The G doesn't even directly compete with the Lexus ES or Acura TL. It's more like the Lexus IS300, BMW 3-series and Audi A4, now the G might give those cars some problems, especially the Is300, which seems unrefined to me. THe G does look kinda wierd in the back though. The G must be pretty fast, if a manual Maxima does 0-60 in 6.3 secs, imagine how the G35 would do.
I completely agree with the two earlier posts about the muted colors. I am sick to death of all this earth-tone garbage. I think that the color stylist at Toyota/Lexus and Infiniti/Nissan must all be depressed. Why in the world would they market a "sports" sedan in nearly the exact colors as the boring Camry, Highlander, and Avalon (great vehicles - just boring and with ugly colors)? I was not in the market for an Infinity but decided to just walk through the lot. I had little knowledge of the G35. I was very impressed with the car and was even more so when I drove it. I was even more happy to hear that the car came in RED. I got rather excited and was ready to buy. How terribly disappointed I was after waiting a few days for a red one to come in only to see the pitiful rust colored thing that they call red. They could have left off the paint, leaving bare metal, then have left it out in a rainstorm, and have gotten the same color in about a week. No car that uses the word "sport" anywhere to describe itself, or that can be ordered with a spoiler, should come in such sedate colors. BMW, Lexus (on the IS300 anyway) and almost all of the American car makers are ahead on this issue. Of course, this is just my opinion but obviously I am not alone. I really would already be driving one had the colors been better. If I do decide to buy a G35 I guess I'll get a white one, about as bright as these cars get.
Since I am already gripeing anyway. There are also those of us out there that simply prefer cloth. To be fair, the cloth seats on this car are really nice. However, it is rediculous that this car can only be had in cloth in a stripped version. I wanted cloth and the premium package with power seats etc. The dealer tells me that this is not possible and his words are backed up by the fine print on the G35 brochure which states that the options are not available on the base (cloth) model. Marketing morons!
I can tell from your message Title that no colour would be bright enough for you! LoL! *kidding*
Actually, the phenomena I think you are seeing is more marketing than you might at first think. The G35 is aimed squarely at a particular age group and demographic, and I think the Infiniti designers had this firmly in mind when they chose "sedate" (what you term "boring") colours
The fact that you might be offended by their colour choices only means that you could be one of the number that fall outside their target audience. To be certain, the choices of colour ARE very muted, but on the bright side (no pun intended) they brighten way up as you flash by other cars at a high rate of speed and the doppler light shift kicks in
You just have to remember, this is a sedan that is in the mid 30k range, not outlandishly expensive, but enough to draw an older segment who think that the yellow, bright red, and electric purple cars that tool down the highway with enough plastic and airfoils to get a 737 airborne are insanely ridiculous looking...
The same reasons they chose the colours they chose are the exact same one's that led them to put a 5 speed auto in it rather than launching it with a 6 speed manny...
FYI, Car and Driver (May 2002) tested the G35 and it got a 6.2sec 0-60, which is better than the time you quoted for the Maxima manual. Probably the reason for it is gearing and torque.
I am sure you are right about the demographics. However, as a mature man of 47 myself, I easily recall the cars of the 50's and 60's that had both style and color. Obviously I am not alone hence the stylings and colors of new Beetle, the new T-bird, and PT Cruiser (ugly colors too though) and even the new Mini. I am now too old for tennis, nor do I get to go clubbing in the city too often any more, though I can still "bust a move" in my head (Disco forever). I am guessing that I too share a large demographic that is ignored by the nuvo-geeks in California styling studios. I have now reached a time in my life when have the disposable income to buy what I want but simply cannot any longer justify a two door sports coupe. I now have a wife and three dogs (five if you count my wife's two sisters) but more importantly, often enjoy going to dinner, movies etc. with friends. I am looking for a vehicle with the power and style of the G but with the luxury and interior room of perhaps an Avalon. I don't need a sun roof (bald head in Memphis), nor do I need expensive low profile tires. Like most guys my age I long for the "glory days" when we all had quick reflexes to go with our quick cars. Given that the reflexes are perhaps permanately gone now, at least I would like to look fast and sporty and, earth-tones look neither fast nor sporty. I would also point out that you are just as likely to see a Mercedes, a BMW, a Volvo, a Corvette, or even a Ferrari at the tennis club in BRIGHT RED. I will be reasonable though, if not bright red, at least give us the pastel colors currently seen on the new T-bird and on some BMW products. I recommend that you go to any bookstore and look at the paint on everything, particularly American makes, from 1955 to 1970. Most cars were elegant and two-toned. They also shined better because there was more silicone in the paint. There is simply no comparison to today's colors. In this respect we have clearly gone backwards. Yes, by the way I hate all that black crap on the cars these days too. It looks bad to begin with then fades or turns white over time and looks even worse. Anyone who thinks that black plastic body cladding or bumpers looks better than chrome is dropping acid - then again, didn't this all start in California?
