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The Infinity G35 Test Drive

Author : team.BAR Posted on : 28/10/2004
Model : Infiniti, G35 Category : Misc
Source : http://www.team-bar.com/
 
This is a little project that we decided to do-test drive BMW competitors (specifcally those cars targeted at the 3 series) and give our perspective from a BMW enthusiast point of view. Often times on enthusiast boads, we see post on how "this car sucks" or "that car sucks" based on 0-60 times from a magazine orfrom the fact that it may not be German or even a BMW. These judgements are often made without the poster actually driving the car.

The Test

The car: The Infinity G35

Test Driver: Jed

We headed down to the Infinity dealer in Timonium after concoting this idea at dinner. After telling the salesman that I was in the market for a luxiry sport sedan, we were in business.

Whenever I looked at this car in magazines, it never struck me as a particularly attractive car. It wasn't ugly by any means, but just not the greatest design in the world. The fron reminded me of a smoothed out Caddy CTS and the back...well, was kind of weird. The profile was Audi-esque. Kind of a mish-mosh of other cars and an alien spacecraft from the back. BUT when we saw the car upclose and really went over the car, it really is not a bad car. It is a little more elegant than what the pictures convey. The interior design was for the most part, very Japanese-alignment of the dash was pretty linear and functional. The materials used were nice-not cheap feeling. The front seats had an embossed Infinity insignia. Hmmmmm...not a big fan of that.

The car that I drove was a fully loaded Garnet Fire (dark metallic red) G35 with a Willow (beige) leather interior and titanium finished dash (instead of wood). This included the sport package (sport suspension, 5 spoke 17" rims with 215/55/R1 w-rated summer tires). xenon headlights, heated seats, aero packge (rear spoiler and rear underbody air diffusers (not really visible-sory, bling-bling boys!), and premium package (I'll go over the major features of this package-200 watt Bose 7 speaker system-AM/FM/Cassette and in-dash 6 CD player, reclining rear seats-very cool and unusual for cars at this end of the luxury car range). The 260 3.5 V-6 is standard as is the sequential/tiptronic style 5-speed automatic. A six speed manual comes out in the fall. The price came out to a little over $36K.

Andy and Mark rode in the back while the salesman rode shotgun. Andy and Mark said the rear seat had a decent amount of room and those reclining seats were very cool. The front was a little cramped compared to the E46 or E36. It wasn't uncomfortable, but my 325is is more spacious in the driver's seat/ As soon as I left the parking lot, I noticed the very smooth ride of the car. The bottom end gruny of the car was evident. Power delivery was very smooth, and the shifts were seamless. Unfortunately, for me anyway, that kind of detracted from the sensation of acceleration. I could only tell that the car was actually quick by staing at the speedometer. What wasn't filtered out, was road feel. There was good feedback from the steering, not quite as communicative as the E36 or the E46, but not dulled like the Acura CL Type S.

Handling was flat and fairly confidence inspiring. Again, please keep in mind that the salesman was with me. so I didn't push it as hard as I wanted to, nor did I want to end up buying this car. Once on the highway, I opened it up. The engine sounds very aggressive as the needle surged towards redline and glided into the next gear. One of Andy's comments was that the shifts were too smooth compared to his Steptronic and that he preferred something with a little more feel to the shift. I agree. Once we got off the highway back towards Timonium, I tried the tiptronic feature. I really have no point of reference for this since I have a 5-speed in my car. But it was a nice feature for those who need an automatic-it produces more aggressive shifts and felt quicker than when in "D".

The sales man showed us the Nav system on the car-VERY cool. Hit a switch and it rises out of the middle pod. It displays the map in a 3-D relief fashion and is also voice activated. You move the cursor around and select menu items from a small I-drive-esque joystick on the dash. Placement wasn't all that ergonomically friendly.

The verdict? I really like this car a lot. But keep in mind, this car is really targeted for the driver who wants a luxury car with sportiness tuned in. This hits its mark and then some. A very good competitor for the 330 and 325i Steptronic sedams. I myself prefer cars along the line of the 330Ci manual, but that's a different driver. But if I were in the market for an automatic luxury sport sedan in the the $30-40K range, it would be a very close decision between the G35 and 3 series. This is a great car with a lot of great features at an excellent price. So if price is your consideratio, this really should be a car to look at.
 

References

  • http://www.team-bar.com/
    •  


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