Infiniti G35

G-Force

It was Friday afternoon in March. What made this Friday special was that it was March in the Pacific Northwest and the sun was out. The real thing, not the liquid version. Oz and the Rodman had two choices. Work or go test drive new cars. It was a tough decision, but we made the sacrifice for our families and friends. If we didn't go out and test drive a car, what would those we love do? Read car magazines? This was a sacrifice we were honor bound to make.

How we got to the Infiniti dealership is a mystery. Suffice it to say, we arrived in style in Oz's 2000 bright red Chevy stepside. Nothing says you are rolling like a Chevy pickup. We expected to see sales people all over the lot trying to persuade the hesitant customer that this was the car they needed. Nada. No customers but us. Several years ago, the absence of customers would have been expected at an Infiniti dealership. That was when Infiniti's looked like they were designed by a bunch of techno geeks. Yeah, they had the latest technology but the cars looked like Mr. Potato Head on LSD. Today, Infiniti has some nice looking cars.

As soon as we got out of the truck, we were descended upon by the only sales person that really wanted to sell a car. This could be bad. He could expect Oz or I to actually BUY a car. Before all the car sales people out there start getting twisted because some guy lost his up, let me remind you this dealership had fewer people in it than Winter Olympics in Death Valley. In addition, Oz was really looking for a car. After all his wife said the magic words, "What do you think about trading my Bimmer in?" That was all that had to be said. It was off to the races.

We decided to drive the new G35. New for this year, Infiniti has redesigned the body and interior. The new body style looks like it is more of an evolutionary redesign. It's not. First, a look at the interior. Everything made sense. The interior looked like one would expect an Infiniti interior to look. Contemporary, yet elegant. Perhaps the most interesting feature is that a G35 without a navigation system looks just like one with nav. That's good new for us poor boys who don't have the money to buy a nav system or don't care for nav systems. At least people getting in the car, won't think, "Geez, he bought an Infiniti and couldn't step up to the nav model." It's still not as cush as a Lexus, but it certainly is not as Spartan as a BMW 3 series. It has the best attributes of both brands.

While we were checking the car out with thoughts of what this baby can do, the sales person was doing the usual. Telling us how great the G35 was and how if we were lucky they might be sell the car for sticker. Nice try. We might fall for that one if there weren't a Bajillion G's on the lot or if they had more customers than sales people.

Finally, the moment of truth: the offer to take a test drive. Oh Yeah! That is what we were here for. We got into the G. It was nice. The car had a nice purr when the start button was pushed.
As we drove off the lot, Oz and I were thinking that it was probably going to be one of those lame test drives where you don't really get to know the characteristics of this car with 306 horses just begging to run free. After we did the usual side street routes, the salesman took us to a divided highway that is not well traveled. Once on the highway, he told Oz to pull off on the shoulder. After all the traffic cleared, the sales person commanded Oz to stomp on it. As is usual with newer cars, the traction control was going to make sure we were not going to lay $50 worth of rubber on the road. In spite of this, you knew this "hoss" was made to run fast and hard. As we approached 80+ mph in a 55 mph zone, Oz eased off the gas. From the back, the sales person said, "Oh, you shoulda taken it up to at least a 100!" Great idea, but we were in the heart of the Puget Sound and Tom the Traffic Cop would probably not appreciate that the G only gets serious when driven at speeds that have three digits. Next we found a road with some turns. Oz gave it a kick in the rear and the G came to life. It was nimble in the corners and appeared to thrive on being pushed to the limit. Whoa!!!! A minivan traveling at less than the speed limit driven by someone that did not appreciate the thrill of pushing his rig. Time to turn around and head back to the dealership. On the way back, our salesperson suddenly told Oz to take it up to 80 mph and then shouted, "Slam on the brakes like you wife just stepped in front of the car." It was at that moment that I learned Oz loves his wife! Nose down and confident, the G came to an immediate stop. Fortunately, I had a lite lunch or I would have lost it.

Back at the dealership, we said good-bye to our salesperson who did not want to accept "we'll think about it" or even the word "no." Yeah it was great time. What about the G? It's a nice ride and if I owned a Bimmer dealership I would be concerned. This is one awesome car that puts the thrill back into driving.