gocubsgo55

nah. this can't be happening. Not in the U.S. at least. The M35 will have 270-290 hp, and the G35 will have more? Also Nissan should be smart enough to know that a 4.1L V6 won't suit a buyer of an Infiniti, it wont be very smooth. Just my opinion, but this car if it were to be produced would be SMOKIN! AND it would take the Skyline above the Fairlady Z (which it SHOULD be). I'd love Nissan if they did this .

titan

I think this car, if it's true, will be the next G. The M35 will make atleast 300HP, because the new RL makes 300HP now. Nissan/Infiniti is on a great run, and I don't think they'd introduce this engine (anywhere, not just the U.S.) if it wasn't smooth, and up to Infiniti standards. If we do get this car it won't be for a few years anyway, because the G just got it's refresh. Infiniti will probably introduce this new car, and then a refreshed M the following year, with this engine as it's new V6. I also think it's just a matter of time before we see some major upgrades to the V8.

gavriil

In the latest MT mag edition, they tested the 05 6MT sedan and it ran:

5.8 for the 60
14.1 @ 99.7 mph for the 1/4 mile
60-0 = 121 feet
600ft slalom = 65.4 mph
Lateral Acc.= 0.85 g

Base price $31210
As tested $34760

biker

The 38 extra HP over the 04 didn't buy it much.

gavriil

Why? What was the 260HP MT running?

95gt

I believe i remember seeing 5.9 for one. Of course many believed that 260hp was hunderated and was closer to 280 or so.

Either way nice speed for a 4door 30k car

gavriil

I totally believe that the 260HP engine was underrated. I was driving one for a week as a rental in Orlando and I was certain of that. It felt much stronger.

cusdaddy

I'm unimpressed by the new 300hp VQ... Even though it gained extra HP compared to the prior version, it lost torque and appears to be as fast or slower than the other VQ. I'll take the Z's 287hp/273tq vs 300hp/260tq

cob3683

I really thought the numbers would be better. Guess we'll have to wait for more testing to really see.

6mtV6

What are the times for the 05 G35 coupe 6mt?

Coupe and sedan 6mt weighs the same.

Zapata

no so impressive imho......rwd with as much trq as it as only running 14.1.....

DownUnder

MotorTrend isn't the greatest at achieving the best acceleration numbers or most mags for that matter. They rated the '03.5 6MT G35 sedan at 14.3s and some have done better then that, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the new 6MT hit high 13's with a good driver.

02AV6

14.2 if you good.

EZZ

and 13.9x if you're great. Two sedans have run that time. BTW, the 260hp was really only for the auto sedan. The manual sedans had the same dyno #s are the 280hp coupe

02AV6

Also keep in mind 260HP for both MT and AT is a Infiniti marketing game to sell more expensive coupes. In reality people dyno both versions and found there is really 5-8HP difference. And both sedan and coupe showed identical times on the track .

BTW, fastest I've seen was 13.9 for (03) and typically 6MT (03-04) run 14.1-14.2.

My 5AT '04 G35 sedan dyno 209/209 SAE on conservative Dynojet while typically it shows 215 at the wheels. So that means the sedan has minimum 270HP and maximum 275HP.

02AV6

Here it is some canadian ran 13.96 @ 101.03 (stock) on his 2003 G35 Sedan 6MT

gavriil

I believe that.

MSZ

03 and 04's VQ35 was underrated. It has been rated 272 ps in Japan since its debut.

I have a question for the Nissan experts: Why the middle east G35's VQ35 rated almost 10hp higher than the North American model? http://www.infiniti-me.com/gsedan/performance.htm

EZZ

Emissions. A less restrictive cat yields more than 10hp for the G35.

heyitsme

I could see saying that at BMW prices, but the car is 30k, thats pretty damn good performance at that price for an entry level sedan no matter what hp/tq are on the sticker.

