Sage Automotive Group
2008 Infiniti G35
World-class sports sedan. edited by New Car Test Drive
Driving Impressions
The Infiniti G35 delivers responsive performance. Stand on the gas and it pulls right up to its maximum rpm. It willingly and heartily revs to levels normally associated with smaller, less complex engines.
Fuel economy is an EPA-estimated City/Highway 17/24 mpg for the G35 automatic, 17/25 mpg with the manual, and 17/23 mpg for the G35x. The 2008 Lexus IS 350 betters the G35 by 1 mpg.
The manual and automatic transmissions ably handle the engine's power and power curve. The automatic does its job rather casually at part throttle. Holding the right foot unwaveringly hard to the floor produced sharper, more solid shifts at the engine's redline. The automatic changes gears the quickest and, interestingly, the smoothest with either the shift lever or the column-mounted paddles and under full throttle; it's like a power shift but without the clutch. Credit this to the engine's electronics, which feather the throttle through the instantaneous shift. The same electronics deliver smooth downshifts, too, whether in full auto mode or manual override, by blipping the throttle to match engine rpm to transmission speed in the lower gear; think double clutching a pure manual gearbox. The all-wheel-drive G35x has a snow mode that also electronically tempers throttle response.
The six-speed manual shift pattern was tight and gear selection was precise, requiring little effort. Clutch operation is heavier than we would expect even on a sports sedan. This makes for sometimes rocky clutch engagement, especially at low speeds and light throttle.
Ride and handling are consistent across the line.
The notable and commendable exception of this is the Sport models with four-wheel steer. Besides actively adjusting the rear wheel toe by up to a degree depending on vehicle speed and steering angle, the four-wheel steering brings with it a sportier shock and spring setup and road speed-sensitive, variable ratio power steering. For hustling down winding roads, this suspension and 4WS is the preferred combination, and it's not all that far out of its element cruising the Interstate. It's solid and taut and manages the G35's mass very well without exacting a price in stiffness. It's firm, yes, and will transmit pavement heaves more dramatically into the passenger compartment. But over anything less than chunking blacktop or weathered concrete, it gives up very little against the standard suspension, which leans a bit more toward supple. Not that the base suspension is floaty by any means, far from it, actually. But as demonstrated over several fairly hot laps on a racetrack, it's not as planted and controlled as the 4WS Sport.
On freeways, the G35 cruises comfortably and quietly. Gone is the irritating drone that often plagued rear seat passengers in earlier G35 sedans. There's little wind noise even at extra-legal speeds. There's more road noise from the optional tire packages than from the standard treads, but the added grip and, frankly, sharper looking 18-inch wheels are worth it.
