G35S vs. Volvo S60R

[soledoc]

I'm in the early stages of looking at cars to replace my Volvo S60R. My current car is an '06 sonic blue exterior/nordkap (blue/black) interior, 6 speed stick, 18" rims. I do enjoy it, but it appears that volvo is discontinuing the R line. I love the car and love volvos, but I'm intersted in the BMW 335i and G35S right now. I will only drive sticks and I'm curious to hear other people's opinions on the G35S 6MT in comparison to my current volvo. I've heard the G35 is hard to shift?? I am waiting for my local dealer to get one in....not until March I saw the '07 on the showroom and was impressed. Thanks for your comments.

[joe603]

If you have a nice car, then I would suggest waiting until the coupe is redesigned in 08. At the very least, you'll get a decent price on earlier models!

[soledoc]

Except I don't want a coupe. I would wait until at least the MY 08 to get the bugs worked out of the new style and I'm not ready to jump ship yet from volvo....but I'm always on the lookout for something better.

[randyman]

Not quite the exact same cars that you are looking at, but the Volvo S60 (AWD) was one of the cars that I was considering. I decided to get the G35x (AWD version of G35). IMO, the G35x's performance was much better and it was a better value than the S60. I used to have an S70 AWD, and I was not happy with its reliability, so that somewhat soured me on Volvo. However, the S60 (depending on year) had decent reliability ratings (from Consumer Reports), so I figured I'd give the S60 a chance. But, turns out the G35 was better for me. The G35 offerred more features for the same money.

[Vipergtsz3]

Soledoc, I also am an R owner. I am pretty sure I have seen you on the swedespeed forums. I am also looking at the G to replace my '04 R. My lease ends in May and am looking for something that drives better. In terms of a direct comparison to the R, as randyman said, its not exactly the same. There is no AWD G35 in a stick, so the G35S is RWD only. That said, it does drive a lot better than the R. The ride is more taut and responsive, but a little more rough than the sport setting in the R. The steering feel is better and more direct. Also, I am looking to move away from AWD so the G makes more sense to me. I do like the R, but I can't stand the FWD bias. I had no trouble shifting either. The gearbox seems pretty decent to me.

[soledoc]

Soledoc, I also am an R owner. I am pretty sure I have seen you on the swedespeed forums.

yep, that's me from swedespeed. I recognized your handle. glad to hear you had no problem shifting the G35. I hear what you're saying about a FWD biased car. As you probably know, I've also got my '98 V70R for an AWD car if I need....so having one RWD car wouldn't hurt me too bad in weather like we've got now with snow and ice on the roads.

I would like a bit more legroom in the back seat....although I did have four adults in the R last night and nobody complained and I actually set the front seats and then personally sat in the back to check how it would feel and it wasn't horrible...although it could be bigger. I know the G35 has more legroom in the back because I personally tested it. But, hey, 90% of the time it's just me driving the car. BTW, the couple I was driving was very impressed by the R....one guy (who I don't think is too much into cars) said it drove like a BMW!! I just said thanks but thought to myself this guy doesn't know cars too well....but that's OK....nice compliment nonetheless.

This seems to be a good forum. I saw a few other Infiniti forums but never got a very quick or helpful reply. This seems to be on par with swedespeed which I love!