By the way, I noticed that you spelled color - "colours". No doubt you have been overly influenced by Alexander Julian products. Please don't tell me you call a Coke a "soda" or a "pop". What on earth is going to happen to your generation? (kidding)
Lastly, I have a personal delima with white cars. I have owned two white cars and they were both bad lemons, now I am fearful to try it again. I am sure your G is beautiful and certainly hope it works out better than my last two whites did.
By the way, the spoiler does look good on this car!
Um...the target market would be the SAME people who buy BMWs and Audis, thus the notion of using muted colors to appeal to a certain demographic comes off even more perplexing. If we're to believe the G can out-perform or at least hang with the Germans, shouldn't it look the part? Or at least offer colors that might go beyond a Buick line's palette?
There's no reason you can't get your dour colors, I just hoped for something with a bit more of an upscale look. Beige is upscale only if you're in the market for a Crown Vic or LeSabre. Now a blue-grey metallic...
On fresh alloy a guy has a pic of an electric blue G35 coupe at a car show. It's a bling bling color and it works on the car nicely. Hopefully Infiniti will at least let the coupe's buyers get creative.
Part of a 5-car family car comparison test. Altima clearly the quickest. It went 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds. The next quickest was the Honda Accord EX at 7.4 seconds. Ford Taurus SEL slowest at 8.1 seconds.
Quite impressive acceleration for a 4-speed automatic. Should bode well for G35 automatic, which has a bit more power and 5-speed automatic. And very well for future G35 manual. But I don't know the difference in gearing and weight (their Altima weighed 3,273 pounds).
Have gotten compliments on the color from everyone who has seen it. Really shines beautifully in the California sun. It is very fast too! Hope I didn't offend anyone by saying something good about the car. I am very proud of mine!
This color discussion is really fun. And yes, if G35s compete with german cars shouldn't they have the same types of colors? I love the G35 and the colors will not stop me from buying....But its funny how the people who make color decisions are such morons. Infiniti are you listening?
I keep hearing people putting down the interior. I have the graphite interior w/wood and having spent considerable time in it, am very pleased. If you want cheesy, how about the plastic interior on most of the BMW 3 series.
Now, for the professional opinion:
On Easter I was at some friends house for dinner. The host has owned an autobody shop for over thirty years. His quote "the best fit and finish I have seen in a car that didn't cost over 50 grand". Pretty nice compliment.
As for color, I have the emerald green and it is HIGHLY metalic and shows well. Why is everyone talking about BMW colors - 99% of the ones you see are either white or black.
PS to laysmackdown - you're entitled to your opinion but it is that fast and not only did Infiniti set a sales record in March, they expect to set another one in April. Wonder why that is? Maybe it's because they've had to up their annual sales forcast for the G35 twice and the car has only been on the market for less than a month. My opinion Lexus ES, Acura TL blah - boring, boring, boring.
Nissan is financially sound as far as I know. Renault made a major investment in Nissan a couple years ago that allowed them to invest in updating their product line. The new Maxima and Altima have done very well. As for the Infinity line, QX4 is selling well as is the 2002 Q45. Also the I30/I35 have done fairly well. Are they selling as much as Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura? No, their dealer network is too small and Toyota and Honda are too well established. However, they are adding dealers, expanding their marketing and, in my opinion, providing the best bang for the buck in many segments. I'm not in that market but I'd take the Maxima over the Accord or Camry any day and I don't think Toyota or Honda make anything to compare to the Altima for the money. All in all, I would say that Nissan is FINALLY, doing things right. At my dealership, which carries almost ALL the major luxury brands, Infiniti is taking a number of customers from BMW, Mecedes, Lexus, Audi, etc. I guess we'll see what happens as Infiniti continues to rollout new products over the next two years. Should be interesting.
PS On my dealer's storage lots, Infiniti has gone from about 5% of the storage area to about 15% and they are getting at least two shipments a week. My salesman says he is delivering an average of five cars a day. And that's just one salesman.
