M35x - a four month review

[shrp11]

It's pretty nice.

I've driven it quite a bit lately to and fro NYC (wife had back surgery at Lenox Hill) and it's revealed some strengths and only a couple of weaknesses.

Pros:

Seamless power delivery and a smooth drivetrain - want to squirt into the far right hand lane from the left side of the highway right after the drawbridge on the Bruckner so you'll have a passing chance of making the hard right onto the Triboro bridge and the FDR drive? No problem, just tap the gas, pray and go, throttle response is right-now and nicely linear, the transmission always seems to shift precisely at the right time and in the right gear.

Comfy seats and a perfect driving position - air conditioned seats with well-shaped cushions make all-day driving a possibility - seriously, you'll develop a pulmonary embolism before you run out of comfort on these huge chairs.

Good ergonomics - and a killer nav system, all the frequently needed controls are right there with no need to navigate menus - changing a radio station, zooming in the map or setting temps is a snap.

Handling - sports-sedan sharp, each day I'd drive in, I'd round the ramp from the Triboro Bridge down to the FDR a bit faster, for you guys who know the spot I'm talking about, I had a scary throttle lift spin right there some 20 years ago in a Honda Accord hatchback :eeps:, didn't hit anything, but thought about stopping off at NYU for a pacemaker. Anyway, the Infiniti handles it with aplomb.

Gas Mileage - a week's worth of mixed city/'highway to and from NYC produced an average of 22.8 MPG, not bad considering the many dead stops and waits in traffic.

Cons:

Ride - I do think this car needs a bit more wheel travel, she snaps and bucks in a way that's not befitting of a luxury ride - especially the side to side stuff. Also, there's more tramlining than I'd like to see. Although the steering feels great, I'd like a bit of a thicker rim, but it's perfect for my wife.

A caveat about the ride complaint though; I've been driving in and out of the city for over 30 years now and can't remember a time where the ride was so punishing for so long - there have always been nasty stretches, but never so many tied together - the steel plates patching together the Willis Ave Bridge should be deemed impassable.

The mafia used to do a much better job wrt road work, I'm disappointed in my paisons.

Strange nav choices - one day I decided to try the aforementioned route, not having done it in many years, but remembering the convenience of it, I decided to try the nav home and was delighted to see it would take me via the Willis Ave exit.

Well it began to take me that way, but decided to dump me off in the South Bronx midway through, avoiding the WAB entirely and taking me through a horrific series of rutted and ruined surface streets - I have to hand it to Bloomberg and company though, 20 years ago, these streets would have been littered with the carcasses of burned out car bodies - not so in 2008, just the occasional shady guy trying to sell bottled water. I sometimes actually miss the old days :sigh: Anyway, miss nav has a mind of her own.

Size - I can't really say this is a complaint, but I do prefer the size of a 3 series or A4 over this sized car, it's just a tad big. If you needed to carry people in the cavernous rear seats regularly, it'd be perfect, but for the two of us, it's a lot of car. However, it suits my wife's needs just fine, so, what the heck.

We really like it, it's fast, fun to drive, comfortable, relatively economical and so far, dead reliable.

Looking forward to many more years with the Infiniti M35x.

[szh]

Thanks for the lengthy review.

Z

[antzrus]

Goodyear RS-A tires specialize @ tramlining. Get rid of the damn things!

Otherwise enjoy your M, they are great machines!!

[John2]

Ooooo, I pick up my "new to me" 2006 M35x next week, and reading your post made me even more excited! Are we there yet?