Ok, took me forever to post about my test drive from Friday since I'm travelling, but here it is. The experience was soured a bit by how fast the salesman rushed through everything. You U.S. guys don't know how lucky you are to have so many dealerships and competition around, it makes them work for your dollar. Here it's the other way around and basically they have most of the negotiating power unfortunately, so the effort is pretty lax on their behalf.

Anyways didn't really have a chance to take many pics, I think I have a couple of the interior and a few of the outside but no video's. I brought my iPod along and right away he looks at me like "what are you doing?", he asks if I brought the cable? and I told him that one should come with the car and I've seen it in the trunk of the US cars. He has no idea what I'm talking about and pops the trunk, sure enough digging around we find it still in it's plastic baggy haha. So after a full week of test drives on their two demo's I was the first one to try the iPod interface haha. That's product knowledge for you.

Anyways, we get in the car and the first thing I noticed was that the fit and finish of the interior is 100x better than my car, the leather a better quality as well as all interior materials. Gauges were very easy to read and much better looking than the previous yellow ones. Our demo car didn't have the navigation so didn't get to experience that but with how easy the interface was to use with the iPod I'm sure that will carry over to the Nav. I also didn't get to try the voice commands or the bluetooth but oh well. A couple of neat things I noticed in the interior was the placement of the seat movement button on the shoulder, this button looks the same as the memory buttons on the door handles so I can only assume that by pressing the button the seats go back to a preset memory position. This is a great feature for when you let someone in the back and want the passenger seat to return to it's previous position. Also noticed that the tilt and telescoping feature is motorized as well, same as the sedan I think but very cool.

We take off and first thing I notice is that it doesn't have the on/off throttle of the G35 sedan. In that car it was painful to drive stop and go because the car jumps at the slightest touch of throttle. With this car it was almost like the was no response for the first half inch of depression then the car would go. This can be a good thing and a bad thing depending on your preferences.

We had the auto version so the paddle shifts are quite fast but not as "right now" as I would have liked. The car does have some impressive torque and does push you back into the seat but it's not with the same urgency as I would say a 335i which has plenty of torque right off the bat. When you get up to the higher reaches the car really does start pulling fast. We ended up going by a 2007 G35x with some 40 year old cougar in it stopped at a red light just as a light turned green, well I gave it full throttle, but then to my surprise I can see the lady ripping up behind me as I slow down to the speed limit. She ends up right beside me and stops then blows by, so I'm thinking this cougar must be competitive or something. Anyways at the next light I'm in the left lane and she's in the right on a dual lane left turn. I need to be in her lane but as the light goes she guns it, and a second later I do the same.

In the initial turn at pretty much full throttle you could definitely feel the back end want to kick out and I thought my tires would just squeal as they lost traction, but the LSD kept things in check great. You could really feel the power being preserved through the turn. At this point we were neck and neck and both gunned it, she ended up turning off early but before we hit speed limit (100km/h, 62mph) her front bumper was at my rear, this was pretty much at 2nd gear redline. Obviously this was no track situation but to give an idea as to the performance difference between the coupe and sedan, there isn't much. I would expect the G35S to be right on par, the X being the slowest of the G35's, but with 3 adults in my car compared to hers I'm guessing the difference may be more pronounced.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, the car has a much more compliant suspension then the G35C, however while it seems softer at times on bumpy roads it can also be stiffer then the G35C, not necessarily a bad thing. Also the cabin is very quiet, you can barely hear the engine/exhaust unless you're in the 4000+ rpm range. That's a pity too because the exhaust note on this car is fantastic, I like it more then the previous gen.

Overall my feelings of the car are mostly unchanged, I still like the car but there seems to be something missing I can't quite put my finger on. The car although better in almost every performance angle from the previous gen, still doesn't feel quite as tossable as the G35C. The car to me feels a bit bigger than the previous even though overall dimensions are almost the same. The other problem is that winter tires for this beast are going to be very expensive because of the huge *** brakes.

Altogether was a fun experience, but felt very rushed. I could have spent another 3 hours exploring the car, I think ultimately it will be the gadgets and toys in this car that I will fall in love with. I'm thinking I'm going the leasing route on this coupe though, I have a feeling Infiniti has something up their sleeves in the next 2-3 years and I may want to switch up when/if that happens.

 

Nice story,

u had to show the salesman what the iPod integration was he should of know that already....

While u were test driving the car (more like racing it), was the salesman with u because that must have been funny.

thanks for the long post, its good one to read.

 

Great read Orbie! Thanks for your contribution.

 

I have been told that there is a 17" steel rim that the dealership will sell that can fit around the 14" rotors in the sport model. Can't confirm it, but that's what my bud at the dealership told me. (That is a great relief for me!)

 

Yeah, I'm surprised no other customers had asked about the iPod cable, was more shocked from that angle than anything. At least I know the car definitely comes with the cable.

Yeah the salesman was in the car as I was driving it. He's not stupid though, he knows that this car and Infiniti cars in general should be marketed as performance luxury cars. A buyer for a G37 will be interested in the performance aspects of the car. He originally drove the car off the lot and was driving it harder than I ever would, more so with high G turns though. He was actually goating me to gun it after each light etc, although he did not think that we would be able to pull on the G35x like we did.

Yeah I just wish I got more pictures and a video of the exhaust at least. As shown previously I did think it was cool on my iPod Nano when the Infiniti logo shows up on it as you plug it into the interface. I wonder if that's the case with the iPhones as well...

I'm not certain about the winter rims yet, but 17" winters on my current G35Coupe barely fit around the smaller rotors and caliper. I doubt with the 14" rotors on the G37 a 17" will fit, this will probably work on the non-sport, but I'm thinking the G37 sport will require at least an 18".

 

^ I thought 18" rim would be the smallest, too. I'll see it to believe it (re: 17" rim). If you live close enough to the border, just buy the tires in the 'States and pay the duty when you bring them over. That's what I do -- save at least 20% after paying taxes.

 

I'm interested in knowing what rates did u all get (Financing/Lease)

 

That seems right to me too. I wouldn't think they would even know that information quite yet. Dealers seem slow to learn about this kind of stuff when a new model is out.