2026 Nissan Z Priced for Australia: First Manual NISMO Joins the Range, GT-R Brakes, Orders Open

Image credit: Nissan Australia

Nissan Australia has opened the order books for the facelifted 2026 Nissan Z, and the news that actually matters if you have been holding out is the arrival of a manual gearbox in the NISMO for the first time in this country. The base Z Coupe now lists at $76,800 before on-road costs in either manual or nine-speed automatic form, up $640, and the NISMO stays put at $95,000 in either transmission, up $395. Deliveries kick off in September 2026, the manual NISMO is a low-volume proposition, and it is priced identically to the auto, which is the important bit for anyone who has spent the last three years watching enthusiasts complain about the paddle-only flagship.

The full 2026 Nissan Z Australian pricing

The $640 lift on the Coupe and the $395 lift on the NISMO are small enough that Nissan Australia clearly does not want anyone lodging a formal complaint. Coupe pricing sits nose to nose with a manual Ford Mustang GT Fastback at $84,990, which we cover further down.

What is actually new for 2026

The 2026 Z is a mid-life update rather than a new generation. The core sheet metal, cabin layout and 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 all carry over. What Nissan has changed is scattered across handling, styling and equipment, and it makes the car noticeably more special-feeling without shifting the price into a higher bracket.

The headline mechanical piece is the NISMO manual. It uses a short-stroke six-speed gearbox with its own drive-mode calibration, and it holds the same 309kW and 520Nm state of tune as the NISMO auto. That is the first time Australia has been offered a stick-shift NISMO Z, and it puts our market on the short list of countries where the flagship exists in both flavours. The upgrade also brings new NISMO monotube dampers on both transmissions, so the auto-only crowd is not left behind. Both NISMO variants now roll on two-piece front brake rotors derived from the R35 GT-R, mounted in a fresh caliper colour so onlookers can spot the update.

The regular Z Coupe gets a new front bumper and grille, a redesigned 19-inch alloy pattern and the new Unryu Green hero colour that Nissan has been leaning on for its 2026 marketing. Inside, both variants pick up a wireless charging pad, a frameless auto-dimming rear-view mirror, a redesigned smart key and a new start-up animation. The NISMO adds a 12.3-inch digital cluster with NISMO-specific graphics, which is a genuinely useful upgrade because the outgoing analog-inspired binnacle looked cool but was harder to read at speed than the digital screen replacing it.

Powertrain and performance

The auto Coupe posts the quickest number on paper thanks to nine ratios and a shorter final drive, but real-world buyers picking between the manual and the auto have been leaning toward the stick since the 2023 launch, and Nissan clearly noticed. Fuel economy is not the reason to buy this car. The Coupe manual runs 10.8L/100km on the claimed combined cycle, the Coupe auto pulls that back to 9.8, and the NISMO auto sits on 10.4. All three want premium unleaded.

Equipment

Standard kit across the range includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto over USB-C, native satellite navigation, DAB+, an eight-speaker Bose audio system on the NISMO, a wireless charging pad, dual-zone climate, keyless entry and push-button start, cloth-and-leather trim on the Coupe with heated power sport seats, and full leather with unique NISMO patterning on the flagship. The NISMO also gains the redesigned 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and the frameless auto-dimming rear-view mirror as standard, along with the RAYS forged 19-inch wheels finished in gloss black.

Driver-assist gear runs to autonomous emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. There is no adaptive cruise, no lane centring and no surround-view camera. Nissan is treating the Z as a driver's car, and the ADAS list reflects that. It is also worth flagging that the Z uses conventional halogen indicators inside its LED headlight housings, which is a leftover from the older platform rather than something Nissan has moved on for 2026.

Safety

The Nissan Z is not yet rated by ANCAP. That is not new for 2026, and it is not unique to Nissan. The Ford Mustang and Toyota GR86 also sit outside the ANCAP rating list, because two-seat and 2+2 rear-drive sports cars in this bracket typically do not sell in volumes that justify a full destructive test program. If you want a five-star coupe at this money the shortlist is very short, and it does not include the Z.

Standard structural safety kit runs to six airbags, ISOFIX and top-tether points in the passenger seat, AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert and driver attention alert. The car meets the current Australian Design Rules, which is the minimum bar for legal sale here.