2nd, one might say a similiar fwd car can match that 1/4mile with less power and thats fine, but that rwd leads to a greater handling feel than a fwd competitor might have.

oonowindoo

ok i had 03 g35c 6mt and now i have 05 g35c 6mt...

honestly there is not really that much of a difference from 0-60 or 0--100..
18HP more to the crank is basically nothing. BUT there is a difference from a roll i dont know why maybe due to the extra 500 rpm.. then again the difference is NOT like day/night difference.

i have seen a video from g35driver.com that a 03 has cai, cat, exhausts vs bone stock 05 and the 05 had about 1-1.5 car lenght by end of 3rd....

But 05 is defintely more fun to drive than 03/04 because i can rev all the way up to 7200 before fuel cut instead of 6500

titan

Just looking forward to the next one, now.

gavriil

I went out and test drove a 6MT today as part one of xxx part of my total research for a new car (finally started it).

This is the second time I am driving the coupe but first time with a stick.

The highlight of this drive? The ride:

I was very concerned about the 19s and the "sport tuned suspension". To my surprise, I found out that this car is slighltly less compliant than our CLS while being significantly stiffer (both suspension-wise as well as overall ridgidity-wise).

I specifically asked to drive on patchy roads to see how this car behaves. Actually over certain terrain this car is more compliant than our CLS.

Bottom line, I would have no problem living with this car under any circumstances.

The engine (and drivetrain):

I have driven cars with various iterations of this engine. Altima, Maxima, G35C auto, G35 sedan and the Z twice. The bottom line here:

This engine is down on torque by very little, but it pulls (super) hard all the way to 7K rpm (and possibly beyond). The difference with this engine is that this engine is comfortable at low, mid or high rpm and leaning towards being the most comfortable above 5K rpm. Something that reminded me of our engine, only without the obvious (in feel) VTEC "step".

Sound-wise, this engine now sounds even closer to the Z's engine. Certainly a sporty sound, but our engine's nuance above 5K rpm is better in my opinion. The good thing about the G's engine is that it sounds throaty from 1500rpm until its redline. Ours sounds "electric" up until 4800 rpm. Then it changes to one of the greatest engine sounds as far as nuance I have personally heard. It could be a little louder but that's a different story.

The stick shift was OK but it can be better. The shifts are not long nor short, somewhat in the middle. It says that the stick shift gets a LSD, I felt none of it, way too short of a play-ride, plus I feel bad beating new cars. It also says the stick cars get dual mass flywheels. I could easily tell that the clutch engagement was refined over that of the Z's (that was way too abrupt when I tested) but it's still not as progressive as that of a...GTO's for example.

The Brembos are gone with 2005. I dont know why. But no complaints with the brakes.

Chassis:

The sales rep, a very plesant, high 50s, Polish-born woman, who was extremely knowledgable of the car, actually took me to a large, mostly empty, private parking lot and she said, "do whatever you want with the car!".

So, one of the first things I did was test the acceleration of the car with first gear only (later on the road with second gear as well) but the second thing I did was to turn the VDC off and started turning the car around its axis. That exercise always reminds what we're missing with FWD, which is not very very much, but it's something that we can not feel the same way one does in well balanced, sporty tuned, RWD cars. It gave me a good feel about the car's balance. It's very easy to steer this car with the gas pedal while cornering. Also, the engine's torque is more than enough to turn the tail around at pretty much any gear.

The bottom line of all this was that this car can be fun if one wanted to have fun and had no issue buying new rear tires every six months.

Talking of tires, 225 fronts, 245 rears with Potenza 050s Ys! all around. I like the 245 choice in the rear because after all, this is no V8 car. The 19s already are pushing it.

What you also get with this package is 0.5 inch larger width wheels in the rear as opposed to the 18s that are 8 inch wide all around. I am convinced from previous experience that wheel width is more important than tire width for overall roadholding and handling characteristics.

Interior - Overall Build Quality:

The G might have felt solid two years ago, but when you open and close its doors now and you do the same with the M35/45, you know there is a big difference. You can tell the M is a new car and the G is getting old. And that's the case I would say with pretty much everything concerning the overall build quality of the car. That's not to say the G is not qualitatively built, but it did not give me the impression that I am getting as far as quality with some other new generation cars (e.g. RL).

