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Comments
Thanks,
Emgee
But should I use it when it rains?If it turns off over 30mph, should I turn it back on when I slow down.
Emgee
For wet roads, it will do nothing to prevent hydroplaning.
I had the car since July, 2005
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
David
This past Friday I went to the Auto Show here in New York City and saw probably everything there is to see on the market for this year and next. I am very happy.
While owners of MB's and BMW's and LEXUSs might actually know what I do not, I am so glad that I paid $50k for my M35x and saved big time on electronic features, hardware, and interior/exterior styling and equipment. Indeed, many purchasers of BMW and MB's get the goodies but are paying another $30k - $100k for the same trimmings. When I came upon the M at the show, my son actually got a bit dissapointed that I was getting so excited over my own car. (!)
About the only thing I wish that Infiniti would do for us is to put AWD into the M45 V8.
- Kai
M35x
2) What are folks using to clean their leather seats and trim ?
- Kai
M35x
I've agonized for months over the Acura and the M. Being a current Acura owner, it was a bit tough to leave the brand but I couldn't get past one important factor - the all encompassing go to have it connection you should feel at these price points. The only thing I had to get over in the M were the tail lights but as someone so eloquently put it - " when you are in the car, you can't see them."
To be fair, other forums have been a factor since they seem to cover information on customizations you can do to the ride. Being in my mid-30s, I still have that bug.
I hope to pass on my experiences for those who also hope to purchase in the future.
Now I'll need to change my moniker. :P
P.S. A cool site with great pictures of the M with the aero kit. http://www.tsotech.com/tso/?cmd=photo-category&id=26
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
M35 Fan
I had the car since July, 2005
Any suggestions?
David ... I've driven in Honolulu. Lots of traffic jams. Do you sit endlessly in them? That could contribute.
If you're taking those numbers off your console's averaging estimates there may be a glitch there. If that's actual mileage (odometer miles driven/gallons used) there's something radically wrong with your engine. I have an M35 Sport, admittedly smaller engine ... but it ONLY drives locally, NEVER sees a hiway, and NEVER shows me less than 16.6 which, when calculated longhand, ranges between 16.9 - 17.4.
And one final thought. Where do those Interstate hiways in Hawaii go? Just wondering.
- Kai
M35x
I live in monmouth county, nj.
Pete
Thanks for your support.
Just the other night, I drove from East Honolulu to Ewa beach on H1 (it starts from Kahala mall (east) , I did 60 MPG none stop to Ewa. It took me 45 minutes.(one way)(lucky night, not much traffic)
So, I do think there is something wrong with my car.
I did talk to an Infiniti service manager about this. He kind of gotten a bit defensive but willing to check the car out. I think I will bring my car to him soon.
This 13.8MPG is worst than my previous MB600S.
Again, Thanks.
David
If you want other members to have access to your address, just make it public in your profile. The web crawlers cannot get to it there.
Thanks!
Pete
1. Visited friend-1 mile round trip: 6.5MPG
2. To Supermarket- 3 miles round trip: 10.3 MPG
This was disappointing so we took off to visit a historic site ... all highway,no traffic.
3.Historic site- 60 miles round trip: 23.2 MPG (average speed 42 MPH)
I'm satisfied with the last number, especially since Pete notes that it should get better with time and hope that it allays some concerns. Here is a suggested test. Start the fuel economy gage when you get to the highway and there is no traffic. Read the results when the no-traffic highway part of the trip ends (take someone along to operate the computer). This provides a measure of what the highway mileage is. Also, when you check your fuel economy, go to the trip computer and ascertain your average speed. On the first 2 trips described above, my average speed was under 10MPH. No wonder why the mileage was so low.
Overall, the car is simply great. The historic site was in an unfamiliar area and I set the Nav by entering its phone number. "Valerie" guided us there effortlessly and the trip was almost like playing a game. A feeling which I guess will wear off with time. Bottom line, it's possible that some of the low mileage stories we have been hearing are due to low speed trips (hope so). It's worth checking.
Emgee
2. To Supermarket- 3 miles round trip: 10.3 MPG
Along with the low speed factor, one of the other things that you will notice is that the MPG is very poor if you make short hop trips. The primary factor in this, I believe, is that the engine is not very efficient while warming up. This is true of all cars but has been more noticeable to me in the M.
If I do all city driving in my M45 and the trips are more in the 15 to 30 minute range, I'll experience high 15mpg. Drive under the same circumstances but shorten the trips and give the car time to cool down between trips and the in-city number can dip as low as the low 13's.
Overall, at 8,500 miles though, I've averaged right at 17mpg with a city/highway split of about 90/10. The M will never win awards for fuel economy but the entry price for the car and all it's features make it a non-issue for me.
I clean with a hot moistened cotton towel. Wipe with a dry towel and then apply Pinnacle Leather Conditioner. See link below. Not only does the conditioner leave the leather feeling as soft as a baby's behind the mild sent is like a new pair of leather shoes.
Great stuff!
http://www.properautocare.com/pin-340.html
- Kai
I agree with just about everything you said.
