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Comments
Thanks
cloth seats have the controls on the left side of
the bottom cushion and the power seats have the
controls on the right side of the bottom cushion?
as far as general seat comfort is concerned; i have found that generally imported cars seem to
have narrower seats both bottom and back...for
average size drivers it's not an issue but being
6'3 and 3/4" and 195 lbs, this is a big deal. also, i think that most imports are engineered for
more sport driving rather than touring and this
shows in the tighter and higher bolster cushions in the imports. it's obviously more a matter of
taste. unfortunately, it's something that one doesn't always realize until you have spent some
time in the saddle; then it becomes a very big deal.
The bottom line is that you can't necessarily say that model X, with a wear rating of 300 will last longer than model Y with a wear rating of 180. Nor should anyone assume that a particular tire will last Z miles using only the treadwear number as a guideline.
Thanks. Kim
Thats the fault of the owner for letting a person have an open drink in the car. This is akin to all the people complaining about VW/Audi having cupholders that cover the center stack and could lead to spilled drinks on the equipment. Here's a wacky solution: no drinks in the car. Problem solved. You bring food or drinks into a car, you're begging for messes, stains and odd smells. It's not a cafeteria.
But then again, I'll never get this American pre-occupation with cupholders in cars.
stender- glad to hear that it is possible. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Good luck with your deal scotth501. Hope it works out for you. Kim
stebu - well stated, you can't really compare one manufacturer's numbers to another's, but my personal experience with numerous brands had shown there is a major longevity differences between treadwear ratings of 180 and 340 no matter who the makes them.
Stooge2000 - If you can't wait until you can factory order the Xenons without the Premium pkg, I'd say pay for the Prem. pkg and don't deal with the hassle of trying to retrofit. Personally, I lost interest in the Xenons when I found out the G35 doesn't have the self-leveling capability that most Euro cars have. I know how I feel when I get an eyeful of direct Xenon headlights!
blueguydotcom - For your information, the drinks were NOT open (at least as not open as a McDonalds drink (with lid) in the cup holder can be). They had stopped and were filling the gas tank, when my daughter decided to climb into the front seat. Before my mother-in-law could catch her, she had hit the cup and spilled it all over the center console and down the driver side seat and controls. Needless to say, it didn't happen because we were careless (though I guess some would question that) or as an experiment. Hence, the word, "accident".
Who knows, maybe you have the time, in a 1000 mile trip to stop and eat a leisurely lunch with a 2-1/2 year old, but my wife didn't.
As far as eating/drinking in cars, probably over 90% of people who drive do it. I would imagine that even you have done it before. The point wasn't whether or not people should eat/drink in their car, but whether or not a drink can be accidentally spilled onto the controls. They can.
Scott
Bud Fortner was the salesman. Very helpful. It'd be worth flying in and driving a car home.
Paul
Scott
Scott
xenons?? what is this talk about fitting the G35 with xenons?? the car should come with them standard right??
fog lamps. why doesn't this car have them?? is it a meek sheep of a lux car or is it a sports sedan?? to me, the foggers would give it a edge.
handling?? why does this car not handle like a jet fighter?? because it is too big?? probably.
taillights?? aren't those borrowed form audi?? i was just curious.
but i would also like to say the G35 at this price and overall size will be hard to contend with over the long haul if you are a bimmer lover. i personally hate bimmers so i want the G35 to do well but infiniti should improve on the all of the above including making the sport suspension, xenons, rims, z-rated tires, and more luxurious interior (edmunds said it not me) STANDARD first before we start calling it bmw killer.
the only thing that is going to be a bmw killer in the near future is the supercharged 260hp IS300. that car will not only smoke the daylights out of the 330i but it will also out slalom, out skidpad, and out brake it. it will have xenons, yellow stylish fog lamps, rims, z-rated tires, and cd changer standard too!!! you are all thinking how do i know all this?? the current IS300 already has all these things all it needs is a supercharger and lift off!!!
vtec
Further, with the A/C running, recirculating already cooled air takes a lot less energy than drawing in fresh air to cool. That would mean that recirculation mode is actually more fuel efficient than economy mode. Especially at highway speeds. That was actually one of the little things I checked on the G35 on my test drive. We sat in the parking lot and went through a set A/C, turn off, turn on.. what setting do we get? In my 96 300ZX, the recirculation option never stays set. I was happy to see the G35 keeps the last setting. I always run on recirculation -- logically it appeals to me because cooling already cooled air should take less energy. When I get in my Z (assuming I don't have the t-tops out) I: 1) key in ignition, 2) clutch in, 3) turn ignition to on, 4) hit the recirc button, 5) shift to neutral, reverse, whatever I need or want. For me, Nissan finally got it right by keeping the setting on the auto climate control. Alas, it looks like my Z, not my G, will move from covered parking to garaged parking. I'll have to keep my envy of tilt steering, cup holders, and retained recirculation on hold.
