I am picking up my G37C later this week. My last Japanese car was a 1987 Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo. I've been a German car fanatic since then. But I have to confess that the spotty reliability, escalating cost of ownership. and indifferent dealer treatment from the German makes all conspired to make me buy the G37C. I wanted to try the Audi A5 convertible, but it's not out until 2010. The BMW 3-series is nice, but overpriced and way too common.

I'm a big fan of track days, and convertibles are generally not eligible without rigid roll bars. But I bought a dedicated track-day car in 2007 and now I can buy a street car that suits my needs (which is mostly slogging in rush hour traffic).

I really don't intend to do any modifications, but I often cannot resist the temptation to lower the car a little bit or toss on some aftermarket wheels. It's amazing what lowering a car 1" can do to its overall looks.

BTW, my convertible is Black with the Stone interior.

QUESTION: I don't have the car yet. I see that tire size is staggered. Is the wheel width staggered too? Any idea why the convertible has staggered tires (wider in back) and the coupe does not? (PITA for tire rotation.)

Welcome home, Greg!

I don't think most people here even remember the Cordia! (I recall the Tredia)

Definitely need to see some pics when she's delivered!!!

It's painful to read that there are dealers in other areas with excess supply of these cars. In the Washington DC area, they're selling them before they roll off the trucks. Some people (not me) are paying "additional dealer markups" for the privilege of buying one.

The local dealers here have a $10K markup right on the sticker, without an explanation.

$4,000 in some local dealers. The place I bought mine, they had bolted on a few accessories (black grill, wind blocker and lighted doorsills) and stuck a $2,500 price on them. Still gouging, but respectably. They were happy to not sell the pieces and drop the price.

I'll scronge up the pics I took of the sticker.

They were charging for "lighted door sills" on a car that had none, and "pinstriping" which was also absent.

Potomac-Greg wrote:QUESTION: I don't have the car yet. I see that tire size is staggered. Is the wheel width staggered too? Any idea why the convertible has staggered tires (wider in back) and the coupe does not? (PITA for tire rotation.)

The wider back tires helps in traction now that you have extra 300+lb in the trunk.

Actually, the additional weight would help with traction.

It's for increased load rating.

And coupe has staggered wheels/tires as well. Sedans do not.

My dad had a Cordia, Black, That thing was awesome, until he eventually crashed it when I was just a kid. Oh well.

AZhitman wrote:The local dealers here have a $10K markup right on the sticker, without an explanation.

YIKES!!!

Not to brag but I am happy to report that I didnt pay MSRP...

MagikDragon wrote:My dad had a Cordia, Black, That thing was awesome, until he eventually crashed it when I was just a kid. Oh well.

Mine was black too. It was a pretty car. A bit like the Alfa Romeo GTV.

AZhitman wrote:Actually, the additional weight would help with traction.

It's for increased load rating.

From a standing start, yes, but for cornering, all that weight wants to go straight so more rubber makes sense. I still think the stagger is unnecessary since the car's weight distribution is still not 50/50 (it's still a bit front-heavy) and it should handle neutrally. But most car makers want understeer since it's a safer fail mode than oversteer.

I'm surprised that no one has asked yet, but what it the track cars and lets see some pics? What type of track days are we talking Road racing, HPDE, Straightline? COnsidering you like german cars, I'd say its road racing, but lets see what you got.

MagikDragon wrote:I'm surprised that no one has asked yet, but what it the track cars and lets see some pics? What type of track days are we talking Road racing, HPDE, Straightline? COnsidering you like german cars, I'd say its road racing, but lets see what you got.

1988 Porsche 944. I purchased it for $5,000 and have probably put about $2,000 of suspension modifications modifications into it. I've added race seats and 6-point harnesses. It rocks out 158 HP, so to be fast, you need to maintain momentum. It's a great track car because it's cheap, has plenty of aftermarket support, and it's incredibly well balanced. Still street legal, so I drive it to work every once in a while.

I think the G37C would be a fair contender on the track, the added 400 lbs are carried well on the beefed up FM platform. I don't think it would be the fastest thing out there but it will show up a few bmw 2.8s and it has very similar performance numbers to the 3.5 with a much smaller more important number...overall price.

Markups in the desert? Sounds about right. I know in the dc area there are some deals to be had. Well there were a month ago, supply is so limited that they can get away with. Good old supply and demand.

If you are looking for springs you will need to find only ones for the G vert. The entire rear suspension is different due to the space requirements in the trunk.

Track days in the Beltway region for Infinitis is something I have been pitching to my higher ups here for years, they do agree that people would actually be interested in it. If you find one let me know I would love to see a new vert making its way around.

SteveTheTech wrote:I think the G37C would be a fair contender on the track, the added 400 lbs are carried well on the beefed up FM platform. I don't think it would be the fastest thing out there but it will show up a few bmw 2.8s and it has very similar performance numbers to the 3.5 with a much smaller more important number...overall price.

Track days in the Beltway region for Infinitis is something I have been pitching to my higher ups here for years, they do agree that people would actually be interested in it. If you find one let me know I would love to see a new vert making its way around.

Hey Steve - It is unlikely that you will find many G Verts on the track mainly because of the drop top. Any SCCA sanctioned event would require at the very least a roll bar. Also, due to the lack of financial support from Infiniti, these cars are relatively expensive for track use. I suspect that as the used market for this platform matures (3 to 4 years) there will be better aftermarket support and likely some more track participation. Just my $0.02

I don't know the specifics regarding of SCCA qualifications but a roll bar does indeed make sense for open roof vehicles. The G does have active one time use roll bars that will extend in the event of a unavoidable roll over. Instead of risking a brand new car that very body shops will be able to fix correctly I would go find something smaller and lighter for the track. I guess that depends on what you are looking for out of this specific car.

Aftermarket support for the G has been fairly consistant throughout the other models. I feel the G vert may be slightly different but in a few years but I still don't think there will be too much out there for this limited run vehicle.

Potomac-Greg wrote:QUESTION: I don't have the car yet. I see that tire size is staggered. Is the wheel width staggered too? Any idea why the convertible has staggered tires (wider in back) and the coupe does not? (PITA for tire rotation.)

Welcome to NICO!

The only coupes that have staggered wheels are the 6mt sport's and the Journeys with the sport package. Base, base Journey and the X all come with standard 18" rims....