In an unusually mean-spirited litmus test for a recent dating prospect, I decided to push things to the limit. Would an overly enthusiastic jaunt at dusk up the super-winding Squaw Pass in a new and overly revvy Nissan 370Z make her lose her lunch? Would she ask to be dropped at the side of the road in Idaho Springs, and never text me again?

Happily, both said victim — er, passenger — and myself emerged unscathed, and we both came to appreciate the jarringly sporty, current-era iteration of the storied Z car.

The new 370Z, launched a year ago at the L.A. Auto Show, comes to the world a shorter, stouter and faster variation of the progressively long-in-the-tooth 350Z. Shorter might be a slight misnomer: wheelbase has been truncated by 4 inches, but the entire car actually gained 1.3 inches, and the whole machine weighs in 95 pounds lighter than the '08.

And while the new Z is a head-snapper, it's by no means the most aggressive sports car out there, (a recent Road and Track comparison test saw it finish squarely at the bottom of the pack of 10 competitors), although you do get quite considerable bang for the $30,000 base price.

And when served up in eye-burning, law enforcement-drawing Chicane Yellow and tweaked with the optional $3,000 sport package, including 19-inch forged wheels, front and rear spoilers and a new enthusiast-oriented, electronic rev-matching six-speed manual, one opts to go into full banzai mode and overlook the feisty Z's shortcomings.

Up above treeline and with no one to bother us but a few rutting elk, the 370Z's 332 horsepower came into full, furious force, with plenty of power to spare, even as we crested 10,000 feet.

Launches are impressive, and it's always easy to dig more oomph out of the V-6 by poking around with that slick six-speed. Click it into “sport” mode and it'll use that rev-matching function to blip the throttle for you on downshifts and ride the redline to the point of no return.

Its shortened and stocky stature makes for an even more tightly handling machine, able to stick to curves like melted gum on a mid-August sidewalk. The tradeoff is an almost cruelly responsive ride, teeth-jarringly so, with considerable in-cabin road noise. I opted to use the well-tuned cannonades of exhaust to cover up that gravely rumble.

From a design perspective, 370Z's stubby yet stylish, a little more pointy and pronounced on the front end (especially with the optional, curb-hugging chin airfoil) than the last model, but still as round and ripped at the back as old Porsche 928. Lightning bolt-styled xenon headlamps also considerably update the look; the tail is entirely bumperless, except for an odd little square panel right in the middle. I opted not to try to back into a Chrysler LeBaron and test things out.

Indoors, Z remains a tight fit, perhaps even more so than the past. In fact, the car's motto could be “one passenger, no cargo, no whining.” Very sporty, high-bolstered fabric seats squeeze you into attention, with the aircraft-inspired, wraparound cockpit feeling a little more like a fighter plane than a leisurely road tripper.

Under the rear hatch, there's space for a couple of gym bags, maybe, and hardly anything else, with a large, silver body stabilizing bar taking up most of the space. Pack lightly.

Finishings have served to bring the Z out of the dark ages, with cool-looking round, jet-like air vents in the doors, next to the door pulls, three eye-level accessory gauges and a speedometer handily centered at 110 miles per hour.

There's also oddities: sans navigation system, you get an unusual, giant leather box in the middle of the dash (great for storing your flying goggles), plus a couple of bar graph digital gas and engine temperature readouts that'd be at home on my parents' 1985 300Z.

Last month marked the 40th anniversary of the first 240Z's arrival in the United States, and a limited edition car has been crafted to mark the occasion; this year's model will also be available as a soft-top roadster.