How it compares

The Toyota GR Supra is off the price list in Australia entirely, which changes the shape of this cross-shop compared to 2023. The Z's natural rival at this money is now the Ford Mustang GT Fastback at $87,990 (auto) or $84,990 (manual), plus the four-cylinder EcoBoost Fastback at $72,990 if you can live without cylinders. BMW's M2 lives roughly $27k above the Z Coupe with an AWD M xDrive version now on the way for 2027, and the Toyota GR86 sits well below the Z at around $46k with a 2.4-litre naturally aspirated four and 174kW.

We already publish a full head-to-head at Nissan Z vs Ford Mustang GT, and the shape of the argument holds up under the 2026 numbers: the Z is $11,190 cheaper than the auto Mustang GT at like-for-like transmissions, quicker on the claimed 0-100 (4.3s vs 4.9s) and thriftier at the pump (9.8 vs 12.8L/100km on the combined cycle). Mustang answers with 49kW and 75Nm more from its 5.0-litre V8, 167 litres more boot at 408L to 241L, and rear seats the two-seat Z does not have.

Warranty and servicing

Nissan backs the Z with a 10-year, 300,000km Nissan MORE warranty, contingent on servicing on schedule at an authorised Nissan dealer, and matches that with 10 years of complimentary roadside assistance under the same terms. That warranty length is longer than what Ford, BMW or Toyota offer on their equivalent sports coupes, and it is a big deal for anyone planning to hold the car well past the five-year mark. Capped-price servicing is $499 per visit for the first five years, which for a boosted rear-drive V6 is genuinely low. If you slip out of the dealer network the warranty drops back to five years.

The CarSorted angle

This is where the 2026 Z update sits in the shopping landscape rather than the press release. On CarSorted the current Nissan Z Coupe (auto) is listed at $76,160 with 298kW, 4.3 seconds to 100 and 241 litres of boot, against the Ford Mustang GT Fastback automatic at $87,990 with 347kW, 4.9 seconds and 408 litres. With today's price bump the Z Coupe becomes $76,800, so the Z-to-Mustang GT gap tightens by $640 to sit at $11,190 for the auto-to-auto comparison, or $8,190 for the manual-to-manual. Same shape of argument, slightly narrower gap, and the Mustang still gives you the V8, the rear seats and more boot for the money.

The bigger CarSorted-side change is at the top of the range. The Z NISMO used to be a $94,065 auto-only proposition, which meant that if you wanted the harder-edged Z you were forced into paddles. From September the same $95,000 also unlocks the manual, and it is not a cost-option manual, it is priced identically. That structurally changes the cross-shop against the manual-only Toyota GR86 at around $46k and the Honda Civic Type R at $76,990, because a manual NISMO now exists in the segment where it did not before. Anyone using our Nissan Z head-to-head to build a shortlist should be adding the NISMO manual line to their spreadsheet, not just the base Coupe.

What this means for buyers

If you were already sold on the Z Coupe, the update is a small price bump for a set of visual and interior tweaks you probably do not need. Existing 2024 and 2025 Coupe owners should not feel forced into the trade-in yard. The car under the skin is still the same 298kW twin-turbo VR30DDTT V6 with the same rear-drive layout and the same nine-speed auto that has been on sale since 2023.

If you have been waiting for the NISMO manual, this is the point at which to lodge an order. Nissan Australia has been consistent about NISMO being an allocation-based, low-volume model, and the new manual is expected to draw a bigger enthusiast queue than the automatic did. The reward for waiting is a genuine six-speed, GT-R-derived front brake rotors and monotube dampers that Nissan reckons meaningfully improves the way the car handles and rides over the outgoing NISMO. If you like the NISMO but not the manual, the auto is still on sale with the same brake and damper upgrades and the new digital cluster.

And if you are cross-shopping this against the Mustang GT, the Toyota GR86 or the Honda Civic Type R, use our Nissan Z vs Ford Mustang GT comparison to see the numbers side by side, or browse the full Nissan Z listing on CarSorted for every variant, spec and running-cost figure we hold. The 10-year Nissan MORE warranty and $499 capped-price servicing are the two data points that keep the Z on the shortlist for buyers who plan to keep the car well past 100,000km, and those are unchanged for 2026.