The Grover Wheel

Repost: This article originally appeared in the Grove City College Collegian in 2012. It is submitted here in un-edited form.

The 2004 Infinity G35X all-wheel-drive sedan.

Completely redesigned in 2003, the G35 was one of the first Japanese sedans to make the bold claim of going toe-to-toe with BMW’s seemingly untouchable 3-series. Given the BMW’s legendary balance of performance and driving feel, Infinity set themselves a high target.

First impressions of the G35 are good. Infinity chose a good styling balance between classic and modern. As a result, the styling has aged well and the G35 doesn’t feel as dated as some cars from the early 2000’s. You could be forgiven for thinking the G35 is a new car, and that’s a good trait for a car.

The interior, too, is well styled. However, the first-generation G35 still falls short of a true luxury feel. Infinity is Nissan’s luxury brand, and sadly some parts of the G35’s dashboard feel more like a mid-level Nissan than a real up-market car. It would be going too far to say the interior feels cheap, but it doesn’t feel as special as a car in this bracket should.

The seats are supportive and well-padded. But they don’t feel as well-bolstered as BMW’s or as comfortable as the Volvo S60R we tested earlier this year.

However, the feel of the seats is secondary to the driving position. The seating position is by far the most disappointing part of this car. The driver sits so high that it feels like sitting on top of the car rather than low-down in it.

This type of driving position is fine for bigger sedans focused on long cruses or commuting: it gives a commanding feel that puts you above the action. However, for a sports sedan, this high driving position makes the driver feel more remote from the action.

Couple the high driving position with steering that is just slightly vague and the G35 supplies a rather lackluster performance. On back roads, a sports sedan should feel eager and light. The G35 goes around corners in a very uninterested way; it doesn’t stir the soul.

The purpose of any sports sedan should be to provide a smile on back roads after a long commute. It should couple the practicality of an everyday sedan with the soul of a sports car.

The first-generation G35 doesn’t really do this. It feels a bit like a work-in-progress. Infinity ticked many of the boxes on paper, but failed to capture the essence of the sports sedan.

The G35 feels somewhat like a bargain-version of a sports sedan. It reminds me of a discount TV. It may have 1080P and a good refresh rate and look good on paper, but it doesn’t match a top-quality product when viewed in person.

The G35 looks good on paper, and has some good points in person. For example, it has an excellent sound system and a silky-smooth V6 that provides adequate acceleration.

But it fails to feel quite like a top-shelf product. The high driving position, slightly soft suspension, and interior plastics all make it feel like a close second-place product.

This doesn’t mean that it isn’t still a good car. If you are looking for an affordable car that is good on the commute, less expensive to maintain than a BMW, and still provides good performance then the G35 is worth a look.

It is worth noting that we only had a chance to test the automatic version, and that Car and Driver was significantly more complementary of the manual model.