The Opera Window is Back...

[maxnix]

on the new M56/37.

So no new Q for a couple of years if ever.

Not sure why the 390 HP 5L V8 would not be a better choice than the 5.6L converted truck engine.

http://www.cnet.com.au/infinit...4.htm

[qship96]

The 5.6 will have more HP and torque than the 5.0

Love the woodgrain low matte dash, you can almost feel the texture in those pictures!!!

Shame the rear seats will remain less than full lux car size. A deal {and brand} killer for many.

[goody90q45]

It also has a 16 speaker Bose surround sound system. Maybe someone will take on the job of retrofitting the system into a G50.

[qship96]

16 speakers pumping out mediocre sound......always interesting to see the very best in high end home audio systems where 2 speakers and just 2 channels create magic.

[BCC93QT]

I think i know who will be the first to attempt the speakers. Or atleast my first guess our ole pal PAUL!

[qship96]

I think i know who will be the first to attempt the speakers. Or atleast my first guess our ole pal PAUL!

Paul seems to be laying low recently....have not seen him post in awhile

[BCC93QT]

Well its winter time up here. hes prolly out having some fun in the snow. He usually posts a lot at once when he jumps on the site. My Q is terrible in the snow since i have sporty tires on it. My fuel pump went the other day. Fortunately i took Q tech's advice and kept a pump and o-ring with me. Had to do it on the side of the road in the snow. It was terrible. Constant honking by passing cars plus it was dark out. Was such a pain. Thought i was gonna get hit with all the idiots up here in the north east. Damn yankees. But its basically up for the winter. Got the land cruiser going.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Not sure why the 390 HP 5L V8 would not be a better choice than the 5.6L converted truck engine.

It's not a converted truck engine. It's a VK56VD. VVEL and Direct injection. The block might be the same but the top end is entirely different.

But if you want to get semantic, the "truck" engine is really a converted Q engine. So...circles. Round and round.

[Q451990]

I think i know who will be the first to attempt the speakers. Or atleast my first guess our ole pal PAUL!

Good guess, but Paul will get to the point of writing a post stating that it can be done - then we'll see an update a year or so later that he's still planning on doing it. Guess I shouldn't say much... I'm still "working" on those custom LED tail lights.

[maxnix]

It's not a converted truck engine.

Same bore and stroke.

[BCC93QT]

Ya paul has numerous posts like that. But anyway. The M56 does not get a 10 from me. Nor do i think it is anywhere near a 10. Granted a 5.6 with 400 horse is great. Don't remember exactly how much it has. They could have done much better. It looks great inside but im not one for new cars. I can't say i don't like this car but i think i would go elsewhere if im looking to spend that much on a car. I mean hell. Don't hate me for saying this but the new taurus has what 365hp? granted it has 2 turbos slapped on it. Im suprised they didnt just take the 3.7 vvel and slap 2 turbos on that. I think it would have yielded more than 400.... But thats my opinion. rip into it if ya want.....

[MinisterofDOOM]

If you're the kind of person who would buy a 350 hp Taurus instead of an M, you weren't the kind of person Infiniti is going for with the M anyway. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, but if all you care about is that horsepower number, you shouldn't be shopping for luxury cars anyway. Why not go buy an SRT4 Neon and crank up the boost if that's all you care about?

The Taurus is a dull, numb family car with lots of power. It has NOTHING else to offer the performance enthusiast. Handling is crap, body roll is poorly controlled, the AWD system is really just FWD 90% of the time which means it's just adding unnecessary weight.

You can put lots of power under the hood of ANYTHING (Chevy Monza anyone?). That doesn't make it a car worth owning.

As for turboing the VQ37...again, I think you're just not the kind of person the M56 was designed to appeal to. No one shopping for an M45 or M56 or 550 series wants a V6 EVER AT ALL. V8 or bigger is REQUIRED in that segment. V8s are smoother and offer a better combination of low end torque and high end horsepower than V6s or turbo V6s. Sure, the entry level M37 compliments the M56 nicely, but the V6 is not a valid REPLACEMENT for the V8. It's merely a compliment. Many people, like myself, would never buy an M37 type vehicle. I would never buy a 535 either. The whole point of the M or 5 is the V8. If I didn't want the V8 I wouldn't be shopping for the M. See what I mean?

It's all in what you want in a car. Just about anywhere you look, you can find more power elsewhere. The question is not one of mere power, it's of the car as a whole. I'd rather drive a GREAT car that makes a little less power than I'd hoped for than an average car that makes tons of power. Power cannot make a bad car less bad. In fact, if anything, power serves to highlight the failings of a bad car.