Scott
Handling? Did you drive both the regular and the sports-tuned suspension? I have. I thought both were fine, I prefer the sports. More like my Z, only smoother. Probably due to the longer wheelbase. Of course, I'm sure you know a jet fighter has a turning radius greater than the G35 and has slower 0-60 acceleration, as well as 0-100 since the jet is pushing off air. I can't think of a jetfighter that could beat the G35 actually. The Saab Viggen and the Lockheed Martin F-16 are the two best air fighters with regard to turning radius, neither beats the G35. What jet fighter would you put the G35 up against where it would lose?
Scott
vtec
i have talked to lots of folks who have driven the G35 and they told me the IS definitely feels lighter on its feet, nimble, tossable, like a jet fighter. there is no disputing 0-60 times but if you want me to put a supercharger on my IS i will just for you.
vtec
As a favor to me, could you explain the clear taillights? I've seriously never understood the appeal. Taillights on the G35 are actually one of things I dislike. I like the big yellow turn indicator on my Z, versus the red on the G35 which I think blends too much into the red brake lights. On my Z, yellow means a turn or hazard, front and back. On the G35, it's yellow in the front, red in the back. My question is: why the inconsitancy? The Japanese version Skyline has yellow in the rear. I've seen the photos (if they were real).
What does the IS300 have? I've truly not seen enough of them on the road to notice. Actually, I have noticed that turn signals don't apparently work on any Lexus. *EVERY* time I'm in the left lane going 100+ and someone isn't bright enough to look in their rearview mirror to see me coming when they go to pass someone and pull into the left lane, they're driving a Lexus or SUV. Probably 3/5 for Lexus and 2/5 for SUVs. My sister has noticed the same thing, she cuss's Lexus drivers more than anyone else. Before I shared my experience, she made the comment about "what is it with these Lexus drivers?"
I'm also curious if you took your v_tech name from those cheap 900 Mhz phones at Wal-Mart, or is it supposed to mean something else?
Scott
i have talked to lots of folks who have driven the G35 and they told me the IS definitely feels lighter on its feet, nimble, tossable, like a jet fighter. there is no disputing 0-60 times but if you want me to put a supercharger on my IS i will just for you.
vtec
I prefer to drive my car. It's not about style. But that's just me. I guess that's why I have a driver's car, and you have a stylish car. At least, for those people who are ignorant enough to think that style matters on the road.
Hope you have fun being cool to the other 14 year olds.
Scott
I've personally always loved the Bimmers but to each their own.
It looks like Edmunds just released its Road Test of the G35 (http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/roadtest/60902/article.html).
But to be honest, if anyone has ever studied fighters and fighter combat, and I have because its what my Father did, there are two kinds of fighters, Large, heavy and powerful, referred to as "Energy Fighters" and small not so powerful yet nimble, called "Angles Fighters" Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages, just like cars, and the one who uses the advantages of his/her fighter/car to best advantage will splash the a pilot of the other vehicle who doesn't... or at the worst draw an uneasy stalemate with another pilot who does.
Maybe the people here on the board who nip and bite all the time ought to realize that the moment you lose respect for the other car, or its driver, is the day you might go down in flames with a puzzled look on your face.
Dad told me the story once of how a new pilot came on board and he was all "fire in the belly" and how he went on and on about how US fighters were superior in every way and how he could bounce any Vietnamese pilot that he went up against because they were just glorified farm boys flying obsolete Russian equipment...
His first hop that morning, and he didn't come back. The other pilot in his two ship package saw him get outturned in a manuever because he stayed in the performance regime that favored the Mig and disadvantaged the heavier but more powerful Phantom. They saw both chutes, but the North Vietnamese pilot strafed them before they reached the ground...
Sorry to digress, but if anyone wondered why I work pretty hard to keep the discussion balanced and try to see the bigger picture from all sides, its because I feel that arguing over whose car is actually better is overshadowed by much more important things sometimes.
