G35Driver - Infiniti G35 & G37 Forum Discussion - Initial Impressions After New Owner's One and Only Drive:

First, why only one drive? Reason is I still have my '05 G35 Sedan for another month and half until the lease is up. Because I'm way under miles, I'm doing the sensible (as opposed to the more emotionally convenient) thing and driving "Old Faithful" until turn-in (don't ask why I haven't turned it in already, long story discussed in another post). I was planning on driving the new ride on the weekend, but I (i) couldn't break away from the family at all and (ii) refused to put our baby seat in the '08 and risk scuffing/scratching/denting the leather. I also tried offering the '05 to my dad (who's driving a '97 Acura 2.2 CL with more than 180K miles on it) and my brother (who's about 10K miles over on his A4 lease) at no cost to them, but neither bit. So, the '08s been sitting in my garage undriven (and mostly untouched) since last Wednesday when I picked it up from the dealership.

On the bright side, I did get to drive through some of the Los Angeles canyons on that first night (which now seems so long ago). Initial thoughts are: (i) the car handles very capably; I managed to break the rear tires broke loose a couple of times, but traction loss was minimal before VDC kicked in; (ii) I like the suspension settings, didn't feel too harsh over bumps; my 05 has the sports package and it seems (at least based on a one-drive comparison) that the 08 w/ Sport is more forgiving when it comes to road imperfections; (iii) definitely got the sense that the engine was begging me to mash the accelerator, but I didn't; gotta stick to those break-in guidelines; (iv) sport seats were tight around the thighs, but there was no way I was buying the car without the Sports package (I'd rather diet and lose the weight!); lumbar support is very good; (v) audio system is not bad, a little muddy, so I might swap out some speakers and see if that helps; I do like the driver-specific setting (forget what it's called); (vi) really like the Ipod interface, but as others have mentioned, I wish there was a page up/down option (maybe I just haven't found it yet); (vii) wish I had the additional voice commands available on the 07s (I'm trying to see if local dealer's service department can help me out with that; otherwise, I plan to pursue up the Infiniti corporate chain); (viii) didn't really use the navigation system, but the birds-eye view seems like a cool feature; I'll have to fiddle with it some more; (ix) jury is still out on the adaptive front lights; you definitely notice them working, which may not be the best thing, because they felt like a distraction; good thing is you can turn them off when you want; might get used to them over time.

Bottom line is that the 07/08 is a great upgrade over the prior model, which now feels somewhat raw (actually, it always seemed raw, but until now, was the best car I ever owned). That's it for now, more thoughts/comments once I've driven it a bit more....