just watch it unfold.
hard to discern much from instrumented testing only.
as much as we hate it or love it, it's far more meaningful in the context of other cars in terms of lap times, road feel, and driveability.
obviously, it will put a lot of cars out because it is a decent pricepoint. now, to put this in perspective, the new SVT cobra (S/C'd), the corvette (standard, not Z06) will smoke this car. on a track, in a straight line. whatever.
will this car make M3 owners wince? i kinda doubt. i'm not sure it's the same demographic. people who put out upwards of $57k for a 3 series, i'm not sure they'd seriously consider a nissan Z car. this car will rock with trackheads who are disappointed with BMW's lack of a sporty car, though.
now that the Z4 is upon us, and it will come with the S54 M motor, that would also be entertaining to compare these two cars then. the Z4 will have basically 3 series suspension underpinnings, so it will be a nice comparison wtih the Z car, the corvette and the rustang. maybe even the WRX Sti and EVO, too.