I have not been visiting these forums lately but I am surprised that the Forester XT is being compared to the G35. They are both excellent cars in their own right but they cater to different needs. The common link may be that both are great values. On the other hand, I drove a Subaru Legacy GT Limited with a 5-speed manual recently and came away very impressed. I could easily live with that car. It is not quite in the near-luxury category and has a smaller trunk. It lacks a few doodads that my G has (stability control, superb audio system, etc.) but makes up for it with AWD. It is a compelling value in the AWD sedan market -- the BMW 330xi and the Audi A4Q are much pricier and less roomy alternatives. I may even consider going for the Subaru next time because Infiniti does not give us the option of a MT on its AWD G35.