Skyline or NOT? PLEASE HELP

[navyseal]

OK so I am looking for a little history lesson here of whether or not the g35 is in all actuality the skyline or just an imitation. History is my favorite subject so you wont bore me. I know that there have been many discussions about this subject and I am sorry to bring it up again to those who are tired about the newbs asking about it, but I am dying to know the TRUTH...and yes I can handle the TRUTH whatever it may be. I recently read the blog about Beancooker's re-badging, which for arguments sake I wont call under-badging and I believe it looks very clean and sexy, and read the portion where he wrote about the Skyline and how similar and exact it is to the g35, but I still want to know more about it and why or how they are so similar and if it is in fact the Skyline than why aren't they shipped to the U.S. and called the Skyline. I love the Skyline and the way the g35 looks re-badged, however I have always been skeptical about doing this since I don't know enough about it if people were to ask me why I re-badged my car. In a way I feel that if I were to place the Nissan badge on my G than why didn't I just save $10,000 and buy a 350Z and call it a day. Either way the G35 is a beautiful car hence the reason why I bought one and is much more sexier, sleek, and luxurious if I may say than the Z. (Sorry to any 350Z owners, nothing against you...I used to have my heart set on the Z until I stepped my foot on the G) Anyways, whether I end up re-badging my car or not I would love to learn more about the G35 and its similarities and/or differences to the Skyline. I am sorry to ask such newb questions, but I think that is about time I can defend myself and tell others all about it. Thank you guys so much for your time and consideration

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

The V35 Skyline was a bit of a departure for the Skyline series because it was the first to focus on luxury and performance as apposed to straight up performace. The V35-GT8 was first released end of 2001 in sedan format in Japan with the coupe following in 2003. The 01-02 series were not available in US. The V35 was a Skyline well and truly before it became an Infiniti.

My guess is it was shipped to the US as Infiniti because the model was more upmarket, and the fact that the US had never had a Skyline model shipped there anyway, so there would have been no brand loyalty. There was also no room in the Nissan stable for another high performance coupe, as the 350Z had only just been launched. There is no way they would have released what was essentially two of the same car. It made alot more sense in hindsight to release it as an Infiniti in the countries where Infiniti exists (there is no Infiniti in Japan and Australia). Inifniti was dieing before the G35 arrived and Nissan knew this car would save them. This topic really seems to bother some people, and I really do not know what the fuss is all about. You say tom-a-to, I say tom-ar-to, big deal, its still a tomato.

The USDM and JDM versions are essentially the same, they come from the same factory. The differences I have discovered are;

- JDM version of G35 had exclusive editions (70th Aniversary model, NISMO S-Tune model, AMUSE editions etc)- JDM version was offered with a choice of different engines - 250GT (VQ25DE), 300GT (VQ30DE) and 350GT (VQ35DE). USA only got the VQ35DE. Those were also for sedan only, coupe was only offered with VQ35DE.- JDM 2001-2003 sedans were offered with 8 speed CVT auto.- JDM version has premium luxuries such as folding mirrors, auto reverse mirrors, fog lights, external trunk cam. - JDM had leather/suede and non leather editions (basically a cheaper edition).- JDM has amber turning signals/different rear turn signal.- JDM uses completely different engine stat software.- JDM has digital dash clock, no analogue clock.- JDM has no logo on front seats. - JDM are higher spec tune to run on better fuel. - JDM 5 speed has 'power and snow' modes. (Power mode has adjusted ratios, changes higher to redline).- JDM version is RHD.- JDM version has different ECU** (still not 100% sure on this).

If anyone knows anymore feel free to add them.
Modified by Andy_V35Sky_350GT at 5:16 PM 5/23/2008

[SVTCOBRA]

Great question & great answer!The more I learn about the Skyline, the more I want to re-badge.

I just wonder if anybody in the Skyline countries ever re-badge to Infiniti?My guess is no, but really don't know.

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

Yes, they do. I have seen a few RHD JDM Skylines with Infiniti emblems, hell, I was even contemplating doing it to mine (until i was told by someone on here that that would be blasphemy, hehe).

[rmezz13]

That would be like me slapping on a fairlady badge.... Big deal, its your car you could throw Z06 badges for all i care. Go for the GT Skyline badges, the skyline across the trunk is super sexy. I personally would leave the infiniti on the front, debadge everything else, and put skyline on the back w/out the GT350. I'm thining of debadging the back of my Z myself. Naked a$$es are sleek. I read a good way to keep the paint fresh and debadge is fishing line. Just floss it in.

navyseal - don't hate on my beautiful Z.... (j/k lol). I was going to buy a G before i bought the Z but someone bought it the day before i went to look at it.

