Looks to me like it's the interiors where Nis-finiti saves the bucks. Witness the expanse of hard plastic in the Altima. Which is a shame. I mean, just how much of a price leader does the G35 need to be? At its base price with the mechanical content it's got, can anyone say they would have thought it too expensive if it were another $500? Would it have killed them to offer real aluminum trim on the center console instead of spray-painted plastic?
Sorry but the I35 interior is too Caddy/Lexus ES300 for my taste. Too much soft leather and too couch-like. The G's interior is all business. Is it at BMW levels? No. But no company has interiors (or exteriors) that look as nice to me as those in Bimmers. Spartan, clean, crisp and all business...as an interior should be.
Audi's got a nice, utilitarian feel too. Just a bit too posh. Lexus? The caddy of Japan? No thanks.
IMHO, the 3 series offers the sexiest exterior on the road, one of the nicest interiors and some of the best performance money can buy. Too bad they're unreliable and expensive to repair.
Ah, sphinx, I'm blowing by that corner every weekend these days it seems. One of these days I'll get so dang sick of I-275, I'll pull off at 8-mile and cruise Haggerty. If anything, I can have a closer look at Suburban Honda-Acura and then have a look at Infiniti. I've been by Suburban Infiniti once or twice, and never looked, because my parents are BMW/Honda/Mazda/Subaru people and thus an Infiniti is only "a fancy Nissan" and a Lexus is a "fancy Toyota." No, they don't like Audis either.
Personally, I think Honda has always had the best interiors, although I never did look seriously at Volkswagen-Audi until recently. Nissan has a lot of nice product here and in the pipeline now, but you're right, the interior is the weak part. Whether it should concern you as much as an Oldsmobuick interior is a question to which I should discern the answer by a little 'seat time.' As sphinx pointed out, if you can compare an Alero to it...
ppl talking about poor g35 interior and saying they would buy something else. I just want to know what cars they are considered instead of G35 coupe. The price and Performance also required in order to compare.
Hey, you guys are making me homesick! I used to live on John R back when the area was called Avon Township and the highlight of any summer afternoon was going to swim in the gravel pit between Hamlin and School roads. ;-)
It's a very nice area you speak of, shipo, especially in the summer, and I'm back in Rochester Hills today only for a few hours... maybe I'll drive around a little tomorrow before I jump back to Ann Arbor.
This part of the metro area needs an Infiniti dealer. I see a few G20s on occasion, but a G35 owner around here will be one special dude.
FWIW, I'm liking Ann Arbor more and more. I was at a dance club last night, Millenium I think, lots of fun, hip-hop/techno downstairs with live band, live rock upstairs and a jazz parlor. Cool!
"It's a very nice area you speak of, shipo, especially in the summer..."
I love it, when I lived there in 1966-1969, that area south of Bloomer State Park was literally the poorest area of Oakland County, bar none, with an annual per-capita income of something like $2,200! I was back in the area a couple of years ago, and I could not believe my eyes, mansions are now located where I used to ride my horse back on the trails off of Dequinder Road. ;-)
You're awfully rough on north/west Detroit, sphinx. Very nice area to live. The fact that you see more Auroras than I35s is nothing to whine about either. There are a lot of nice roads in the area, as well as a "car culture."
I just came back from cruising... er, spinning my wheels around. Went down to National Coney Island on Rochester Road (passed by the one out at Lakeside Mall too), because I wanted to check out Audi of Rochester Hills @ M-59 and Dequindre. Between that and the Benz dealer downtown next to Crestview Cadillac, there's a bit of Eurostyle in town, eh? Of course, the fact that DCX and VW-Audi NA are in Auburn Hills might have something to do with this, eh?
Was out at Lakeside to check out Meade Lexus and Friendly Honda. My brother points at the SC430, saying, "wow!" while two seconds ago I was drooling at the SC300/400 used models on the lot. Somebody get this kid a Benz. C230, perhaps? (yuck!)
It's still my conviction that this area would be a good place to get an Acura or Infiniti dealer, but don't hold your breath. Honda and Nissan have nothing on GMC Envoys... hahaha
See plenty of QX4s in Ann Arbor, none around here. Maybe a Pathfinder on occasion, but this is not Japlux territory. Which, of course, is the reason why I like my Acura, I can find it in the parking lot at Kroger in case I ran in without remembering where the heck I parked. I mean, you'll see a TL or I35 maybe once a day, but this is Cadillac Seville territory. The Catera flopped pretty well even here! can you imagine that?
that Audi DOES have nice interiors, but the rather large tradeoff is weight. Audi interiors are very heavy...because of the materials they have to use to give everything such a nice feel. So...you guys should take that into consideration when you ask for a car to have a nicer interior.