#3947, cding -- To me, it appears a solution would be to gear the car so it was turning ~140 at 6K in 5th gear, then use 6th to keep the revs around 2K at 65. That's the beauty of a 6-speed box. You can use 1st & 2nd to get to a bit over 60, split the ratios equally for 3rd, 4th & 5th to yield the 140 @ 6K thing, then use 6th for cruising.
Colors -- To me solid, deep real colors (non-metallic) are what I like. BMW's electric red and Honda/Accura red (don't know what it's called) both fill the bill. Would buy BRG or solid deep orange (VW & MGB in the 70's) in a heartbeat, but the selection that's offered these days by many manufacturers is really weak. Maybe Infiniti will figure it out in time for the coupe. Lincoln certainly hasn't, though I guess they finally got around to offering a (metallic, naturally) red this year.
In response to "faenor", I don't believe it to be interesting that all vehicles look alike. The Infiniti is NOT a BMW, NOT an AUDI, etc. I purchased my G35 for a different reason.
I currently own a Mercedes convertible that I use on fine weather days primarily. The top is down 365 days a year. It stays garaged on dreary, rainy days. I was looking for something with some horsepower and nice enough creature features inside. I was not trying to confuse others on the highway with a Germanesque-type of body styling. I was looking for something additional with more trunk space and more rear leg space. It is a pleasant contrast for me... and still has a highly enjoyable horsepower.
I don't feel the target market is the SAME. If I want a BMV with bells and whistles, I could not possibly have purchased it for anything similar in price.
Car makers often bring out new colors through the life of the car, and eliminate unpopular colors. Between 2001 and 2002, BMW 5s and Lexus GS both eliminated several colors, and brought out some new ones.
In the May issue of Car and Driver "which I just got today" shows the red G35 with sport suspension, 5 spoke wheels, titanium interior with graphite seats and a rear spoiler. It's not bad.
There is an article on Barron's Online dated Apr. 1, titled "Taking Off the White Gloves." The author Jay Palmer talks about the rapidly expanding, increasingly crowded and competitive "luxury" car market. He predicts that, after some years of natural elimination, there will be winners - BMW, Ford, Lexus and DaimlerChrysler among them, and losers - Infiniti and Porsche.
I'm from town. My dad should be picking up his G35 within the next two days.
I'm in the market for a car as well, but something in the 20s or low 30s canadian. possibly an rsx type S. i really want a nissan but they don't have a coupe for that price range in canada now. altima V6 looking good but its too big for me and i need a sporty coupe for now.
this is our 4th nissan/infiniti, but i guess i'll be having an affair with acura for the next few years.
congrads on your purchase. i think that i'll be purchasing a set of snow tires for my dad's G35 in the winter. just to be on the safe side.
Can anyone confirm this? PS yes HP does effect 0-60, look at the S2000, Sube WRX... Torque is nice but it is relative to gearing, taller gears, more effective torque, hense HP wins. I will only say this once more: The G35 is in no way the performance equivilent of a new M3, I doubt it will even be within a second of the 0-60 time (4.8s). No one has said anything to convince me otherwise.
Speculative, I'm still at a loss as to why you're so convinced that a manual G35 coupe (at least a hundred or two hundred pounds lighter than that sedan) with at least 275 HP and 260 lb-ft torque can't hit 60 in the mid to high 5s. If an auto-equipped Sedan ran to 60 in only 6.2 seconds in C&D's tests, why wouldn't a lighter, more powerful manual with wider tires hit 60 faster?
I disagree completely. The biggest giveaway for that article was that it was published on April 1 - that should tell you something about the writer.
Yes, Infiniti is hurting right now, but they are on the way up. In contrast, Daimler is hurting but they are on the way down - near term, atleast. And Ford - a winner?! Give me a break - they were flushed with cash in the 90s and they fumbled that opportunity.
No way Porsche is gonna disappear - they have the fattest margins of any other brand in the industry. More importantly, in the lean times Porsche relies on its engineering services to survive.
I saw Motor Trend, Car and Driver and Road and Track today (actually purchased the latter two) and only Car and Driver has the G35 tested for this month.
Last time I checked, the Q45 had less units sold than the, on its deathbed, Cadillac Eldorado. Some great sales phenomenom they have going on at Infiniti!
