Infiniti should have called it the J35

[DJ MF]

Well, yeah.

Ties to the past and all.

Would've made some sense.

MF

[AZhitman]

Which car are we referring to?

[DJ MF]

The G35.

Yeah, that would help....

Because the G20 series used to be the 'small' Infinti, the J30 was midrange, and the Q was the poppa bear. Then they went and made the I30/I35, which really is NOT the successor to the J30, and yet the new G35 is on a lower rung letter-wise than the I35, even though it's the midrange Infiniti now.

Get all that?

I ramble, I know.

MF

[VimyJ]

The lettering thing is all screwed up now. The G was the entry level offering. There was an M and then the J and Q. The M was discontinued before the J. The J is a big step up in luxury from the G and is more on the lines of the Q except it was a smaller car. The Q maintained its position as the flagship car of Infiniti: the most luxurious and largest car in the fleet. Q is the battleship; J, the cruiser; G, the frigate.

The I came along after severe financial difficulties forced Nissan to cut costs. Instead of producing the expensive cruiser, it "downsized" to a destroyer with the I. Cheaper to produce.

Now there is a new M which seems to be a heavy cruiser. The latest G more like a destroyer and the I is going to be "paid off" as they say in naval terms. The J won't be back, I fear, although there does seem to be room again for a luxury mid sized, RWD, 6 cylinder car that is bigger and more well appointed than the G.

I ramble, too.

[DJ MF]

Forgive me if I dispense of your favorite car in my dream scenario...

What they need to do (as dictated by overlord MF)

-Make the G35 the 'entry' Infinti. The price point makes it so, even if the performance screams '5 series'.

-Get rid of the of the M45. To me at least, it seems like a redundant automobile in terms of engine and target. If anything, it might be soaking sales from the Q. Picture it, old wealthy couple steps into Infiniti showroom, and instead of copping a Q, drops 15 less for an M. Can't be good for the bottom line.

-Get rid of the I35. Another redundant offering. One thing I hate about Lexus and Acura is that you feel like you're driving a suped up Camry or Accord. Not cool at all. I'm guessing that this wish is in the works though, as the new Maxima is out...

-Get rid of the QX45. Another redundant offering. Keep the FX35/45 as your small SUV, and the QX56 as your big'un.

-Introduce a midrange luxury sedan/coupe. Call it the J again, call it whatever you want, but NOT the K . But it should come with a more powerful V6 than the one offered in the G35. You'd probably want to make it RWD, with the future option of going to AWD, just so you can play with the MB's and BMW's of the world. This is your 5 Series killer, much like the Q goes after the 7 Series, and the G35 after the 3 Series. Make it a true luxury car. Save the performance mods for a special edition car targetted at the M5 crowd.

-Build a sports car. You read that right. This is the one I know Nissan will NEVER do because it would ruin the Z, but it's nice to dream. Import a Skyline (do they still make those?), and make it a Ferrari beater. Price it WELL above the Z...

-Lastly, and I think I read somewhere that they were doing this already, build a convertible version of the G35.

So you'd have a model lineup of-

G35- coupe/sedan/convertible, with AWD variationMidrange M45/J30 successor with limited edition performance edition.Q45- the flagshipQX56- the Escalade fighterFX35/45- the Lexus RX330/Acura MDX fighter.XX60- the sports car.

Voila.

Perfect world. And a lineup that can duke it out with the luxury guys without infringing on Nissan products.

MF

[szh]

-Get rid of the of the M45. To me at least, it seems like a redundant automobile in terms of engine and target. If anything, it might be soaking sales from the Q. Picture it, old wealthy couple steps into Infiniti showroom, and instead of copping a Q, drops 15 less for an M. Can't be good for the bottom line.

Good comments, but here is one I am not sure I agree with. No old wealthy couple will take the M over the Q ... the stiff, very sporty suspension will easily mush up their bones and innards.

Z

[szh]

I also think they need the Z60. Expensive, large, etc., designed to take away sales from MB. Has to have a 6.0liter V-12. Hence the name.

Z

[cweberj30t]

I also think they need the Z60. Expensive, large, etc., designed to take away sales from MB. Has to have a 6.0liter V-12. Hence the name.

Z

I like that idea a lot. I just drove in a SL 600 not too long ago and man do they have a lot of torque.

[Metroyed]

in reference to the numbers after the letters.(J30, M45, Q45, etc.) The J30 is a 3.0 liter engine, the Q is a 4.5, right? Don't the numbers reflect the size of the motor? Even the G20 seems like it has a 2.0, im not 100% sure on this, concidering i came up with this theory on my own. It just seems to make sense to me, if that's not the case, shouldn't it be?

[VimyJ]

The numerals refer to the engine size. The letters to the model designation.

[Jesda]

Hey, there's no convertible.

[Metroyed]

they're making a G35 convertable. It's the first one since the M30.

[maxnix]

in reference to the numbers after the letters.(J30, M45, Q45, etc.) The J30 is a 3.0 liter engine, the Q is a 4.5, right? Don't the numbers reflect the size of the motor?

No, Nissan lied about the FY33 1997-2001 Q45 as it had the VH41DE.

[PalmerWMD]

No, Nissan lied about the FY33 1997-2001 Q45 as it had the VH41DE.

In general car manufacturers that have displcement systems such as this make exceptions.Naming a flagship Q41 after the Q45 name had been marketed would have been a non starter.Since most dont know or care what the exact displacemnt of a luxury cars engine is I dont think its misleading.

BMW 535, 735, even 745 were all 3.4L engines.the BMW 528 was a 2.7L etc etc.

I feel a car company can break its own naming rules in the inerests of simplicity and consistency if it seems prudent.

Fred...