Funny how we keep finding ways to argue beyond the fact that both our cars are excellent and stress their own advantages.
We should keep the discussion focused on technical and leave the more emotional mud slinging out. (including me)
But if anyone talks about Fighter aircraft and treats the subject more casually then it deserves, that kind of gets me going
Faenor/Dane4
I run my air on Econo & recirculate at the same time. Works great. Here in South Florida we are having 87-degree weather right now and no rain in over 6 weeks. When I get in the car in the afternoon after work the outside temp has said anything from 94 to 103 degrees. The car cools down very quickly. I agree I love that the recirculate button stays on all the time (unless you change a major setting like fan, mode, etc).
Lots of folk here will be upset with Edmund's review, or dismissive, I suspect. But I think it's about on target, and I'm especially glad to see that they recognize that it's a first year car and will onlyu get better.
Take care.
Joe W.
As for the Econ vs. recirculate, they are two completely different things. Econ is a mode of the A/C that drives it less hard so that there is less of a drain on the engine, therefore less of a gas milage hit.
On the other hand, recirculate deals with how the vehicle handles airflow. Recirculate, as you noted, does nothing more than pull the interior air back through the air system. This is good for quick cooling or heating or, if it is VERY hot/cold, for keeping the vehicle cool/warm. The other airflow setting (call it "outside" for lack of a better term) brings in fresh air from outside the vehicle. Of course, this means that he A/C has more of a temperature differential to cool, but the G35's A/C is more than up to the task.
I would imagine that "Econ" should work fine (on recirculate or "outside") up to about 90F and then need the full A/C mode beyond that point.
Scott
PS. I used to be responsible for store maintenance (including A/C) on over 100 stores for AutoZone in Mississippi, Louisiana, and East Texas, I have had just a bit of experience with A/C. "Swamp coolers" are very interesting...
Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
PR Director
Edmunds.com
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
G35 Sport Auto
0-60 MPH - 6.1 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 14.7 Seconds
60-0 MPH - 111 Feet
Slalom MPH - 66.4 MPH
330i Sport Auto
0-60 MPH - 6.7 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 15.1 Seconds
60-0 MPH - 126 Feet
Slalom MPH - 62.8 MPH
A4 3.0 Quattro/Manual/Sport
0-60 MPH - 7.0 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 15.3 Seconds
60-0 MPH - 115 Feet
Slalom MPH - 62.7 MPH
IS300 Auto
0-60 MPH - 7.5 Seconds
1/4 Mile - 15.7 Seconds
60-0 MPH - 114 Feet
Slalom MPH - 64.3 MPH
problem of mold developing on the condensor (sp?)
to the point that there is a horrific odor inside the car..some cars require something like 409 cleaner to be sprayed into the vents infront of the base of the windshield, periodically...also,
the recirculation cycle sometimes can cause the
inside of the windows to fog if the humidity level
is high.
How about a manual transmission?
The only time you should see mold buildup on the evaporator coils is if you do not actually use the A/C. Mold requires high humidity to live and a running A/C system, whether on recirculate or not, will keep the air too dry for mold to live. However, if you do not run the A/C and keep the setting on recirculate, in a high humidity location, then you will likely experience the miserable mold issue.
Here in Memphis, TN, while having high humidity, we also have high enough temperatures to require the use of A/C, so that mold is usually not an issue.
Scott
Scott
That being said, one of the statements near the end of the review was that "...its handling and steering lacks the over and above I-can-do-anything-you-can-do-better confidence of the chieftain of the group, the BMW 3-series..." Sounds purely subjective and, to me, the raw data does not back up that statement. I thought the slalom was supposed to be the true test of handling, more so than the skidpad. If that is true, then how do you get 3.6 mph more than the BMW and 3.7 mph more than the A4 and the handling be lacking in "confidence". Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those sizable differences?
I actually, in a way, expected the handling of a 3 series or an IS3 to be better than that of the G because of the smaller wheelbase. I can see smaller cars being (or maybe just "feeling") more tossable. Maybe in that lies the inherent answer, but you can't tell me a Civic therefore handles better than an Altima (random cars) just because it's smaller and more tossable. Shouldn't a G therefore get more points for being bigger but still being able to generate the numbers that it does, rather than penalized for a subjective and somewhat skewed interpretation based upon size alone? Doesn't seem like a fair assessment.
I hope that last statement makes sense to more people than just me. :-)