If you didn't get the G's nav system, and decide you need a GPS, I wholeheartedly recommend the Garmin GPS line. This does not come without putting it through some *major* workouts. First, my Garmin GPS III+ has spent most of its life on my Honda ST1100 motorcycle. Now, that means rain, vibration out the ying-yang, getting generally knocked around, and living almost its entire useful life *outside*. I've got about 18K miles on it, from 110 degrees to about 20 degrees, and it's been good regardless of how I treat it.
Fortunately, the three times its 'jumped' off the bike, the 'anchor' cable worked, and it didn't get away....
;-)
One neat thing about an 'independent' GPS...you can hook it into your PC and download/upload information, and it's realtively cheap...you just have to make sure it has a good line of sight to the sky while moving.
I have one, and I don't leave home without it. It works fine on the family vehicles, rental cars and my mountain bike (as well as when I'm hiking), and the reference locations I put into it can be found regardless of what mode of transport I'm using. I'm sure I'm one of the few in any airplane who knows how fast we're going, whether we're in a holding pattern, and a number of other things.
The one I own cost $200 and would be cheap at twice the price. It's worked very well in every car I've rented in North America and Europe, sitting on top of the steering column -- it's able to "see" just fine from under the hood that covers the speedometer. It's not in color and doesn't have built-in maps (does know all the cities & towns), but Garmin does have models with those capabilities.
Yeah, plastic doesn't seem to harm the signals too much, and I've even managed to get a signal inside the house, but that is unusual. Metal kills the signal, almost guaranteed. The better 'line of sight' it has of the sky, the better accuracy you'll get. Since the US Gubment turned off the 'fudge factor', I've been able to get down to about 14 feet of error, consistiently. Almost enough to navigate with your eyes closed (I'm not recommending this, however).
I received Motor Trend yesterday and it has not mention or article on the G35, unfortunately.
The article on midsize sedans does rate the interior fit and finish of the Altima a D+. I have read several reports on the bad interior on the Altima and people who have seen it like Speedracer have even told me. The Altima has a great exterior and engine to bad Nissan let fan down with the interior. Hope they correct this or they will lose lots of customers.
The article by Automotive Design & Production is located at:
I wasn't trying to nail down the fact that Infiniti made "correct" colour choices for their G35, only that there must have been some driving force and forethought more than the "Infiniti marketing guys are moron's" level that I've been hearing on the boards.
There are probably an infinite (no pun intended) number of reasons why the car comes in the colours it does, and it may be as simple as "Well sir, to cut costs in any way we can, we've identified that white and black are the least expensive colours" to which the design and market leads say "what?! we have to get a bit better than that! at least initially!" "Well sir, we still have some left over red, blue and silver from the Q45 run last year, and if we do some creative mixing, we might be able to get an interesting shade of green too" "Ok, you guys go with that..."
*smile*
Who knows what kind of talks go on in the design and marketing meetings... All I know is that I've been in production meetings of this type (software) and you never hear "Hey guys, what can we do to really piss off a segment of our users?"
I like the colours the car comes in, I think it looks great in all of them... THat must mean that I fall into their demographic whatever that is (or at least share the artists tastes) and if someone says "Christ! the colours are drab and ugly!" that must mean that they fall outside of the target that the colours were meant to appeal to. In the end, the car seems to be selling fairly well, at least initially, and so I would say that either they counted their beans correctly, or they selected colours that weren't so horrendous to people that it would prevent them from buying the car in wholesale numbers, even if they didn't like the colours.
I know the Bimmers and Mercedes' have some interesting and attractive colour choices, but my Brother (a BMW fanatic) tells me that you have to pay extra for the really nice colour combos.
This leads to another interesting explanation; What if you were in the G35 design meeting and they had this list of all the WHIZ-BANG features for a car written on a board, hundreds of items that would represent anyone's "dream car"
Then the project lead said "ok, we're going to build a car, it has to go from 0-60 in about 6 seconds, do about .85 on the skidpad, have interior noise level less than 70db at 70mph, it must have these interior dimensions... AND it has to MSRP for significantly less than 30k...
after everyone gasps, they all start to talk about things they can cut... Supercharger, AWD, Twin Turbo, Night vision device, built in hot-tub on and on and on...
Everywhere they can save money they cut things without putting a dent in the performance and comfort numbers...
Someone says "Lets make the car in crazy cool metallic colours so that people will KNOW its a G35!"
Then someone from paint says "Hang on... each car will cost 135 dollars more with those paint choices..."
"ok, we scratch the metallic 'cool' colors so then we can keep the 4 wheel multilink suspension...Next!"
I've been in design meetings, it goes very much like that and I would be very surprised if it wasn;t the same in car design meetings...
