Nissan Z v Toyota GR Supra 2023 Comparison - carsales.com.au (2024)

There are many similarities between the 2023 Nissan Z and the Toyota GR Supra GTS, but price isn’t one of them.

The Z has a clear advantage at $75,800 plus on-road costs, almost $22,000 less than the Supra GTS we have here, which starts at $97,380 plus ORCs.

The $10,000-cheaper Supra GT would be a closer match on price, but there wasn’t one available and the two variants are virtually identical mechanically in any case.

Both the Z and Supra come standard as an automatic, with manual available for no extra cost.

Nissan also has another card up its sleeve in the form of the Z NISMO, which is due to arrive in 2024. At $94,000 plus on-road costs, it will sit side-by-side with the Supra GTS, giving us a test to revisit in the future.

If you’re a sports car aficionado, there’s also the BMW 230i (from $74,300) and M240i xDrive (from $96,000) to consider, while the Mazda MX-5 (from $39,060), Subaru BRZ (from $40,290) and Toyota GR 86 (from $43,240) are similarly driver-focused, albeit without anywhere near the same performance.

Let’s start with the mechanicals. The 2023 Toyota GR Supra GTS wears 19-inch rims with staggered-width tyres, 255/35 (front) and 275/35 (rear) Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Brakes are 345mm discs and four-piston callipers up front, and the GTS has slightly larger 345mm discs and single-piston callipers at the rear.

Suspension is MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear, there’s a limited-slip diff apportioning drive and it weighs 1525kg (-18kg as a manual).

There isn’t much difference over in Z-land. The wheels are again 19s with 255/40 and 275/35 tyres, though Bridgestone Potenza S007s in this case, and the brakes are 355mm front discs and four-piston callipers with 350mm rear discs and two-piston callipers.

Up front there is double-wishbone suspension, multi-link at the rear, though it doesn’t have the Supra’s adaptive dampers. Once again, a limited-slip diff aids traction and the Z weighs 1633kg, though in this case the manual saves 33kg, partly thanks to the use of a carbon-fibre propshaft.

To the naked eye the Supra looks the more compact car, but it’s just 1mm shorter in length and 21mm shorter in height while being 9mm wider. The big difference is wheelbase, with the Z having an extra 80mm between the axles.

Both cars have the convenience basics including keyless entry/start, heated and power-adjustable leather seats, dual-zone climate control and LED lighting.

Both also have five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranties, though stick to your servicing and Toyota will provide seven years of coverage on the Supra’s driveline.

Toyota’s capped-price servicing will set you back $2075 over the first five visits, while Nissan offers three-, four- and five-year prepaid servicing plans at $1206, $1913 and $2264 respectively.

Both have intervals of 12 months or 15,000km.

Neither the 2023 Nissan Z nor the Toyota GR Supra GTS has an official safety rating from ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

However, both have front, side and curtain airbags and plenty of active safety assists like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and departure warning, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot warning and reversing cameras.

Such is the rate of technological progress, the BMW operating system in the 2023 Toyota GR Supra GTS – which was current back in 2018, when the related BMW Z4 was released, with the Supra turning up the following year – is now about three generations old.

It works well enough via the rotary dial, though isn’t BMW’s most intuitive effort, and the Supra has been updated with wireless Apple CarPlay to go with wireless charging.

Digital radio is also standard, while GTS upgrades include the 12-speaker, 425W premium JBL stereo and a head-up display.

The Nissan Z has an eight-speaker Bose stereo but you’ll need to plug in for both charging and smartphone connectivity.

But, unlike the Supra, the Z does offer Android Auto as well as digital radio.

Both the 2023 Nissan Z and Toyota GR Supra GTS feature 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engines, but the details differ.

The Nissan has two turbos and cylinders in a vee, while the Toyota’s BMW engine is inline with a single turbo.

Outputs are very similar with the Supra boasting 285kW/500Nm and the Z producing 298kW/475Nm. But when you take their respective kerb weights into account, the Toyota opens up a small advantage with 187kW/tonne to the heavier Nissan’s 183kW/tonne. Not much in it.

As mentioned earlier, both are offered with a six-speed manual gearbox, but with the automatics we have here the Nissan has nine gears to the Toyota’s eight.

The Supra is quicker as a self-shifter with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.1sec (manual 4.4sec). Nissan does not quote an official figure for the Z.

There are two ways to look at this. On paper, the 2023 Toyota GR Supra GTS is far more efficient than the Nissan Z, claiming a combined 8.9L/100km – and it is happy with 95 RON fuel, even accepting 91 if you’re in a tight spot.

