Click here for a gallery of our Nissan 370Z test vehicle.

It was not long before my kids started referring to the black Nissan 370Z parked in our driveway as "the Batmobile". It's a wonderful description for this combination of curves and sharp accents that sits on very obviously large 19-inch alloys that appear to be covered with a thin strip of rubber.

I'm all for the Tumbler but believe the Dark Knight would have a much easier life if he owned a 370Z as well.

He could get to emergencies quicker — in extreme style at the same time — and would pull a lot more woman on the way. He wouldn't have to crash through all those walls and cars either. As I learned, when you're driving this Nissan, traffic makes way for you.

I had the fortunate opportunity to be able to park next to a 350Z and the change in design is striking. I can confidently say to all Z-model owners out there: it's time to upgrade to the 370.

Smooth

The body lines are smoother and less angular than its predecessors. It sits low and wide and the wheel arches let you know there’s some serious rubber on those alloys before you even get a good look at them.

The alloys on the test model were almost a work of art. Five, angled spokes each branch out into a Vee before merging with the 19-inch rim. Incidentally, I discovered that these alloys cost about R14 000 apiece when I told the fleet manager that I had driven the car so wildly that I had cracked one. His laughter afterwards when he realized I was joking was more from sheer relief than anything else. It turns out that another journalist had just a few days earlier smashed the alloys on the front end of another 370Z.

There's some seriously low-profile tyres on the alloys. 245/40R19 94W in the front and wider 275/35R19 96W in the rear where all the power goes from the 3.6-litre, V6 engine that connects to a seven-speed automatic transmission. There's a separate air feed for each side of the V, an engine that will gulp down 15l/100km if you're not careful. I found the consumption to be a little more economical than that — hovering around 9l/100km.

Page two ... Testy transmission