Identify what the customer wants most, what you can give them for what you know they want to pay... its a tight rope, and things fall off all the time.
The good news is also in these meetings comes the future enhancement ideas...
"once the car really takes off in sales, we can offer the G35-S type with 50 more horsepower and lots of cool color choices!"
Oh, just wanted to add that all the complaints about the choices in paint for the G35 that I have been hearing are valid. Very much so, and I wasn't trying to be argumentative at all, jsut trying to understand what choices went into their final decisions...
I was just a bit thrown off balance because for the price the car is, I think they did a bang up job! Color is an important consideration of course, but 0-60 in less than 6 seconds with .84 skidpad and the cars lines so elegant?! No matter what anyone might say, pro or con, Infiniti did a grand job this go around...
I never said that the Infiniti should look like anything or look similar to anything, only that maybe the visual choices they made were based on some sample or cross section survey, this melded with a financial track of what was cost effective etc etc...
I have a white one, and to be honest, I think I would be happy with any of the colours and I've seen them all, and I think that the rear end looks good as well as the front and sides...
A rolling statement is a fine thing, but maybe they (Infiniti) got strapped with rolling statement vs cost vs reliability vs survey results... Something like that...
I have to be honest and say that I don't notice many people looking at my G35 at all (maybe I don't see them) though its lines very much appeal to me.
But when something rolls up behind me and sticks on my bumper, and I put my foot in it and rocket away, after I slow down, then they roll alongside and look for quite a while
You have a Mercedes convertible that you leave in teh garage and only drive on good weather days? I think maybe you might belong to the Bentley/Ferrari demographic then *kidding*
I think you're dead on with the "why" in terms of Infiniti cutting corners and looking to keep costs down. They provided an excellent, good looking car that has very few shortcomings. The lack of an attractive color won't keep me away...but it still makes me sad that the cars lack colors as fine as the germans offer. Oh well...take the good with the bad.
I don;t know about everyone else, but I think the G35 would look pretty darn mean in primer coat!
Think of it! no worrying about waxing, and washing would just involve hosing it down...
Maybe Infiniti would even whack something off the price for the unfinished treatment, though I still think they would call it something marketable like Sunset Primer, or Gray Fury, or maybe even Warship Matte...
Door dings might even enhance the beauty of the car in this color!
Maybe they could sell the car in a "you-think-you're-so-hot-then-you-paint-it" kit! The car could come as base primer and they would give you a whole crate of different spray cans in cool metallic colours!
So are we running out of negative things to say about the G35 and the only thing we have left to complain is ,color choices? Just kidding :P The complain is valid.
May be Infiniti could have initially offer more color choices as extra option like BMW, and make people pay for ..hmmm. special color? :O
I totally agree with Faenor's assessment, in reference to choices of color pick for the initial release of the G35. Infiniti wants to cater to the biggest audience and while keeping production cost down initially. That means sticking with conservative colors which doesn't "offend" the majority of the demographic whom are interested in this car.
If the only car left in the dealer's inventory, that has the right option I want, but was purple, forest green, banana yellow or lady pink color; I guarantee you that I will not buy it!! No way, no how! plain and simple.
However, if the only car left in stock with the options I want,was a conservative color like Black, silver, dessert platinium, or twilight blue <---(some of G35's available color choices) I would buy it.
I'm sure as the G35 become more successful, you will see more choices, and <gasp> no extra charge like BMW would charge you for that special color your want
One of the things that put me off buying BMW 325 was the fact that they charge for color. I feel that color charge is a rip off. The whole idea of having a stripper and charging arms and leg for all reasonable upgrades does not hold water for me. Also, I have decided against 330 since the price comes ridiculously high for an aging car. What looks cool today may look old and tired tomorrow. My G35 is in Desert Platinum and I love it.
Comments
May be with some *serious* R-Spec massaging, but otherwise no.
Since I am already gripeing anyway. There are also those of us out there that simply prefer cloth. To be fair, the cloth seats on this car are really nice. However, it is rediculous that this car can only be had in cloth in a stripped version. I wanted cloth and the premium package with power seats etc. The dealer tells me that this is not possible and his words are backed up by the fine print on the G35 brochure which states that the options are not available on the base (cloth) model. Marketing morons!
