Infiniti (16 Posts)
I'll admit it -- I tend to be kind of a traditionalist when it comes to premium sedans. Yes, I know the Japanese have come a long way in the past 20 years with regard to producing worthy European alternatives. But when it comes to thinking about my own $60,000 for a luxury four-door, it's hard for me not to think Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz before Acura, Infiniti or Lexus (or Equus, for that matter).
Driving this 2011 Inifniti M56 over the past weekend will probably change my default thinking.
You can get real-time weather reports in several cars. It's available in the Cadillac CTS, for example, and Ford offers it through Sirius Travel Link. But no one provides weather info as detailed as Infiniti.
Last week was busy weather-wise, with Hurricane Earl bearing down on the east coast. I kept tabs on Earl and other events from the dash of a 2010 Infiniti G37x Coupe. But unlike other vehicles that provide weather reports, in the G37x it was almost like having an on-board meteorologist.
The 2011 Infiniti M37X is a high-tech wonder with an alphabet soup of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Lane Departure Warning/Prevention (LDW/LDP), Blind Sport Warning/Intervention (BSW/BSI), Distance Control Assist (DCA), Forward Collision Waring (FCW) and Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA).
These all help prevent drivers from getting in accidents and can be quite intrusive, although you can turn them off. But the ADAS feature on the vehicle that I found the most interesting (and the most intrusive), ECO Pedal, isn't designed to save lives but instead save fuel.
More often than not, when people find out what I get to do for a living, they ask for my advice on their future car purchase. I don't always have the best answer for them on the spot, but it's always a fun discussion. I was celebrating with some friends last week, and the question came up. This request was much more interesting than most, simply because my friend has some specific needs and a fun option to accompany the car choice.
I just got back from a driving event in Kentucky for the 2011 Infiniti QX56. We'll have our usual first drive story going up soon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share one of the coolest features of the massive new QX.
It's rare for me to get into a specific test vehicle more than once, unless it's a long-term car (and sometimes even those cars spend 12 months here and I only drive them two or three times). But in the past four months I've driven the 2008 Audi S5 three times (this is a short-term car that we only get for two weeks at a time; the S5 is on its second trip to the Edmunds offices). The first time was in November, and I was immediately smitten with its combination of sleek body lines and Detroit-like V8 muscle.
It's clear to anyone paying attention that Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, has targeted those Munich-mavens of ultimate driving machines. And within the Infiniti line-up no model is more aggressive in its BMW-aping than the G35 sedan and G37 coupe. Both the G37 and the BMW 335i offer 300-plus horsepower, six-cylinder engines surrounded by sweeping body lines. Both offer aggressive suspension tuning and large wheels wearing performance tires (if you opt for the sport packages for either model). Both can be had with six-speed manual transmissions, and both portray themselves as high-grade premium performance machines.
Today I'm driving a 2008 Infiniti G37 with all the performance equipment, including the manual transmission, and there's no denying its power or luxury. The ongoiong complaints of plasticky interior bits have been quelled with this new version, and the 330 horsepower V6 can spin the rear tires at will (assuming you disable VDC). This car also possesses the cleanest, most effective iPod/iPhone integration I have ever seen. Not only does it equalize volume and allow for easy music selection through the car's native audio controls, but the display screen for artist, song title, play list, track time and play style (random, repeat, etc.) is rendered in the same soothing font and color scheme as the rest of the LCD screen's graphics. It's an automotive display almost on par with the iPhone's own high-quality pixels.
No, luxury, performance and quality are not issues with this car. Neither is price, as it beats the equivalent 3 Series by approximately $5,000. But is it the ultimate-driving equal of the 335i? No.
With three new entry luxury models in the house it seemed only fitting to carve out a few hours and carve up the local roadways in back-to-back drives. With the help of fellow editors Erin Riches and James Riswick we headed into the Santa Monica Mountains with a Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G35 and Mercedes-Benz C350, all 2008 models with automatic transmissions and sport packages. While much of the route was on twisty roads, there was enough high-speed cruising on PCH to test the "luxury" side of this equation. Here's what I learned:
Just took a gander at Automotive News' future product plan for Japanese carmakers. Not too surprisingly, the coming years hold hybrids and crossovers from the Land of the Rising Sun (actually, many of them will come from right here in North America). Each automaker has a few interesting items in the pipeline.
Acura: No official confirmation of a V8 in Acura's future, which I continue to view as the division's greatest failing. The next RL is due in 2011, so they better make up their mind. But we do know a V10 engine will power the NSX replacement. I like that they have a full-tilt exotic in the works, but one vehicle does not a division make (as was proven with the last
NSX).
Honda: Honda will continue to push hybrids, with a smaller-than-Civic model. No more Accord hybrids, but the Odyssey will be Honda's first V6 diesel-powered vehicle in the U.S. in 2010 (also the year CR-V goes diesel with a 4 cyl.). I'm personally looking forward to the Remix, the spiritual successor to the CRX. And between the Pilot and CR-V? Yup, another crossover is coming.
Let's get the most important information out of the way first (see, those years spent at CU Boulder's J-School, learning about the inverted pyramid, weren't a total waste of time and money). The all-new 2008 Infiniti G37 S coupe is a very good car. The BMW 335i coupe is better.
Drove the newest long-term car home last night, a Platinum Graphite 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan in Sport trim. It's got the six-speed manual transmission, as well as the Navigation package. Impressions are few after just one drive, but all the expected players are present (superb engine, confident handling, comfortable-yet-supportive seats and lots of luxury toys). Infiniti still gets credit for coming the closest to recreating BMW's mojo in a Japanese sports sedan...
We just posted this image of the next Infiniti G35 coupe
, which will debut at the New York auto show in April. You always have to take these "manufacturer sketches" with a five-pound bag of salt, but this thing looks su-weet! My first impression was "$30,000 Aston Martin" though on closer inspection I see some Hyundai Tiburon in the hood/headlights (a car that itself had plenty of Ferrari 456). Regardless, it looks good, and considering how aggressive the new Altima Coupe
looks I guess Infiniti had no choice but to up their game with the next G coupe's design...
Took my second drive in the all-new 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan last night (I had my first exposure
to it in late August). The last one was automatic, but this time around I had the six-speed manual. All the things I said before (creatively, because of an embargo at the time) still hold true. The engine is incredibly powerful and flexible, the suspension is a masterful blend of comfort and composure, and the interior is far superior to the previous version (mostly in terms of material quality, but there's also an improvement in overall design)...
Took the all-new 2007 Infiniti G35 home last night. I was anxious to try this one out, as the last one clearly put Infiniti on the sport sedan map, with many people feeling it was the best attempt yet to de-throne the 3 Series. There's an embargo on driving impressions until September 1, so I can only talk about the basics, like the looks (which you've all seen already) and some of the high-tech features. I think the new car looks better than ever. I liked the previous version, but the vertical headlamps were never my favorite styling feature (I don't like them on mid-1960s Pontiacs, either)...
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