2007 Infiniti G35: Smashmouth Sport Sedan

Meh...I like the G the way it is. Seems like it feels more like driving a car and less like wafting about on a magic carpet (I'm looking at you, Lexus.). The 3-series is a great car, but it'd be boring if all of the other sport sedans were just like it.

but doesn't the brutishness give the car character?

Brute of the sport sedan segment = Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in my opinion
 
I think this link to Jacquot's comparo article might be better (since this is an IL blog). :o)
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=123235

Thanks Suby - I'll change the link. As for the Evo, let's belatedly define "sport sedan" as "something not based on a $17k economy car."
 
Sabastian and cah11705, I agree that the G35's got character, and that's mostly a good thing. If Infiniti could fix the NVH issues I brought up, it might have a true BMW-beater on its hands.
 
Josh

The original G35 & coupe had style. It looked like something Porsche would design.
 
The new ones look like typical "generic japanese style 101". Backwards on that but def a step forward everywhere else. But it's generic looking enough that it doesn't inspire any wow factor.
 
No one shopping for a G35 is going for a EVO. Completely different markets. I'll still take Audi or BMW over the anonymous G35.
How are the current crop of Infiniti's going to handle the A5/S5? Those blow just about every sport coupe out of the water.

I love the G35, but those NVH issues are definitely a bummer. Character? How does an obvious fault constitute character? I'll remember that one. The next time I make a mistake at work, I'll just tell my boss, "no, it's cool, it shows that I've got character." Nissan is almost there.

I would say to have character is normally a good thing but when the "character" becomes some sort of a problem then it's not.
 
Lexus could learn from Infiniti about acquiring "character" just like Infiniti could learn from Lexus about solving this annoying NVH issue. Like I've said, a G with Lexus' 2GR-FSE could be a very sweet package that no one will be fortunate enough to see exactly how good it is.

I don't get these NVH complaints. Who said that a gear shift knob needs to be as still as a mausoleum? Who said that feeling the engine working is a bad thing? To me the G feels "alive" and that is way better than the numb experience one gets from the supposedly more refined BMW/Lexus/etc.....

How are the current crop of Infiniti's going to handle the A5/S5? Those blow just about every sport coupe out of the water.
 
GT-R > S5
 
A5 doesn't blow everything out of the water though...

One of you long-term testers said it (sorry, I can't remember which) that the G35 is an image of what muscle cars in the future will be. I'd agree. GM can do this too when they get a smaller rear-drive platform and a powerful, possibly turbo'd, V6. It's shame that Detroit seems intent on shovelling us 4000 lb. pony cars (I'm looking your way Challenger, please Camaro, go on a diet). A meaty gearshift, brutal power, tough styling, this G sounds like a muscle car to me.

In my humble opinion, I owned a 2004 GS5 6 speed, and then upgraded to the 2007 G35 S six speed about 1 year ago when it first came out. Just based on styling, I personally find the 2007/2008 G35 to be much more pleasing. The front is much more appealing with its larger grill and new headlight light design and I like how the back on the 2007 G seems to be cohesive in design with the rest of the car. I find the back of the 2007 G to resemble the back of the 2004 G coupe which is a good thing! I do not like the styling of the 2008 G37 in comparison to the previous generation G35 coupe. It just seems more generic and less art deco. The inside cabin is a tremendous improvement and there is absolutely no comparison. Yes, the gear knob does vibrate and the engine is noticeable at the higher rev limits, but I personally like that as well. When I test drove the Lexus IS350 it felt numb and isolated and the BMW 330i that I drove was very very bumpy and the gear was very notchy, but then again, I guess (according to the dealer) that it had been sitting out in the lot for a couple cold days with no one to drive it, so it was probably just very new.
 
Just my 2 cents!

Also, I just read that the G37 sedan is coming out in Europe and America will later receive it as well. I wonder how this G37 sedan will perform against the BMW 335i considering that the G35 S "beat" the BMW in edmunds sport sedan showoff (albeit it was because of price).

I suggested the Evo because it can outperform anything short of a M3 Sedan, C63 AMG and RS4, although it probably would hold its own against them and possibly surprise some people on a true race track.
 
A "sport sedan" to me is a high performance car with four doors, which I think the Evo definitely is the brute of the segment, econocar roots be da__ed.

The G35 has a great mechanical intensity about it. Take away that, and what's the point? If I wanted a smooth, fast, boring ride, I would choose an IS350. If I wanted a smaller version of the G35 with smoothness, I would choose the 335i. It's great to have different choices in the marketplace.

