Hope this isn't a repost.

It made me proud. I've been watching the new M with anticipation for quite a while. I love the car...Everything about it. From looks to wheels to engine (especially the engine)...it's my kinda car.I found my new Car and Driver sitting on my parent's kitchen table when I stopped by a couple days ago (still haven't updated my address...). I noticed a row of boring EuroGarbage on the cover, as well as the new STS (yum!) and the M45. Oh...there was a Lexus and Acura too...(*scowls*). It's a sports-luxury comparo.

I flipped through, expecting to see Acura at the top, or maybe the Lexus, and Jag at the bottom...with the M comfortably in the middle.I right about the Jag (an S-Type 4.2 VDP Edition). Last place. Stupid Ford. It should have been a good car, and not a "Taurus Elite." Flip a page...Cadillac (STS V8). I swore here...I love Cadillac...always have. It's sad to see a car like the STS place low because of cost-restrictions limiting the options on the test car (they could not include the Sport edition STS; it was outside the price bracket). Next was the BMW 530i. It'd expected it to be second-to last. While giving it poor placement, the dorks still managed to swoon over the POS, mentioning how "the exterior styling of the car will probably repel conservative customers before they even crack a door." I guess conservative is synonymous with "good tastel" now, huh?Next (fifth of eight) was the new Audi A6 4.2 Quattro. What a surprise. No good looks can hid the VW trash that hides beneath the skin of the Audi. Again, though, they make idiotic reference to the styling (which I like, for once in many years) "Lows: Contraversial nose..." Riiiiight.Fourth place was MB. I have a hard time figuring out how the Mercedes Benz E350 outclassed the cars below it, but oh well. Key tip here, people: V6's don't belong in big luxury cars! I don't care how big they are. V8's are smoother, traditionally torquier, and generally larger and more powerful.Third place was the Lexus GS430. They loved the power...but it was too numb (gee...who would have expected that from a Toyota luxbarge?).Second place...Acura's new 300hp RL. Acura's sure a step up from Lexus, but the car's got nothing in the looks department. Unlike it's very attractive TL and TSX brethren, the RL is boring and average in appearance; the only sign of aggressiveness hidden in the scowling headlights that look like they're on the wrong car. The acura uses the interesting transverse SH-AWD system, and a V6 which is oddly adequate coming from Honda (though it's VTEC, and appropriately lacking in low end torque). The RL comes with a lot of standard features that are high priced options on most other models in the comparo.Next (1 of 8, only one car left). I grinned as I turned the page.

"First Place: Infiniti M45 Sport.Highs: Kick-*** engine, telepathic transmission, athletic chassis, voluminous interior.Lows: Sport Package gives firm ride [idiots. This is SPORT luxury, not float-luxury...what do they expect from a SPORT package SPORT luxury?], interior decor lacks finesse [since we spend so much time staring at wood trim while whipping through the twisties... ]Final Verdict: Puts the sports back into sports sedan--with a sledgehammer.""Here it is folks: Infiniti's take-no-prisoners assult on the sports-luxoid segment. More power, more space, more right-now response to the driver's wishes. It's a heady cocktail of rumbling V8 thrust, clawing big-tire grip, and let's-go chassis exuberance."They praise it's ability to go from comfortable tea-courier to lunatic sports car and right back again in a split second, and the impressive transmission's ability to sense which the driver is seeking. (my transmission used to do that, before those...bastards got their hands on it... )They praise the 19 inch summer performance tires "REAL tires."

"But that's not the only reason this car won. Sports-car performance isn't enough, on it's own, to carry the day. And it isn't that easy to incorporate hot-rod performance with the cultivated personality necessary in this genteel vehicle segment. That the M45 can combine the crazy laughter of a sports fiend with the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie to the extent it has is good reason for it to stand at the top of the heap."The M45 rocks. Game over."

And finally, a question for M45/Infiniti guys: Does the RWD M45 come with HICAS (or "Rear Active Steer"), or just the AWD M35?

Repost, but absolutely worth noting, excellent summary.

http://www.q45.org/cdm45comparo.pdf

Regarding the interior, I'm one of those weirdos who spends his time steering with one hand and caressing all the soft surfaces with the other. I really dig my half-wool headliner! [Its getting dirty from being touched so much.] Its one thing I would miss tremendously in the 94 Q.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:And finally, a question for M45/Infiniti guys: Does the RWD M45 come with HICAS (or "Rear Active Steer"), or just the AWD M35?

The M45 Sport and M35 Sport have Rear Active Steer.