In response I cite the BMW 3-series, which manages to keep the weight down while the overall build quality is better.
Feature wise, the G35 packs a lot of content per pound, there is no question of that. It's just the fit and finish that's kind of shoddy. A 2600lb Civic or Corolla seems to have better overall assembly, so I do believe Infiniti can do better in this area.
most of the interior of the BMW is plastic, which is very nice plastic, but still plastic, which helps with the weight.
Audi uses significantly more leather, significantly more dampening materials, soft touch materials, and weighted materials which give it that world class interior.
I agree, the BMW interior is nice, but I think that is more due to design and excecution than actual material content.
And yeah, the quattro system does add weight, around 200 lbs or so, about the same amount as the extra interior weight.
Toronto Star had a feature story on the Infiniti G35 sedan in the Wheels section in yesterday's issue.
When Infiniti or Acura makes pretty much all equipment standard, while Bimmer or Audi charge $1000 extra for auto tranny or metallic paint or sunroof or whatever, my father said "BMW is simply too expensive for what you get"... and remember this is a guy who passed by Lexus, Infiniti, and Benz at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show, lured by the siren call of the BMW exhibit. I'd have no problem with a Lexus or Infiniti in the driveway, of course.
New coupes coming out all interest me; sport sedans are everywhere. Audi A4, Lexus IS300, and Infiniti G35 are all getting 2-door models. The suspense is killer.
Pricing out Benzes, Bimmers, and Audis gets me bummed out until I realize there exists Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti.
just heard the news that car and driver tested the 350z to run a 5.5 zero to sixty and a 14.1 in the 1/4 mile, those are some quick numbers..hopefully the g35c can match or come close to those numbers!
0-60 is pretty good but the 1/4 mile kind of surprises me. That's right around the territory of a S2000 that has far less torque and (as far as I can tell) a poorer hp/lb ratio. I was expecting the 350Z to be a sub-14 second car. Testing conditions maybe?
actually it probably has something to do with the weight of the car, it scales in at a porky 3300 lbs. much heavier than i would expect from a two seat coupe. but hopefully they will scale it down, since they tested a preproduction Z
My father loves his light Miata, but that's not for me at all. G35 coupe replaces the Lexus SC300/400 coupe in the luxosport coupe ranks, and that's exactly what needs to be filled! >;)
...or does the rear-end look an awful lot like a Chrysler 300M or maybe the newest Intrepid?
I've been waiting with bated breath for the coupe, but these latest pictures have cooled my ardor a bit. I'll reserve final judgment until I see the cars in person, but I'm a little disappointed right now.
I agree with bodydouble & sphinx--the Z looks much better side-by-side. It's weird--from the press photos, I was certain the G had better styling, but seeing these I'm starting to doubt that.
A lot of consumer compaints about their service and reliability can be found around. If any of you do a few research then you are gona see what its names about.
I would add 0.5 seconds to the G35 coupes's time over the 350z, due to added weight and luxury of the Infiniti. Still, under 6 seconds would be fantastic. Gets me into the Infiniti showroom.
Does anyone have a curve of the torque or hp against rpm for the g35 coupe or sedan? is the engine similar to the one in the altima? I'm trying to see if it's torqee in the low rpm.
How can I say this so people don't want to toss fruit at me. The 350Z and the G35 are attempts to bring watered down Nissan Skyline GT-R 34 V-spec II's to the US. Performance wise, the Z and G don't compare to the Legendary R. You talking RWD in both of them, but the Skyline has a one of a kind AWD that is respected as the greatest in the business. We are talking about a car that was kicked off the racing circuit because it was too powerful. After winning a record 8 times, they changed the rules to outlaw it. That tell you something? The only place you can get a R in the states is Motorex for around $100k. In reality they only cost about $40k in Japan. They could build and sell them here for less than $30k, and we are talking about a 4 door, 276 HP car, that can be pushed to around 600 hp with few mods. So why bother with the Z or G? Wait till they bring the R... It has superior handling, a universal respect, not to mention, if you read about the Z and G they have downgraded suspensions from the GT-R... But if you can't wait till it comes, I guess settling for something a bit watered down will have to do...
