What do the British think of Infiniti?

Personally I somewhat fancy the G35. What turns me off about it is the G35x (awd variant) is only available as a 4 door and not available in a manual tranny.

What's ironic is I have a moderate distaste for the 350Z upon which it's based -- looks nice, but too heavy and underpowered to be a true sports car, and the lack of a halo 350Z TT baffles me.

By the way, I think the title of this thread should be: "Hey everybody! I just bought a new car, seeking approval and validation" :) j/k
 
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I just recently purchased a G35s. What impressions do you foreigners have?

I am currentling living in LA atm, my neighbour has a G35, so does the guy that live across the road from me, in fact.. come to a think of it, there are lots of G35 around the neighbourhood. What do i think of it? to be honest, im not sure, the styling is a bit dodgey, the exhaust sounds terrible for a V6 and most of all its an Infiniti, the kind of name you want to avoid when it comes to sports coupe.

Lets be honest here, on the straight, the G35 slower than a 335i, around corners, its less fun than a S2000 because of its weight and nose heavy V6. And with the price tag of $34000, the younger brother 350Z seems much more reasonable, the 350Z is faster, more powerful and 6000 dollars cheaper. So base from what i can gather, the G35 seems like a rather expensive luxury sports coupe, rather than a performer. Im not saying its bad, its just the kind of car that i want to avoid.

btw does the G35 share the same engine as the 350Z?? their specs are pretty much the same, but the G35 is about 30bhp shy (which is the same power output as the old spec 350Z).

Well you know the deal, people buy cars to please/impress others. This is why anything with an Audi/MB/BMW badge on it sells!

Even though i dont like it, i have to agree with you on this one. But thats rather unfair saying that ppl buy BMW/MB/Audi to impress other ppl, same thing could be said about ferrari/lambo/aston. In fact, stick an aston martin badge on some dog shit, and i bet you it will sell better than the same shit with a BMW badge on it.
 
infiniti.... them people who make blank cd's/dvd's?? Hmm, theyr pretty good, cant think of the last coaster i made out of one. :p

j/k
Is there a reason why car manufacturers go under different alias' for the various markets? I'm guessing it allows 2 cars to be very very similar, but have the subtle difference for each resepctive market, and if they kept the same names, there would be 2 of the same car which are actually different (make sense??)
 
j/k
Is there a reason why car manufacturers go under different alias' for the various markets? I'm guessing it allows 2 cars to be very very similar, but have the subtle difference for each resepctive market, and if they kept the same names, there would be 2 of the same car which are actually different (make sense??)
Same reason nobody wants to buy a $90,000 VW. Back when Toyota started to build luxury cars, they figured nobody wanted to buy a $40,000 Toyota, hence Lexus. Nissan's Infiniti (which are all sold as Nissans back in Japan because they've been used to Nissan as a maker of everything) and Honda's Acura (ditto) followed suit.
 
Same reason nobody wants to buy a $90,000 VW. Back when Toyota started to build luxury cars, they figured nobody wanted to buy a $40,000 Toyota, hence Lexus. Nissan's Infiniti (which are all sold as Nissans back in Japan because they've been used to Nissan as a maker of everything) and Honda's Acura (ditto) followed suit.

On some markets the customer seems to get these management to tricks. That's why Lexus don't sell in Europe, everybody knows it's nothing but Toyota and Toyota has a reputation for making solid and reliable cars, not some luxurious upscale models. Nissan, mostly known for the Micra here didn't even bother to introduce Infinity into Europe, they learned their lesson from Toyota....try to sell a 50.000?+ car with the reputation of a Micra, ain't gonna work :D

Same goes for Honda, they found their niche and fit it quite well, but that's it.
 
You people do know that Infiniti is coming to the UK at the end of this year right? Seems like a lot of ignorant responses here.

You will be getting the G35 or G37 if they get the new engine ready soon, so the question is, of what you may have seen on the net, what do you think will be the response?

Infiniti brand will likely be spreading across theglobe, but the Acura brand will not be.
 
You people do know that Infiniti is coming to the UK at the end of this year right? Seems like a lot of ignorant responses here.

