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I've found that playing around with the seat controls helps. In particular, moving the seat forward a bit reduces the pressure.
If you really can't stand it, I'm sure that you can buy more comfortable alternatives, but they're probably quite expensive.
I have an '03. To my knowledge, no change was made to the bolster in the "03.5" models. I suspect they'll do something for '04, however. If so, I might see if a swap will be possible.
I'm on pins and needles waiting for the car...a Chrismas present from my wife. Seems she knew exactly what I wanted this year.
how about in strong side wind?
P.S. The other 2 cars I'm looking at are the A4 and the Saab 9-3. I'm driving the Saab on Monday.
If you look back over previous posts to this board, the general consensus seems to be that the G35 can handle snow, but get snow tires. 16's are fine, in fact, 205/65R16 is the standard size on the G35 (I believe on the cloth model only... not sure). I assume you're referring to the sedan. The coupe has larger rear tires than front, and since I don't own one, I haven't paid as much attention to it.
Tires: the car is rwd. Enough said? I wouldn't want to rely on the car in the snow belt without good snows on it. Emergencies happen and you want as much traction as possible, not just enough to get underway. As an auto, all else being equal, you should spend much less time at the dealer in the Infiniti and more on the road. To me, this is as important as appearance or comfort.
The size of the tires/rims is also a matter of taste. You can go to 16", especially if you increase the aspect of the tires enough so that you are rolling down the road with the same diameter. That said, the smaller rims may look funny to you, as if the wheel is too small for the fender well. I'd stick with the 16".
In fact, why not stick with the 16" for the summer and invest in a nice set of 17" with summer tires -- changing tires back and forth on the same rims is a pain and the constant (2x/yr.) wear and tear can end up with scratched rims.
JW
When I bought my car, it had the Goodyear Eagle RSAs. I figured no big deal, tires are tires. Was I ever wrong about that. The Goodyears are absolute crap - incredibly noisy and harsh riding. The next day I called the dealer and told them I wanted those POS tires off, they said no problem, so I drove back to the dealership (2 1/2 hours each way) and they graciously switched me to the Turanzas. MUCH quieter, much smoother, better tire. There is no comparison whatsoever.
Just my 2 cents.
Basically, there's always a better choice, that's often even cheaper, than ANY of the GY Eagles. Good choice with the Bridgestones.
The Bridgestones are better, sure, but they are still just a marginal OEM tire. As soon as they wear out, or sooner, I will likely go to a 235/50/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S.
JW
Don't tell me that I don't know how to treat performance cars, as my other car is a 2001 Corvette Z06. In truth, the Z06 engine is at a little higher state of tune than the G35, and I do tend to use it at full throttle a lot more, so it does get the 93 octane gasoline all of the time.
My G35 is a daily driver and also the car of choice on family road trips, and I can tell you for certain that you cannot tell any difference in the performance between 87 and 93 octane in any normal driving mode. Infiniti would never allow operation on 87 octane fuel if it were harmful to the engine. Check your manual on this.
However, if you are running your G35 on a dyno or testing its all out acceleration or top end speed, I would certainly use the highest octane unleaded gasoline I could buy.
If putting the premium gasoline makes you feel better, by all means do it. I would rather spend what I have to spend and put the rest in the bank.
BTW, both the Z06 and the G35 were cash purchases. Saving money works for me.
SEDAN MODELS:
Use unleaded regular gasoline with an octane rating of at least 87 AKI (Anti-Knock Index) number (Research octane number 91).
For improved vehicle performance, INFINITI recommends the use of unleaded premium gasoline with an octane rating of at least 91 AKI number (Research octane number 96).
COUPE MODELS: (Not verbatim) Premium gas only with a partial tank of regular in emergencies only.
As far as snow driving goes, It is stable for the most part as long as you are careful. My slip control light comes on each time I start to slide and I am put right back in line. I don't advise going too fast in the snow to begin with but the slip protection and the anti lock brakes will take pretty good care of you if there is a problem.
I hope this helps.
"strongly, strongly" recommended to use premium in G35 sedan. He said not to use lower than 89 in any case.
power - Wow! Pin-you-to-the-seat acceleration although the engine is not as smooth as I had expected.
transmission - eager to downshift - great!
handling - very good and balanced, but rather harsh on rough surfaces (probably the Goodyear tires on the one I drove)
styling - Hmmm. Don't know if I could get used to the humps over the headlights
interior - IMHO an ergonomic disaster. Cheap looking and feeling metallized plastic trim on the console. Poor locations of some switches and displays. Seats just didn't fit my ergonomics.
Overall, I think Infiniti has made a credible attack on BMW. I don't think they will have any problems selling them. I guess I am just not in their intended market.
My opinion is that the fuel mileage difference, if any, is really small. I have not been keeping records, so I cannot qualify my feelings with test reports.
Some people believe that their cars have such better fuel mileage on premium that it offsets the additional cost of the higher grade fuel. I personally doubt this. With our normal differential cost for the fuel grades, my G35 would have to have approx. 2.25 more MPG on premium than it does on regular. If there is any difference, I would believe that it is far less than 2.25 MPG.
I am interested in following up on your question, though, so next time I take a substantial trip I will try to get some definitive numbers and post the results. I only want to do this test under controlled driving conditions, though, as my normal driving style may be a little to exuberant to call it a fair contest.
I have had Infiniti sales and service people give me different advice WRT the use of 87 octane fuel. One has told me use only premium and the other (who seemed to have more technical knowledge) told me that the use of 87 octane is fine, though the engine will develop slightly less power on the 87.
Two things to remember:
1. One test is worth 1000 expert opinions, and
2. Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one.
redz06
Normal driving, even spirited driving does not place that great of a load on the engine, unless we are talking about continued operation at near full throttle and load conditions. So the only conditions where you are paying a power penalty for the 87 octane is at conditions where most people will never run. Those of you that are worried about fuel economy should note that it is not very good at full throttle and full load (try 5 MPG).
I almost never run more than 85 mph on the highway, and I can assure you that you cannot tell the difference that 87 octane may make in the performance a G35 at that speed.
Uaing premium at $1.80 a gallon (local San Diego price) you spend $1,228 a year on gas.
Using 87 octane at $1.60 a gallon (local price) you'd spend $1,091 a year on gas. $137 a year or $2.64 a week means that much to someone who spent 34-36k on a performance sedan? Good grief people have weird priorities. Why rob yourself of power over a measely $2.64 a week! That's not even half of a lunch!
If the cost of the fuel is that important to you, you should be looking at something with a Nissan badge instead of Infiniti (and probably with 2 fewer cylinders). This is not an economy car. You also get nailed with higher insurance fees, as the G35 is classified as a "high-performance vehicle" by the insurance companies.
To me, it's worth every extra penny.
IMO, the garnet will be somewhere in between the black and silver, as far as showing the dirt.
No regrets with choosing the garnet. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Neaudi, you're right about the Garnet being between the black and silver. Can't wait to put my order in within the next few weeks. Tomorrow I am test driving a 6MT Coupe just to get the feel of the tranny. I test drove a G 5A back in June of 02 and the car shifted as smooth as can be.
I hope to get a Gartnet Fire/Graphite/Premium/Winter Sport/Aero/ maybe NAV if the price is right. My back up color is white as a just in case. I'll keep you posted. It's going to be a long wait until it comes in!
1. Has anyone ever averaged more than 16 mpg in the mostly city driving on premium gas?
2. What tire pressure do you maintain? The book says 30 psi but I got from dealership set at 38. The ride feels very stiff.
thanks.
Paul