While the concept of trim levels is great for reducing costs on popular items, cost-engineering can occasionally result in manufacturers making things options that probably shouldn’t be optional at such a great cost. Take the Nissan Z, for example. While the Performance trim adds a whole bunch of genuine performance goodies, it also quietly includes a glovebox part that you’ll never see but you’ll definitely notice.
It wasn’t that long ago that you could hop into any compact car, unlatch the glovebox, and have the door plummet open to the end of its stops like Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson in “The Other Guys,” but those days are largely behind us. Somewhere along the line, automakers decided to start using dampers to make opening glovebox doors seem more premium, and the effect’s remarkably satisfying. Cars with glovebox dampers are pretty normal now, but cars without them are cool too, if it fits the mission. On something rugged like the previous Jeep Wrangler, the lack of a glovebox damper fits its barebones nature. But what about cars with optional glovebox dampers?
If you find your way onto Nissan’s media site page for the Z, click on specs, and scroll down far enough, you’ll see an entry for, um, “Glove compartment dampening”. Specifically, the Performance trim has it, but the base Sport trim doesn’t. As it turns out, this isn’t a feature that turns your insurance card all soggy, but instead a damper that slows the opening of the glovebox.
It’s wild that this is optional on a car that starts at $44,110 including freight, and doubly so that it comes bundled into a $10,000 trim level jump. It’s like how Dodge bundles a front trunk and a glovebox light into a $4,995 option package on the Charger Daytona. The other stuff you get with the Z Performance trim is nice, like big brakes and a mechanical limited-slip differential, but packaging a glovebox damper that way just seems like cost-cutting.
Now, there’s something to be said about simplifying and adding lightness in a sports car, but there’s one big hesitation I’m having — the Nissan Z isn’t especially light. Since it rides on the same FM platform that came under a bunch of Infiniti sedans and crossovers, it weighs in at 3,486 pounds in base trim. A glovebox damper is gonna add what, less than a pound? Sure, it might add some cost too, but this is almost a $45,000 car. Customers probably won’t balk at paying a little bit more to get a glovebox damper.
Thankfully, there may be a way to fix this if you want a base Z but don’t want your glovebox to slam open like it’s straight out of Looney Tunes. According to Nissan’s parts catalog, the glovebox frame is shared between all Z trim levels, which means the glovebox damper itself should fit. Although a new-in-box example of part number 68513-1EA0A is currently on sale for $50.14 through Nissan’s parts portal, you might be able to get one even cheaper from a junkyard because this exact glovebox damper was shared with the 370Z.
So there we are, a potential solution to a problem that realistically, almost nobody will care about until they notice it. If Nissan would simply include a glovebox damper as standard, this wouldn’t be an issue, but here we are. If another similarly egregious example of cost-cutting on a car expensive enough that it should come with a feature as standard comes to mind, I’d love to hear it in the comments below.
Top graphic image: Nissan
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First of all the Z does not weigh 3,800 lbs. It weighs between 3,200 and 3,400 lbs depending on transmission choice and trim level. That’s for the Sport or Performance trim. The Nismo weighs a bit more due to larger turbos and ducting/cooling. Secondly, if you spend another $1K on a tune, it will outrun the new Mustang GT. In 2024, it outsold the Supra. It’s a very fun car. I leased a Performance manual for MSRP. Couldn’t be happier.
My main gripe with the new Z is it looks way too much like the old Z that they have been building for 20 years now.
Didnt know it had the same chassis as the old one as well, 3800 lbs is absurd for no bigger than these are. A C5 Corvette has the same power to weight ratio as the new Z. Those came out in fall of 1996, so close to 29 years ago. Id also much rather have an LS1 v8 than the twin turbo six. I dont trust Nissan to build that motor well enough to where if I turn the boost up it wont blow up.
It’s 3,300 – 3,400 lbs. The article is wrong.
As someone who has had to remove several glove box doors on different makes/models over the years (usually to change someone’s cabin filter) I wouldn’t miss the dampers. Not that they’re particularly difficult to deal with, but they always manage to frustrate me in some capacity, particularly during reassembly.
Also, I think I’ve seen one, maybe two of the new Z’s on the roads since they came out. I’ve seen more Lamborghinis on public roads than Z’s in the same time period. Oof.
When my daughter was shopping for a new car last year, I saw one in the showroom. It was grey, of course. I’ve never seen a Lambo in person so I guess the new Z has that going for it.
It’s $27 for a portfolio for your owner’s manual in the “build and price”. Talk about some options.
Aim for the bushes!
No one has bought one, and no one is going to buy one.
It outsold the Supra in 2024.
I had high hopes for this car because I’ve always loved the Z, I think it looks great, and for a long time I was pulling for Nissan to get their shit together due to their proud history. Unfortunately it’s proven to be another embarrassing disaster in a seemingly endless series of them for the company.
