Your statements are all correct of course. The one thing you haven't mentioned is the significant increase in horsepower being offered in the larger engine. The car has increased in weight but power overall has increased too.

It is unlikely the new Z car will weigh a whole lot less than the G. My belief is the difference will likely be similiar to the current differential.

In any case Nissan or Infiniti will not likely be the class leader when it comes to straightline speed.

 

Which is a shame, because they always have been... and it was a big value to their marketing, not to mention why they always had such a strong following in the enthusiast community. Being the top accelerator in comparison tests is why the G35 faired so well in the past... now that it's lost that cachet... hm...

 

There have been no official tests, just estimates on what the performance numbers for the G37 are. I think people will be surprised, they obviously had the 335i in mind when testing it so it should not dissapoint.

 

Agree with what you are saying, but take a look at actual 335 dyno's. They are way underrated by BMW. I would say that while 270lb/ft doesn't sound like enough for the heavier G, it will be stronger feeling than the current G. The HP increase in the top end will be great for the track and the boost in torque across the board is always a good thing for everyday drivability.

I certainly understand what you mean though. I wish it was at 300lb/ft as well, and I wish the HP was 10-20 more so it can beat the 335i in accelleration.

 

Agreed 100%. They need to AT LEAST match the 335i 0-60, 1/4mile and trap speed.

They really should be focused on toppling the 335 accelleration. If they could pull it off along with the new handling/braking focus they seem to have they would really boost their sales.

 

You know, it's interesting. At G35 driver folks seem really concerned with straight line speed. Over at e90post *most* (not all) guys seems more concerned about suspension. No real point to make, just interesting.

I personally think if Infiniti can make a car that *handles* as well as the 3 series, they will have accomplished something quite spectacular, regardless of a tenth in the 1/4 mile. In fact, given the ease of modding the 335i to move much quicker in a straight line, I think it is smart of Infiniti to try to topple it dynamically rather than in acceleration. So far it seems like they may have done that, so good on em.

 

Agreed with Picus.

Anybody concered with a tenth of a second in 0-60 or the 1/4 will ALSO know that 335i will demolish the G with only Exhaust and ECU. Game over.

Infiniti must find other ways to keep the performance oriented crew - handling, driver's feedback, braking, etc. And I hope they have a nice sounding exhaust system again like my FX (and current G coupes)!

 

Perhaps in the coupe class but not in the sedan class. The Lexus IS350 took that honour and more recently have given it up to BMW.

You say that its lost that cachet but we don't know that for sure yet for the coupe.

^+1

If the the competition zigs you have to zag. My guess is the difference in what is important to people is the difference in consumer demographics of the two cars. I'm more interested now in better handling dynamics than slight superiority in a straight line.

 

Just for the record. 300hp out of a 3.5 / 3.7 liter engine isn't that great. BMW got 330hp out of their na 3.0 liter inline 6 years ago.

 

True but your numbers aren't exactly representative of the Infiniti specs. The new sedan has 306hp from the 3.5 and the 3.7 is expected to have 330. Not anywhere near the BMW example you use but better than you're trying to suggest.

 

My point is BMW has got much more hp out of their similarly sized na 6 cylinders than Nissan. BMW has also used some very exotic varible cam timing (double vanos) and some very exotic block materials (magnesium). Their 330hp engine doesn' make the torque numbers the Nissan engine will make but that's more a function of displacement vs engine tech.

 

Just asking out of curiosity - which engine made 330 HP out of 3.0 liters? The E46 M3 engine is a 3.2 liter. That engine, besides being put in a much more expensive car, did not make peak HP until very high in the rpm range (7,900 rpm). Makes sense for a 3.2 liter engine. Taking advantage of the lower torque with high rpm for added power. The new G seems to be somewhere in the middle. 7,500 rpm redline is impressive nonetheless.

 

Could either be the 3.2 which is still big numbers or the European 3.0. I forget. Yes it makes the hp in the upper rpm but isn't that what a sports car engine is supposed to do? We dont' drive diesel cummings ya know?

 

The M3 engine was 3.2 liters. Still... that was a ltd application engine in a much more expensive car. They (BMW) also made a 3.0 liter in the 330... it made a whopping 265 HP. That's 88 horses per liter, and under the old (pre-SAE) standards. The new 3.5VQ making 306 is 87 horses per liter, under the new SAE standards, so it's actually higher for comparison's sake. The 3.7 making 330 horses is 89 per liter.

Many more expensive or spots-oriented cars make over 100 hp per liter. No torque, but lots of power up high... which is a trade-off for a sports car to get the most out of the displacement. A la S2000....

 

Jeff - The S54 engine also utilized ITBs to make that power. Aftermarket powermakers are slim (short of boost), and there were MANY reliability issues.