I owned an 03 G35 Coupe with the 6-speed manual. As for NVH, overall the car was very smooth - not as smooth as a 3-series, but very good. EXCEPT for the shifter and the clutch. While the shifter action and feel was great, it would vibrate so much under hard acceleration that my hand would go numb. I've never driven a car with so much engine vibration transmitted to the shifter before, and I've driven sticks all my driving life, including old big block Corvettes.
 
It's almost like the engine has lots of vibration itself, its just they isolated all of the vibration from the rest of the car somehow (fluid engine mounts, perhaps), except the couldn't isolate it from the manual shifter. You can also feel some of the vibration in the clutch pedal.
 
Maybe the VQ isn't really as smooth of an engine as people think it is - it may just be attached to very good dampening hardware to fool you into thinking its smooth.

@Suby,
 
I'm still pulling for my Stage 3 Neon SRT-4 as the brute of the sport sedan, even if it is out of production... It's uncomfortable for anyone who isn't a thin or petite person, feels like a sledgehammer to the spine after driving more than 100 miles straight, makes my ears ring when I drive it and don't have earplugs in, spins the front tires when I give more than half throttle in 1st (this on 225 Falken 615's), and my best friend describes a drive in it as "more terrifying than a stampede."
 
That being said, I'd push it off a cliff for an EVO.

Well, I think most people would minimally want power rear windows. j/k =Þ
 
I know some SRT-4s can absolutely destroy Evos and STIs in a straight line, but I have yet to see any of them be a real terror on a road course (Buttonwillow Raceway and Laguna Seca Raceway).

Haha, whenever people complain about the back seat, I keep a five pound dumbbell in back there and tell them to work out a bit so it won't seem like such a burden to roll up a window.
 
Yeah, even my friend's EVO IX cammed and tuned can't keep up with me in a straight line and is looking at going big turbo to beat me, but frankly I enjoy his car a lot more. Handling is way underrated stateside, I think, and if I could fit in a Miata (I'm 6'4" so it's out of the question) I'd go for something good handling like that instead.
 
BTW, I think I'm the only person who's going to the University of Texas at Austin who was pulling for SC in the Rose Bowl.

OT (off-topic) alert (well, it is about football like the original blog entry)!
 
Thanks for your sympathy. I was at that game. I paid $750 for a ticket that I thought would allow me to witness the first back-to-back-to-back Div. I-A college football championship run. It was a great game and I'd say I got my money's worth. The Trojan defense just couldn't stop the Longhorns. If SC had more time, they probably would've tied the game or taken the lead as the whole second half was an offensive shoot-out. Add in the facts that Vince Young's knee was down before he pitched the ball on Texas' first TD play and Reggie Bush's lateral actually went forward and the result may have been different.

How dare you SlickersDrip!?!
 
Hook 'em horns!
I went to SWT (now Texas State), but we don't have a football team, so I root for all TX teams.

Yeah, no kidding - how did this thread end up talking about SRT-4's, Evo's, and STi's?
 
For those who have forgotten, this thread is about the Infiniti G35. At least talk about a Nissan product if you're going off topic!

When it comes to performance, Evos and MY2004-2007 STi/STIs are the ultimate sport sedans for $35K or less. :o) I believe they're smashmouth sport sedans. Therefore, they're not irrelevant imo (in my opinion).

I actually think it's kind of hard to categorize the Evo/STi breed. On the one hand, they're at least as capable as archetypal sport sedans like the G35 or 335i. On the other hand, they have gussied-up econocar interiors and exteriors. I would call them "smashmouth sport-compacts" -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're great cars. They just don't have the class (or snob-factor, depending on your perspective) of a true sport sedan like the 335i or G35 (NVH issues aside, the G is pretty classy).
 
Josh

I would definitely cross-shop the G35 against an EVO or STI. Why? I want the most satisfying experience! I've loved my '97 Maxima for over 10 years, and I want to choose really well for my next car, too. Back then, there seemed to be few choices for affordable, stout, 4-door sporty sedans. But now, I'd have trouble narrowing the field!

I have a 2008 G35S...I don't see what they big deal is with the NVH. It's not that bad.

i agree with sadbuttrue, it is VERY hard to categorize the evo's/sti's of the world.
 
you can't really compare them to the gti, si, or ms3, even though, just like them, they are the ultimate version of the humble car they start as, yet they can hang with the big guys, which is something the aforementioned 'other' sport compacts cant really do without some immediate mods.
 
subytrojan: totally agree. neons are super fast in a straight line, (its like the mopar approach to speed was just applied to a smaller, compact chassis), but even after suspension mods, i have yet to see one tear it up at the track.
 
handling is underrated stateside.