You will be getting the G35 or G37 if they get the new engine ready soon, so the question is, of what you may have seen on the net, what do you think will be the response?

Infiniti brand will likely be spreading across theglobe, but the Acura brand will not be.

Yeah right....just like Lexus :lol::lol::lol:
 
You people do know that Infiniti is coming to the UK at the end of this year right? Seems like a lot of ignorant responses here.

You will be getting the G35 or G37 if they get the new engine ready soon, so the question is, of what you may have seen on the net, what do you think will be the response?

Infiniti brand will likely be spreading across theglobe, but the Acura brand will not be.

pffft... across the globe? so far the only successful one is Lexus, and its not even doing that well in non-american countries. Infiniti just doesnt have the right name, ppl are still gonna think "hm.. thats awful a lot of money for an NISSAN"

and the G37? the 335i has already handed carrots to it on race track and quarter mile drag race. Unless they can slash the price down to compete with the european rivals, i dont see why anyone would want to spend their money on an Infiniti when they can get a good solid german saloon with the same money.
 
Nissan to sell Infiniti in UK by 2010
16 August 2007

? Four models will spearhead launch
? V6 diesel will follow
? More new models to come

Nissan's luxury car brand, Infiniti, will have vehicles on sale in Britain by 2010.

The company has announced that it will put four models on sale in Europe from autumn next year, but expects it to take two years before it is represented in every European country.

It will sell the G35 saloon, G37 coupe and EX coupe-cum-4x4, which are currently available in the United States, and a new model that will replace the FX 4x4 in the US next year.

The EX is Infiniti's latest model. The coupe crossover is powered by a 290bhp 3.5-litre V6 engine.

The car will be shown in Europe for the first time at the 2008 Geneva motor show next March.

Early in the next decade, a replacement for the M-series executive car will arrive, and at roughly the same time a V6 diesel will be available for the M-series and EX models.

Details of prices and when Infiniti will launch its models into each European country are expected to be revealed later this year.
http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=227295

It will be at least 2 years until they arrive on these shores.
 
Don't have the brand at the moment - nor ACURA or Saturn for that matter.

Consider yourself fortunate for not having Saturns. God they're awful. They're everywhere here and make my daily commute an eyesore.
 
Is there a reason why car manufacturers go under different alias' for the various markets? I'm guessing it allows 2 cars to be very very similar, but have the subtle difference for each resepctive market, and if they kept the same names, there would be 2 of the same car which are actually different (make sense??)

Actually this is one of America's "contributions" to the automotive world. When GM was coalescing in the 1920's, they positioned the brands in their house so that a customer would progress from one to the next as they got older and moved up in status. They'd start out a young person with a frugle Chevrolet and end up an old well-to-do golfer with a Cadillac.

This worked until the 1970s when costs were cut and designs were shared to the point where they were "badge engineering" -- changing grilles and headlights and some interior minutia to turn brand A into brand B.

The Japanese have adopted it here. They sold Nissan's under the Datsun name because the quality was so poor they didn't want to soil Nissan's name. Later, Honda brought out its Acura brand to sell upscale Hondas; Toyota and Nissan followed suit with Lexus and Infiniti.

This is largely because the car companies go to great lengths to define their personality or reputation in a market flooded with competitors -- e.g. Volvo safety, Porsche sports cars, Subaru AWD, etc. Honda was defined as cheap reliable cars for the everyman. If they started selling large luxury Hondas it would confuse that image, so they created Acura.

Inevitably you get some bleed (Acura RSX being a tarted up Civic, Lexus ES300 being a Camry, etc.).

I'm sure that to a lesser degree the ability to create new dealer franchises comes into play. The automakers limit the number of dealers they will support so now you're selling more cars in the same number of dealers. Also, let's say for argument's sake there are 2,000 Honda dealers in the US, do you want to ship NSXs to all of them, especially in areas where people aren't likely to spend that kind of money, or do you open up new Acura dealers in 300 lucrative high-income areas that will sell the NSX.
 