[Beancooker]

Aside of some trim pieces, and drive side, it is a Skyline. The body, power train, and most all the rest of the car is exactly the same. The chassis code (V-35), engine code (VQ35DE) and transmission code (RE5R05A RC33) are the same. Even the paint code (WV2 for the graphite color) is the same. The 11th generation (V35) Nissan Skyline, introduced in June 2001, is based on Nissan's FM (front midship) platform, which is shared with the 350Z. The Nissan Skyline uses a front-midship engine (VQ35DE), rear-wheel drive layout (all-wheel drive is available for the sedan) to achieve a 52%/48% weight distribution. The V35 also marks the first generation of Skyline made for export to the United States. There it is sold under the company's luxury brand, Infiniti, as the Infiniti G35.Bold was quoted from an archived page from Nissan's global website.

[RED_DET]

rebadged as an Infiniti

[navyseal]

thanks for all your help and input...sorry about the comment on the Z...i love the Z bro dont get me wrong its just that I wanted a back seat and a little more room...put some pics up so i can see it

[Minmey15]

Technically speaking, V35 was supposed to be something else. In 1999, Nissan "XVL" appeared at Tokyo Motor Show, and later on, Renault decided to release 'XVL" as V35 Skyline. V35 Skyline was released in June, 2001, and January, 2002, it was released as Infiniti G35 in North America.

Many said that V35 wasn't Skyline, and it was very unpopular among Skyline fans. I find that understandable, for it was developed to be another car. Nissan tried to bring back the round tail light, which has been the trademark for Skyline. Also, Skyline always came with straight-six engine,(some had turbocharged four cylinder) however, V35 and come with V6. Another reason traditional Skyline fans argue that it ain't Skyline anymore.

V36 was developed to be Skyline, but it doesn't have straight 6... I miss R32 GTS-t, but I love my V36 at the same time.

[johnparkyourcar]

I wonder if people over in Japan make big deals when they rebadge to Infiniti.... would they get the same treatment as someone here rebadging to Nissan?

[rn79870]

I’ve got to share a story that happened in SD several years ago. The police spotted a guy driving a BMW 320i to work during the morning rush hour. For some reason, they ran his plate, and his plate came back registered to a Nissan. The cop called for backup and 65 bazillion cops showed up and they felony stopped the guy, on the freeway, stopping rush hour traffic for 30 minutes. It made the news because traffic was backed up to China (almost) while they sorted out what was happening.

What happened was a Sailor had done a very good job retagging his Sentra to look like a 320i. Even the grill looked like a BMW. And of course, he had retagged the back 320i. When the cop ran the BMW and got plates assigned to a Nissan, the fun was on.

Now, I’ve got nothing against retagging an Infiniti as a Skyline, but when you get a bored cop who doesn’t know that a Skyline/Nissan is really an Infiniti/G35, and he runs your plates, you can expect to get a little dirty as they have you spread eagle on the ground while they sort this out whether or not you have a stolen car. It won’t help that your registration, and your insurance says “Infiniti” either.

[joe603]

lol, that is an interesting story Bob!! I never would have considered that a rebadge could be construed as a stolen car!

[Beancooker]

Now, I’ve got nothing against retagging an Infiniti as a Skyline, but when you get a bored cop who doesn’t know that a Skyline/Nissan is really an Infiniti/G35, and he runs your plates, you can expect to get a little dirty as they have you spread eagle on the ground while they sort this out whether or not you have a stolen car. It won’t help that your registration, and your insurance says “Infiniti” either.

That thought was crossing my mind when I was pulled over a few weeks ago. The cop took registration, insurance, and DL, came back, not saying a word, checked the VIN, and wrote me a ticket because he "saw" me going too fast.

I can't wait for court. I will be OWNING that cop and his visual estimate. Physics always beats stipid police.

[G_whizz]

Gotta love "human radars"

I look forward to hearing about the pwnage..

[Sentientbydesign]

Another reason for the difference between the 350Z and G35 was the Nissan was getting heat from the consumers as to why the same model cars were being slightly "luxurified" and rebadged as Infinitis-

Maxima-I30Sentra-G20 (I think the sentra had a smaller engine though)Pathfinder-QX4

During the late 90s, the Q45 was the only car without a USDM Nissan Counterpart.

Around 02/03 is when the defined differences between the two brands started emerging.

The Q45 was still under stated as competition for BMWs 7 series (ooops). The G35 Sedan came out, then coupe. The original M45 came out.The I-series was "upgraded" (not sure why they just didn't just discontinue that ugly car).QX4 was on it's way outG20 was on it's way out

The 3 cars that shared Nissan Platforms were all discontinued by 04 (stupid I35 stuck around TOO long!!!)

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

I wonder if people over in Japan make big deals when they rebadge to Infiniti.... would they get the same treatment as someone here rebadging to Nissan?

The few that I've seen rebadged to Infiniti still had the Skyline text, just the Infiniti logo, and I'd say this would be the most common way of doing it there. I doubt many people, if any at all, would remove the Skyline emblems. Would be kinda like a step backwards, so to speak, considering anyone that rebadges to Skyline would only be doing it because of the 'coolness' factor.