Well, it looks like I am finalizing my deal with a nice fellow down in Florida on an 07 6MT Sedan. I'll be flying down and driving it back to Kansas - about a 22 hour trip which I'll do in two days.

I've been reading a lot on the boards and trying to learn about the car. From what I gather, this thing is going to take a while to master. It has Nav, Prem and Tech along with the manual trans. In the past, I've always had the manual transmission, but none of the other, fancier, techy gadgets. Thinking the nav may come in handy while plotting my way back through the southern states.

Guess I'll bring a few favorite CDs to get started and enjoy the Bose premium sound and try to get comfortable behind the wheel of the new ride!!!

Can't wait, really.....

Any advice from you experienced G drivers for a first time road trip?

amp

 

Bring someone to tag along.

 

bring a lot of blue painters tape and tape it all around ur front bumper, fenders, hood.. to prevent rock chips from ur 22 hour trip back

 

Enjoy the trip and the new car!

Number 1 rule, like G U Later said, bring a friend. His/her company will be extremely helpful in making the time pass. Besides, if you decide to stop somewhere, you have someone to hang with. Music only gets you so far...

So for a road trip over two days, I think it would be helpful to pick out places along the way you might like to eat, but don't normally have around you- just as a way to make the trip more enjoyable.

Remember your car charger for your phone, and bear in mind that some areas are using speed cameras now (there was a thread about that somewhere here).

Have fun!

 

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome aboard, be safe on you way back, co-pilot is the best advice you can get... I took a trip with my bro-in-Law from Fl to VA drivin back to Fl, he paid my fare it was worth the trip, he needed a co-pilot and I needed a lil get-a-way. I would also STRONGLY advise a Co-Pilot... Good Luck Bro...

 

if you own a pretty nice cd collection bring them all to burn to your hard drive in your car! congrats!! how many miles?? and if you dont mind me asking what price did you end up settling on?? you will love it!!!

 

not much different from a normal car, maybe just a little more power than you're used to... And as for music, you can pre-load a compact flash card with music (there's a slot for that) and there's a 6 disc CD changer in the trunk that only plays regular cd's. If you have a bunch of regular cd's that you really like, put it in the dash cd player, and click record. Also the dash cd player plays MP3's but can't record mp3's.... As for the Navi, it's good, but you can only punch in your coordinates when stopped (you can do it by voice while driving though) so you might want to plug it in before hand...

 

Congrats!
You're gonna love this car on the freeway.
The engine naturally revs a bit higher than most cars I've driven.
At 75-80 mph, the revs are at 3 giving you plenty of instant accessible passing power.
You'll be tempted to pass anyone in front of you....because you can.

I live in southwest Florida and I've taken the car to Michigan and back 2 times driving by myself on a 2-day trip similar to yours.
You'll likely encounter rain in several states.
I like to use Rain-X on the windows so that I never need to use wipers.
On the navigation, you can toggle options to show hotels, restaurants, gas stations, rest areas, etc.
But be selective, or else the map will be scattered with useless landmark icons.
I like to keep the "Rest Area" setting on, that way you know how far the next rest area is, and can plan your next stop accordingly.
Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water.
I love driving.
Don't think of it as a chore.
Enjoy yourself, take your time, and soak in the beautiful scenery.

 

wow! hey, thanks for all the great ideas!

at this time, co-pilot isn't an option. it's a 5:30 am red eye flight out and for some reason i can't seem to generate much interest in anyone tagging along!

g wiz, i think my wife is going to be mad that you stole her name for our car - "the whiz".

good tips for the nav system, thanks!

good call on the rain-x, too. i'll have to buy it along the way, since i can't take anything more than 3 oz liquid on the plane (only taking carry-ons).

i'll be packing an iPod and will probably bring the fuzz buster so i can use it in states it's legal in. phone will be charged up, but good call on the adaptor. i'm prone to forget things like that.

i do have an older 128 meg compact flash card, but no way to plug it into the laptop except through my camera. hmmmm.... wonder if i can drag mp3 files to it like an external drive when it's loaded in the camera? never really tried that. anyway, 128 mbytes isn't much music. never really had a reason to buy a larger card. anybody know why infiniti settled on compact flash technology when other formats seem to be emerging that are better? (xd, smart media, USB, etc.)

i'm guessing the previous owner's xm radio subscription will still be active for a little while, so that might give me some more entertainment options.

also great tips on the water to stay hydrated and the painter's tape on the leading edges.

keep 'em comin! i'm leaving this saturday morning so have a few more days to pack and get some good ideas!

amp

 

Amp....How was the trip?
Any thoughts?

 

ahhh.... thanks g whiz! i appreciate your interest and keeping this thread alive!

sorry in advance for the long post below! been pretty busy!

well.... what a trip. just got back a few hours ago.

trip specs:

arrived florida about 5 pm local time saturday after major airport snafu w/ delta (long story). met the seller (very nice), drove the car (seemed solid), did the deal. drove from boca to I-10 and crashed for the night about midnight. got up at 9 am sunday, drove for 17 hours to get to mena, arkansas. slept from about 2:30 AM till the cell rang at 8. finished the drive to kansas. arrived about 1:30 pm today (monday)

trip was about 2500 miles after missed turns and stops. averaged about 25 mpg according to ecu (reset at start of trip). started off getting about 28 on the interstate. that went down when i went through small towns and let some air out of the bridgestones. driving 80 mph plus when possible didn't help!

