Hey,

Some of you may remember me, most of you may not. I was one of the early G owners, I had a 2003.5 G35 Coupe 6MT Black/Black Premium, DVD Nav, no spoiler.

I stopped posting here for a long time because the trend of this forum does not suit my taste, but I'm here again because there are just too many G owners to overlook (just not much into modding).

I had 34K miles on my car and 6 months left on the lease. I enjoy my G and was planning to ride out the lease until the very end, and then probably go with a BMW as there were are too many quality and functionality issues with the car. But, last Wednesday my salesman called me and said he'll get me out of my lease for free and put me into an 06 G35 Coupe for a new 36-month/36K mile lease with no inception fees or anything up front, for the same monthly payment ($630/month)...I just have to make the first month's payment.

I asked them to let me think for a day. I checked out the new G online and I liked the new features and stuff, and financially speaking, the offer made sense. I did some research and apparently the 03 G35 Coupe 6-speeds are high in demand and are selling for very high...this is why my dealership wanted to put me in the new car...they basically wanted to sell my current G and make a killing.

The next day, I faxed them the specs of the car I wanted:
2006 G35 Coupe 6MT Black/Black
Premium Package
DVD Navigation
Rear Active Steering
Sirius Satellite Radio
No Aero Package, No Spoiler
Counter-Offer of $550/month

If they could not meet any of these specifications, I wasn't going to go through with it. A sales manager called me within 10 minutes of my sending the fax and said "okay" and said "I have exactly one car like this in stock." I said I'll take it...a bit of paperwork here and there, and they delivered my 06 last Saturday and picked up my 03. The sales manager (who delivered my car) confirmed my speculation about why he was taking me out of my car prematuraly, and asked me to let him know if anybody else has an 03 6-speed and is interested in a similar deal.

Here are some pictures:











I wasn't looking forward to another 3 years in the G, but I am thoroughly impressed. I consider myself a car aficionado and I enjoy analyzing cars to no end. The additional features and higher quality of the G are superb, and the changes that you FEEL in the drive of the car are really great. They literally fixed every single thing I hated about my 03, as well as added all these new features I really enjoy.

Overall, the car is more luxurious which takes a bit away from the raw feel of my 03, but it is a faster, better-handling, more stable, easier-to-live-with machine now.

If anybody wants me to go into detail about 06 differences (a good mount of differences are already on the 05 models), I will be more than happy to do that.

Looks like another 3 years in the G, and I'm lookin forward to it.

 

Thanks, dude.

My 03 Coupe was "sold" to me under MSRP as demand was sky-high at the time, and residual was very low at 50-51% after three years.

The new lease deal isn't anything spectacular, but I jumped on it because I pay $80/month less for a $3,000 more expensive car that is brand-spankin-new, and I beat all the up-front DMV, bank, etc. fees.

Here is a link to a pic of my 03.
Http://www.amirsaleh.com/G35/G35C.jpg

 

Dealer logo will come off when I pickup my plates, hopefully. Didn't know it was gonna be on, they didn't have that logo when I got my 03 back in the day.

03's are in demand now because the car is 3 years old and people can afford used G's now. 6-speed manuals are few and far between, especially in NJ/NYC...Brembos will be a good selling point for the 6MT.

Salesman was ***** back then, and ***** first called me the other day, but I ended up dealing with Serjio for the rest of the process.

Differences:
-Projector Bi-Xenons are great, they destroy the old reflector xenons and foglight combo. Fog lights are pretty worthless now and will probably actually serve as foglights instead of how they used to be "help out the crappy xenon" lights. No more clearance strips, they are just chrome accents. These two little bulbs above the fog lights now light up with the projector xenons and side markers.

-Trunk release button integrated on the left tail light. It is towards the inside , located on the left rear tail light, outside of the inner silver markers or whatever (look at the pic and you can see it, it is the little chrome square).

