2010 Nissan 370Z Touring Roadster

One of the main concerns for an automaker designing a convertible is how good it will look with the top up or down? The Nissan 370Z Touring Roadster was designed at Nissan's Design America Studio located in San Diego. And the result? Well, the car looks very good top up or down.

The next concern of a top down vehicle is its degree of structural rigidness. On this front, Nissan claims that this convertible is 60 percent stiffer than its last droptop offering. Nissan has been true to its word as even on an aggressively driven twisty road, this 370Z does not annoy the driver with chassis flex.

In addition to its good looks and tight non flex structure, this touring roadster is easier to live with compared to the last model. The seats are positioned a bit higher for better forward visibility.

As expected, the top is power operated with the press of one switch. The final step of the top up operation is when it clamps itself to the windshield header. Of note is that the clamping is a bit noisy, however, it only lasts for about a second. On the other hand, the top's cloth fabric is of top quality and nicely lined. Thus, it makes a great appearance and it does a good job of eliminating wind and other outside noise.

When the top is down, wind noise remains reasonable up until about 70 mph. The wind blocker does a good job of keeping noise down thus allowing occupants to talk without screaming.

Similar to the 370Z coupe, this convertible tracks with spot on accuracy, its grip is .95 g., and its braking 70-0 is in 156 feet. The 3.7-liter V6 engine lays down 332 hp enabling a 0-60 romp in 5.1 seconds and a top seed of 156 mph. With its 6-speed manual transmission, fuel mileage is rated at 18 mpg city and 25 mpg on the highway.

The base price for the Nissan 370Z Touring Roadster is $37,690 and with a few options the figure is north of $40,000.

If you are interested in a good looking convertible roadster, the 370Z is a solid offering on many fronts. Add in Nissan's solid dependability and I think you've got yourself a real keeper indeed!

Kyle Busch is the author of "Drive the Best for the Price..." He welcomes your comments or car questions at his auto web site: www.DriveTheBestBook.com . Follow Kyle on Facebookand Twitter.