Infiniti: M-Series news **Hybrid Revealed (page 34)**
#721
Senior Moderator
I don't know, I just can't get myself to like this new M. I think the RL looks much better.
I really can't stand how bulgy the M looks, and the grille looks stupid. Really looks awful to me!
I really can't stand how bulgy the M looks, and the grille looks stupid. Really looks awful to me!
![ugh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/ugh.gif)
#724
Some dude
If you think the RL looks better you need to tone down your crack intake.
![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
I think they share the same hood. And it makes me think Maxima too, this would be the sexier version though.
Last edited by MeehowsBRZ; 08-19-2009 at 09:19 AM.
#725
Senior Moderator
#727
Some dude
#728
Senior Moderator
#729
Suzuka Master
Join Date: Jan 2001
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But they should have a resemblence...it is a Nissan Fuga, sold alongside the Maxima in japan.
#731
Some dude
#732
The sizzle in the Steak
The more I look at it the more I think it's too bulbous looking.
Looks like a Korean knock-off of the current M.
Looks like a Korean knock-off of the current M.
#742
Some dude
Just because I'm not in my 30s and spend all day posting doesn't make me a noob. Nice try though.
Last edited by MeehowsBRZ; 08-20-2009 at 12:40 PM.
#743
Some dude
#744
The sizzle in the Steak
#745
Some dude
#746
Punk Rocker
Don't worry too much about Moog. He lives in a different reality than most normal people would care to understand. How the hell a feature that improves the driving experience as well as being fully defeatable is somehow a bad thing could only be construed in that weird, alternate Moog-iverse.....
#747
The sizzle in the Steak
Don't worry too much about Moog. He lives in a different reality than most normal people would care to understand. How the hell a feature that improves the driving experience as well as being fully defeatable is somehow a bad thing could only be construed in that weird, alternate Moog-iverse.....
![Chuckle](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/chuckle.gif)
(read the thread) :wink:
...
![what](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/what.gif)
...but we have been over this many times already.
#748
The sizzle in the Steak
DETROIT - Confession: I've never mastered the heel-and-toe downshift on the track. With a bit of practice and in the right car, I can get the rhythm going on a twisty mountain road. On a track, it can take me many laps to get it right, and even then, not consistently. So I was happy to get into a Nissan 370Z with SynchroRev Match for a week and press the button. The feature is an interesting compromise between a full, clutch-it-yourself manual and a twin-clutch or sequential manual, like the kind debated in the latest Lohdown.
My first drive home in the Z was interesting, because I tend to match revs on downshifts (if not heel-and-toe) regularly. So here I was, double-clutch/match-rev downshifting on a car that matches its own revs. Several lost revs, there. Once I got used to the idea, the gearbox matched revs perfectly. In fact, too perfectly -- it knows that at a certain speed, a 3-2 downshift requires, say, a rev to 5000 rpm. It won't waste a drop of precious peak oil revving to 5100.
For that reason, the feature is underwhelming in regular driving, unless you downshift two or three gears regularly. Drop a single gear at most speeds and you won't know it's there. There is a little symbol, though, that lights up on the instrument panel.
How does it work? With a bit of experimentation, you'll find that the sensors try to figure out where you're going while in the neutral gate. Downshift from fourth to third, and you'll get a little rev only as you place it into third. Downshift from fourth to second, for example, and the engine revs as you pull it to the left edge of the horizontal neutral gate, before you pull the shift-lever into gear. So you can rev the Z without touching the throttle pedal, simply by moving the gearshift back and forth, from neutral to neutral-left.
For most of the week, I drove the Z around letting the SynchroRev Match do what I usually do with my two feet. It was mildly amusing and, I'm sure, a bit more fuel-efficient than my efforts. Mostly, I yearned for a few laps around a track where, I'm sure, the feature would improve my lap times.
My wife finally got a ride in the car after a few days. Donna's a dyed-in-the-wool manual gearbox purist who just gave a little scowl when I described the feature. She considers twin-clutch and sequential manuals "cheating."
The rev match feature comes with the $3,000 sport package, which also gets you a limited slip differential, 19-inch Bridgestone Potenzas on forged wheels, front chin and rear spoilers and sport brakes. Unless Nissan ends up selling a lot of these for the track, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the rev match is mostly a gimmick.
As for the Z itself, Ron Kiino's review in the February issue compares it favorably with the Aston Martin DBS and calls the 370Z "a sports-car steal." I can't find much to disagree with, although Detroit's bombed-out roads emphasize the car's shortened wheelbase and makes it feel a bit more skittish and nervous than the old 350Z. I'm not enamored with the styling. That's a very subjective issue, of course, but just as the new Ford Mustang's facelift is designed to make that car look shorter, Nissan took an existing design and redrew some lines in order to actually make it shorter. Both cars were redesigned to mixed results -- I find the new Mustang and Z designs a bit less flowing and coherent than the cars they replace.