The Nissan, on the other hand, gives you a more realistic indication of your real-world consumption at 9.8L/100km (though even this is unlikely) and demands 98 RON.

Neither of these cars will be driven for economy, and while the Supra might be slightly more frugal, you can bet on low-to-mid teens, stretching towards 20L/100km under hard use.

To this point, these two sports cars have, price aside, been separated by mere fractions. Whether it be size, mechanical make-up, safety or equipment levels, it really is much of a muchness.

But now, as we get to the crux of the issue, the 2023 Nissan Z and Toyota GR Supra GTS quickly diverge.

If you’re after a pure sports car the Supra is by far the more talented of the two. It’s firmer, faster, more agile and quicker in every response.

This is a road-based comparison, but I suspect that at a track – any track – the Supra would be multiple seconds up the road from the Z.

It is an extremely fast car, thanks to the broad spread of power, shortly-spaced gear ratios, strong brakes (that do feel a little dead initially) and prodigious grip levels – everything you need from a sports car.

It’s tremendously enjoyable to drive and doesn’t at all wilt when being punished. The right road is required, though, as the firmer suspension is quite short on travel and with the dampers set to Sport it will launch itself right off the tarmac on nastier bumps.

Combine this with a rear-end that lets go quite suddenly when the grip is eventually breached and you have a car that can be a handful, though this happens at a very high level.

For this reason, I usually set the dampers and steering to Normal and left the powertrain in Sport through the Individual mode, trading some body control for compliance.

It was difficult to know what to expect from the Z. Without wishing to downplay the hard work of project leader Hiroshi Tamura and his team, the basics ingredients are an updated 370Z platform (that dates back to 2002) with the powertrain from the Infiniti Q60, one of the worst performance cars in recent memory.

Talk about the whole being more than the sum of its parts, the new Z is immensely enjoyable, provided you approach it with the right mindset.

Those coming from the 350Z or 370Z will probably get quite a shock, as I suspect it’s closer in feel to the Z32 300ZX twin-turbo of the early 1990s.

It’s quite supple and rides nicely as a result, but with the consequence of a lower dynamic ceiling. Try and drive the Z with the same vigour as the Supra and you’ll quickly scare yourself as it doesn’t have the body control to maintain its composure, especially over bumps.

It’s also arguably over-powered, but that gives it an old-school character that’s missing from virtually every other performance car today. There is no sports mode ESP to bail you out if things get lairy and they probably will at some point, as the Z can struggle for traction in the first four gears even in the dry.

Though there are nine gears, the lower ratios are much longer than in the Supra, so while the engine is immensely powerful, with much better response and calibration than it had in the Infiniti, the performance isn’t as urgent.

And it’s a shame the V6 has absolutely no aural character.

Accept its limitations, though, and the Z is seriously fun. It’s slightly refreshing to drive a car that has no predilection whatsoever towards track use.

While this costs it in terms of ultimate prowess, it pays dividends day-to-day where the Supra can struggle with a firm ride and absolutely terrible road noise.

The other major shortcoming with the 2023 Toyota GR Supra GTS is actually fitting in it.

It simply may not accommodate those of larger stature, and even if you do lever yourself in – almost certainly knocking your head on the upper sill as you do so – it’s quite a claustrophobic environment with very small windows. And there’s nowhere to put anything.

Space constraints aside, the Supra’s BMW bones ensure it’s a higher-quality cabin, as it should be for the higher price, but there isn’t a lot in it. And the fact there’s so much more space inside the Nissan Z makes it more comfortable.

The Z can also accommodate a child seat in the front thanks to ISOFIX and airbag deactivation, though the Supra has the slightly bigger boot.

You can see still the remnants of the 370Z architecture in some of the hard points, but if you’re feeling charitable you could call them design cues.

The intention of this comparison was to pick a winner but the conclusion is that, despite their many similarities, the 2023 Nissan Z and Toyota GR Supra GTS really are very different cars.

And that, in itself, is instructive.

If this comparison is about selecting the best sports car then it’s the Supra hands down for all the reasons already mentioned. It’s a weapon on the road and brilliant on track to boot.

But this doesn’t discount the Nissan Z, as if you’re not constantly driving around like you’re playing Grand Theft Auto then it’s the more comfortable car with more easily accessible performance.

Nissan could justifiably argue the Z NISMO is the car to take the fight to the Supra on a level playing field, leaving the standard Z to occupy its own niche. That’s a test for 2024.

In this case, enthusiasts should celebrate the continued existence of these two iconic performance cars.

2023 Nissan Z at a glance:
Price: $75,800 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 298kW/475Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 227g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

2023 Toyota GR Supra GTS at a glance:
Price: $97,380 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 285kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 202g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

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