A Sexy Flagship
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
May 14, 2009 at 11:17 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES — The seats push cool air to keep you from getting sticky in the summer sun. The audio system is loud and clear with the roof folded and tucked away (13 speakers overall, including a 10-inch speaker in the front door and headrest speakers). And the ride and handling are athletic for a car without a permanent roof.
This is the Infiniti G37 and it’s about time. Infiniti has been in need of a sexy flagship for – well, pretty much forever. And with a June on-sale imminent, the G37 convertible is it.
“It’s not an old person’s car,” says Infiniti Canada planning boss Ian Forsyth.
Forsyth and his pals are being coy about pricing, what with the muscular yen making a mess of price tags on exported models from Japan. But look for numbers in the mid- to high-$50,000s, which will make the G37 convertible competitive with BMW’s 3-Series Cabriolet ($55,600-$65,600).
Enlarge ImageThe G37 convertible goes on sale next month. (NISSAN)
That’s the point.
Infiniti sees itself as something of Japan’s answer to the Bavarians. Sporty styling, racy handling and all that. And that’s why the engineers put so much effort into making sure the G convertible is rigid, solid.
They beefed up the chassis with more structure behind the rear seats. They strengthened around the A-pillar (that supports the windshield).
It all worked, though the A-pillar’s design can make entering and exiting tricky if you’re not careful. Visibility to the side and rear is not quite ideal, either.
That said, the Sport version – the stiffest model – is quite the handler. You can carve corners happily here, boxing around the standard six-speed manual tranny or paddle-shifting the seven-speed automatic. The less aggressive, more luxurious Premier G37 has only the seven-speed autobox, by the way.
And the car looks good, too – not fat and bloated at the rear end, which can happen with these convertibles with the hardtops that fold into the trunk. All that sheet metal has to go somewhere, right?
Yet the designers and engineers managed to stay almost completely within the dimensions of the G coupe. The convertible is only 10 mm longer than the coupe and about 40 mm wider at the rear. Not a bad trick for a car with room for the roof in the trunk.
The engineering team at Germany’s Karmann Group helped a lot here. Yes, this is the same Karmann that filed for bankruptcy protection last month in Germany.
In any case, the Infiniti-Karmann partnership is moving ahead, regardless. It’s worth noting that Infiniti has never worked with Karmann, yet what the engineers did is pretty slick: the G’s roof panels shuffle and invert for more efficient trunk stacking. The roof is all gone in about 30 seconds or so.
“It’s not just a coupe with the roof removed,” Forsyth says.
I like the drive, but I love the cabin. The leather in my tester was just soft enough, but not mushy or gooey to the feel. Lots of back, thigh and lumbar support, too. The materials look and feel upscale but not ostentatious or showy. And the controls make sense, unlike a lot of high-tech cars these days.
Alas, all is not ideal. Daylight glare makes the instrument panel lights nearly unreadable. If you’re wearing sunglasses – a must in a convertible – you’ll struggle.
Infiniti needs this convertible in its lineup to jazz up a pretty basic portfolio of sedans, coupes and SUVs. It’s a halo car designed to cast a favourable shadow over the rest of the models. So the fact Infiniti might sell less than 1,000 in a good year is not the point. Brand-building, image-building, that’s the point.
And so it’s important for Infiniti to get this car right. Well, power is good from the 3.7-litre, V-6 engine: 325 horsepower.
The packaging makes sense, too. The Sport model has 10-spoke, 19-inch aluminum wheels with performance tires, sport-tuned steering, Brembo brakes, sport seats, aluminum pedals, power and memory front seats, leather interior and magnesium paddle shifters. The usual and expected electronic stability control and all the airbags are standard.
The Premier Edition comes in only one colour: Diamond graphite. It’s really metallic grey, if we’re being honest. The red leather upholstery is trimmed in real maple. The front seats are climate-controlled, there is a navigation system and the front grille is black.
If you want navigation on the Sport, you’ll need to opt for the Hi-Tech package and also pay for voice recognition, “Music Box” audio, intelligent cruise control, adaptive front lighting and pre-crash seatbelts.
The Sport model’s adaptive dual-zone climate control is pretty trick, I’ll give Infiniti that. When it’s colder outside, the system speeds up the fan to warm the cabin; when it’s hotter, more cool air is pumped into the cabin.
Then there’s the trunk. It’s a good size when the roof is up, but of little use when loaded with the folded lid. So use the back seat for your golf clubs; it’s not exactly ideal for real adults to sit, anyway.
What Infiniti has here is a great looking open-air car with excellent handling, loads of power, a rich cabin and some very smart features. Sure, we’d all like better visibility, a bigger trunk and a roomier back seat.
Then again, if we’re going to get all practical here, note that Infiniti’s residual or resale values are the best among luxury brands in Canada, according to Automotive Lease Guide.
That’s one more sensible argument in favour of this car.
****
2009 INFINITI G37 CONVERTIBLE
Type: Premium two-door convertible with folding hardtop
Price: (estimated) $55,000 and up
Engine: 3.7-litre V-6, SOHC
Horsepower/Torque: 325 hp/267 lb-ft
Transmission: Six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic
Drive: Rear-wheel-drive
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 12.0 city/7.8 highway; premium gas
Alternatives: BMW 328i/335i Cabriolet, Audi A4 Cabriolet, Saab 9-3 convertible, Mercedes-Benz CLK350 convertible
****
Like
- Upscale, but not over-the-top, interior
- Excellent sound system
- Climate control with heating and cooling seats
- Slick folding top
- Handsome look without a big rear end
****
Don’t like
- Visibility in some directions
- Lack of useful trunk space when top down
- Small, small back seat
- Instruments tend to disappear in daylight, with top down