Philosophically, SynchroRev Match is another example of taking some control away from the kind of car that's all about driver control. More so than twin-clutches or sequential gearboxes, it seems to be an example of something its maker did simply because it discovered a way to make technology do something cool. Unlike DSGs, it's not a way to let you make phone calls while driving, or be able to bear the L.A. Freeways' stop-and-go traffic.
And you shouldn't make it be a deal-killer, either for the 370Z or its sport package. Like most stability control systems, SynchroRev Match can be disarmed simply by pressing a button.
My first drive home in the Z was interesting, because I tend to match revs on downshifts (if not heel-and-toe) regularly. So here I was, double-clutch/match-rev downshifting on a car that matches its own revs. Several lost revs, there. Once I got used to the idea, the gearbox matched revs perfectly. In fact, too perfectly -- it knows that at a certain speed, a 3-2 downshift requires, say, a rev to 5000 rpm. It won't waste a drop of precious peak oil revving to 5100.
For that reason, the feature is underwhelming in regular driving, unless you downshift two or three gears regularly. Drop a single gear at most speeds and you won't know it's there. There is a little symbol, though, that lights up on the instrument panel.
How does it work? With a bit of experimentation, you'll find that the sensors try to figure out where you're going while in the neutral gate. Downshift from fourth to third, and you'll get a little rev only as you place it into third. Downshift from fourth to second, for example, and the engine revs as you pull it to the left edge of the horizontal neutral gate, before you pull the shift-lever into gear. So you can rev the Z without touching the throttle pedal, simply by moving the gearshift back and forth, from neutral to neutral-left.
For most of the week, I drove the Z around letting the SynchroRev Match do what I usually do with my two feet. It was mildly amusing and, I'm sure, a bit more fuel-efficient than my efforts. Mostly, I yearned for a few laps around a track where, I'm sure, the feature would improve my lap times.
My wife finally got a ride in the car after a few days. Donna's a dyed-in-the-wool manual gearbox purist who just gave a little scowl when I described the feature. She considers twin-clutch and sequential manuals "cheating."
The rev match feature comes with the $3,000 sport package, which also gets you a limited slip differential, 19-inch Bridgestone Potenzas on forged wheels, front chin and rear spoilers and sport brakes. Unless Nissan ends up selling a lot of these for the track, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the rev match is mostly a gimmick.
As for the Z itself, Ron Kiino's review in the February issue compares it favorably with the Aston Martin DBS and calls the 370Z "a sports-car steal." I can't find much to disagree with, although Detroit's bombed-out roads emphasize the car's shortened wheelbase and makes it feel a bit more skittish and nervous than the old 350Z. I'm not enamored with the styling. That's a very subjective issue, of course, but just as the new Ford Mustang's facelift is designed to make that car look shorter, Nissan took an existing design and redrew some lines in order to actually make it shorter. Both cars were redesigned to mixed results -- I find the new Mustang and Z designs a bit less flowing and coherent than the cars they replace.
Philosophically, SynchroRev Match is another example of taking some control away from the kind of car that's all about driver control. More so than twin-clutches or sequential gearboxes, it seems to be an example of something its maker did simply because it discovered a way to make technology do something cool. Unlike DSGs, it's not a way to let you make phone calls while driving, or be able to bear the L.A. Freeways' stop-and-go traffic.
And you shouldn't make it be a deal-killer, either for the 370Z or its sport package. Like most stability control systems, SynchroRev Match can be disarmed simply by pressing a button.
You see, it's not about the fact that you can turn it off, it's the whole idea that it takes away from the driving experience...why come up with it at all?
#749
Senior Moderator
And you shouldn't make it be a deal-killer, either for the 370Z or its sport package. Like most stability control systems, SynchroRev Match can be disarmed simply by pressing a button.
![Whistle](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/whistle.gif)
#750
The sizzle in the Steak
#751
I'm sorry but I too am with the sentiment that I don't think something takes away from the driving experience if you can turn it off with a button. Preferably, I would have SynchroRev be a switch, that you set to ON/OFF so that every time you start the car, it defaults to, well, on or off. It is annoying that it's on all the time, but seeing as how you can still manually heel-toe yourself at JUST the press of a button, it doesn't detract from the driving experience at all. ![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
hell, I don't even like the 370Z. But the SynchroRev is the least of my dislikes about the car. I think it could be a useful tool for newbies getting into manuals and learning how to properly rev match.
You want to know about detracting from the driving experience? Take Lexus's stability control. I'm not sure about their new vehicles but on slightly older Lexi, you needed to do some strange and convoluted procedure to disable it. Something like putting the key into ignition before turning on the car, pressing on the brake pedal 5 times and holding it down on the 5th, then releasing the parking brake and engaging it again, then letting go of the brake pedal. That's something that detracts from the driving experience, especially if you have to do all that compared to pressing a button every time you start the car.
