Dallas Morning News G37 article 12/2/07
Dallas Morning News G37 article 12/2/07
This was in the paper today. Thought I'd share.
John
Name every classic Japanese car – in five seconds or less.
Actually, you probably won't need that much time. My list includes three or four candidates, and I'm not really sure about any of them.
But get this: Some of the bean sprouts on the Left Coast – where else? – actually think that several Japanese cars from the tinny, wheezy '50s, '60s and '70s may achieve classic status. (And I may grow a foot overnight and hit the road tomorrow morning for my new career in the NBA.)
OK. I understand the Datsun 240Z, the Toyota GT, maybe the turbo Supra and possibly a couple of early Mazda rotary-engine cars.
But '70s-era Toyota Celicas, as the Los Angeles Times reported? A four-cylinder secretary's sedan that sounded like an air compressor at idle, dripped two-door bland and didn't have enough power to pull a rabbit out of a magician's hat? Come on.
Lately, though, I've had to reconsider some of my gentle opinions – which kind of frosts me. I mostly blame the Infiniti G37 Coupe.
The original G35 ventured boldly into luxury-performance segments dominated by BMW, showing other Japanese automakers that Asian cars could seriously challenge the German gods.
And the '08 G37 Coupe I had recently is the best yet of the Japanese heretics. My grayish-blue G37 – an odd color for a high-performance luxury sports coupe – was powered by a magical 3.7-liter V-6 pumping out a truly impressive 330 horsepower. It, in turn, spun a so-so five-speed automatic. (Trust me on this: Get the six-speed manual instead and live with the inconvenience. You'll smile more.)
As a real bonus with this engine, you get a rich, mesmerizing moan from the twin 4-inch exhaust tips that's as alluring and distinctive as some exotic exhaust notes. In fact, I believe it would have gotten you arrested in Dallas in the '50s.
But the G37 is not just another big talker on a Dallas hustle. For '08, the Infiniti's already excellent rear-wheel-drive platform was made stiffer, and the car's 3.5-liter V-6 was enlarged and thoroughly revised. The result is a tight, stylish $39,365 coupe that will rip off zero-to-60 runs in the low 5-second range and get 18 miles per gallon city, 24 highway.
A contender
Equipped with a proper manual – as the gods intended real cars to have – the G37 can run with the hottest coupe in this segment, the turbocharged BMW 335, according to the car magazines. A couple of reviewers preferred the Infiniti overall to the BMW, praising its balance and value.
Most of the time, I even liked this car in the morning – and you know what a chore that can be with cars or people. My G37 was equipped with 225/50 tires on 10-spoke, 18-inch wheels that weren't quite big enough to visually support the thick body.
As a result – particularly when compared with the hot new Audi A5 coupe – the G37 looked a little heavy in the rear C-pillar and a bit overweight, like a defensive back who's a few years past his prime. (And at 3,600 pounds, the car is at least 300 pounds too heavy, but so is the BMW. Just a thought: Is anything in this country too light these days – other than our paychecks?)
Nonetheless, the G37 still looks contemporary and clean, and it still turns heads when fitted with the larger, optional 19-inch wheels that give the car better proportion.
It needs nothing extra inside. My G37 had a wheat-colored interior that looked terrific – a pleasant mix of sculpted, light-tan leather seats and high-end plastic in two shades of tan. A 1.5-inch band of African rosewood trim (a $450 option) ran across the dashboard and doors, sliding gracefully down onto the center stack as well.
More fun awaited a turn of the key. (Though many of you already know this, the 3.7 is a normally aspirated engine – no superchargers, turbochargers, smoke or mirrors. Just good engineering.)
I kept mentally comparing the sweet 4.6-liter V-8 in my Mustang (319 horsepower) to the Infiniti's 3.7-liter V-6 (with, uh, 330 horsepower). It was kind of disturbing. The Mustang's only saving grace is that it's a few pounds lighter.
And like a great V-8, the V-6 Infiniti has waves of torque down low so you can dash quickly away from the guy who's busy text-messaging and is about to rear-end you on the Dallas North Crawlway. Plus, it pulls strong all the way to its 7,500 rpm red line, though you'll get few chances to test it on the Crawlway.
Mighty tempting
Most of the time, the car's five-speed automatic contends fine with the energetic engine. But with a motor this good, there is always the temptation to, uh, play hard – if you know what I mean.
The automatic will quickly dampen that exuberance. It gets kind of sloppy when you try to shift it manually, oozing from one gear to the next rather than making the change in a clean snap.
As a result, most of the time I just left it in automatic mode, fretting about my lack of control and fading virility. (Don't take this wrong, but automatics really are for girls and old people. Oops. Could that be me in the rearview mirror?)
