I just took delivery of my 6MT yesterday evening and thought I'd introduce myself to everyone else on the board. I've been reading everyone's comments since before I placed my order back in March, thanks very much for providing so much great information! It was very helpful in making my decision and in negotiating my price.

My G35 is a 6MT, blue slate/graphite, with premium pkg only. I'm a little jealous of those of you with more automotive toys on your G (esp. the rear view camera), but the G was a bit more car than I had planned on getting in the first place and I had to weigh the value of those extras vs. other needs. Premium pkg was a necessity because of the heated seats; it gets cold here in Michigan! I believe most other G drivers in these parts opt for the X (it's all the dealer had on the lot), but I wasn't prepared to switch to an automatic transmission. Both my wife and I think automatics take too much of the fun out of driving, except in those instances where you're stuck in traffic, which is thankfully a rare occurance here, at least outside of construction zones.

The vehicle I'm coming from is a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T with 172,000 miles on her, which I picked up in December of 1995 halfway through my senior year of undergrad. With a wife and thoughts of expanding the family in two or so years, plus some recent good career news, it was time to move up to four doors, but I wanted something that would still move. The G fits that need nicely! It's been quite a upgrade; no rattles to speak of, which is certainly a change. I'm impressed by all the upgrades in automotive technology that I was missing out on until now, especially the intelligent key. I wouldn't have selected the I-key as an option, but now that I have one I don't think I ever want to go back to the dark ages of actually sticking a key into a lock or ignition. The things I WILL miss about the Eclipse are her transmission (which is so much smoother and solid than the G's) and gas mileage. But so far my mileage seems to be varying, in a good way, from what many other G owners are getting. I'm still under 100 miles, but the car is reporting an average of 20 MPG in primarily city driving. Having the instantaneous MPG readout right in front of me while I drive is having a significant effect on my throttle usage (well, at least MOST of the time; I have touched 5k RPM once or twice and found out the VDC works as advertised...)

Anyway, now that I actually have a vehicle and am starting to build some knowledge I'm looking forward to contributing to the community that helped me.

 

CONGRATS!! I grew up in Clarkston so I know how much the heated seats are needed!
Some great driving roads out near Grand Rapids - I think I'd have gone with the 6mt too.
Looking forward to seeing you around the forum here!

 

^I can relate to you ^ this is also exactly why I bought my G and this forum helped me out a lot when deciding which to get and which package I needed. I came from a 96 BMW 328is with 150k miles but like you, I needed the 4 doors for future kids and still wanted some power with it. Congratulations on your new family sedan!! hehe

 

Congrats on the new car and welcome to the family. You have great taste in cars too.

 

Congrats and welcome to the forum!!!

 

Thanks for the welcoming replies!

 

I finally took some pics this weekend and thought I'd share them; I've read I'm not an official owner until I post pics... The reproduction of the blue slate color isn't quite right, probably because the camera I used is nearly eight years old (it's an Olympus C2000 Zoom I bought in August 1999). I just ordered a Panasonic DMC-LZ7 so hopefully future pics will be much better.

My vehicle is 100% stock, with the only notable features being the lack of both a satellite antenna (no nav or sat radio) and splashguards (didn't think the cost/benefit ratio was good enough to include them in the order). I might like to lower her in the future, but just in the front, and only slightly, an inch or less.

The Eclipse in the background of the second pic is my previous ride of eleven and a half years awaiting its day on eBay. I'm quite attached to that vehicle, but the G is helping me move on...

 

dammmmm thats a nice color..CONGRATZ!!!!

 

Nice pics!! That is a definitely a big step up from the Eclipse!

 

Robert, welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase of your G. I'm looking forward to reading your posts!

 

doesnt XM come with the premium package? Where's your antenna?

 

XM comes with the Navi package.

 

Thanks Shane, and thanks for contributing your time to moderate this forum. This is a much more friendly, well organized, and useful place than the other forums I've checked out.

Thought I'd add what I can for the benefit of other readers, especially those considering buying a 6MT. I've had my G a week and a day and am now up to abut 250 miles on the odo. The 6MT does take some getting used to, and even now I occasionally don't give her enough gas and end up stalling. The engagement point is much sharper than my Eclipse, and much higher off the floor. The height off the floor I can deal with, but I really wish the clutch weren't an on/off switch. Hopefully it will get better as it wears in. I've also noticed it seems worse when I first start driving and improves with use (heat). Like others I also get a mild "clank" when shifting into second gear. Regardless, the positives of this car as a whole FAR outweigh the flaws with the 6MT. So far I'm getting just over 20 MPG (US gallons) in mostly city driving at 30 mph (trip computer shows an average of 21 mph) and no standing in traffic. To get that I've been using the recommended shift speeds for best economy, occasionally using the "for faster acceleration" speeds (because it's not ALL about fuel economy). Other posters had me worried I'd be seeing 17 mpg or less, so I'm relieved.

 

wow that color looks great!! It took me all of 2 hours to forget my former car once I started driving my G LOL LOL