I completely share your enthusiasm (Nav and all), and also agree that XM Nav Traffic, more iPod integration, and more passenger seat adjustments would be the top three on my wish list. I also agree in that auto door locks are low on my personal list.
And finally, I think we agree when I say that, net/net, all the pluses in this car are huge relative to the the few missing items and that the M wins big time in cross the board comparisons.
Pete
After 5 1/2 months, ditto. As to speaking phone numbers, I think most of us who use voice response sytems are trained to say "zero" by now. My voice recognition problems seem more random, and may be related to ambient noise.
I love the car.
The Dude (abides)
I know the answer is simply to change the tag to "House", but it just doesn't have the same feel. Home is where the heart is, but a house is just four walls with a roof.
I only wish the gas tank was bigger for more range on the car...not too concerned about MPG (more would be better but that's not a major concern). Everything else that such a large percentage of people have to say about this car just sounds great and I look forward to joining the club!
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Infiniti/Bulletins/M/2006/1.htm
I should have mentioned a word about gas mileage (such a highly-discussed topic). Whenever I could during that 6-hour drive, I just went on the Intelligent Cruise Control (at about 80 mph) which I think helped a lot from an mpg-standpoint. It didn't strike me that it had consumed too much, as opposed to city driving (but I must admit that I tend to be very enthusiastic of the the M45's fantastic engine). All in all, it might not be as bad as you read in some posts. Personally, I think a V8 is ideal for highway driving because the engine is so powerful (it can accelerate effortlessly beyond 100 mph) that the car is very quiet at 70-80 mph, just making it more enjoyable (w/o the sport package, which I immediately felt harsher & noisier the second I test-drove it, but that's a personal preference).
One more thing: when I was stuck in LA's traffic, a lot of drivers were looking at the M, especially luxury car drivers costly a whole lot more (and also a lot of folks driving the G). The car really stands out of the crowd.
Enjoy your future M!
Thanks, in advance.
IMO, the M's controls are the most intuitive and accessible of any car on the market: Wonderful, instant, logical access to every control. USA Today echoed this sentiment (as did Motor Trend and many others), strongly applauding the M's extremely intuitive and accessible controls, while berating Audi and others for hiding important features deep within their menus. I'd find it very, very painful to switch, for that reason alone.
In the USA Today review of the AUDI, they called the M35 "the new standard in the class", and had little praise for the Audi.
The M has beaten the Audi in every other review I've seen, winning multi-car comparisons against all luxury competitors in Road and Track, Car and Driver, and Motor Trend. It has also won the "Luxury Car of the Year" titles (beating ALL luxury cars of EVERY CLASS) from Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, and Popular Mechanics, and received absolute raves from untold other reviews. From what I've seen, the Edmunds review is a complete anomaly. The range of priorities of the magazines giving these winning reviews (enthusiast handling, practicality, technology) is a testament to the great breadth of this car.
The Nav in the M ABSOLUTELY blows away the Audi, as do features like Voice Recognition (with Nav destination entry- a real pleasure and time saver), incredibly bright Rear View Monitor with markings predicting the car's path as a function of steering wheel rotation (it works beautifully for parking and for backing down twisty, low visibility driveways in the black of night), excellent Intelligent Laser Cruise Control, 5.1 Surround, Overhead DVD, MP3 playing in-dash CD changer, Aux Input for audio and video, and Lane Departure Warning, which has TOTALLY cured my sloppy driving habits. PC Mag said the car has better technology than any car under $100,000, and they're right. (Sincerely, I personally prefer their tech to ANY car regardless of price).
Having owned several Lexus LS's and currently Mercedes, and having driven Audi and BMW, I'd say there's no comparison.
The car handles like a BMW, has reliability like Lexus (much, much better than the German cars), by far the best Electronics in the industry, the best 0-60 in its class, and the interior is a joy to behold (it's truly blown away EVERYONE who's been in my car). I've got an M45 which is absolutely quiet, but the sound of the M35 is fine for most owners that I've heard from.
Test drive one, and compare the Nav, electronics and controls to the others and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Pete
Let me ask you ... would you mind if I copied my question and your reply over on the Audi A6 forum and see what sort of responses we get there?
Charlie
Charlie
Posting a comment like mine on the Audi board would be like screaming sexual preference insults at the good ol boys in a texas saloon. Please don't do it.
How about you paraphrase a piece at a time, restated as less argumentative questions, while keeping my name out of it?
Pete
No, of course, I would not do it against your wishes. That's why I asked. Your suggestion is a good one. First, I'll just ask a similar question over there without referencing your posting (or this board) at all.
Charlie
And, in case you haven't found it and would be interested, I'll give you a link to the Luxury Performance Sedans discussion. We're talking about both of those cars as well as several others in that one.
Enjoy!
Road manners? If I could unload the GX today I would. It's too tall and although it's rock-steady @ 70 in the absence of ambient wind, w/ wind it's a constant fight to keep it on the straight and narrow. At 80 wind's not the only issue ... the car simply has too much freeboard to drive comfortably above that speed and we were pretty much at the 85 - 90 range for most of the open highways. Bart