-Memory seating and power tilt/telescoping wheel. Driver's seat has 8-way power w/2-position memory, passenger seat is 4-way power. Driving position is more natural, seats are more comfortable, primarily the shoulder support the old seats were lacking. Seat-belts are much more comfortable, no more seat belt holder that clicks up and down...it is now a solid piece sitting on the outside of both seats...whether you use it or not, seatbelts are still more comfortable. Seatbacks retain their last position when you need access to the back, whereas the 03 would go to the upright default position.

-Aluminum trim is much better quality, all buttons are much nicer and have a different feel. Navigation is motorized pop-up and navigation system is completely different (for the better). Still get fuel economy, zoom, different angles, blah blah blah, just more options and nicer interface, joystick is much easier to use as well. No more going insane over entering destinations.

-Programmable shift light (100rpm increments), new gauges. Cabin is noticeably quieter, especially at highway speeds. Interior stays much calmer when windows and/or sunroof are open. 03 and 04 owners know that the G is mad loud on the inside when at highway speeds. Windows seem to be better sealed when the doors are closed. Door-close sound is much better, I don't see myself worrying about my passengers slamming my doors too hard anymore.

-Driving: Clutch is ridiculously light, seems to have shorter travel and a more natural petal action. Clutch is so light it feels numb to me now though, gotta get used to it. Brake petal feel is better, easier effort, more progressive feel. The Brembos felt like they stopped the car with more authority, but the new brakes have a much better feel for street use, they are quiet as a mouse, and SO little dust! Been driving for 2 or 3 days and the rims are still pretty clean, what a miracle!

-Accelerator petal feels more natural, also..easier to do more accurate blips on downshifts once you get used to the lighter weight of the petal. Shift throws have gotten longer but require so much less effort...vibrations are still there but it's like they are "controlled." Sport-tuned suspension provides a more comfortable ride...despite the bigger wheels, bumps are absorbed better, and the ride feels smoother and more composed. Car stays glued to the road even better, better high-speed stability, better body roll control, more predictable handling overall, much less weight transfer during shifts. During curves that are not so flat or have imperfections in the road, the car does not lose grip nearly as easily. The 1-2 shift that used to require the hand of God to make it smooth, is now a piece of cake.

-Steering ratio is quicker and more precise. Can't really "feel" the rear-wheel steering working, but even with the bigger wheels, the G feels easier and more predictable to maneuver at low speeds in parking lots and stuff, and is easier to track when going through the twisties. I was surprised about the steering cuz I thought my 03 had SUCH great steering, and the 06 is only better.

-Variable exhaust makes the exhaust quieter for normal driving, louder for harder acceleration. At 3K rpm, there is this different, more raspy growl that comes from the exhaust which is pretty cool.


Only gripes I have so far are:
-Still overly complicated to let people into and out of the back...more complicated than the 03 but at least the back rest position is maintained!!

-As the car is easier to drive and more comfortable, even though it is faster in a straight line and through curves, you lose a bit of driving feel. I haven't pushed it too hard yet, but I detect less of a push-you-back-in-your-seat feel.

-I can feel less torque down low, noticeably right from 800rpm - 2,500. Used to be able to start on hills at 800-1K, now I need like 1,200? Even flat starts it seems like the car appreciates 1K where I used to be able to start at 800 without a problem. Engine is less willing to move the car if you are driving on a hill in 2nd or 3rd below 2K rpm and you want to accelerate.

Overall, the car looks almost the same on the outside, but SO much of the interior is such better quality. The drive is unbelievably better when it comes to both luxury and sport. Memory seats/steering are great. Bluetooth hands-free works mad well and is a manual driver's DREAM.

Note: I know 05 drivers get some of the stuff I mentioned here, I'm comparing to my 03. I didn't list everything obviously, just whatever really improves the living with the car.

 

No. I'm being over the top. Remember that our car first came out 4 years ago, and this is just a car that Infiniti has tried extremely hard to keep competitive and it really shows.