The gearbox is the story
The Nissan Z Nismo has existed since 2023 with one gearbox: a nine-speed automatic. That was the complaint, and it was the only one that really stuck. The hottest version of a car sold almost entirely on feel could not be had with three pedals, while the cheaper Z could.
That is over. The facelifted Nismo gets a six-speed manual, with a short-throw shifter, a strengthened clutch, and throttle response and ignition timing remapped to suit it. Nissan has also given it a Nismo-specific Traction mode within the stability system.
The Nismo was the fastest Z you could buy and the one enthusiasts argued about the least charitably. A manual answers the argument.
Japanese order books opened on August 27, 2026.
What is actually new, and what is not
Worth being precise about the timeline, because three different dates have been reported as though they were the same event. The facelift was shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January 2026. It went on sale in the United States in March. August 27 is the Japanese market launch, and it is the first time the Japanese prices have been attached to it.
So this is a market launch rather than a reveal. The car itself has been public for months.
Styling
The nose is new. A reprofiled bumper with extended nose tips sits under a two-piece grille arrangement, and the Nissan badge on the bonnet has been replaced by a Z emblem, which is the sort of change that costs almost nothing and reliably delights the people who care.
There is a new Unryu Green paired with Super Black, taking its cue from the Grand Prix Green of the S30, in a range of ten colour schemes. Inside there is a tan option, and a startup animation on the instrument cluster that runs through the silhouette of every Z generation from the S30 to the current RZ34. The forged wheels carry a geometric machined pattern that nods to the Z31.
None of that changes how the car drives. It is, though, a coherent set of references rather than a facelift chasing a corporate face, which has not always been true of Nissan lately.
Chassis and brakes
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dampers | Larger-diameter monotube, pressure-receiving area up 26.6% |
| Front brakes (Nismo) | Two-piece drilled rotors, better heat dissipation, less unsprung mass |
| Nismo gearbox | Six-speed manual, short-throw shifter, strengthened clutch |
| Nismo electronics | Nismo-exclusive Traction mode |
The damper change is the one to watch. A larger monotube with more pressure-receiving area responds faster to surface changes, and the RZ34's ride and body control have been the other persistent criticism alongside the gearbox.
Engine and pricing
The twin-turbo V6 is unchanged in output.
| Model | Power | Torque | Price (Japan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairlady Z | 405 PS at 6,400 rpm | 475 Nm | 5,737,600 yen |
| Version ST | 405 PS at 6,400 rpm | 475 Nm | 6,999,300 yen |
| Nismo | 420 PS at 6,400 rpm | 520 Nm | 9,752,600 yen |
The Nismo is a little over 4 million yen clear of the base car, which is a wide gap in a two-model range. What it buys now includes the gearbox enthusiasts have been asking for since launch.
Nissan has not published revised performance figures for the facelifted cars, and we have not estimated any. When official 0-100 km/h and top speed numbers appear they will go on the Z model page.
Sources: Nissan launches the refreshed Fairlady Z and Fairlady Z NISMO in Japan (Nissan Global Newsroom, August 27, 2026); 2026 Nissan Fairlady Z facelift launched in Japan (paultan.org, August 27, 2026). Photography: Nissan.