I drive an '07 G35x to which I've added paddle shifters. This is my first automatic. I've been reading in Car and Driver, and several other magazines about the terrible clutch take up, and vibrations through the gearbox etc., and it made me curious, so I decided to test drive an '08 with the stick and try to compare it to my previous car - an '06 BMW 330i (E90).

What a pleasure the G35s' 6MT gear box is. Honestly, I have no idea what everyone is complaining about. I didn't even come close to stalling the car once, nor did it feel like it would stall easily. I also didn't feel any unpleasant vibrations coming through the gearbox. In fact, I would say it's one of the nicest gearboxes I've ever felt - definitely more crisp than the BMW 3 series' one, and probably as nice as that of the WRX. Some person from Car and Driver stalled the car 5 times? Someone needs to teach her to drive a stick shift car properly!

Cheers
Tamir

 

Ah conspiracy theories, here we go

It is probably the only thing they can nitpick about so they can award BMW all the props.

 

Seriously - for once I'm starting to believe it. I took my car in for it's 15k service last week, and got a base loaner G35x. And you know what, that car is amazing for it's price. It feels just as luxurious as my fully loaded G35x. Yeah it's missing a few luxuries, and the sound system could be better, but the bottom line is that when you drive that thing, it feels rock solid, damn quick, and just a pleasure to drive - and you can easily get them in the low, low 30's. Try to get a comparable BMW 3 series and the cost would be night and day. For that reason alone, if nothing else, the G35 should kick BMW's butt in every test given how similar they are to drive.

The other thing that pisses me off about C&D is that they recently tested the G35xS, and then said that in base format, they can see all the savings, etc., but once you load it up to the G35xS level, you're out the door at $41k, and the difference between that and the comparable BMW, AUdi, and Cadillac is only $4k. That's crap. A comparably equipped BMW 3 series would be the 335iX with all the packages available, which comes to $54k... That's a $13k difference. Which normal person thingks $13k is 'a small difference'? Course I wrote to them about this, but they didn't publish my letter - no surprise there.

Frankly, I used to believe that C&D is the best car magazine in the US, but at this stage I believe that Automobilie Mag is much better. They've hired a number of young, and very good journalists including my favorite, Ezra Dyer, and Jason Cammissa, Sam Smith, etc. These guys are not just good, they're all pretty funny (in particular Ezra), and they don't seem to be quiet as biased towards BMW or any other brand for that matter as C&D. Not to mention that you don't have to listen to Bedard's political ramblings in Automobile mag. The guy should just run for politics or something, or edit a political magazine instead of a car mag. Sorry for the vent

Cheers
T1328

 

6MT FTW! but yea i could definently see the bias in C/D.

 

i believe most of the magazine that griped about the 6mt were driving 07's. And on the 08 models Infiniti addressed all issues concerning the 6mt.

 

I just purchased an 07 6MT sedan last week and I love it! Only stalled it once so far in a week and that's because I wasn't really paying attention. In my opinion, it is a great tranny and great driving experience. Otherwise, I would not have purchased it.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. It took me all of a day to get used to the way the car drove.

The only complaint is the damn creaking and resistance from the clutch pedal. I've killed it a couple times because when it binds just that little bit it changes the way the mesh point feels. The pedal definately could use a redesign.

 

I guess I did drive an '08, so I can't comment on the '07's. I had forgotten about the changes. I would hope though that when magazines complain about a specific issue to the extent that it impacts their scoring of a car against it's competitors so significantly, they would test the most recent version to see if the issues they had were improved. I believe that Infiniti made the improvements in the gearbox based on customer and magazine feedback. I've also read some articles in which they say that the gearbox has been improved, but it's still not good. Strange in my opinion. And by the way, the 6MT felt a little faster than my 5AT (course mine is an X, which could explain the difference on it's own because of the weight difference).

Cheers
T1328

 

Well i could not agree more i have had my car (07) for over 20,000miles with ZERO stalls and i have never driven a better manual car, the gearbox is just so precise and feels good, and after the clucth recall the past 10000+miles have been even better, i have never noticed any strong vibratios through the gearbox and only started feeling them after hearing all the rave about it and still it never catches my attention. i always have a grin on my face while driving my G, couldnt be happier!!

 

C/D is crap.
1-These guys would rather have you drive a 328i over a G35. What does the 328i have over a G35, the answer, nothing, period. I am tired of smoking those guys
2-They recently did an article where they placed the M3 over the GTR & Porsche 911, their reason, driving dynamics etc. Road & Track did a test of 10 cars, including the M3 and GTR and the 911. 3 tracks were used and different independednt drivers used on each track. The GTR came 3rd, the 911 came 4th. The M3, 8th, just ahead of the Evo and Lotus. In fact it hardly made a case against the Evo. The R/T article was free of bias.
3-I saw a picture of one guy from C/D, the guy looks 60. That explains a lot, he is still stuck in the 60s/70s

Anyway, why buy C/D

 

Yeah, I have a subscription to that rag. It was only 9 bucks for a year so I did it, I'm sorry. Won't renew though. They are VERY biased toward BMW. They would rather push an 87 M3 (LEGO on wheels)than be seen in a G. One guy even called it "ugly". I have an 07 G35S and only stalled it on my first test drive, but not since. I love my G.

 

Gotta have it factor= C&D's way to make sure whatever car they like wins.

The whole "number" system for C&D reviews is a bunch of crap anyways. A car is much more than the sum of its numbers. And the numbers are biased anyways. How can a 328 and a G35 get the same number for "performance?"

Other magazines realize that if a car is "almost as good" but costs much less.... it wins.

 

G is way ahead of the 328i. I guess by "almost as good" you are referring to the 335i. Excuse me but I always correct anyone who says the 3 series is better than the G. I always tell such a person, the 335i is better, not the 328i. In fact, if there is anyone who wants a side by side comparison, including a "smoking" run, I am more than happy to provide my G35X for such a worthy cause.

 

Show me a new X with a 6MT and I'll show you an 07 X being traded in!
It's nice to dream anyways.

 

I'll go ahead and contribute to this rant of like-minded individuals (does anyone on this thread not hate C&D and love the 6mt? I'd like to hear from an opposing viewpoint to really initiate a discussion here.)

Anyway, I just got my '08 6mt with Nav and premium. I was originally looking at a 335i. The fact is that at a difference of $10,000 for all of the options I wanted, I am much happier with the G. The clutch takes some getting used to, but I think that the issue is much less malignant when it's YOUR car and you drive it as such as opposed to driving it as a tester for short periods of time. The car rags are very limited in their ability to accurately reflect that kind of ownership.

The car is great. I don't regret my decision to go with infiniti over BMW. Some people have an emotional attachment to BMW, and there's very little that a magazine review or discussion board is going to do to change that. As far as I'm concerned, that's okay; I'll have my fun and save the $200 a month in payments. The rest of us that see comparable (or, arguably, better) quality at a better price and recognize it as such will continue to laugh all the way to the bank in our G's

PS: Just to stoke the manual v. auto fight, I got a G35x loaner while my splashguards were being installed and I walked away loving the 6mt... not to mention the thing didn't have nav or premium and I realized how much I enjoy those two options.