KELSEY MAYS
Living Editor
Anela Holck/Assistant Photo Editor
A mediocre car takes its driver from one point to the next. A great car encourages the driver to add extra points to that journey, often throwing hours into trips that do little more than tool around back roads to nowhere.
There are plenty such roads in these Santa Monica Mountains. And thanks to an Infiniti G35, I have grown quite fond of my nowhere journeys.
Arriving in 2003, the vehicle marked Infiniti’s newest foray into the $35,000 sports-sedan segment, one that’s crucial to any premium brand’s reputation. Anyone can build a fast, sporty sedan for $60,000, but to be reasonably quick, readily tackle horseshoe turns and maintain a premium feel, all without breaking the customer’s bank, is a real bull’s-eye.
BMW has been pegging this mark for the past decade with its 3-series. Other automakers periodically take their shots and often come close, but legitimate bragging rights demand perfection.
Infiniti’s G35 aims straight for the target, starting with the company’s award-winning 3.5-liter V-6. Nissan, parent of the Infiniti brand, unveiled the engine in its 2001 Pathfinder SUV, and it quickly spread across various other Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. With each passing year, power grew. The 3.5-liter Pathfinder generated an impressive 250 horsepower, and the 2003 G35 arrived packing 260 horses and 260 pounds-feet of torque.
This year, Nissan’s engineers tweaked exhaust valves, improved air flow and put their wrenches to good use elsewhere, pushing power to 280 in G35s with automatic transmissions and 298 with manual shifters.
The vehicle comes in sedan or coupe layout, both with rear-wheel drive. A four-wheel drive sedan is also available.
My test car was a silver sedan with the stick shift, priced to $34,910 with options. There is a low growl at idle, but acceleration is seamless and fairly quiet — the V-6 is tuned toward civility, rather than the high whine it sings in a Nissan 350Z. It approaches something near that whine if pushed hard, but instantly quiets into near-silence at cruising speed.
The clutch seems a bit too long, and at its friction point, the engine feels harsh for a second, but the G35’s stick shift is among the best in the business. It has clean, short throws and never left me guessing which gear to snatch next.
It’s not ultimately necessary to shift all that much, as the engine bares teeth just about everywhere along the tachometer. While some cars don’t serve up torque until moments before redline, the G35 offers its 260 pounds-feet at a friendlier 4,800 rpm. It’s far more usable down there and makes for easy bursts through tight corners in the bottom three gears.
Cornering reveals excellent composure, thanks to a four-wheel multilink suspension that minimizes body roll through turns. Steering is a direct, tightly-screwed operation, with a nicely weighted wheel that never feels vague.
Composure and poise is what the G35 is all about. There is always just enough road feel to catch that whiff of understeer through corners, hang the rearward tires a pinch starboard, and then gracefully steer port to regain stability. And I can do it again and again — it’s that predictable.
Cheaper front-wheel-drive cars would plow their front ends into places unknown with that move. Less balanced rear-wheel drivers would sag and weave. A sports sedan worth its salt should remain poised through the bend and emerge on its toes, prepared to blast down a straightaway or apex another turn.
The G35 is a fantastic example, ready to attack corners at a moment’s notice. And it still has most of the amenities one expects in a daily driver. The interior’s standard leather upholstery feels high-quality and luxurious, and the front seats are amply supportive. I never quite found the right driving position, though, because the height adjustor doesn’t allow the seat cushion to move very low. Shorter drivers might suffer, as the center armrest doesn’t extend very far forward, and the apertures ahead — two cupholders and the parking brake — aren’t too comfortable for elbows or forearms.
Infiniti places the control switches for the G35’s power front seats on the surface of each seat next to the center console, rather than on the chair’s outboard side like in most vehicles equipped with power seats. Interestingly, many in today’s automotive press note that the controls dig into occupants’ thighs.
I disagree. You would have to have fairly massive thighs to spill onto the seat controls, and I’d prefer adjusting the switches from there any day over jabbing my fingers into the space below the door sills while navigating a busy interstate.
The dark interior is uninviting, though a cylinder-shaped structure that spans the dash — it integrates the air vents and two storage compartments — adds some character. Splashes of aluminum down the center stack and door handles prevent a total blackout.
If a shortcoming exists, it’s the air-conditioning system. Single-zone automatic climate control is standard on every G35, but an optional dual-zone system relies on a tiny button left of the temperature knob. Push it once and adjust the driver’s temperature; another push adjusts for the passenger. But accidentally push it a third time while rolling the temperature knob, and you get to start from scratch because it links up both zones again.
Combined with a computer that obsessively blew Calgary temperatures despite me dialing up South Beach, it leaves much to be desired.
Otherwise, the G35 is a high-quality car. The double-sealed doors feel appropriately heavy, and highway wind noise is subdued, though still present. The outboard rear seats manually recline a few inches, an option on my test car. Backseat passengers will be asleep in quick order — those recliners are seriously comfortable, and few competitors offer such an option. The seats leave ample legroom, but don’t fold for trunk access.
An optional seven-speaker Bose audio system pipes crystal-clear jazz late into the night. Cabin storage, while not abundant, is enough to store basics.
The styling bears Infiniti’s corporate face, with a slatted grille and multi-bezel headlamps. It’s tasteful, though I think the rear is a bit plain.
Starting around $31,000 with the standard V-6, leather and power seats, the G35 does a fine impression of everything a sports sedan should be. But the Bavarians cooked up another 3-series this year, and though it doesn’t feel as strong off the line as the Infiniti, it does offer even more refined handling dynamics.
Here’s the wrinkle: A BMW 330i starts at more than $37,000.
For me, a chunky discount for a machine that’s in some respects better, but in many respects only slightly worse, seems like a deal worth taking.
09-29-2005
