Nissan's Real Gran Turismo 350Z Racer

- New 300PS Nissan 350Z to celebrate Gran Turismo collaboration

- Only 700 units available in Europe

- Two special colours

- Unique design of alloy wheel

- Deliveries begin in April

PARIS, February 1 (PRNewswire)

Nissan has developed a very special 300PS version of itsaward-winning 350Z Coupe to celebrate its collaboration with Sony in theforthcoming launch of the fourth edition of the PlayStation game GranTurismo. This special 350Z is a version developed to globally promote the35th anniversary of the launch of the first Z.

Only 700 units of the Nissan 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition willbe available in Europe and customer orders will begin in February acrossEurope to coincide with the game's launch. Customer deliveries are expectedto begin in April.

Tuned engine

Changes to the 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition are small butsignificant, the most important being a power increase from 280PS to 300PS at6400rpm. The power increase has been achieved by careful redevelopment of theacclaimed 3.5-litre V6 engine.

The changes include reduced friction within the engine andimproved stiffness of the block. This, coupled with a revised air cleaner forbetter breathing, has enabled the engine's red line to be raised to 7,000 rpm(up from 6,600rpm), and has resulted in an extra 20PS over the standard 350Z.

Maximum speed remains limited to 250km/h (155 mph), but the 0-100km/h sprinthas been cut to just 5.8 secs.

Driving excitement

This new `HO' - high output - engine delivers not only morepower, but also quicker throttle response and even more driving excitement.

The rev-happy characteristics of the engine will satisfy those drivers wholove to exploit the full potency of the VQ35 engine - much in the same waythat they would when they play Gran Turismo at home.

The 350Z Gran Turismo 4 Edition promises to be highly visible,too. It will be available in just two colours, metallic black or premiumsunshine yellow, and sits on unique five spoke 18 inch alloy wheels.

Nissan and Gran Turismo

Nissan's high performance models have been a feature in everyone of the previous Gran Turismo games, with models such as the Skyline GT-R,R33, R32 and 350Z Coupe introducing many European enthusiasts to Nissan'ssports car heritage.

Sony identified the Nissan 350Z Coupe as one of the `hero'models of Gran Turismo 4 and it will feature in marketing communications forthe game as part of the game's launch.

Since the launch of the first Gran Turismo game in 1997, therehave been three iterations of the game. Global sales have topped 37 millionunits. Gran Turismo 4 will feature over 700 different cars from 80 differentmanufacturers and more than 50 racing circuits, giving players theopportunity to learn racecraft and to challenge for greater honours as theirskills develop.

More than 100 Nissan vehicles will feature in Gran Turismo 4, includingthe 350Z Roadster, Infiniti and Nismo branded car. Nine versions of the 350Zwill feature in the game, including the Gran Turismo 4 edition. The game'sdesigner Kazunori Yamauchi is a 350Z fan, to the extent that he personallyowns two.

Additional information about Nissan Europe can be found atwww.nissaneurope-newsbureau.com

Source: Nissan Europe

Nissan Europe Communications, Neil Reeve +33(0)1-30-13-6757, Scott Vazin +33(0)1-30-13-6754

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