Actually, the phenomena I think you are seeing is more marketing than you might at first think. The G35 is aimed squarely at a particular age group and demographic, and I think the Infiniti designers had this firmly in mind when they chose "sedate" (what you term "boring") colours
The fact that you might be offended by their colour choices only means that you could be one of the number that fall outside their target audience. To be certain, the choices of colour ARE very muted, but on the bright side (no pun intended) they brighten way up as you flash by other cars at a high rate of speed and the doppler light shift kicks in
You just have to remember, this is a sedan that is in the mid 30k range, not outlandishly expensive, but enough to draw an older segment who think that the yellow, bright red, and electric purple cars that tool down the highway with enough plastic and airfoils to get a 737 airborne are insanely ridiculous looking...
The same reasons they chose the colours they chose are the exact same one's that led them to put a 5 speed auto in it rather than launching it with a 6 speed manny...
Regards,
Faenor/Dane4
Bottom line, I think Infiniti sees this car pulling up to the Tennis Club or the symphony, not as the fresh ride for clubbing in the city
Scott
By the way, I noticed that you spelled color - "colours". No doubt you have been overly influenced by Alexander Julian products. Please don't tell me you call a Coke a "soda" or a "pop". What on earth is going to happen to your generation? (kidding)
Lastly, I have a personal delima with white cars. I have owned two white cars and they were both bad lemons, now I am fearful to try it again. I am sure your G is beautiful and certainly hope it works out better than my last two whites did.
By the way, the spoiler does look good on this car!
There's no reason you can't get your dour colors, I just hoped for something with a bit more of an upscale look. Beige is upscale only if you're in the market for a Crown Vic or LeSabre. Now a blue-grey metallic...
On fresh alloy a guy has a pic of an electric blue G35 coupe at a car show. It's a bling bling color and it works on the car nicely. Hopefully Infiniti will at least let the coupe's buyers get creative.
Quite impressive acceleration for a 4-speed automatic. Should bode well for G35 automatic, which has a bit more power and 5-speed automatic. And very well for future G35 manual. But I don't know the difference in gearing and weight (their Altima weighed 3,273 pounds).
Paul
If Car and Driver gets 6.2 for the G35 Sedan, then the Coupe must be in the 5.7-5.9 range.
What do you guy's think?
-mike-
Now, for the professional opinion:
On Easter I was at some friends house for dinner. The host has owned an autobody shop for over thirty years. His quote "the best fit and finish I have seen in a car that didn't cost over 50 grand". Pretty nice compliment.
As for color, I have the emerald green and it is HIGHLY metalic and shows well. Why is everyone talking about BMW colors - 99% of the ones you see are either white or black.
PS to laysmackdown - you're entitled to your opinion but it is that fast and not only did Infiniti set a sales record in March, they expect to set another one in April. Wonder why that is? Maybe it's because they've had to up their annual sales forcast for the G35 twice and the car has only been on the market for less than a month. My opinion Lexus ES, Acura TL blah - boring, boring, boring.
PS On my dealer's storage lots, Infiniti has gone from about 5% of the storage area to about 15% and they are getting at least two shipments a week. My salesman says he is delivering an average of five cars a day. And that's just one salesman.
They are? That's news to me.
Sales increased 20% month over month from December 2000 to december 2001.
Infiniti outsells a number of brands including Audi, Jaguar, and Saab.
Infiniti sales have reached 60% of Lincoln sales and 50% of Cadillac sales.
World-beater numbers, no, but definately moving in the right direction which is more than can be said about a lot of companies.
Colors -- To me solid, deep real colors (non-metallic) are what I like. BMW's electric red and Honda/Accura red (don't know what it's called) both fill the bill. Would buy BRG or solid deep orange (VW & MGB in the 70's) in a heartbeat, but the selection that's offered these days by many manufacturers is really weak. Maybe Infiniti will figure it out in time for the coupe. Lincoln certainly hasn't, though I guess they finally got around to offering a (metallic, naturally) red this year.
I currently own a Mercedes convertible that I use on fine weather days primarily. The top is down 365 days a year. It stays garaged on dreary, rainy days. I was looking for something with some horsepower and nice enough creature features inside. I was not trying to confuse others on the highway with a Germanesque-type of body styling. I was looking for something additional with more trunk space and more rear leg space. It is a pleasant contrast for me... and still has a highly enjoyable horsepower.
I don't feel the target market is the SAME. If I want a BMV with bells and whistles, I could not possibly have purchased it for anything similar in price.