I didn't worry about it for long, though. This is a car built to make you smile.
In fast corners, the Infiniti snakes through flat and hard, with virtually no body roll. But it also has a firmly compliant ride. Before the G37, only German cars in my experience offered that special combination of good ride, fluid movements and exceptional handling.
Those are attributes that almost make you look forward to the morning commute, which these days in Dallas is kind of like eagerly anticipating a flogging. (And just for the record, I averaged 28.8 mph and 17.4 mpg during my several days with the Infiniti, which included several major outbursts. Welcome to Big D, the Big Delay.)
My only minor disappointment with the Infiniti was its steering. As many of you have probably noticed, lots of modern cars have variable-ratio, electronically assisted steering.
Some people smarter than me will tell you that this is slicker than a laptop that spews margaritas. But I thought that the G37 required fairly high effort at low speeds and felt fuzzy in hard corners. It didn't seem completely natural.
In all honesty, I didn't notice it most of the time. The steering is more than adequate. But when a car is as complete as the G37, small flaws look like bumps.
Thinking again
Still, by the end of its visit, the G37 actually had me questioning my deep coolness toward Japanese cars. (I respect most of them, but they rarely pop my bacon.) Under the right circumstances, however – such as Hillary and her administration blacklisting all V-8s as carbon criminals – I think I could live with a six-cylinder G37.
What's more, I figure my timing on this Japanese classic thing is pretty good for once. While the G37 is one of only a few Japanese cars that have succeeded in knocking down the gate to Hot-Rod Highway, two more true Japanese muscle cars are revving up to follow.
In the next year, Lexus – you read that right, Lexus – will offer us the IS-F sedan, a four-door stormer based on the midsize IS sedan but equipped with a five-liter, 416 horsepower V-8 and eight-speed automatic. It will probably cost $60,000 to $65,000, according to the auto magazines.
Meanwhile, Nissan will unveil its long-awaited GT-R, an all-wheel-drive coupe fitted with an ultra-serious suspension and a twin-turbo V-6 making 480 horsepower – for an estimated price of $60,000 to $80,000.
Please tell me I'm hallucinating here. But could the loonies in La-La Land actually be right about this classic car thing? In 50 years, will a 2009 Corvette ZR1 be followed down the aisle at Barrett-Jackson by a 2008 Nissan GT-R?
John
Name every classic Japanese car – in five seconds or less.
Actually, you probably won't need that much time. My list includes three or four candidates, and I'm not really sure about any of them.
But get this: Some of the bean sprouts on the Left Coast – where else? – actually think that several Japanese cars from the tinny, wheezy '50s, '60s and '70s may achieve classic status. (And I may grow a foot overnight and hit the road tomorrow morning for my new career in the NBA.)
OK. I understand the Datsun 240Z, the Toyota GT, maybe the turbo Supra and possibly a couple of early Mazda rotary-engine cars.
But '70s-era Toyota Celicas, as the Los Angeles Times reported? A four-cylinder secretary's sedan that sounded like an air compressor at idle, dripped two-door bland and didn't have enough power to pull a rabbit out of a magician's hat? Come on.
Lately, though, I've had to reconsider some of my gentle opinions – which kind of frosts me. I mostly blame the Infiniti G37 Coupe.
The original G35 ventured boldly into luxury-performance segments dominated by BMW, showing other Japanese automakers that Asian cars could seriously challenge the German gods.
And the '08 G37 Coupe I had recently is the best yet of the Japanese heretics. My grayish-blue G37 – an odd color for a high-performance luxury sports coupe – was powered by a magical 3.7-liter V-6 pumping out a truly impressive 330 horsepower. It, in turn, spun a so-so five-speed automatic. (Trust me on this: Get the six-speed manual instead and live with the inconvenience. You'll smile more.)
As a real bonus with this engine, you get a rich, mesmerizing moan from the twin 4-inch exhaust tips that's as alluring and distinctive as some exotic exhaust notes. In fact, I believe it would have gotten you arrested in Dallas in the '50s.
But the G37 is not just another big talker on a Dallas hustle. For '08, the Infiniti's already excellent rear-wheel-drive platform was made stiffer, and the car's 3.5-liter V-6 was enlarged and thoroughly revised. The result is a tight, stylish $39,365 coupe that will rip off zero-to-60 runs in the low 5-second range and get 18 miles per gallon city, 24 highway.
A contender
Equipped with a proper manual – as the gods intended real cars to have – the G37 can run with the hottest coupe in this segment, the turbocharged BMW 335, according to the car magazines. A couple of reviewers preferred the Infiniti overall to the BMW, praising its balance and value.
