I confess I'm not generally a fan of bibs, skirts and splitters, but from head-on and front-three-quarters the kitted Z looks aggressive and ground-hugging and most of the other things the designers presumably intended. I just try not to approach it from behind. It's bum always looked a bit Pat Butcher, and now that it's been piled with the Porsche-like aerofoil and rear valance extensions, it's lost some of the chunky purity that was a big part of the appeal. Still, if you're a fan, you can now order the kit (front spoiler, skirts, rear wing) as an option on your new 350Z. The cost will be not more than ΂£2500. It won't be available as an after-sales product, which is perhaps a shame, as is the fact you can't order the various components individually. Personally, I'd have gone for the front spoiler and sill extensions but left the rest on the shelf.

Whatever, Nissan makes some interesting claims for the kit (besides guaranteeing the attention of the local yoof) - increased aerodynamic performance creating a well-balanced front/rear lift coefficient, enhanced front-end grip, more traction out of high-speed corners, a real prospect of a solution to the Palestinian problem... I would be lying if I said I'd detected any of the above, but I can tell you this: you have to be very careful when you're parking near a kerb; the Z's newly jutting chin makes Bruce Forsyth look like Ian Hislop.

You also have to watch out for low-flying wildfowl. Unfortunately the Z was struck by a pheasant while travelling down the A14 at around 75mph (the Nissan, not the pheasant) and now has a small but unsightly split in its bottom lip.

The other development has been the replacement of the original Bridgestone Potenzas with a set of Michelin Pilot Sports. To be honest the fronts had quite a bit more to give, but I was pretty happy with 11,000 miles from the set, given how much we've all enjoyed the Z's mobile rear end. The real bugbear was road noise, which on coarse surfaces could challenge even the mighty Bose hi-fi with its dinner-plate-sized woofer. We opted to fit Pilot Sports because they're OE in other markets. The results are somewhat mixed. The road roar is still present but reduced; a few of the rough edges have been knocked off the ride too. But there's rather less grip, and especially so on damp roads. Certainly it doesn't take a particularly heavy right boot to get the traction control light flickering, but then it never did - and the Z feels like it's got a few more horses to harness now, too. As we've said before, the engine started feeling significantly looser after 5000-7000 miles and now delivers what feels like a very keen 276bhp.

The rest of the story so far: reliability impeccable; thirst very reasonable for a 3.5-litre lump at around 24mpg. Driving pleasure - massive. The aero kit might not be to everyone's taste, but for sheer honest-to-goodness enjoyment, the Z is the cat's whiskers, the dog's danglers, the badger's trousers. Some cars you just know you're going to miss like hell when they go. The 350Z is one of them.