Went to Tustin Infiniti. They have about 8 new 07 G35s in stock. Saw most colors, different equipment packages etc. Sticker prices ranged from $32K - $39K.

Drove a G35 Journey this evening. Wow!! Really got an appreciation for the ride, power, feel, etc. The dash looks AWESOME at night. Great colors. Even the LCD screen was real cool. Plus, the little ambient lights coming from the roof lent a beautiful glow to the interior. Better than anything I've seen in this price range.

Stock stereo package, not premium audio, sounded pretty damb good. I was really impressed.

Handling and power are MUCH better than anything in its price range. 3/4 press on the gas from a light left everybody in the dust...3/4!! Took some curves pretty fast and it was real tight...and this isn't the sport.

Made up my mind 100% after tonight - Platinum Graphite, premium package, possibly Nav, XM. Might wait until Dec and Jan as my dealer told me they're getting full sticker right now.

 

Now you know why BMW went through all that troubles to add a turbo to their current 3's.

 

Yep. More power, more potential, and better mileage than a G.

 

I drove one yesterday, also the journey, and was not impressed at all. Maybe my expectations were high but didn't feel faster than my car. Turn in was lazy compare to my car, overall was kind of disapointed. I gotta admit it did feel better bult, and the interior is great.

 

All that trouble because of the new G35, no other reason......hah!

They need to compete just like anyone else, and deliver value to the customer. The new 335 coupe costs 3k more than the old 330Ci E46 coupe, how's that for value (new body and all that HP)? The 2k5 330 (E46) just got all red circles from Consumer Reports. Things are changing.

I doubt they'll ever offer anything that directly competes with Infiniti, but they seem to be catering to those who can and will spend money on their products....

 

Doubt you'll convince many people here to move to BMW despite your truckload of props for the 335 in this forum.

It's well accepted the major competitor to the 3 series is Infiniti with the G35. Give credit where it's due. Both cars have improved significantly because of one another. Do other manufacturers influence them also? Sure, but these two manufacturers are the ones really duking it out in this segment.

 

You gotta admit that without the 07 G35, you still probably have to make do with the 330 and no 335. BMW is no fool. They would not add a turbo unless they really have to.

 

They went with turbos because in NA form, the inline 6 will never make as much power as a V6. With infiniti, Acura, and Lexus all having NA V6's over 300 hp, BMW had to add FI. The E46 M3 with 333 has a pretty high strung engine, but it's not meant for mass production in the regular 3 series and it's pretty high maintenance. BMW simply took the cheapest route to compete with the Japanese V6s.

 

nothing wrong with using a cheap route. the end result is all that matters.

 

Agreee that there is nothing wrong with that. My point was the BMW turbo was in response to the competition from Japan. Got to give credit where credit is due.

 

Hell yeah they were responding to Japan and Infiniti in particular (Lexus to a slightly lesser extent). They should've gotten off the "no forced induction" stance sooner IMHO. I hope BMW continues to improve their I6 no matter what, but there are no guarantees as long as the horsepower war is on.

Speaking of competition, when is Acura going to wake up and develop a RWD platform to compete with BMW/Lexus/Infiniti?? I currently own an '04 TL...which has been a great car overall...but Acura has nothing to upgrade to (RL "meh" , TL-S is overpriced and FWD )...hence my "short list" of BMW/Infiniti. Any Acura owners here who wanna chime in?