Ain't Missing the G No More

[meanie]

Last official day of summer so I open the windows and moonroof and find a twisty road along a lake. Got Motown girl groups playing on the box, and the stick in DS, or sometimes I shift my own, as I power out of the curves. With an elbow through the window and one hand on the wheel I feel the cool evening air rushing around the cockpit, punctuated by the throaty burble of the cold air intake. While the speeds are extralegal, they are still sane, and relaxed, the handling surefooted with just the right amount of lean and feel. I touch the gas and effortlessly leap from 30 to 50, the transmission smoothly adjusting or giving a little throttle blip on downshifts. I smile as a roadsign announces another series of S curves ahead. And then I realize, this car is...perfect. It has been almost 2 years since my G37xS was totalled, and while I loved to drive it, I always felt a bit on edge, as if it wanted to be pushed to limits that were far too risky on public roads. The EX strikes me as more of a hotrod, than a sports sedan. The height and steering feel remind me of my old souped up 55 Chevy, but if course in a more modern, comfortable, and better handling package. In any case, it suits me...just right!

[kingfrog]

Excellent write up. I was looking to buy a 2008 G37 in 2010. Could not come to terms so I bought a Honda EX-l Coupe instead, HUGE mistake, Traded it for an 08 Tacoma TRD OR V6 double cab just to stop the hemorrhaging depreciation. Two and a half yeras later I sell the Taco for %1500 more than I paid (traded) for it in cash value, ($22,000) Honda would not have been worth $14,000 wholesale and retailing a car like that is a LOT harder than a Tacoma. So I made up the $6000 depreciation hit I would have taken and now am back to Looking at Infiniti.....This time the more Utilitarian EX35,

[XIS]

Makes me want to take a drive...but I have a good month or more left of summer! (We open the roof and roll down the windows After summer here!)

[NJGuy]

While the speeds are extralegal, they are still sane, and relaxed, the handling surefooted with just the right amount of lean and feel. I touch the gas and effortlessly leap from 30 to 50, the transmission smoothly adjusting or giving a little throttle blip on downshifts. I smile as a roadsign announces another series of S curves ahead. And then I realize, this car is...perfect. It has been almost 2 years since my G37xS was totalled, and while I loved to drive it, I always felt a bit on edge, as if it wanted to be pushed to limits that were far too risky on public roads. The EX strikes me as more of a hotrod, than a sports sedan. The height and steering feel remind me of my old souped up 55 Chevy, but if course in a more modern, comfortable, and better handling package. In any case, it suits me...just right!

I've never driven a G sedan, but I think I have to agree with you here. To me, it seems like the G wants to be driven harder, while the EX is a tad softer and can be more of a comfortable cruiser. I can only imagine the trouble that I or my wife could get into with a G ; I think we already test our luck enough with the EX .

[meanie]

My wife rented a Vette GranSport as a birthday present and while I enjoyed driving it for the day, the only place I could let it off it's tether even a little bit were highway entrances and exits. The car is just so capable, stays so flat in the curves, that you have to be going outrageous speeds to challenge it and give the sensation of motion. The G is a different type of car, but to really feel it bite on the curves I would be at speeds that not only would grab the attention of local gendarmes, but would make it hard to throttle back if a car, or heaven forbid, a kid on a bike, suddenly appeared in front of me. Maybe it is just a matter of living in the heavily populated northeast where empty winding roads are rare, or being at an age where a note of caution tends to creep into my thinking. Even so, just as I've always preferred cruisers to sportbikes, the EX just seems so well balanced and comfortable that I can enjoy driving it at any speed. I think it was probably a happy accident of economy that Infiniti put a G front end together with an FX rear suspension on a shorter wheel base to produce a car that provides both a supple ride and extraordinary handling.