Pros: Powerful engine
-Moderately priced compared to main competitors
-Wide array of standard features
Cons:
-Not the best fuel efficiency
-Rear seat in coupe too small for tall adults
-Brakes sometimes feel too sensitive
It's not like Infiniti changed the whole thing - not by a long shot. The G35 still holds the spirit of Skyline, retaining its original platform, drivetrain, and size but enjoying a 36% stiffer body and tweaks meant "to create a more powerful driving sensation."
That's mostly a literal statement, because Infiniti went off the deep end training its engine to be all that it can be. Its still of 6 cylinders, 3.5 liters, 24 valves, and a 95.5 x 81.4mm bore and stroke, but nearly every other number is up. Compression leaps from 10.3 to 10.6, redline from 6,600 to 7,500 RPM, airflow resistance and exhaust pressure improve by 18% and 25%, and the whole thing sits 15mm lower in the engine bay to better the center of gravity. Add the finishing touch of variable exhaust valve timing (to complement the system on the intake side), and the G35 is now home to 306 hard-charging, tire-melting, SAE-certified horses (vs. last year's 280 uncertified horses) - exactly matching the ruffian that ran away with the Fastest-In-Class crown last year, the Lexus IS350 (what a coincidence!).
This being a luxury car, Infiniti designed the power to build evenly to redline for an effect its PR department coined as "Swell" acceleration. Yes, I'd call hitting 60 MPH in under 5 seconds pretty swell; I'd also call it the fastest Nissan ever sold in America (so long, 300ZX Turbo). In addition to matching or blowing away everything in current company, it even threatens the once unreachable M3, C55, and S4, and a full week of driving definitely let me relish in the full fury of the G35's accelerative dominance. Maybe even twice.
Seriously, this engine is an achievement and an amazement, especially considering EPA gas mileage estimates went up (I got 21 MPG). It's just that the G35 was already so speedy and torquey that even a rise of this degree is hard to notice, especially since it takes place around 7,000 on the tach - not an easy place to safely visit often. (Also, the even-handedness of the power buildup prevents any sort of climax.) Sorry guys, but this aspect of the G35's excellence is old news.
News to me is the feel of such power through a 6-speed shifter. It's too bad the G35 has that typical Japanese clutch pedal whose bottom half exists for no purpose. Engagement occurs a bit abruptly near the top; smooth 1st and 2nd gear shifts require a samurai's concentration. Your arm gets the better half of the deal: the gearbox has fine ratios and the shift lever is a driver's dream with direct and defined throws.
Here on the new "G35 S" (Sport) are stiffer shocks in the suspension (which make a slight switch from multilink to double-wishbone in front), backed by newly aggressive tires that are now of staggered size: 225/50R18 (front) and 245/45R18 (rear). Even the wider rear footprints failed to cure the alarming ease with which the tail breaks free in low-speed, low-gear corners, but the G35 now claws in the curves like it rockets in the straights, and mostly feels mostly tight and controlled.
Control sometimes comes at cost to comfort. Though the G35's structure feels rigid (despite the occasional trace of steering wheel shiver), the rigidness extends to the ride, which admits just enough choppiness to have comfort teetering on the bottom border of "comfortable." The low-profile rubber isn't the only culprit - you feel the whole car getting deflected - though the tires do deserve full blame for road noise that's loud enough to give occupants a sense of Sentra. (There was some wind whistle too, some of it possibly suggesting a loose seal.) Go with the standard G35 for something less hard around the edges.
Thankfully, every G35 has become less rough around the edges. If there was a fault with the first model, it was its multitude of hyper reactions to driver inputs. Well, let's see: the G35 now has an accelerator pedal that's still quick, but now gradual as well. The sensitive brakes that once offered the choice between an aching leg and a broken neck now build nice and evenly. And finally, in switching the whole steering mechanism to a type that varies effort with road speed (just like the original G20 and Q45), Infiniti not only cured the old car's too-eager turn-in antics, but also found a dose of extra road feel that the old G35 suppressed. It's a tiny bit slower, but more subtleties of the road are now felt in the straight-ahead, and turning the wheel results in a reassuring - if not completely realistic - resistance.