Great link. Sounds to me that balance shafts would increase smoothness (decrease NVH if you like) greatly, but that steals horsepower (the article claims 15hp) so my guess is that they aren't using them in the new engine. I guess we'll have to wait for the first forum-member test drive and get their "opinion" on the smoothness.

The fact that Nissan is stating that they addressed the NVH issue in the new engine is good enough for me. However, I am a big fan of silky smooth engines. Some like to "feel" the engine. I don't...although, I often forget to shift from 3rd to 4th in my Audi A4 because it's so smooth I can't tell it's revving so high.

 

Having driven the Altima, I'd argue that Infiniti intentionally made this V35 more of a "hot-rod"- Clearly more so in the 2005 models.
Where the Altima seems smooth as can be, the G offers up a lot more feel, marketing would position this as a connection between man and machine

That being said, drive a Honda TL or MDX and you quickly realize how smooth a V6 can be. Additionally, the Honda motors run damn near silent at idle. Same can be said for Toyota.

One of the reasons I bought the G35 was that it reminded me of my old 164 Alfas. Lot's of character- And the bite was equal to the bark.

 

Balance shafts add weight and complexity, those are the cons. Both 4's and V6's can benefit from them. Inline 6's and V8's never use them as they have secondary balance inherent due to physics. A pound here, a horsepower there. Pretty soon 50/50 weight becomes impossible, so the engineers settle for 54/46.

I'm confident this new VQ will be smooth enough. Anyone who disagrees really needs to consider a BMW, because they don't produce a car which has a motor lacking secondary balance. I'm not even sure if they produce a RWD that doesn't have 50/50. It's the law of diminishing returns, for your 37k I don't think you can get all the toys in the new G35 and all the engineering on top of that.

 

Lexus and Honda V6 are everybit as smooth if not smoother than BMWs inline 6. So there really isn't any need for the Japanese makers to use inline6 to jack up unneccessary space under the hood, BMW however will need an inline 6 to stay competitive with Lexus and Acura. Nissan V6s were never known to be smooth or high revving, but their inline 6 are legendary. My old twin turbo Z started getting rough at 5000K already. Toyotas ultra smooth 2JZ-GTE used in the Last SupraTT and GS300 is noticeably smoother than BMWs famous inline 6.

 

Chad from the non-2007 G35driver forum drove the 2007 and here's what he had to say:

"it was pretty damn smooth...whats even cooler is the fact the the other intake kicks in around 4-5k and you can feel it coming on...but the engine is damn quiet and smooth, i'd say."

 

Going from a vq30de to a vq3.5de was a huge jump.!! As for the smoothness the 3.0 was alot smoother.Prolly because of the jump in horsepower.!!
I understand what your saying.Ive been driving maximas all my life.!!

 

Again, I'd look to how the motor is implemented- This motor is pretty smooth in other applications (i.e. Altima) HP is very close. No question, there are atributes unique to this application that could make the motor seem less smooth. And I agree, as I stated above, the motor is not near as smooth as say a Honda V6- Those are buttery.

I'd say the lack of smoothness is related to this particular implementation- In particular, the exhaust system and motor mounts, the fact that it's mounted longidude as opposed to transverse etc.
The type of engine mounts used might have an effect on perceived smoothness. Resonance from the free'er flowing exhaust system could have an effect.
In other words, in other applications, the VQ35 is very smooth-In the G, Z, and FX it's not quite as smooth.
Check out the M35 and Altima to see the difference.