Now I know what everyone is going to say. That you cant compare because you rather drive the G its so much nicer blah blah blah. Thats all fine and good. But the same thing happen with the SRT-4 we all thought well its a neon but those neons pull up to us at lights and put up a good fight and those kids go back and tell all their friends how they beat up on a G. i had it done to me when I first got my car. My friend has a SRT-4 and he beat me. But once my car broke in and I put the Z tube and pulley I put that to rest buy smoking him on the highway with all his friends watching. But now comes this Cobalt SS Im sure you have seen the commercials as I did. So this morning I went on the Web and found this (look at stats). Now what I am saying is I have to beware about this POS because there is no way I am letting a snotty nose kids take me out. Also if Chevy can take the Ion engine and supercharge it and make some good upgrades from a basic Cobalt and charge only 5k more why cant Nissan do the same for our cars. I know most of you would have spent the extra cash to have a stock supercharger because you can always upgrade. Now I know what you are going to say. The Skyline is coming out in 2007 but it will be in the 50's why the giant price jump? Just some things to think about when a Cobalt SS or a Srt-4 beats you one day.



Base price : $19,495

Engine : 4 cylinder, supercharged DOHC, front engine FWD
Displacement : 1,998 cc
Valve : 16 valves, 4 valves per cylinder
Transmission : 5-spd manual
Fuel economy : city - unknown
highway - unknown

Suspension : F - Independent MacPherson strut
R - Semi-independent torsion beam
Brakes : F - Solid discs
R - Solid discs

Horsepower : 205 hp @ 5600 rpm
Torque : 200 lb-ft @ 4400rpm
Redline : unknown

Top speed : 143 mph
0-60 mph : 6.4 sec some have it at 6.0 and 6.1
0-¼ mile : 14.9 sec @ 95.5 mph some have it at 14.5
60-0 braking distance : 121 ft(estimated)
200 ft skidpad : 0.86 g

 

yer not serious?

 

Well to be honest, I couldn't give a rat's *** if my G gets beat by some kid driving a SRT-4 or a Cobalt. At the end of the day, I know I am driving the nicer car and they are still driving a POS. But that is just MY opinion.

 

Yeah I have to agree, if I buy the G35, it's not because I have a want or need to try to beat any Chevy. Your in an Infiniti, he's in a Chevy......don't worry about it, you beat him without even moving.

 

Yup, there are plenty of pocket rockets that will dust the G. The new American muscle cars will also smoke the G. Go for it.

 

I agree with tgrouss. I was walking by the Gm Dealers a couple of days ago and saw a Cobalt, I opened the door to have a look, well I gagged, the smell of all that plastic was sickening I gave up on the domestic cars 3 nissans ago, I was tired of getting "penny-annyed" to death. I don't care if I can beat everyone, I just want to enjoy my ride.

 

ROFLMAO!!

 

I see you are not getting my point. One I was saying forget the looks I am talking about proformance. And two why is it they can make a Cobalt supercharged starting 19k. So why cant they make a G supercharged for lets say starting at 35k? You cant tell me that the G costs that much more to put in a supercharger from the factory.

 

I think Infiniti is held back by cost, warranty and dealership issues. A supercharger unit might cost $4K by itself but to just strap it on a N/A engine is going to lead to problems with durability/warrany. Also, you would need to bolster the entire driveline to support the added power as well as suspension upgrades to match the improved performance. This would also likely require the factory to retrain dealerships on the specific maintenance requirements of such a model. Personally, I too would like to see a supercharged G offering from the factory, along the lines of Ford SVT and Dodge SRT, a limited number (say 5,000/year) of vehicles specially prepared and available through selected dealerships (such as the FORD SVT models) that have all of the goodies. I think realistically that you're looking at $8 -$10K more for such a vehicle and at that point Nissan might be running against up against some of it's own products, such as the new M45 with the V8.

By the way, we also have an '04 SRT4. It's not a G by a long stretch, but it's what our 20 year old son wanted. It is a lot of car for the money, performance-wise, but it won't run with our G in the state of tune that we have it in. Simple bolt-ons will keep you more than competitive with the SRT4 and Cobalt SS if that is of concern.

 

Look at the cars engines then. VQ35 compared to a saturn engine. The cost of the engines and to warranty them is not the same. Upgrading a VQ to handle a S/C is going to cost a lot more then a $1,500 saturn engine. On top of that, a VQ would be making something like 400hp + mad torque, you are going to need an expensive clutch and tranny which will add even more costs. A dinky supercharged engine is a lot cheaper to put in a cheap car then a refined engine like our VQ which make almost 300hp with the 6mt

 

Here is why ......
G35 is in a class where it competes with european cars. Ex 330ZHP, A4 3.0.
It beats those cars in almost every category so it doesnt need to be "supercharged or turboed" from factory. If they had the G "supercharged or turboed" from the factory, it would be in a class that doesnt exist like cobalt and srt4 are.

 

Nissan could throw in a supercharger for G35 and 350Z from the factory if they wanted to but the real question is do they need to? Absolutely not. The VQ35 motor already puts out stout numbers and the G and Z already sell very well in the current form. Only a small percentage of the market would even consider buying a supercharged G or Z and it really wouldn't be worth it from a bottomline standpoint. Would it be cool for enthusiasts like us? Sure. What would be nice if Nismo came out with a relatively inexpensive supercharger/turbo package that put out moderate numbers and came with all the warranty goodness.

 

The V35 is the most highly rated production V6 engine eight years running ( Edmunds and Consumers). Just watched the 7 car shoot out on Car and Driver TV again...Outta the Jag, Saab, Audi, Acura, Lexus, BMW, INFINITI.....who won? .Hmmm...Why not wait till the new H.O. Kia is available that'll be cheaper than the Chevy..NO? LMMFAO,JBX

 

IMO, the SVT and SRT teams exist because there is a market in North America for cheaply priced cars with lots of HP. The SRT-4 is a prime example. No offence to anyone that owns one, but the SRT-4 is a POS car with lots of HP, and is priced low enough to attract buyers.
I just don't see the need for Infiniti to have a supercharged G35.....and if they did, you can rest assured it wouldn't be $35K

 

You guys should go drive the new Saturn Redline. It lacks a little refinement, (but only a little) and performs very nicely. Great handling and seat of the pants feel. Plenty of HP for a FWD car, but no torque steer. Probably beat a G35 in an autocross, but it would be close either way. And I'm sure the Cobalt will be just as good. GM has come a long way in the last few years. If only they would stop making idiotic design decisions like moving all the instruments (in the Saturn) to the middle of the car. While the Japanese may be a couple of steps ahead, these low end "performance-tuned" GM products are very price competitive and a whole lot of fun to drive. I remember thinking, while I was driving it, it wouldn't be so bad to be stuck driving one of these for a time. For a kid right out of school with a $25,000 salary, one of these two cars would be a great choice. I'd lean for the one without the plastic body.