It's been some five months since Nissan unveiled the Z Proto, a near-production prototype that previews the next-generation Z car, likely called the 400Z. The successor to the 370Z will look a lot like the Z Proto and word has it power will also come from a V-6 engine. But while the 370Z sports a naturally aspirated V-6, the 400Z will feature a twin-turbo unit. And we now have proof that the mill will be shared with the Infiniti Q60.

How do we know?

The 400Z was recently displayed at Nissan Crossing in Tokyo, Japan, and Instagram user "layersworks" stopped by to snap a few shots of the car. Nothing unusual so far because we already know how the prototype looks, but employees popped the hood of the coupe just as he was taking photos. We can see the upper section of the engine and it looks a lot like the 3.0-liter V-6 that powers the Infiniti Q60. Like folks over at The Drive point out, the engine cover may be a bit different, but many components around it are placed in a similar layout. There have been rumors about the 400Z featuring the twin-turbo V-6 and this is proof that Nissan is actually going for it.

How much power will the Nissan 400Z have?

The 3.0-liter V-6 in the Red Sport version of the Infiniti Q60 generates a solid 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. The 370Z was retired with 332 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque on tap, so a 400Z with around 370 horses would be more than enough for new-generation model.

Such an output would make it more powerful than the Nismo version of the old 370Z, which was retuned for 350 horsepower and 276 pound-feet of torque. Nissan will probably build a Nismo 400Z model at some point and it will generate in excess of 400 horsepower. Some sources claim that the Nismo version could generate as much as 475 horsepower and feature an all-wheel-drive system.

Back to the regular 400Z, it should hit 60 mph in a little more than four seconds. That's around a half-second quicker than the outgoing 370Z. Top speed is likely to remain limited to 155 mph, but don't be surprised if it goes a bit beyond 160 mph for the new model.

When will the Nissan 400Z arrive in production form?

Given that the 370Z was discontinued in 2020, the 400Z shouldn't be far off. The Japanese company has already trademarked the "400Z" name and the production model could debut sometime in 2021. It won't arrive in the U.S. until the 2022 model year kicks off, but we'll definitely see it on display by the end of 2021.