so, all i can say is "WOW, i really like a LOT about this car!". some folks might think i'm crazy but it really reminds me of my nissan 240sx that i owned for 13 years (only with lots more power and refinements). basically, this is what i was going for. i needed a fun car to drive that had 4 doors and could haul the fam around. the g fits the bill to a T.

this car is loaded. based on the quick start guide (all i was able to really read in my sleep deprived state), it seems to have every option available except the snow button (i'm guessing is only for automatics or awd anyway) and 4was which i wasn't sure i wanted anyway. w/ nav, prem, sport and tech, it has all the features i was really looking for. now i just need to finish learning how to use 'em!

i cracked myself up on the test drive. i knew from reading the boards that the clutch might be finicky. this car had the recall performed so it was decent but it still took me all the way to lousianna to get to the point i felt pretty good about shifting through all the gears up and down. it's easy to miss fourth on the downshift and get back into sixth. i also still hit sixth when i want reverse. i'm thinking a little lube on the linkage and some practice will help.

the car tracks very nicely on the interstate on a smooth road. no pull, brakes straight, everything works well. on secondary roads that are rough, well, let me say it was a little different. the suspension can kick you around a bit. i checked the tire pressure after the first day of driving. the seller had them set at 36. i lowered to 33 all around(factory spec), but after the roads heated up, they were right back up around 35-36. i ended up with them at 30 psi for the last leg home and that was a little better although mileage did suffer a bit.

the first thing i did when i got home after washing 2500 miles of bugs of the leading surfaces was adjust the clutch. i like it to engage a little lower to the floor. no prob. just like the ol' 240. 12 mm and pliers did the trick. much better now.

tomorrow, headed to the road force balancing shop. there is a vibration on the passenger side between 75 and 80 mph.

wondering what an alignment might do for me. glad i started an alignment sticky. i'll post things up there. basically, the car feels very neutral. possibly too much so which may explain why it jumps around a lot on the bumpies? the tire wear is very minimal w/ just a little cupping up front. i'm thinking it is set up strictly for freeway cruising. a little tension (toe, caster) might be just the thing to bring out the performance chops of this car.

nav? pretty good but needs to be updated. i got tired of being told to take a "u-turn if possible" when i didn't agree with the course it had plotted.

xm? awesome

CD player and bose system? pretty darn good. would have liked an EQ option.

intelligent cruise? takes some getting used to. handy in certain cases.

back up camera? awesome.

voice recognition? barely used it. need to practice.

bluetooth phone? haven't set it up yet.

directional headlights? didn't even realize they were on. will try to pay more attention next time i drive at night.

cup holders and storage? need more.

brakes? excellent so far.

vdc/nanny? don't know yet....

buying a "used" G? well, i think the seller didn't "use" this car much! it feels like it wasn't pushed very much during his 22K miles of ownership. the guy wasn't exactly a motor head. i kept asking him how this works or how that works. he hadn't even used a LOT of the features. the six disk changer for the trunk was still in the glove box in it's original wrapping. said he never put a CD in the dash (always used XM). he had never used VR. it looks like he never used bluetooth for his phone. i don't think he ever even waxed it. (one of my first jobs this week when i get caught up on other things). all service/maintenance was done at the dealer. it still needs the sunroom trim campaign. the plastic leash for the gas tank filler cap was cracked and broken. minor paint scratches and one little gouge on the drivers side rear rim. little rough at idle, but engine revs normally and has good power on the freeway and during passing. had a little fun on some secondary roads in arkansas near the boston mountains south of fort smith.

still getting used to not having to take the key out of my pocket to start the thing.

if you can't tell, i'm still hopped up on caffiene and adrenaline. it's gonna be good to sleep in my own bed tonight! i'm feeling very blessed. god is smilin' on me. the deal looks good.

pics of it in driveway attached....

amp

 

congrats! glad the trip went well and got you well adjusted!

any mod plans?

 

some minor stuff: window tint w/ uv block; alignment; possibly go to all same size rims all around so can rotate tires.

most of the bolt on mods i would do to a car or have done in the past have already been done. (tuned duals, twin ram air intakes, LSD, inched up rims, brakes, heck it even has an electric cooling fan and power steering pump! what engine parasitics???)

seriously, this car from the factory feels a lot like my modded out 240. it had cross drilled brakes with axxis pads, eibach springs w/ gab adjustable suspension, front strut tower bar, electric fan, borla cat back, k&n, ignition wires, rims, stainless brake lines, etc.

i'm gettin' too old to think about serious engine upgrades, anyway. this is pretty much a family fun sedan for us. it needs to be reliable and not in the shop all the time. and my 19 month old with another possibly on the way soon is taking up my spare time....

anything specific you would suggest? i understand the chips don't do much for the engine as it is already tuned pretty good? or am i wrong? some other can't miss upgrade options?


amp

 

gotta love how it drives

i don't think there's anything you necessarily HAVE to do, there's lots of little options and a few bigger ones. Plenty of styling options - front lips, rear spoilers, roof spoilers, overlays, grilles, etc. If the car already has intakes, the next route would be an exhaust - and they do sound great. Other than that, engine performance is limited, there's a few flashes/tunes that are available. Plenty of suspension parts if you want to tighten things up - underbody braces, strut bars, springs, coilovers, etc. Grounding Kits are a pretty good mood for 5AT, but since you're 6MT I dunno if it'd be worth it - you really only feel it in the auto tranny shifting if at all.

I'm sure you've done some searching, and if you see something you like then go for it! We'll be here to criticize no matter what hahaha

 

i am so jealous of you, thats all i have to say. =)