My Competitive driving experience G37 vs 328i

[mikek]

So we had a competitive training class yesterday. The two instructors brought a G37 Journey Sport and an ‘07 BMW 328i. They spent a whole hour touting the benefits of the G over the Bimmer, most of which was very compelling. However, the best was yet to come, a competitive driving experience between the two cars. Now since we don't have any road courses in the wonderful state of New Jersey, where fun is all but illegal, we had to sign a waiver stating that any traffic infractions, accidents, or anything whatsoever, was done at our own accord, and no fault of anyone else. That's when I knew this was gonna be a fun day!

So we loaded up the two cars with three sales people and one instructor, riding shotgun. I hopped into the Bimmer first, wanting to save the best for last. As we take off, following the G out of the dealership, the 37 blasts off, leaving us in the dust. I had the 328i floored and could barely pull away from regular traffic. We then headed into a nice stretch of unoccupied road, with three very aggressive S-turns, some dips and a few hills. This is where the BMW impressed me a little bit. Acceleration was decent after a good full second or two of hesitation, which was very annoying to attempt to overcome. However, handling was phenomenal! It took the S-turns with ease and with very little body roll, and believe me I was driving VERY aggressively.

Then we switched cars, and I got to drive the G37S. Steve, the instructor in the G, is an ex-Team Ferrari driver, and teaches high performance driving, on the side. I drove last, so I could hear his instructions to the first two drivers. The first driver was a bit queasy with aggressive driving and took his time. YAWN!! The second driver fancies himself a bit of a driver, and did drive the car, very well. Although not as aggressive as Steve kept telling him he could drive. Now it was my turn, I got as comfortable as I could at 6’3” without permanently crippling the person in the back seat. After a short, albeit fast, trek to a traffic light, I quickly cut a shallow line into the inside lane around traffic, and was pleasantly shocked at how quickly I hit 90 MPH. I was quickly approaching a red light, which I had to make a sharp left at, so I was downshifting with the paddle shifters, to assist with my need to slow down. The rev matching made me wish I was driving the 6-MT, as it did very little to effectively slow down the car using engine braking. The 14” rotors and 4 piston calipers up front, however, made easy work of slowing the car! As I approached the light, it changed to green and I made a 90-degree turn at 35MPH over a poorly paved road, and the G didn’t once feel like it was getting away from me. After a quick blast to 100MPH, I was coming up on the street with the twisties. Slowing down to take the turn, I accelerated through the turn, only to be met with understeer, after a quick throttle adjustment, though, I regained front wheel traction and punched it through the rest of the turn. Coming into the twisties, I hit the paddle shifter and dropped into second at about 6000rpm, and powered through the S’s faster than I thought possible on that road.

I pulled over to let the other sales guy out, who at that point was panicking and just wanted out of the car. Steve explained why I caught understeer, and congratulated me on correcting it, and asked for our opinions of the two cars. Everyone ranted and raved at the driving characteristics of the G37. The only real compliment toward the BMW was it’s handling, which was exceptional. The BMW in my opinion was, first off, WAY overpriced for what you get. The navigation screen was the equivalent of a 4” screen the way it displays. The BMW-I controller was a bit hard to get used to, I probably would have had no problem if I had more time in the car though. All in all it seemed like very little car for $47,830.00.

The G37S, however, listing out at $43,515.00, completely took even me by surprise. Now working for an Infiniti dealership has not swayed my opinion one bit, it’s just where my checks come from, I still would never trade my ’05 Wrangler for either of these cars, just my opinion, don’t hate me for it. However, the G37S out pulled, out handled, was much more completely equipped, and flat out whooped that BMW’s *** in every aspect of driving pleasure. The one positive of the BMW is, rear seat room and trunk space. But driving like it did yesterday, I wouldn’t care if the G had no trunk and no back seat.

I still don’t like automatic transmissions, and found myself having to hit the paddle shifter, at 6700rpm, to get it to shift before touching red line. And only then to have it shift with a delay, albeit a MUCH improved delay, compared to most other auto slush-boxes. The auto-stick in the 328I actually had the gall to shift for me. I found that very cowardly of BMW engineers, to not trust my driving skills.

The G37 was the clear winner in this side-by-side comparison, and has just about completely turned me off of BMW’s.

Sorry to ramble on a bit but I was so impressed, that even a day later I wanted to tell my adventure.

[audtatious]

<patiently waiting for the BMW guys to come and slam you for testing a 328 against a G37 instead of a 335>

[G_whizz]

LOL Soooo true!!

That was a great read... Thanks for sharing!

[mikek]

I think Infiniti was going from a price point comparison, and the fact that 25% of BMW sales totals are 328i's. with a difference of about $5000 the 328i prices closest to the G37. The 335i getting about $10,000 above the G37 doesn't seem like thats where the price competition is.

[audtatious]

Thus G37 = "bang 4 buck"

BMW makes some good products, for sure. Shame a number of owners can't stand that a car that is $10k less can actually compete with it (335i in this instance).

Oh well.....

[jackdar]

Great writing....very entertaining....thanks. One question...did the Journey S you drove have the 4WAS?

Actually, I drove two automatics and one 6MT before I picked up my 08 6MT last Friday. For the past 20 years my cars have been manual transmissions and I too am not a fan of the automatics....no matter how good they are there always seems to be that slight lag. The manuals involve the driver so much more, making them much more entertaining.

Interestingly, I still have my '03 6MT (which I am still attempting to sell) and have been driving both cars. The two biggest differences to me remain how light the steering feels and how little effort is required to depress the clutch. But by far and away, the new car is so much more refined, the quality of materials is first rate, and the stiffened suspension is a nice improvement....without being overly harsh.

[mikek]

The G37S did not have the all wheel steering. Although now that I know I have that nice little stretch of road, I'll have to try that again with the 4WAS.I never believed I'd be in the situation where I would actually be driving in the performance curve where the 4WAS would actually have effected my performance. For daily driving and traffic situations the 4WAS is useless. But had the G been so equipped, it might have prevented that understeer issue I had. Then maybe the sales guy in the back seat wouldn't have had to change his shorts afterwards! haha

[Kendahl]

Nice write up.

In my case, at least, the G37 and 328i coupe were both candidates. Because the nearby BMW dealers seem not to stock manual transmission cars, I never did drive a 328i.

If I understood your conclusions, the best the BMW could do was, maybe, to tie the G37 in handling. Everywhere else, the G37 won.

I am surprised at the poor straight line performance of the BMW. According to their web site, its 0-60 times with the automatic transmission should be less than 7 seconds. (Time with the manual is supposed to be 6.2 seconds.) The delay you mentioned is especially surprising since the 328i has a normally aspirated engine; throttle response should be instantaneous. Was this due to the engine or to the transmission? It's too bad you weren't able to compare manual transmission cars. A manual BMW might have fared somewhat better.

When you get a chance to drive a 4WAS car, please tell us how it compares to a conventional car. I suspect you will find that it aggravates understeer at high speeds.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Fantastic read. Great to hear how much of a bang for the buck the new G37 is becoming.

[furui]

I'm a BMW guy and I think comparing the 328i to the G37 is more than fair. The pricing between the two is similar, however the G37 has much better performance (so much so that people are forced to compare it to the more expensive 335i). And when it comes to features? The new G Coupe wins effortlessly.

[Yimbie]

Very nice read, mikek. Thanks for the information. I agree that the 328i should be the car that's competing with the G37 but it's still very nice to see that the G37 is competing with a more expensive car and still faring well.

- Yimbie

[audtatious]

Then you are one of the few, brotha