I don’t even think this is anywhere near what’s most egregious-I think the price and equipment are far and away what’s most absurd. $44,000 for an option less version of this that doesn’t even have a goddamn limited slip differential standard? You can go across the street to the Ford dealership and buy a Mustang GT that comes standard with one in addition to a V8 that’s more powerful and 10 times as charismatic as the turbo V6 in this car…and it also has backseats.
By the time you equip this with every performance doodad that should be standard you’re paying nearly 718, Corvette, M2, etc. prices…and that’s BEFORE dealerships get their filthy hands on it. It’s just such an absurd vehicle…and it sucks because it looks great, apparently drives well enough, and has a storied history. But you’d have to be the most hardcore Nissan fanboy imaginable to waste your money on one…
Pretty much my take on the Z. I had high hopes but it’s pricing just makes no sense for what you get given the options out there.
It weighs 3,300 – 3,400 lbs. Not 3,800 lbs. With a tune (approx $1k), it outruns a Mustang GT as seen on Samcarlegion YouTube channel. $1k will not have the same effect on the N/A Mustang. Nobody wants back seats in a sports car. It outsold the Supra in 2024. I leased a Performance manual, white on red. It’s tons of fun and sexy af. Just test drive before you give up on the Z.
Even the BRZ/GR86 twins come standard with a Limited Slip, at half the power and much lower cost.
It is my biggest annoyance with the new Z. I too was very excited by it, but between hardly any availability and that stupid pricing structure I said no. There is a Supra in my garage instead.
I guess it’s better than subscription-based options.
BMW’s have had the wiring for all of the options for 25 years (at least). My 2001 e46 had the wiring for the navigation and the CD changer and the factory amp and all of that crap.
BMW has had build specific wiring for a while now, or low and high wiring at the least. The e46 was near the end of that one wiring harness to rule them all trend
Copper is expensive and heavy. Export labor is cheap
Right. My E39 is pre-wired for a lot of options but my G30 would need a lot of new harnesses for very minor things like upgrading the tail lights to LCI. Not fun taking apart that car either.
While this isn’t something I’d care about, this car is such poor value for the money and cheap cost cutting doesn’t help the case. Want a more raw sports car? GRZ for much cheaper, a standard LSD, a lot lighter, and more practical or a Miata and get a convertible. Big, heavy, powerful GT that’s also more practical? Mustang. Lighter, sportier GT? Supra. Hell, a used LC500 might even be getting into the price range of a Z with the LSD. And all of these are newer platforms. The use of the old one could be a positive if the FM platform had been spectacular in the first place, but it was always overweight due to compromises made to allow it to underpin high sales volume utility vehicles and it’s friggin’ old. I think I’ve seen 4 of these so far and most were on a car carrier.
It actually weighs 3,300 – 3,400 lbs. Confirmed by weigh station scale. Not sure who fact checked this article, but they did a lousy job. Test drive it before you write it off.
I had two S30 Zs, which was enough for me. 3400 lbs is still fat for what at least looks like a sports car and being a 2-seater makes it a toy. As a toy, I don’t need a warranty or worries about reliability, so it isn’t just competing with a handful of new cars, it’s up against an almost endless list of older cars I’d rather have for that money (or less), especially where it’s built by Nissan and every review I’ve seen seems to search for compliments that don’t align with what I’d be looking for from a 2-seater, in that they say it’s a GT (I also find that I’m much more demanding of driver engagement than most reviewers while being far less caring about performance numbers on paper, so I would greatly favor old cars over new if I wanted a non-daily, plus they don’t come with all the obnoxious “safety” BS and infantilizing software).
I was unaware that undamped glove boxes were still a thing until my buddy pulled up in the 2014 Camaro he bought at Carmax in about 2017. While I was checking it out I opened the glovebox and this big plastic bin flopped down with a sad “thunk”.
It’s not a big deal, and not something that would keep me away from a car I really liked, but in a new car it’s a great way of telling the buyer you don’t care without actually having to say the words.
My Viper doesn’t even have a glovebox and cost a lot more than a Z, so be thankful for what you get, I guess?
I vaguely remember at the time of the C2 Corvette, there was this weird plastic purse thing that you could hang off the dashboard, because without it, the Corvette was not legal in jurisdictions where there was a requirement written into the law about keeping certain things in the “glove box“
I would much rather the un-dampened glove box so I don’t have to wait for it to finish opening.
I mean, unless it’s also going to then present the contents to me so I don’t have to rummage around. Then, maybe, it’d be worth the wait.
Did not know such a thing existed. I guess everything I own is too old. Don’t think I’d care much for it. Solves a problem I never had. Sorta like moist toilet paper.
Wait, what??
Am I some sort of blue-blood who cannot tolerate my glovebox dropping open with just a hint of rebound?
