I think that in the world of sports cars that mere mortals can afford to own, the G35/G37 coupe is a great car. I think the performance is good but not great, and clearly not in the 911 or M3 range. Of course with M3's and most 911s you're getting out of the price range that most of us can aspire to.

But performance is only part of the appeal of the G. The G coupe, and even the sedan, are beautiful cars. Not just cool, or tough or boy-racer, but truly beautiful. And for my tastes, there are no beautiful BMWs or Porsches. The Corvette is okay looking but even the latest models are pure Corvette.

So that's the problem. Beautiful car. But fair to good performance.

The answer? Infiniti needs to co-op the GT-R, which is just ugly. Period.

So far the IPL does not seem to be the answer. And I do not think a V8 is necessary, the G coupe is already a bit over weight.

But get the performance technology of the GT-R into the G (maybe bag all the gee whiz techno crap in the dash), keep the luxury appointments at a decent (but not extreme) level and sell the car for $80k. There would be no need for sub $150k Porsches, there would be no need for M3s or M5s. There would be no need for Corvettes. It would be one of the best looking cars on the market with super-car performance at M3/M5 prices.

Think Ferrari California or GTB for 1/3 the price. Can you imagine?

 

the each their own.

 

what you talking about willis

 

The GT-R is in a world of its own

its ridiculous to think that you can get a car like that for the price tag it has.

and one day i will have one

 

Most people that are driving the G series cars are white collar and arnt interested in all sorts of big huge gas guzzling performance that they will never use when going to the office everyday.

 

idk i kind of agree with him the gtr is def not the super sexy car that it couldve been. but still bad ***. the rear is hot the front is kinda iffy

 

The rear of the GT-R looks like a Corvette, which is the worst feature of a Corvette.

I'm not sure there is anything true or logical in the statement.... but whatever.

My point is this: There are very few cars out there that are truly beautiful and truly high performance (think 599 GTB or California). Most of them start around $200k. Nissan has under one corporate roof a very beautiful car in the G coupe AND a super cheap but truly supercar performer in the GT-R. A combination of the two seems made in heaven.

Seriously, can you imagine having a car that is prettier than a Ferrari GTB that also performs better and cost 1/3 the Ferrari?

 

the rear of the gtr only looks like a corvette in the US lol

 

Think about it....it will never happen. Thats why there is an "us" and there are "them" Upper class/middle class....... you either got it or you dont. The market would never suggest to give all that engineering for a price in which a company would lose $ on. It will never happen.

 

My experience is that what Hotel said is both true and logical. The overwhelming majority of G35's I see, Coupe or Sedan, are completely stock. Few of the Coupes even have the optional 19" wheels. I rarely see a drop, or tinted windows, or aftermarket wheels, or even a mild mod like I have with Coupe wheels on a Sedan.

And since the G35 is more expensive than other cars of the same age, most people who can afford one will be older than the average age on this forum, and old enough that nearly 300 horsepower satisfies their need for speed. Those people are the ones that would be able to afford your theoretical car, and they're the least likely to actually buy it. In fact, even the ones that might buy it would probably go for something more prestigous, probably from Germany, like an M series or an AMG (some of us think Germany does make beautiful cars). But not a suped up Coupe.

Besides, you don't need to spend anywhere near $80K to get awesome performance out of a G. Several members here are putting 600+ HP to the wheels, and managed to do it for far less than that.

 

ohhhh dont forget to make the doors lighter...the G has one of the heaviest doors i ever seen for a sports car

 

The GTR doesn't look that bad...


Decent, but not plausible idea. Does Nissan even make money on the GT-R? Like the amount of GT-Rs that they sell are so few compared to their other cars lol.

 

Right. I agree that most G's are owned by white collar types.

Right again. All that stuff is ghetto, low rent, red neck type stuff. Higher end owners will not be interested in that sort of stuff.

I think this is where things break down. You seem to be saying that the folks here are younger and blue collar. That may be true, I don't know. But I do know about the older white collar scene. That's where I am. And your notion that they just want nice rides to work couldn't be further from the truth. The guys I know have Carrrera S's and various other higher end cars. They are interested in speed. More so than the young folks here who typically spend more time and money on mods that individualize their cars but do very little to actually enhance performance. The white collar guys I know track their cars regularly. Some of them race. Power and performance are everything.

This is the market for a G that can perform like a GT-R. Not guys who want to look gangsta.

Now, whether it would be financially feasible for Nissan to do this is another question and those are good points.


That level of modification typically starts a chain of problems that never ends. If you guessed that rich white collar guys are not interested in standing quarter miles, racing at redlights and spending more time in the garage fixing problems caused by mods.....then you'd be right.

 

I agree 100%. The white collar types are primarily the ones who bought their coupes new. It is very often overlooked that in 2002 when I bought my coupe it was a $39,000 car. Every coupe purchased new was in that price range and prices went slightly up every year. The cars on dealers lots were fully optioned out. Alot of older owners came from the performance market. It is my opinion that the car that everyone is alluding to...the performance G will be the IPL...if in this it's first year it's a success. I feel that Infiniti was just testing interest with the IPL. There are a wide range of motors available both from Nissan and Mercedes Benz (Infiniti has a motor support agreement with MB). I feel it will be in the M3, MB C63 AMG Coupe price range.

With an $83,000 base price range the GT-R is in the super car category with a very limited market.

 

I don't think anything less than $100k is considered super car range. The high end Corvettes are more than that. I see a lot of $100k cars around here (Charlotte area) but almost never see a Ferrari or such. Usually big BMW's and Mercs. Anyway, that's a matter of symantics. And even though I might be white collar I'd never spend $83k on a car. But if that $83 car was 5 years old, looked as good as my G coupe and performed like a GT-R I'd spend $40-$50k on a used one.

I hope you are right about the IPL but they're testing the waters with a pretty weak offering right now. A lot more money for nothing. Yawn.