Most of the time, I even liked this car in the morning – and you know what a chore that can be with cars or people. My G37 was equipped with 225/50 tires on 10-spoke, 18-inch wheels that weren't quite big enough to visually support the thick body.
As a result – particularly when compared with the hot new Audi A5 coupe – the G37 looked a little heavy in the rear C-pillar and a bit overweight, like a defensive back who's a few years past his prime. (And at 3,600 pounds, the car is at least 300 pounds too heavy, but so is the BMW. Just a thought: Is anything in this country too light these days – other than our paychecks?)
Nonetheless, the G37 still looks contemporary and clean, and it still turns heads when fitted with the larger, optional 19-inch wheels that give the car better proportion.
It needs nothing extra inside. My G37 had a wheat-colored interior that looked terrific – a pleasant mix of sculpted, light-tan leather seats and high-end plastic in two shades of tan. A 1.5-inch band of African rosewood trim (a $450 option) ran across the dashboard and doors, sliding gracefully down onto the center stack as well.
More fun awaited a turn of the key. (Though many of you already know this, the 3.7 is a normally aspirated engine – no superchargers, turbochargers, smoke or mirrors. Just good engineering.)
I kept mentally comparing the sweet 4.6-liter V-8 in my Mustang (319 horsepower) to the Infiniti's 3.7-liter V-6 (with, uh, 330 horsepower). It was kind of disturbing. The Mustang's only saving grace is that it's a few pounds lighter.
And like a great V-8, the V-6 Infiniti has waves of torque down low so you can dash quickly away from the guy who's busy text-messaging and is about to rear-end you on the Dallas North Crawlway. Plus, it pulls strong all the way to its 7,500 rpm red line, though you'll get few chances to test it on the Crawlway.
Mighty tempting
Most of the time, the car's five-speed automatic contends fine with the energetic engine. But with a motor this good, there is always the temptation to, uh, play hard – if you know what I mean.
The automatic will quickly dampen that exuberance. It gets kind of sloppy when you try to shift it manually, oozing from one gear to the next rather than making the change in a clean snap.
As a result, most of the time I just left it in automatic mode, fretting about my lack of control and fading virility. (Don't take this wrong, but automatics really are for girls and old people. Oops. Could that be me in the rearview mirror?)
I didn't worry about it for long, though. This is a car built to make you smile.
In fast corners, the Infiniti snakes through flat and hard, with virtually no body roll. But it also has a firmly compliant ride. Before the G37, only German cars in my experience offered that special combination of good ride, fluid movements and exceptional handling.
Those are attributes that almost make you look forward to the morning commute, which these days in Dallas is kind of like eagerly anticipating a flogging. (And just for the record, I averaged 28.8 mph and 17.4 mpg during my several days with the Infiniti, which included several major outbursts. Welcome to Big D, the Big Delay.)
My only minor disappointment with the Infiniti was its steering. As many of you have probably noticed, lots of modern cars have variable-ratio, electronically assisted steering.
Some people smarter than me will tell you that this is slicker than a laptop that spews margaritas. But I thought that the G37 required fairly high effort at low speeds and felt fuzzy in hard corners. It didn't seem completely natural.
In all honesty, I didn't notice it most of the time. The steering is more than adequate. But when a car is as complete as the G37, small flaws look like bumps.
Thinking again
Still, by the end of its visit, the G37 actually had me questioning my deep coolness toward Japanese cars. (I respect most of them, but they rarely pop my bacon.) Under the right circumstances, however – such as Hillary and her administration blacklisting all V-8s as carbon criminals – I think I could live with a six-cylinder G37.
What's more, I figure my timing on this Japanese classic thing is pretty good for once. While the G37 is one of only a few Japanese cars that have succeeded in knocking down the gate to Hot-Rod Highway, two more true Japanese muscle cars are revving up to follow.
In the next year, Lexus – you read that right, Lexus – will offer us the IS-F sedan, a four-door stormer based on the midsize IS sedan but equipped with a five-liter, 416 horsepower V-8 and eight-speed automatic. It will probably cost $60,000 to $65,000, according to the auto magazines.
Meanwhile, Nissan will unveil its long-awaited GT-R, an all-wheel-drive coupe fitted with an ultra-serious suspension and a twin-turbo V-6 making 480 horsepower – for an estimated price of $60,000 to $80,000.
Please tell me I'm hallucinating here. But could the loonies in La-La Land actually be right about this classic car thing? In 50 years, will a 2009 Corvette ZR1 be followed down the aisle at Barrett-Jackson by a 2008 Nissan GT-R?
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