A 1/16 cable with eyelets swaged at both ends will suffice. If I want to be super-fancy, a semi-soft spring in the middle ala screen-door dampeners will do nicely and likely weigh less than the pictured piece.
Later; I got clouds to yell at.
“ If another similarly egregious example of cost-cutting on a car expensive enough that it should come with a feature as standard comes to mind, I’d love to hear it in the comments below.”
Picture this:
Premium Automaker installs Bluetooth standard on a car line during it’s entire production – until the very last year of production when it’s removed.
Of course the wiring and steering wheel buttons and mics are there and everything – just not the module that makes it work.
That’s what Mercedes-Benz did for 2009 CLKs – including mine.
Pretty sure the glovebox in the wife’s 2007 Corolla is damped. WTF.
the glove box in my 05 Scion is damped. probably with the same one still used in that corolla, lol
I’m certain the same P/N. And the daughter’s Vibe and my Camry. Don’t dismiss what works. Ford actually used this mantra for years. It’s why the power window motors in a Panther can move a train.
oh absolutely, I love part interoperability between models.
My 2010 Mazda 5 box is dampened. And it’s the base model.
Hmm, I look at it the other way. Why do we need a glovebox damper at all? When I unlatch a glovebox, the door “falls” about an inch to my hand that is already there from opening it. Then you can lower it down. I view this as an example of why cars are so expensive. If we cut out all these unnecessary components, maybe everything wouldn’t be $50k.
Yeah, really, I go months at a time without even touching the glove box – the majority of time times it’s been open has just been to check the cabin air filter, who cares? It’s almost as dumb as BMW making the convertible top on the Z3 powered, when it’s one of the easiest, lightest, single hand operation tops ever designed, stop giving us extra complexity that we didn’t ask for and wouldn’t notice if it wasn’t there
I put a new insurance card in there Octoberish—then a pair of actual gloves I think in December. Didn’t have a problem with the way it opened either time that I recall
I have four cars at the moment, and I can’t even tell you how any of their gloveboxes open, maybe one is damped? I don’t know, it’s possible, I’ve just never noticed or cared
Exactly.
My standards are low; if the door latches, I’m good.
This is pure frippery, I say!
4 here as well and I can tell you… I have no idea of the glove box system on any of them.
A replacement dampener for my car is less than $10 retail from an online dealer. I imagine it cost the manufacturer a LOT less. At that price point it doesn’t bother me and I’m a cheap bastard.
It’s just one more thing to disconnect when changing the cabin air filter. You can have mine!
Thanks but I just ordered a new cabin air filter so I don’t need yours.
I have 4 cars, 2 have dampers, 2 don’t. I couldn’t care less about it. I always hold the glovebox lid with my hand when I open it anyway
Reminds me of my base ’09 Tacoma. To get interval wipers, I just had to swap out the stalk (<$100). To hook up the backup camera, I could’ve bought a mirror with a built-in screen and used the wiring that was pre-installed. It’s mostly “motivation” to encourage buyers to buy pricier trim levels through negative reinforcement.
Maybe some companies are meant to go the way of the dodo.
I didn’t realize the new Z was such a chonk. If it’s actually 3900 lb curb weight that puts it what… 600 lb heavier than a Volvo C30 and 1100 lb heavier than a Toyota 86? That seems like a lot!
TIL there is such a thing as a glovebox damper.
-ND Miata driver (which has no glovebox)
I’m shocked.
You need some sort of a shock absorber or damper.
How is it actually cheaper to build two different configurations like this? It reminds me of the Ford Maverick, where all models have the cruise control module installed, even though the base model doesn’t have the buttons to use it.
Probably one of the reasons why Nissan is in this mess. Buying one at double the volume is probably cheaper on the long run, less logistics about it too.
Same with the Crown Victoria, add it to any CVPI by swapping in any Panther steering wheel with cruise control buttons and paying the dealer to turn the feature on in the computer
I’ll give you an even more absurd example – my NC Miata wasn’t available with intermittent wipers, even on the loaded GT version. Swapping out the wiper control stalk with one from another Mazda that has the intermittent wiper control dial is all that’s needed to get intermittent wipers.
I confirmed this when my buddy’s Speed6 suffered a catastrophic engine failure (botched oil change) and we swapped the stalks before his got carted off to the junk yard.
The weight savings here would amount to grams. Probably equal to the weight that comes out when I vacuum the carpet.
I guess in this case assembly was simplified because there was only one part option to put in there while things were moving down the assembly line, but geez why not just put it all of them? The rest of the car was already capable of it.
This has always bothered me. I have an NC GT and I’m like WTF? My 85 Nissan Pulsar NX had variable intermittent wipers.
I had an NC GT PRHT and now I cannot remember the wiper stalk. I must be getting old. (plus I sold it 10-years ago)
Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson are the best part of “The Other Guys”.
Counterpoint: So?