Report: Nissan developing a hybrid version of the Z?

For what it's worth, Best Car magazine in Japan is reporting that Nissan is developing a hybrid version of the Fairlady Z (called the 370Z everywhere else in the world). It's certainly plausible that the company could produce a hybrid Z since the automaker recently launched its own internally developed hybrid system in the Infiniti M. Nissan is even using its own lithium ion battery for its hybrid system.

That's about it for the accurate parts of the report. The rear-wheel-drive hybrid system from the Infiniti should fit into the similarly configured Z, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. It also seems unlikely that Nissan would bother to use hybrid technology from its new relationship with Daimler. The Daimler-Renault-Nissan partnership mainly covers small cars, electrics and diesels.

Using a Daimler diesel engine in the Z also seems like a long-shot given the character of the sports car. Frankly, we think the most likely scenario for the light-weight Z is a simple start-stop system with a downsized and turbo-direct-injection engine.

[Source: Best Car via 4WheelsNews]