Just got the March Car and Driver in the mail.

Comparison of 7 manual transmission sports sedans, as tested price ranged from 31,944 for the IS300 to 38,130 for the Audi A4 3.0.

7th place, Jag X-type 3.0
6th, Saab 9-3 Arc
5th, Audi A4 3.0 Quattro
4th, Lexus IS300
3rd, Acura TL
2nd, BMW 325i
1st, you got it, G35!

Mize

 

dollar for dollar it's the best value of the bunch. i love mine.

****************************
04 6MT sedan, black/willow

 

I love mine too, but to be fair these folks get these lovely cars, get to flog them for 4 days, and then hand them back, they dont live with them and for sure my older car a Jetta VR6 had a much better interior and build quality so if you re-order the priorities, take the dollars off the table and act like a sane motorist the order might be a little different. Still it is nice that other people substantiate our choices, on the other hand I doubt too many people that buy the Jag would even care, they likely read forbes and not C&D

 

Reorder the priorities and I'd lean towards the Audi or a Volvo S60. But that's not where my priorities are. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Then again, reorder the priorities a bit more and the Civic wins.

 

Thank God a mainstream car magazine got it right! Some of us are still smarting from the Consumer Reports rating (12th out of 15!!!). Till now, I used to console myself with the 3rd place finish (behind the Acura TSX and the BMW 325i) in the Automobile Magazine's sport sedan shoot out (October 2003?) involving about a dozen cars. As mentioned by others, the G35 is an outstanding value, and great fun in 6MT guise.

2003.5 G35 Obsidion/Black Leather Luxury Sedan 6MT with Premium, Winter, and Aero Packages

 

Consumer Reports is


Brilliant Silver/Graphite '04 Sedan/5AT

 

I read the article. Did anyone notice... "Spin the big V-6 hard, and the shifter becomes a little balky." This could be the reason for the slower than normal times.

If I read the final "Results" table correctly, the G35 won over the TL based on the "fun to drive" and "gotta-have-it-factor". IMO, Infiniti will lose lots of sales if and when Acura makes a rear drive TL.

DaveO


2003 G35 Sedan - DP / Willow / AT / Premium / Sport
350Z Engine Cover, T-Stat & Air Duct / Stillen CAI
GG 7-Wire H-G Kit / TechnoSquare ECU / E-Fans
Street Edge TC / B&M Cooler / Stillen Exhaust

 

HA, HA...point well made ABQ_G35

 

I doubt it will happen, Honda is very stable in the FWD market.

03 - Black - Premium - Wood - Aero w/ Spoiler - Z Tube - Grounded - Stillen CAI

 

GLuvin,

I tend to agree with your statement. However, as engine power increases to meet customer demands Honda may have to do another RWD or AWD platform. We all know torque steer is already a problem with many FWD cars including the Maxima.


2003 G35 Sedan - DP / Willow / AT / Premium / Sport
350Z Engine Cover, T-Stat & Air Duct / Stillen CAI
GG 7-Wire H-G Kit / TechnoSquare ECU / E-Fans
Street Edge TC / B&M Cooler / Stillen Exhaust

 

Acura will not make the TL rear drive, because 95+ % of the owners don't know or care if its front or rear drive. The few who do, what front drive for snow traction. Unlike, the G35, the TL is not sold for its sportiness/fun to drive quotient. They don't even offer a sports package any more.

 

But dont count out an AWD option, as for the sport kit, timing is everything - this is a brand new model, so as the car ages over the next 4 years expect all kinds of enhancements and improvements. I for one though would not be surprised if the stick shift is phased out (6mt is likey a very poor seller) in which case that might leave only one option - the reason I bought the G in the 1st place.

 

I would have bought the TL if it was the same price and RWD, two big IFs...

They are certainly trying to get into the pure sports sedan market and compete with the G35 and 3 series manual transmission cars. The TL speed can be had with summer high performance tires, it has brembo brakes, LSD, etc, etc.

Also there is an "A-spec' TL avail ("A-Spec" is Acura speak for Honda's Factory Performance parts they have for the civic and other cars...)

So believe me, Acura wants some on the true sports sedan pie, they just screwed the pooch by not going RWD with this iteration...

 

...and once Acura make a RWD platform, Infiniti will have tweaked the Interior of the G, and all points will be moot once again. Yes, Acura can make strides, but Inf. has already beaten the performance, now they just need the "froofroo" factor.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint

 

Borders don't have the magazine yet, but I found Road&Track featuring Reader's Choice Award Best Car 2004 which didn't include any of the G35 coupe or sedan. Why? Infiniti is not good enough for the "04"?
BTW: This was the same magazine that got me into the G35; ranking #1 of 11 Super Sedans (July2002).