Why No Nissan 350z or Infiniti G35 in C/D's "Best Car [New or Used] For 25k"?

[Mark Linkous]

Hello,While I really like the concept of Car and Driver's feature article this month, I cannot believe either car are included. I mean, a SRT-10 Ram Pickup? Gotta admit a sub five second to sixty full size truck is kinda cool though.

However, with either example, you could get almost complete warranty coverage. Heck, in this market, perhaps a sparsely equipped brand new 350Z could be had? A new Miata makes the cut. A new GTI makes the cut. Given the performance potential with either coupled with the amount of warranty available, this seems to be a glaring oversight.Cheers,ML

[JHof]

Yeah, I just read the article and wondered that myself.

It seems that the Z and G have fallen off the enthusiast magazine radar, maybe because they have been around for too long without significant changes."Road & Track" seems to be ignoring the Nissan-made twins as well.I also agree that the inclusion of the Dodge TRUCK was a wierd choice. I thought all along that it was "CAR" and Driver. Who do they think they are,anyway???

[Bubba1]

Yeah, I just read the article and wondered that myself.

It seems that the Z and G have fallen off the enthusiast magazine radar, maybe because they have been around for too long without significant changes."Road & Track" seems to be ignoring the Nissan-made twins as well.I also agree that the inclusion of the Dodge TRUCK was a wierd choice. I thought all along that it was "CAR" and Driver. Who do they think they are,anyway???

Great minds think alike. I thought the exact same thing when i read that article. I think they should have replaced the Dodge ram with a 350Z and the GTi with a used S2K.

[SteveTheTech]

I really don't get that? Since it's the storm of the century I will have to pick that up later. A miata though over a coupe?

I went to the C&D website and the 10 best of the year is up. No 37 there but the BMW 3 series, Mazda Miata, and F*ing Porsche Boxster are on it. None of these cars are new though. Not one Nissan or Infiniti. I really wonder why.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

I really don't get that? Since it's the storm of the century I will have to pick that up later. A miata though over a coupe?

I went to the C&D website and the 10 best of the year is up. No 37 there but the BMW 3 series, Mazda Miata, and F*ing Porsche Boxster are on it. None of these cars are new though. Not one Nissan or Infiniti. I really wonder why.

The 3 series is a world-beater. The Mazda Miata is the greatest everyman's car ever made. The Porsche Boxster is unadulterated bliss.

The G37 will never beat the 3 series... That's why there's no G on the list.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

"Miata" and "man" don't go together.

In racing though, that's a different story.

[MinisterofDOOM]

As soon as I saw the GTI in that article, I wrote it off as BS.

No Z, no S2000, no E38. Morons work at Car and Driver these days.

I realize it's not the public opinion, but I think the F50 Q45 needs to be in there, too. Where else can you get a 4 year old $70k car for $20k?

[MastaYu]

[SteveTheTech]

Ok they may all be decent cars but why not something new? It's been the same crap for years. C&D is que*r for BMW though they are biased, in most of their results. None of the writters that do the reviews are Nissan guys. It's like the Jeep thing. I drive all kinds of cars at work and have throughout the years always been a Nissan fan.

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter what some random guy thinks about the car you like, if you like it enough to pay for it its a good car.

I would personally never ever ever drive a BMW or Porsche. I'm not that type of person. Seriously every Porsche has looked the same for 20 years, still plain and small.

[Bubba1]

Ok they may all be decent cars but why not something new? It's been the same crap for years. C&D is que*r for BMW though they are biased, in most of their results. None of the writters that do the reviews are Nissan guys. It's like the Jeep thing. I drive all kinds of cars at work and have throughout the years always been a Nissan fan.

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter what some random guy thinks about the car you like, if you like it enough to pay for it its a good car.

I would personally never ever ever drive a BMW or Porsche. I'm not that type of person. Seriously every Porsche has looked the same for 20 years, still plain and small.

Well, I think you need to get behind the wheel of a BMW or Porsche out on the track to understand why they are so coveted. You're right about the Porsche's looking alike, that's the extent of the similarity. The development in those cars have been impressive.

[SteveTheTech]

When I buy a mid life crisis car it'll be an Infiniti or a Vette. I'm more of a beer and football guy not the stuff shirt yacht club type, I couldn't pull of a BMW or Porsche I would hate myself. I would buy a Benz over any other Euro though,(but that would not be a legitimate choice as the only ones I like are well in excess of 100K).

That being said I know there decent cars, just not worth it to me. I'm biased though but I don't think anything drives like a 08+M45S or an FX50S. I think Nissan/Infiniti is just not getting a fair review. They have come a long way in the past few years.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Ew. Mercedes is the worst german car manufacturer.

I had a job with them in Stuttgart and they cancelled it 2 weeks before I was supposed to start. F them. Luckily, Bosch picked me up

[MinisterofDOOM]

Ew. Mercedes is the worst german car manufacturer

Agreed. Although without Audi, VW would be a ringer for that spot.

I love Mercedes new ad slogan. Something about great cars following a philosophy that not everyone shares. In other words "Our cars don't suck, you're just too stupid to appreciate them."

[PapaSmurf2k3]

hahaha, don't get me wrong, Mercedes comes up with some decent stuff, but damn, it always freaking breaks, and you pay out the *** for it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

My problem with Mercedes these days is that only their very expensive cars offer anything even remotely resembling an involving driving experience. And even most of their "sports" models are just boring cars with more power.

[Jesda]

It could be because the G isn't quite as attractive or as well built as its competition in the same class.

The Ram SRT10 is just an insane barrel of fun.

[SteveTheTech]

I too had an interesting employment experience with the company and I will admit there cars are way over rated, and not the quality they used to be. After driving anything with the 55AMG supercharged motor or TT V12 it made me want one.

My landlord parked his SLR in my garage for a while, and that is downright just a beautiful machine and a wicked ride.

The responses here are my validate my point exactly. Everyone thinks something slightly different of the same vehicles. I am sure that if everyone was to come up with their ten best of the year almost everyone would be different.