Have you guys noticed that in all of the complaints about minor things in the G that people have brought up...there have been zero problems with the engine? Aside from the injen intake stallouts (which aren't the fault of the engine) I can't recall a single experience related to engine problems - not even minor problems. Pretty cool for a first-year car.

I love the VQ.

 

Nissan/Infiniti must have really spent alot of time and money on this engine, making sure everything is great and will last. Because if they didn't and there were problems there could be alot of problems with a lot of cars they make cause almost all the new cars have the VQ in it.

Yes i am aware that they are tuned different and have different parts, but i just wanted to add this.

 

Your right, I don't like the paint quality and some interior plastics. But the mechanicals are awsome. Engine is smoother than the Porsche 911 I had.

Just finished waxing my silver G and damn I like this car. Gotta get my springs installed this week.

 

i agree the engine is great, it also has been out for a little bit so most or all of the engine kinks are out. as far as our actual cars, that's a whole different story. i wanted the car so bad i knew the cosequences of having a first year production, but i wanted it anyways. oh yeah i will be bringing it in soon for power window problems!

 

You're right Mani, not many issues with the engine. Couple peeps mentioned a tick, tick, and one recently mentioned excess oil consumption. That's it.
In a few years when they clear the remainig bugs out of the car, it'll be a real gem.

<font color=red>GSM</font color=red> <font color=black>Silverstone Coupe</font color=black>

 

It really is amazing how this car is giving all of the competition a run for its money in its FIRST year...just imagine how amazing this car will be once it reaches maturity and the kinks have been ironed out.

And is the tick, tick, just that clicking sound that happens after driving it and continues after you turn it off? That's normal - my friends' bimmer and porsche both do that too.

 

What are all these 'kinks' you guys are talking about? I mean I've only had mine for about 2 months and only 1400 miles, but I've been trying to be picky and looking hard for problems, and haven't really found much at all. My only 'issues' are extremely small: 1) there is a slight interior rattle coming from the right rear quarter panel only during highway speeds over rough road surfaces, and 2) there is clutch chatter (doesn't engage smoothly from a stop), but I think this is a break-in issue as it seems to be getting better.

That's it - everything else is perfect. Considering how many gadgets and doo-dads are on this car that could go wrong, and considering its first year production, I'm very impressed with the quality.

Now, there are some design issues that are funky, mostly with the interior, such as most of the important buttons and controls on the right side of the car, clearly from a cheap conversion from the right hand drive Skyline. There's the weird center armrest design, an obvious afterthought, etc. But I don't consider these kinks or quality problems.

2003 G35C, 6MT, DG/G, Aero/Nav/Premium
2002 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue/Black

 

the clutch chatter will get better but will not totally disappear at least on mine..

 

No clutch chatter at all on mine. I know the problem well from other cars, and thankfully my 4/03 build date 6MT coupe (2700 miles so far) never had it...

 

The only engine "problem" I've experienced is occasionally a slightly rough idle which seems to be of no real consequence. So far I haven't given it much thought. No other problems to report either except for paint chipping, which seems to be similar with most cars these days, as it was on my '95 BMW.

 

Kinks I have seen:

Various rattles - now 4 rattles in different parts of the car.
Thin/ poor paint - I have chips decorating the front of my car (got a clear bra to remedy this finally).
Clutch/wiper vibration
Easily scratchable interior plastics
Rocking driver's seat
Drift to right
Bad tranny (now replaced though and new one is much better)

Now some of these may be because mine is an early production (december I think) so I wouldn't doubt some were fixed in later builds.

 

Yeah, I had the same rough idle problem you're describing. I finally took my car in to get the "drift to the right" TSB done, and since I was there I also mentioned the rough idle problem, thinking the service tech was going to tell me it is normal. Well, as it turned out, my car was in fact misfiring. The problem was intermittent, and it took the technician, with the help of Infiniti Tech Support, 8 days to finally figure out what the problem was. As it turned out, the #3 injector had to be replaced, as it was sticking intermittently. Now the car is idling smoooooth....

 

Same here too. No clutch chatter at all. Very smooth clutch take-up as well.

G35 Coupe 6MT / Laser Red / Fully Loaded
Built in May 2003. Delivered by Grubbs!

 

You're damn right the engine is perfect, it's been around for almost 10 years. The VQ is great, every car I've had was powered by the VQ(30DE). Drivetrain is pretty new, so that's prone to some problems, I don't think any other model in the Nissan/Infiniti line has (or has had) this tranny.

Creaks and noises? Every car will have those, it's just fact. I've never owned a top of the line Jag or Porsche, but I don't think they are noise-free either. You can't be too picky about noises, you fix one, and another one comes around. Just think about how many nuts bolts and doo-dads hold the car together, my house makes more noise than this car.


CB 5AT - SAC, CA

 

Well, if you break down an engine's lineage you'll find a lot of engines that have in some form been around for many years. I am just impressed at how it is still a rock even with its high level of tuning and recent bump in displacement, which is no small change.

Rattles and squeaks are certainly not unique to the G, but its abundance of hard plastics in my opinion make it more susceptible to them. I've driven in BMWs, Porsches, audis, lexus (lexii?), heck...even my dad's freaking chrysler town and country doesn't rattle and squeak as much as my G. But it's really a minor thing ...and I'd rather have problems like rattles and squeaks than breakdowns and blowouts.