-piece rear spoiler, unique front and rear fascias, and exclusive side sills.

One detail in the 2027 updates that doesn't get a lot of attention but probably should: Nissan revised the fuel tank design across the entire Z lineup to maintain consistent fuel delivery during sustained high-lateral-force cornering. That's a track-day fix for a problem that matters at a track day. On a low-volume sports car, engineers don't typically spend time solving that problem unless someone in the building actually cares about how the car gets used. It's a small thing. It's also the kind of thing that adds up.

The Z has had its critics, and some of the early complaints about interior quality and technology were fair. But the platform has been getting better with each model year update rather than stagnant, and the 2027 cars reflect that. The NISMO with a six-speed manual at under $70,000 is a hard number to argue with when you look at what else you can buy in that neighborhood. You're not going to get a new sports car with this much mechanical content, this much power, and a clutch pedal for less money in this market. The Sport at $45,725 makes an even stronger case if your budget isn't going to stretch.

The three-pedal sports car isn't dead yet. Nissan's making sure of it.