Infiniti G37 Long-Term Road Test – Part II

What happened to a 6th months owners review?

6 months, 8 months, 10 months, it’s all good.Time has flown by as is usually the case when you start getting older.I long for the days of youth when time seemed to stand still but that is neither here nor there. This is supposed to be an owners update of a 2008 Infiniti G37, so let’s get with it.

Since the initial 2 months owners review I have racked up an additional 12k miles on the odometer, had her (I’m a he, she’s a she) at a couple of car shows, performed some upgrade sand have run her at the track.Never fear, I will touch on each of these further below.

First, the car itself is a 2008 G37 Journey with Premium and Sport Packages.The baseG37 comes with a 330hp VQ37VHR (11.0:1 compression ratio, 95.5 mm bore and 86 mm stroke, 7500 rpm redline), 5sp automatic transmission, Xenon HID’s and lots of other goodies.The Premium Package adds a power moon roof, “Studio on Wheels” sound system, iPod interface, power lumbar/memory seating and power steering wheel, upgraded rear view mirror, heated side view mirrors and Bluetooth. Sport package adds VLSD, upgraded brakes,sport suspension, 19″ rims, upgraded fascia and side sills, sport seats, aluminum pedals and for the 5AT transmission you get paddle shifters.For additional information on the car itself, please visit G37Driver, the original2 Month Owners Reviewor one of the other NICO overviews available via the NICO Articles or NICO Reviews main pages.

Since the 2 months owners review I have used the car quite often as this G37 is a daily driver and not a garage queen. I have put over 12k miles on the car since the first review and honestly enjoy it more and more.For the most part I can’t really find too much wrong with it.The car has good power, handles well, the suspension and ride is what you would expect from a luxo-sports coupe and the interior’s a great design.Does that mean the car is perfect?Of course not. For all the positive aspects there are surely some annoyances.

Interior

While I love the interior there are personal annoyances to contend with.From a seating perspective, the back of the console is a bit high which makes it difficult to grab the ‘ole wallet for drive-thru’s or ATM’s, I am still trying to get used to adjusting the cabin temperature to a setting I like (constantly adjusting the temp settings up and down instead of a “set it and forget it” approach), the passenger seat belt has a tendency to rattle at times against the door (must make sure the extension arm is out) and I would love a better door arm rest as it is positioned low on the door along with the window and mirror controls. Going back to the console, with something that is so large and “high” I would have loved more storage space yet I have a feeling that Intiniti squeezed what they could into that location. Finally, the first fatality of the interior is the spring-loaded cup holder in the center console as this was accidentally broken when reaching across the car and hitting a 20oz bottle which resided there. Something on my list to get fixed as it IS a user-friendly design.

Drivability
From a drivability perspective, the car will be a bit rough at times when driving slowly or in stop-n-go traffic. It’s like the car is impatient and wants to GO!I can’t blame it as it’s what I want to do as well and it is a sports-oriented vehicle as well soI chalk it up to being “quirky”. Similar can be said for rapid acceleration from a 20mph roll with the automatic as it seems the transmission has to think about the gear it needs to be in, this is regardless to being in Drive or Drive Sport modes.While”off the line” performance is great, I have noticed a tendency for the transmission to have a slow 1-2 shift in manual mode if you punch it after you start moving. The remaining shifts are firm and fast.Recently, I have begun having problems with “truckers ruts” or road groves which cause the car to sling side-to-side and requires additional concentration over these road conditions.The problem is probably an alignment issue but that will be found out in short order and reported on my next owners review.

Overall
The above are all minor issues but they are annoyances to me at times and you learn to live with, what car is perfect?Honestly, if the above are the only issues I have with the vehicle during my ownership it will turn out to be one of the best vehicles I have ever owned.Additionally,I love the look and the car is a blast when running in manual mode and manually shifting via the paddles or the shifter.

The Tally
Months of Ownership: 10 months
Vehicle list price: $41,300 + $500 for aftermarket spoiler
Mileage: 15,800
Total Maintenance:$48.80 for 3000 mile inspection + Standard Oil Changes
Repairs: No repairs since last review
Miles Per Gallon: 22-24MPG in mixed city/highway driving

Events
As mentioned previously I have had the G at a couple of NICO car shows at this point with more on the way.The first show was the Nashville, TN NICOfest at Import Alliance meet with two other G37 coupes, one provided by Infiniti. Ialso participated in the NICOfest Atlanta Motor sports Nationals event where she spent the weekend next to another new G37 coupe.Realize, I don’t think of the G37 as a show car in the least but it’s always nice to show support for the NICO Nissan and Infiniti community. In stock form I am surprised at the amount of attention the car receives wherever it may be.

In addition to the above events I worked out a track day for fellow enthusiasts this past November at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY. During the day I ran a total of 6 runs while playing around with launch techniques and turned in a better time than I expected as I was trying to learn how to launch properly: 13.835 @ 101.89 (13.7x corrected). I plan on going back in a couple months fora better stock time as I know I can knock off an additional 1/10th or more with proper air pressure and burnouts to clean the tires. I never seem to get my best times the first time I attend a track day. To view a copy of the time slip visit:G37.moodym.com

Upgrades
Over the last 10 months I have made a couple of minor changes to the car itself. From an enthusiasts standpoint I can never leave a vehicle alone and have performed a couple of minor changes to the car to suit my tastes. The first modification was the simple task of tinting the windows (35% front, 20% rear). Not a big change but something that helps with heat/glare and it does give a white car a nice look. Within the first couple months of ownership I had a 3M clear-bra added to the car which covers the nose, mirrors and1/2 of the hood and front fenders. I have also performed upgrades to the Xenon lighting.The factory 4300 kelvin headlights were upgraded to 6000k and I also replaced the stock halogen fog lights with matching 6000k Xenon HID’s. Additionally I replaced the factory parking lamp bulb with a 5-led replacement.None of these upgrades are due to limitations with the car itself as they simply meet my tastes.

Review by: Matthew Moody (audtatious), NICOclub Administrator – www.moodym.com
3.20.2009