[BCC93QT]

Oh comeon are you kidding me? i would never take a taurus over an M. I'm just saying. The price tag on the M56 is probably borderlined 50k unless you get the base which would probably be around 38-42. I think they could have done a touch better with horsepower. Not sure what the torque specs are. Granted i haven't driven an Infiniti M series but im sure the handling is great too. No im not just a horsepower finatic, infiniti should have launched something to atleast touch the M5, i mean a v10 500-550+ HP is tough to compete with but still. its 2010 and all this technology japan pushes and they can't make a sick mid size luxury car that can even compete with the mid size M5. The price difference is significant but they could introduce a 50k+ M series. Money is no problem with the American luxury car buyers even when the economy is crap. Time to step it up.... If audi can pull 530 out of a 4.2L v8 with a supercharger. Audi's new 5.2L that they put out in 2007 doesn't even get that much. I'm sure infiniti could have pulled ATLEAST 530 out of an M56 with an SC. Or hell, SC the 4.5 and it would most likely cost significantly less than the M56. I hear ya that power can't make up for the bad things of a car. And i hear ya that the M is a great car all around, but like i said, its time to step up to the plate.

[MinisterofDOOM]

You can't compare the M56 to the M5. At that point you may as well start complaining that the G35 doesn't have a supercharged VK56 to compete with the CTS-V's LSA. The M5 is a special beast, and costs almost TWICE AS MUCH as the M56. Not a fair comparison. Compare the Infiniti to M and AMG and V models and you'll always be disappointed.

As I said in the last two M threads, when you compare the M FAIRLY, the competition is either much more expensive or much less powerful. $56k gets you a 300hp I6 in the 5 series. Or the same money gets you a 380hp V8 in the E class. That's both more expensive AND less powerful. Want a 400hp V8 M? You'll pay $64k. That's a LOT more money.

The M only looks bad if you compare it with cars it was never meant to compete with. Sure, an Msixty something with a turbo V8 would be awesome. But it doesn't exist, and you can't fault the M56 for not being it. It competes superbly with the E550 and 550i, which is exactly what it needs to do.

As soon as Infiniti introduces an $80k+ version of the M, you can complain about it not competing with cars in that price range. Until then, you're just whining about rocks not being made of water.

[Infinitiguy19]

I agree with MoD 100%.

But I talked with PMQ (Poor Mans Q45) about the seat back speakers (tweeter) and he says there not really worth it. But I am putting heat/power lumbar seats in my car next year so we will see. And I called up a local dealer and they said the 2011 M56 is due in June of next year, And parts for the car are released ~2 months later. So we will see. Push comes to shove I will have to custom make the speaker grills and use panty hose like this guy: zerothread?id=158703



Can't believe I was missed.

[Infinitiguy19]

Well I did some Paint.nets (yes I am making a new term instead of the popular Photoshop) and they look OK but in th real world the speaker part is occupied by my back so no go there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh...tlink http://picasaweb.google.com/lh...tlink http://picasaweb.google.com/lh...tlink

So the only speakers that could be put in the seat would be near the head rest (Where it joins the seat). But the space is small and this looks like its not really worth doing. But the 1994-1996 seats are bigger but I don't know by how much. If any of you 1994-1996 Q45 people would be interested then it MAY be possible, thats a BIG MAY though.

[Skibane]

16 speakers pumping out mediocre sound......always interesting to see the very best in high end home audio systems where 2 speakers and just 2 channels create magic.

Yep. Would be nice to see Infiniti's audio engineers concentrate on producing superior sound, rather than playing keep-up with Lexus...

[jltibbs]

Yep. Would be nice to see Infiniti's audio engineers concentrate on producing superior sound, rather than playing keep-up with Lexus...

Similar to their R&D on the G50 stereo?

[qship96]

Actually the G50 sound system is better than in the newer Infiniti cars- every time I have got a loaner , I have noticed this- especially in the later I35, the bass was overblown and flabby, regardless how to tone controls were adjusted- fat one note "fake" distortion......bet the hiphop crowd thinks it sounds good.

[AZhitman]

Back on topic:

That's not an "opera window".

An opera window is a fixed rear side window surrounded by either a segment of a vinyl roof or integrated into the c-pillar, separated from the rear side window.

The little extension window on the M is simply a continuation of the side door glass, separated by a segment of trim. No different than the window found on the 96-99 Ford Taurus (and tons of other cars).