Is this the new Nissan Z NISMO spied testing?

What looks to be a NISMO version of the upcoming 2022 Nissan Z has been spotted pumping out laps at the Okayama International Circuit in Japan, with footage of the blistering sports car being posted to YouTube this week.

Uploaded by user R Gelan, the footage was captured by an in-car camera belonging to another driver on the track and shows an obviously enhanced white Nissan Z flying past the Honda S2000 into a braking zone before disappearing around the next corner.

According to the video’s description, the Z was “insanely fast” and fitted with carbon-fibre front wings and a carbon bonnet as well as the fixed rear wing we can see in the footage.

Other unique touches include an obviously lower ride height, deeper dish black alloys and what sounds to us like a louder, freer-flowing exhaust system.

NISMO-fettled Z cars have been around since the mid-2000s, when the Nissan 350Z NISMO kicked things off with a more focused chassis set-up, upgraded brakes and exhaust system, more aggressive styling and a stiffer body.

Fast forward a generation and there were several iterations of the Nissan 370Z NISMO, all of which came with all the aforementioned go-faster chassis gear as well as some interior upgrades and a marginal but discernible power bump.

It’s no surprise this new mystery Z was flying – the latest-gen Nissan sports car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine developing 298kW/475Nm and is mated to either a six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic transmission.

Traditionally the NISMO Z cars have shipped exclusively with the more track-appropriate manual gearbox, but Nissan claims the standard Z’s new automatic improves the 0-100km/h time by around 15 per cent compared to the manual.

Either way, the next-gen Z NISMO will undoubtedly offer more performance than its already-fast donor car and the timing of this spotting lines up neatly with rumours of Toyota developing a hardcore GRMN Supra.

A freer-breathing exhaust system, more boost and/or a cheeky remap is all that would be needed to elevate the next NISMO Z car well beyond the 300kW/500Nm mark, but rumours have been swirling for a while now that an F1-derived electrified powertrain might find its way under the bonnet and churn out close to 420kW.

Given this UFZ (unidentified flying Z) was spotted at the Okayama circuit, we’re expecting more sightings to surface before too long – and we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

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