Euro-bound Infinitis get more power, better equipment

[rn79870]

Is this fair?

The US market may have made Infiniti what it is today, but Nissan's luxury arm is putting more power and better equipment into its vehicles destined for sale in Europe later this year. Engineers have made 300-500 changes per car, including tweaked styling, high-end knobs, bigger brakes, better windshield wipers, improved stability systems, and a seven-speed automatic transmission. Infiniti is also planning to add the 3.7-liter V6 to the overseas 2009 FX, which is more powerful than the 3.5-liter engine we'll receive Stateside. With no four-cylinder or diesel models planned until 2010, Infiniti will still be playing catch-up with its European competitors for the near-term.

The reason for the many improvements is that Infiniti is facing an up-hill battle to woo luxury customers away from very entrenched Euro brands like Mercedes and BMW. That's all well and good, but why not just make most of these improvements in the US market as well? Infiniti is a very good luxury brand, but it's getting its butt kicked in sales by the likes of Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, and Cadillac. We like fancy knobs and seven speed automatics, too.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/0...pment/

Note the 4 cyl coming in 2010 comment...can anybody shed light on that?

[TeflonG35]

maybe the 2.5 they have in skylines in japan?

[C-Kwik]

I'd guess cost vs benefit. The cost to go through EPA testing for an updated engine and a new transmission may not be outweighed by the potential profits. Then again, it might just be a longer process and/or, they may be using Europe as a test bed to see if such improvements would warrant the updates here. If Europe has such loyalties to their domestic luxury cars, then it might be the best place to test out such changes...

[TDS]

I heard somewhere that Japanese Luxury brands (Lexus?) didn’t start out so well in Europe. People wouldn’t buy them because they were too cheap in price compared to BMW, Mercedes, etc. Once they raised the price, people started buying. As if higher price = higher luxury status. If you wiki the Lexus SC, you’ll see that it has a price of about 60k in the US but it nearly doubles for the European market. I bet all those improvements on the G will come with a huge price tag.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

Im waiting for an 8 speed manual now that would make me buy a new car!

DJ

[heliochrome85]

im waiting for the twinturbo awd G50. plus a 10 speed manual. its also going to be made out of sex and be powered by the sun.

/may be halucinating//may have had too much chinese///love that lo-mein////love it too much.

[Sentientbydesign]

Im waiting for an 8 speed manual now that would make me buy a new car!

DJ

And I complain about shifting too often with the 6mt.

[gwoods]

And I complain about shifting too often with the 6mt.

More gears isn't faster.... more hp is faster

[zozoka1212]

They pay more for almost everything there. Don't be jelous.

If you are a ford guy you know the euro spec Ford focus and well you know what we have here.

Carmakers don't give us the best but the cheapest.

zozo

[heliochrome85]

infiniti is trying to enter the market as the Tech Brand. so these little fixes and mods are to address some of the complaints we have had with our cars over the years. no problem with putting best foot forward. its only a matter of time till this stuff trickles down/back? to us in NA.

[audtatious]

im waiting for the twinturbo awd G50. plus a 10 speed manual. its also going to be made out of sex and be powered by the sun.

/may be halucinating//may have had too much chinese///love that lo-mein////love it too much.

10 speed manual? Why not a 16 speed like a truck?

Slushbox technology is starting to kill the manual transmission from a performance perspective and soon only die-hards will keep their manuals regardless of whether they are slower or not. Mechanical shifts will be faster than the 'ole leg and stick.

[heliochrome85]

16 speed? sure why not. while we're at it, i demand a money printing station inside, and seats stuffed with the pink slips of haters. im sorry, HATERZ.

[audtatious]

Imagine the shift points for a 16sp in a car

[heliochrome85]

hahaseriously though, if and when the g37 arrives, i hope it sheds a bit of weight while addressing some of the quality oversights of the current car. my personally, i never understood the lack of rubber mats in the finger wells of the door grips. i have long fingers, when i pull the door shut on g loaners, my fingers always hit hard plastic. if Scion can do it, im sure infiniti can...

also, why is the sunglass holder always so noisy? both in my car, new g sedan loaners, and that much maligned EX35 i had for freaking ever had ratttles whenver i drove over bumps. they always came from that stupid thing. i have half a mind to just tape it shut so it doesnt make any noise. URGH. PAGING LEXUS. LEXUS PLEASE PICK UP THE WHITE COURTESY PHONE.

[Sentientbydesign]

Go make out with Lola!

[heliochrome85]

done! actually, i got her washed today and the freakign car wash ripped off my license plate. or attempted to at least. its now bent in half and the frame is broken. DAMNNIT........

the car wash was like, well, is that factory or is that an aftermarket thing. apparerntly, license plates are not factory and there fore they are not liable.

[Sentientbydesign]

Stop being a lazy A$$ and wash her by hand.

Haven't we all ingrained that into your head?

[C-Kwik]

More gears isn't faster.... more hp is faster

In theory, for a given motor, more gears is faster. But you do get to a point of diminishing returns especially with true manuals as the time to shift can negate the small benefits of adding more and more gears. But one need only look at a 2 speed vs a 4 speed to see that more gears will net better acceleration. More gears allows you to achieve a higher average HP level as it allows for shorter gear spacing.

[heliochrome85]

i would, but my current apartment complex doesnt allow washing by hand in the complex. ive gone to those rentawash bays kinda deals, but the brushes are always cruddy. urgh.

[Sentientbydesign]

I feel you. I lived at one for about a year. My only saving grace was that my in-laws lived about 10 mins away and they had a yard and a hose. Otherwise I would have never washed my car and had to pay to get my oil changed.

[Dodgeyaussie]

Is this fair?

The US market may have made Infiniti what it is today, but Nissan's luxury arm is putting more power and better equipment into its vehicles destined for sale in Europe later this year. Engineers have made 300-500 changes per car, including tweaked styling, high-end knobs, bigger brakes, better windshield wipers, improved stability systems, and a seven-speed automatic transmission. Infiniti is also planning to add the 3.7-liter V6 to the overseas 2009 FX, which is more powerful than the 3.5-liter engine we'll receive Stateside. With no four-cylinder or diesel models planned until 2010, Infiniti will still be playing catch-up with its European competitors for the near-term.

The reason for the many improvements is that Infiniti is facing an up-hill battle to woo luxury customers away from very entrenched Euro brands like Mercedes and BMW. That's all well and good, but why not just make most of these improvements in the US market as well? Infiniti is a very good luxury brand, but it's getting its butt kicked in sales by the likes of Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, and Cadillac. We like fancy knobs and seven speed automatics, too.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/0...pment/

Note the 4 cyl coming in 2010 comment...can anybody shed light on that?

Expect the '09 G37 Sedan to have around 320hp, and the seven speed transmission from the FX35/50.

[rn79870]

If you've got some info you'd like to share with us, I promise we won't tell anyone...

[heliochrome85]

he knows where jimmy hoffa is buried...

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

Imagine the shift points for a 16sp in a car

You would be like a Big Boy Truck... Lol shifting would probably be at every 5-6 mph... that would give you really bad MPG...

I would like to see the gears in the manual with 8 speeds. I feel that if the gears where just a tad bit closer it would be faster and then have a 7th gear to take place of where the 6 gear is now... And then use the 8th gear as an overdrive... Very low RPM 55mph plus gear.

If you could get a v6 to idel at 1800 rpms at 70 you could get close to 35mpg if not better than that and never loose your 330hp.

Gearing does have a lot to do with it IMHO!