nissan's 370Zki brings new meaning to winter sports at the 2018 chicago auto show

nissan gets into the winter sports spirit with a one-off ‘370Z’ roadster snowmobile. dubbed the ‘370Zki’ (pronounced 370-ski ), the 332 horsepower snow car is ready to tackle ski slopes and backwoods trails with its front skis and rear snow tracks.

all images © nissan

transforming the factory stock ‘370Z’ roadster to the snow track-car presented nissan with a few understandable obstacles. to make room for the rear ‘dominator’ tracks, the entire drivetrain was first removed from the vehicle. then a custom lift kit was designed and engineered, lifting it three inches from the normal height. next came fabrication of custom mountings for the rear suspension springs and three-inch custom spacers to mount the snow tracks to the wheel hubs. the factory brakes were retained, but the brake lines had to be rerouted and the exhaust system was modified to fit under the vehicle. the rear wheel wells were also modified for clearance of the four-foot-long snow tracks.

in front, the suspension was modified to accommodate the new ride height, and adaptors were made to allow the appropriate travel and rotation for the front skis. the engine and transmission also had to be custom-mounted and a front skid plate fabricated to prevent damage during snow excursions. by comparison, the cosmetic part of the conversion was relatively easy. the custom body wrap was created and applied by icon image graphics and the headlights were tinted yellow to resemble ski goggles.

‘the nissan 370Zki continues our recent tradition of bringing imaginative winter vehicle concepts to the chicago auto show. with the nissan Z’s long heritage of motorsports competition, the 370Zki seemed like a natural combination’, comments michael bunce, vice president, product planning, nissan north america, inc. he continues, ‘prior to its debut here in chicago, we put the 370zki through its paces on the slopes in wyoming where its performance heritage really came through.’