ROADSTERS. THE MISCONCEPTION is that they’re the domain of hairdressers, estate agents and salon owners. While this might hold true for some of the European and Yank convertibles – Chrysler Sebring and Peugeot 308CC we’re looking at you – a proper roadster as pioneered by the British, flirted with by the Europeans and recently mastered by the Japanese, is a proper driving machine with the added perk that it removes another layer (the one above your head) between driver and driving experience. Aah the Japanese. Where the Mazda MX-5 skirts femininity and the Honda S2000 dials in precision and revvability, Nissan’s Z car says ‘screw it all’ and annihilates the playing field by enlisting a thumping 3.7-litre V6. That’s step one towards avoiding the castrating scalpel. Step two involves using the knife itself to carve out a muscular physique with Schwarzenegger-esque cutlines and pumped arches that envelop some serious hoops. Then add noise. Lots of the stuff. 

THE DRIVE
And it is JUST a noise, at first. The Nissan 370Z has a soundtrack and it’s a loud one, but it’s neither sophisticated nor soul stirring. Raspy, bassy, it manages both but lacks the variation in pitch needed to be truly sonorous. Pitch it down a forest-lined mountain road with the top down and the acoustically enhanced ambience more than spurs you on, it bleeding goads you, and as the pace gets hotter, the noise becomes hauntingly melodic, filling the cabin (roof disappears in just 20 seconds) with zero effort. Under my right foot, a 245kW powerplant is stirred, with 363Nm being twisted out through the 275/35 Bridgestone Potenzas fitted to the rear. If you’re not careful they’re expelled as tyre smoke even at pace on this twisty tarmac. Pile into a corner, climb onto the massive brakes (four pot 355x32mm up front, 2 pot 350x22mm rear) hiding behind those bold 19-inch Rays alloys, feel the centre of gravity of the 1532kg roadster shift forward and lighten the rear, climb down two gears using the paddles behind the wheel and turn in with that satisfyingly positive hydraulic only helm, aim at the clipping pint and boot it! The 370Z never feels like a precision instrument, but fun is high on its list of priorities. The entire chassis is reinforced from the sills upwards to counteract the traditional scuttleshake that bedevils coupes which have had their tin tops removed. This is not the case here. Nissan’s done it right and designed the Roadster as a standalone model, planned from the ground up.