Did anyone else catch the Car And Driver Television show that comes on TNN this Saturday with the G35, the RX8, and the Cobra mustang in a best of it's class type of review?

My impressions--albeit limited are as follows on the show and the criteria:

The mustang is a muscle car. Even in the Cobra form. It is a V8 car. It is meant for straight line runs. A street racing machine.

The RX8 is a crossbreed malfunction. It might as well have that nasty hatchback/station wagon design that BMW has on their small chassis cars. The previous RX7 TT ar kicked some ***. This thing is a downgrade of serious proportions.

The G35 is more of a luxury car. They should really test this car against the BMW and Mercedes coupes in this class.

The G35 competes in a class that does not fully exist, as it gives the same style, performance, and luxury at a discount compared to truly similar cars.

I wanna see a real world test of the Beemer, the Merc, and the G.....Badges removed, just the results....and the judging based on words alone.







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hehehehehehehehehehe

 

I missed that. I would love to have seen that show. Maybe they will repeat it.

G35C 6MT / E55

 

Talk about 3 different cars. I missed it, but wouldn't give it much credence if I had. I've seen that kind of comparo b4 and it's a joke............


<font color=green>GSM</font color=green>

 

I gotta see that show....I hate i missed it

 

I was dissappointed watching it because they didn't say much about the G. Just that it had "most luxurious interior and built off the 350Z frame." They focused the whole segment on the handling of the RX-8 and the unmatched straightline speed of the Cobra.

 

These 3 cars were tested because they are 4 seater sports cars that sell in the low $30K range (the RX-8 was slightly under $30K), so from that standpoint, it was a good match-up. If you saw the show, you know that backseat comfort was rated highly, certainly higher than straight line performance, since the slowest car came in first, and the fastest came in last. As 4 seat sport cars go, the 2 small back doors is unique to the RX-8, and the razor sharp handling due in large part to the 500 lb. wait advantage over the G35 coupe is impressive. But Car & Driver did say that all 3 cars were excellent choices, and it was a very close call. Here's what I took away from watching the show: (1), the Mustang has improved a lot to be in the company of the other two cars, (2) I will never own a car with a rotary engine (no low-end torque), and (3), the G35C 6MT is the car for me.

The complete article is in the April issue of Car & Driver. The final tally had the Mazda at 94 points and Infinity at 93, which isn't shabby (100 is a perfect score).

RX-8 Highs: Responsive and capable chassis, excellent package, light weight, great value.
RX-8 Lows: No midrange grunt, tiny trunk opening, bulbous profile.

G35C Highs: Beautiful styling, gusty V6, luxurious interior, fine road manners.
G35C Lows: Notchy gearbox (I noticed it too), somewhat non-linear steering (could have been an alignment problem), no rear headroom (remember, back seat comfort was important in this round-up)

 

I enjoyed the show and thought they were pretty fair but yes, they did ignore the G a little much. They complained of a little bit of understeer but otherwise performed just fine on the slaloms and said luxury wise (options and interior) it totally beat out the other two - can't argue with that!

And while they voted the Mazda in first place, they took care to note that you only got top performance if you kept it in the very high RPM's.

I came away thinking the G is still best for me. I'm not into pure muscle cars and don't like to have to rev it up except on very special occasions.

The G has everything I want - plus the most refined looks - and so what if the passangers will suffer from lack of head room? They'll be suffering even more from pure green car envy! It might help them to take their minds off of it! ;>

heheheh
Shelley

"Moderation in all things, including moderation."