I'm in the market for a car as well, but something in the 20s or low 30s canadian. possibly an rsx type S. i really want a nissan but they don't have a coupe for that price range in canada now. altima V6 looking good but its too big for me and i need a sporty coupe for now.
this is our 4th nissan/infiniti, but i guess i'll be having an affair with acura for the next few years.
congrads on your purchase. i think that i'll be purchasing a set of snow tires for my dad's G35 in the winter. just to be on the safe side.
PS yes HP does effect 0-60, look at the S2000, Sube WRX... Torque is nice but it is relative to gearing, taller gears, more effective torque, hense HP wins.
I will only say this once more: The G35 is in no way the performance equivilent of a new M3, I doubt it will even be within a second of the 0-60 time (4.8s). No one has said anything to convince me otherwise.
http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=25;t=000384
Speculative, I'm still at a loss as to why you're so convinced that a manual G35 coupe (at least a hundred or two hundred pounds lighter than that sedan) with at least 275 HP and 260 lb-ft torque can't hit 60 in the mid to high 5s. If an auto-equipped Sedan ran to 60 in only 6.2 seconds in C&D's tests, why wouldn't a lighter, more powerful manual with wider tires hit 60 faster?
I disagree completely. The biggest giveaway for that article was that it was published on April 1 - that should tell you something about the writer.
Yes, Infiniti is hurting right now, but they are on the way up. In contrast, Daimler is hurting but they are on the way down - near term, atleast. And Ford - a winner?! Give me a break - they were flushed with cash in the 90s and they fumbled that opportunity.
No way Porsche is gonna disappear - they have the fattest margins of any other brand in the industry. More importantly, in the lean times Porsche relies on its engineering services to survive.
Last time I checked, the Q45 had less units sold than the, on its deathbed, Cadillac Eldorado. Some great sales phenomenom they have going on at Infiniti!
Fortunately, the three times its 'jumped' off the bike, the 'anchor' cable worked, and it didn't get away....
;-)
One neat thing about an 'independent' GPS...you can hook it into your PC and download/upload information, and it's realtively cheap...you just have to make sure it has a good line of sight to the sky while moving.
M45Guy
The one I own cost $200 and would be cheap at twice the price. It's worked very well in every car I've rented in North America and Europe, sitting on top of the steering column -- it's able to "see" just fine from under the hood that covers the speedometer. It's not in color and doesn't have built-in maps (does know all the cities & towns), but Garmin does have models with those capabilities.
M45Guy
The article on midsize sedans does rate the interior fit and finish of the Altima a D+. I have read several reports on the bad interior on the Altima and people who have seen it like Speedracer have even told me. The Altima has a great exterior and engine to bad Nissan let fan down with the interior. Hope they correct this or they will lose lots of customers.
The article by Automotive Design & Production is located at:
http://www.autofieldguide.com/columns/gary/0402oncar.html
MotorWeek #2133
With Host John Davis
PBS Broadcast Window Begins April 19, 2002
Roadtest of the Infiniti G35
Roadtest of the Toyota Corolla
Goss' Garage: Rack 'em up
High Road: Camaro
Long Term Roadtest Update: Subaru WRX
http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/upcomingshows.shtml
There are probably an infinite (no pun intended) number of reasons why the car comes in the colours it does, and it may be as simple as "Well sir, to cut costs in any way we can, we've identified that white and black are the least expensive colours" to which the design and market leads say "what?! we have to get a bit better than that! at least initially!" "Well sir, we still have some left over red, blue and silver from the Q45 run last year, and if we do some creative mixing, we might be able to get an interesting shade of green too" "Ok, you guys go with that..."
*smile*
Who knows what kind of talks go on in the design and marketing meetings... All I know is that I've been in production meetings of this type (software) and you never hear "Hey guys, what can we do to really piss off a segment of our users?"
I like the colours the car comes in, I think it looks great in all of them... THat must mean that I fall into their demographic whatever that is (or at least share the artists tastes) and if someone says "Christ! the colours are drab and ugly!" that must mean that they fall outside of the target that the colours were meant to appeal to. In the end, the car seems to be selling fairly well, at least initially, and so I would say that either they counted their beans correctly, or they selected colours that weren't so horrendous to people that it would prevent them from buying the car in wholesale numbers, even if they didn't like the colours.
I know the Bimmers and Mercedes' have some interesting and attractive colour choices, but my Brother (a BMW fanatic) tells me that you have to pay extra for the really nice colour combos.