Hehe...you can also put 1000 bucks in the bank, and wait for it to accumulate enough interest to buy a McLaren F1! That would be a better option, because they will both take about the same amount of time.
GT-R may weigh more than the average Chevrolet Monte Carlo driver, but I won't put money on that... I'm putting my money in the bank instead as wishnhigh suggests. GT-R, here I come...! hahaha
Comments
BMW is so cheap even metalic color u has to pay extra.
IMHO, the 3 series offers the sexiest exterior on the road, one of the nicest interiors and some of the best performance money can buy. Too bad they're unreliable and expensive to repair.
Personally, I think Honda has always had the best interiors, although I never did look seriously at Volkswagen-Audi until recently. Nissan has a lot of nice product here and in the pipeline now, but you're right, the interior is the weak part. Whether it should concern you as much as an Oldsmobuick interior is a question to which I should discern the answer by a little 'seat time.'
As sphinx pointed out, if you can compare an Alero to it...
Best Regards,
Shipo
This part of the metro area needs an Infiniti dealer. I see a few G20s on occasion, but a G35 owner around here will be one special dude.
Home is rather boring by comparison.
I love it, when I lived there in 1966-1969, that area south of Bloomer State Park was literally the poorest area of Oakland County, bar none, with an annual per-capita income of something like $2,200! I was back in the area a couple of years ago, and I could not believe my eyes, mansions are now located where I used to ride my horse back on the trails off of Dequinder Road. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I just came back from cruising... er, spinning my wheels around. Went down to National Coney Island on Rochester Road (passed by the one out at Lakeside Mall too), because I wanted to check out Audi of Rochester Hills @ M-59 and Dequindre. Between that and the Benz dealer downtown next to Crestview Cadillac, there's a bit of Eurostyle in town, eh? Of course, the fact that DCX and VW-Audi NA are in Auburn Hills might have something to do with this, eh?
Was out at Lakeside to check out Meade Lexus and Friendly Honda. My brother points at the SC430, saying, "wow!" while two seconds ago I was drooling at the SC300/400 used models on the lot. Somebody get this kid a Benz. C230, perhaps? (yuck!)
It's still my conviction that this area would be a good place to get an Acura or Infiniti dealer, but don't hold your breath. Honda and Nissan have nothing on GMC Envoys...
See plenty of QX4s in Ann Arbor, none around here. Maybe a Pathfinder on occasion, but this is not Japlux territory. Which, of course, is the reason why I like my Acura, I can find it in the parking lot at Kroger in case I ran in without remembering where the heck I parked. I mean, you'll see a TL or I35 maybe once a day, but this is Cadillac Seville territory. The Catera flopped pretty well even here! can you imagine that?
Feature wise, the G35 packs a lot of content per pound, there is no question of that. It's just the fit and finish that's kind of shoddy. A 2600lb Civic or Corolla seems to have better overall assembly, so I do believe Infiniti can do better in this area.
Audi uses significantly more leather, significantly more dampening materials, soft touch materials, and weighted materials which give it that world class interior.
I agree, the BMW interior is nice, but I think that is more due to design and excecution than actual material content.
And yeah, the quattro system does add weight, around 200 lbs or so, about the same amount as the extra interior weight.
When Infiniti or Acura makes pretty much all equipment standard, while Bimmer or Audi charge $1000 extra for auto tranny or metallic paint or sunroof or whatever, my father said "BMW is simply too expensive for what you get"... and remember this is a guy who passed by Lexus, Infiniti, and Benz at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show, lured by the siren call of the BMW exhibit. I'd have no problem with a Lexus or Infiniti in the driveway, of course.
New coupes coming out all interest me; sport sedans are everywhere. Audi A4, Lexus IS300, and Infiniti G35 are all getting 2-door models. The suspense is killer.
Pricing out Benzes, Bimmers, and Audis gets me bummed out until I realize there exists Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti.
Besides, not everyone likes Boxster/Miata tiny cars. ;-)
They seem to be testing them here in Long Island New York
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e46/forum.php?postid=855315&page=1
Enjoy
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e46/forum.php?postid=851122&page=2
I've been waiting with bated breath for the coupe, but these latest pictures have cooled my ardor a bit. I'll reserve final judgment until I see the cars in person, but I'm a little disappointed right now.
I agree with bodydouble & sphinx--the Z looks much better side-by-side. It's weird--from the press photos, I was certain the G had better styling, but seeing these I'm starting to doubt that.
If any of you do a few research then you are gona see what its names about.
I'm trying to see if it's torqee in the low rpm.