![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
hell, I don't even like the 370Z. But the SynchroRev is the least of my dislikes about the car. I think it could be a useful tool for newbies getting into manuals and learning how to properly rev match.
You want to know about detracting from the driving experience? Take Lexus's stability control. I'm not sure about their new vehicles but on slightly older Lexi, you needed to do some strange and convoluted procedure to disable it. Something like putting the key into ignition before turning on the car, pressing on the brake pedal 5 times and holding it down on the 5th, then releasing the parking brake and engaging it again, then letting go of the brake pedal. That's something that detracts from the driving experience, especially if you have to do all that compared to pressing a button every time you start the car.
#752
Senior Moderator
If you say so.
I get that it may not work as well as it should and that maybe it shouldn't be there in the first place..................BUT---- IT TURNS OFF which means it does not take anything away from the experience. Until you can somehow show me that is takes away from the driving experience (while being off) I'll stand by my opinion that its a good thing....for those THAT WANT IT.
I get that it may not work as well as it should and that maybe it shouldn't be there in the first place..................BUT---- IT TURNS OFF which means it does not take anything away from the experience. Until you can somehow show me that is takes away from the driving experience (while being off) I'll stand by my opinion that its a good thing....for those THAT WANT IT.
#753
Some dude
Seems like the author doesn't like this feature because for him it takes away some of "the driving experience" so he pushes the magic little button and holy cow!! its like its not even there.
What's the point of arguing against something that isn't there if you don't want it to be?
Your just bitching for the sake of bitching.
What's the point of arguing against something that isn't there if you don't want it to be?
Your just bitching for the sake of bitching.
Last edited by MeehowsBRZ; 08-20-2009 at 03:27 PM.
#754
Senior Moderator
You want to know about detracting from the driving experience? Take Lexus's stability control. I'm not sure about their new vehicles but on slightly older Lexi, you needed to do some strange and convoluted procedure to disable it. Something like putting the key into ignition before turning on the car, pressing on the brake pedal 5 times and holding it down on the 5th, then releasing the parking brake and engaging it again, then letting go of the brake pedal. That's something that detracts from the driving experience, especially if you have to do all that compared to pressing a button every time you start the car.
#755
The sizzle in the Steak
I'm sorry but I too am with the sentiment that I don't think something takes away from the driving experience if you can turn it off with a button. Preferably, I would have SynchroRev be a switch, that you set to ON/OFF so that every time you start the car, it defaults to, well, on or off. It is annoying that it's on all the time, but seeing as how you can still manually heel-toe yourself at JUST the press of a button, it doesn't detract from the driving experience at all. ![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
hell, I don't even like the 370Z. But the SynchroRev is the least of my dislikes about the car. I think it could be a useful tool for newbies getting into manuals and learning how to properly rev match.
You want to know about detracting from the driving experience? Take Lexus's stability control. I'm not sure about their new vehicles but on slightly older Lexi, you needed to do some strange and convoluted procedure to disable it. Something like putting the key into ignition before turning on the car, pressing on the brake pedal 5 times and holding it down on the 5th, then releasing the parking brake and engaging it again, then letting go of the brake pedal. That's something that detracts from the driving experience, especially if you have to do all that compared to pressing a button every time you start the car.
![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
hell, I don't even like the 370Z. But the SynchroRev is the least of my dislikes about the car. I think it could be a useful tool for newbies getting into manuals and learning how to properly rev match.
You want to know about detracting from the driving experience? Take Lexus's stability control. I'm not sure about their new vehicles but on slightly older Lexi, you needed to do some strange and convoluted procedure to disable it. Something like putting the key into ignition before turning on the car, pressing on the brake pedal 5 times and holding it down on the 5th, then releasing the parking brake and engaging it again, then letting go of the brake pedal. That's something that detracts from the driving experience, especially if you have to do all that compared to pressing a button every time you start the car.
![Doh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/doh.gif)
Still, why create something that takes away from the driving experience....especially on a "drivers" car? It's a waste....and a shame.
I agree with the guy from Motortrend.
#756
The sizzle in the Steak
Seems like the author doesn't like this feature because for him it takes away some of "the driving experience" so he pushes the magic little button and holy cow!! its like its not even there.
What's the point of arguing against something that isn't there if you don't want it to be?
Your just arguing for the sake of arguing.
What's the point of arguing against something that isn't there if you don't want it to be?
Your just arguing for the sake of arguing.
#757
![Tomato](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/tomato.gif)
#758
Some dude
lol, I read it loser. I get it, your panties are all in a bunch because there's a feature for people that aren't hardcore race car drivers like you seem to think you are. Turn it off, wipe of the mascara and move on and stop wasting space.
#760
Team Owner
iTrader: (4)