This leads to another interesting explanation; What if you were in the G35 design meeting and they had this list of all the WHIZ-BANG features for a car written on a board, hundreds of items that would represent anyone's "dream car"
Then the project lead said "ok, we're going to build a car, it has to go from 0-60 in about 6 seconds, do about .85 on the skidpad, have interior noise level less than 70db at 70mph, it must have these interior dimensions... AND it has to MSRP for significantly less than 30k...
after everyone gasps, they all start to talk about things they can cut... Supercharger, AWD, Twin Turbo, Night vision device, built in hot-tub on and on and on...
Everywhere they can save money they cut things without putting a dent in the performance and comfort numbers...
Someone says "Lets make the car in crazy cool metallic colours so that people will KNOW its a G35!"
Then someone from paint says "Hang on... each car will cost 135 dollars more with those paint choices..."
"ok, we scratch the metallic 'cool' colors so then we can keep the 4 wheel multilink suspension...Next!"
I've been in design meetings, it goes very much like that and I would be very surprised if it wasn;t the same in car design meetings...
Identify what the customer wants most, what you can give them for what you know they want to pay... its a tight rope, and things fall off all the time.
The good news is also in these meetings comes the future enhancement ideas...
"once the car really takes off in sales, we can offer the G35-S type with 50 more horsepower and lots of cool color choices!"
Wow, long post
Faenor
I was just a bit thrown off balance because for the price the car is, I think they did a bang up job! Color is an important consideration of course, but 0-60 in less than 6 seconds with .84 skidpad and the cars lines so elegant?! No matter what anyone might say, pro or con, Infiniti did a grand job this go around...
I like my car
Faenor
In fact, I think I will go drive it right now and speed past some people with fancy colored cars!
I never said that the Infiniti should look like anything or look similar to anything, only that maybe the visual choices they made were based on some sample or cross section survey, this melded with a financial track of what was cost effective etc etc...
I have a white one, and to be honest, I think I would be happy with any of the colours and I've seen them all, and I think that the rear end looks good as well as the front and sides...
A rolling statement is a fine thing, but maybe they (Infiniti) got strapped with rolling statement vs cost vs reliability vs survey results... Something like that...
I have to be honest and say that I don't notice many people looking at my G35 at all (maybe I don't see them) though its lines very much appeal to me.
But when something rolls up behind me and sticks on my bumper, and I put my foot in it and rocket away, after I slow down, then they roll alongside and look for quite a while
You have a Mercedes convertible that you leave in teh garage and only drive on good weather days?
Faenor
Seriously, is there a car, other than BMW, that looks sharp in those colors? Maybe those colors are meant for BWMs. We need more colors, but ours.
Think of it! no worrying about waxing, and washing would just involve hosing it down...
Maybe Infiniti would even whack something off the price for the unfinished treatment, though I still think they would call it something marketable like Sunset Primer, or Gray Fury, or maybe even Warship Matte...
Door dings might even enhance the beauty of the car in this color!
Faenor
Faenor
Seriously, is there a car, other than BMW, that looks sharp in those colors? Maybe those colors are meant for BWMs. We need more colors, but ours.
MotorWeek #2133
With Host John Davis
PBS Broadcast Window Begins April 19, 2002
Roadtest of the Infiniti G35
Roadtest of the Toyota Corolla
Goss' Garage: Rack 'em up
High Road: Camaro
Long Term Roadtest Update: Subaru WRX
The complain is valid.
May be Infiniti could have initially offer more color choices as extra option like BMW, and make people pay for ..hmmm. special color? :O
I totally agree with Faenor's assessment, in reference to choices of color pick for the initial release of the G35. Infiniti wants to cater to the biggest audience and while keeping production cost down initially. That means sticking with conservative colors which doesn't "offend" the majority of the demographic whom are interested in this car.
If the only car left in the dealer's inventory, that has the right option I want, but was purple, forest green, banana yellow or lady pink color; I guarantee you that I will not buy it!! No way, no how!
plain and simple.
However, if the only car left in stock with the options I want,was a conservative color like Black, silver, dessert platinium, or twilight blue <---(some of G35's available color choices) I would buy it.
I'm sure as the G35 become more successful, you will see more choices, and <gasp> no extra charge like BMW would charge you for that special color your want
Tony,
I use a fuzz buster/jammer in the other lighter module.
I want to implement Blue Tooth for my cellular, use the second module for telephone and the thong cubby hole for the receiver.
As a road warrior, I would use the module in the armrest for the laptop with a Blue Tooth PC Card. Plus they have compatible wireless headsets!
Blue Wave technology is available as a less expensive alternative for wireless headsets and the headsets are slick.