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pffft... across the globe? so far the only successful one is Lexus, and its not even doing that well in non-american countries. Infiniti just doesnt have the right name, ppl are still gonna think "hm.. thats awful a lot of money for an NISSAN"

and the G37? the 335i has already handed carrots to it on race track and quarter mile drag race. Unless they can slash the price down to compete with the european rivals, i dont see why anyone would want to spend their money on an Infiniti when they can get a good solid german saloon with the same money.

Motor Trend tested the G37 against the 335i and concluded that the difference in performance is minimal. And this is with both cars being automatic (the G37 has a 5-speed while the BMW has a 6), with both cars equipped with a manual the numbers would probably be closer.
But the main point is in the US, the G37 costs as much as $10K less than the 335i. That's about how much a 1.6L Hyundai Accent costs.
 
Lets be honest here, on the straight, the G35 slower than a 335i, around corners, its less fun than a S2000 because of its weight and nose heavy V6. And with the price tag of $34000, the younger brother 350Z seems much more reasonable, the 350Z is faster, more powerful and 6000 dollars cheaper. So base from what i can gather, the G35 seems like a rather expensive luxury sports coupe, rather than a performer. Im not saying its bad, its just the kind of car that i want to avoid.

The 335 is way more expensive, so I really don't consider it a fair comparison. I don't like the coupe either, but I do like the 4 door.

07_sedan_09.jpg

This is the car I got, in black. IMO it's a decent looking car.

Here's an article that Car & Driver did comparing the Infiti to a similarly priced 328i. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/12514/2007-infiniti-g35-sport-vs-2007-bmw-328i.html The BMW still was better in their opinion, but I think if some of you *cough* more cultured "Youropins" actually drove the car, if you had the chance, would like it.

Yes it is a Nissan based on a 350z chassis, oh no! It's not like they took a sawzall to it and slapped in some more subframing. They have lots of smart Japanese engineers with small hands that fixed everything. Brand snobs.
 
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Later, Honda brought out its Infiniti brand to sell upscale Hondas; Toyota and Nissan followed suit with Lexus and Infiniti.

Oh so Honda brought out both Acura and Infiniti:lol:? Just a correction. You made a good point though.
 
Well I drove an older G35 4 door, and hated it. It felt under power for the engine and handling was ok, but it was an Auto so i blame that maybe for the lack of power but still it should not be this bad. Now it could be the fact that i was taking this on loaner for the Merc which is a big V8 but still for its performance numbers i expected more.
Also I have always hated Infiniti/Nissan interior as they always seem cheap, and just crappy for the price they ask.
 
They sold Nissan's under the Datsun name because the quality was so poor they didn't want to soil Nissan's name.

Not quite. Nissans were initially sold as Datsuns in the US because they'd built the iconic Japanese army trucks which so many American WWII vets associated with Japanese atrocities in the Pacific Theatre. They also built a LOT of airplanes and engines - which, again, US veterans had cause to remember and dislike. If they'd used their own name to brand their cars here, they would have sold no cars whatsoever.

Motor Trend tested the G37 against the 335i and concluded that the difference in performance is minimal. And this is with both cars being automatic (the G37 has a 5-speed while the BMW has a 6), with both cars equipped with a manual the numbers would probably be closer.
But the main point is in the US, the G37 costs as much as $10K less than the 335i. That's about how much a 1.6L Hyundai Accent costs.

Not only that, but the 335i clearly hasn't had all the bugs worked out and has a bit of a thermal management problem. IMHO, the 335i is clearly a rushed-to-market job.
 
Well I drove an older G35 4 door, and hated it. It felt under power for the engine and handling was ok, but it was an Auto so i blame that maybe for the lack of power but still it should not be this bad. Now it could be the fact that i was taking this on loaner for the Merc which is a big V8 but still for its performance numbers i expected more.
Also I have always hated Infiniti/Nissan interior as they always seem cheap, and just crappy for the price they ask.

The new G35/G37 is pretty damn nice and fast for the money. When my dad's Q45 was being serviced, they gave him a nearly brand-new G as a loaner. I drove it and the acceleration is really nice :)
 
Not only that, but the 335i clearly hasn't had all the bugs worked out and has a bit of a thermal management problem. IMHO, the 335i is clearly a rushed-to-market job.

god any articles to back it up?

my dad's clearly rushed to market job appears to be running just fine
 
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