I liked the fact that the hood is made of aluminum. Very light. But I did not like the fact that it needs a support rod to stay up. No hydraulic lifters, like our car has. A nice touch was the fact that "Advanced Front Midship" was writen on the inside of the hood (on the sound proofing material). That's very interesting to me.

About the interior, I have writen several times. The choice of materials are of simple design but the materials are..."heavy duty" when you become familar with them. I drove a car without the GPS.

I liked the dual zone climate control.

I did not like how shalow and small the trunk was, unlike our car, but I was very impressed with the fact that the rear seats fold backwards, also unlike our car.

In theory the passenger and driver seats are different with stick cars, but I did nomt sit in the passenger seat to confirm.

Now, I am a VPP customer (for those who know), so this car will be about $3500 off of MSRP and when thinking of a $36.5K fully equipped G35C 6MT, I cant think but see this as a HUGE deal. Just like our car was when it came out in March of 2000.

But I am feeling that with all the HP wars, this car will very soon (if not already) feel underpowered. If Infiniti introduced a small V8 (like a 4.0L) in this car without adding weight, it'd be great even if it cost $6K more. On this item, I think that Infiniti is making a mistake not having more powerful engines than Nissan in the case of the G. You know, this 298HP for the G coupe as opposed to 300HP for the Z is nonsense. Infiniti is the premium brand. Their cars should be more powerful and quicker/faster than Nissan's equivelants.

All this happened at Infiniti if Orland Park (IL).

I later passed by the Mercedes of Orland Park only to be told that they had NO SLKs available to drive (or buy). They said, in 45 days or so, the 2006s will be out with a new offering, the SLK 280.

chef chris

great review Gav, as always.

I have to agree with you on the majority.

I like where Nissan is going with Infiniti, I just hope they keep the pricing grounded so I can still afford their products. Currently looking for a used M45(03/04)...now, that is an excellent buy in the $25-30K range!

Crazy Bimmer

Thats pretty much what i thought, i didnt even want to drive it after that. I know im anal.

titan

Nice review Gav. I agree with you on the main sticking points. Especially that Infiniti product's should be superior in areas such as HP, speed, refinement, etc. You're thoughts on the interior further convices me that the next G will be a beast inside and out. After seeing the M back to back with the G, I've decided to wait until the next gen to see if they're able to address the material/design/fit-finish of the G completely. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the car.

gavriil

Thanks for the good words guys. I will post my feelings about test-driving all other cars on my list.

gavriil

The problem with that is that the next G is at the least 1.7 years away. Possibly more. I cant wait that long. By then, the CLS will be 7 years old. No way I am keeping a car that long. Usually I keep cars 4 years. Currently the CLS will be 5 years old in a month and a half. So it's pushing it.

titan

Oh, I gotcha. That time line is almost ideal for me... it'll be another year until I get a new car. That said, I thought the G was only a year away, not almost two. That sucks. I keep my cars longer though; five to seven years...

gavriil

The 05 was their third year. And it started 6-9 months ago. Also, the chances Infiniti will stick to the 4 year cycle, in my opinion, are 50/50. I would not be surprised at all to see 5 or even 6 years before the next gen. comes out.

titan

I see your point. Well, as I said I'll be ready in the next few years, so it works out for me.

EZZ

The GTR will come out before the next iteration of the G35. The GTR is due in 07 so the G35 will probably come out in 08. BTW, I've had my G for over a year and I don't have any rattles or creaks...you gotta love japanese manufacturing

6mtV6

http://www.nissannews.com

06 G35 coupe has projectors.

Belzebutt

Finally!

Did they revise the tail lights too? Doesn't seem to look as nice as the ones I last saw.

tnl_tsx

the reverse light and it used to be round

Beltfed

The front of the coupe looks worse.

Looks like its smiling.

Moog-Type-S

current model G35 > 06 model

03TL-S

You guys have to remember that the front fascia of the G is only different for the 6MT model i believe. The headlights look good and so do the tailights. The sidesills are okay looking...not too noticeable. Overall, its all good but i like the current spoiler more.

F23A4

I just picked up an 05 Murano yesterday and I'm considering chrome dubs.

virtualbong

That would look pretty hot, though I'm sure its going to be pretty expensive.