[Alfisti]

I test drove an EX35, the awkward hatch/suv thingy and could not believe how agricultural and coarse the engine was. Otherwise the cars since the G35 have been ugly or bland.

[Socal_R8]

Originally Posted by Esteban

The G35 had the nicest sounding stock exhaust.

sure did

[Socal_R8]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Same here...loved it. Bought it new in its second model year (2004). It was the Japanese 3 Series of that time.

Nice, had the same wheels but it that silver/gold color like this one.

[pz619]

The original g35 was amazing. I still like it. But it’s kind of crazy that the Q whatever (terrible branding decision) is basically the same car.

[goldbug]

New to the forum, been lurking for while. First post here after browsing around finally registering. I own a 16’ F30 328i currently (had 2x for a while), along with my not-so-logical track toy I’ve been working on in my spare time; a 13’ Obsidian Black Infiniti G37S manual coupe with a few parts put into it. I also previously owned an 07’ Diamond Graphite G35 manual coupe with the aero package.

Wasn’t Infiniti going to become Nissan’s value brand a few years ago? That may have just been rumors.

Nissan/Infiniti had a lot of potential with the VQ platform, and really just never took it where they could have gone, mainly by never offering a true track spec version for Infiniti, and then jointly for Nissan and Infiniti by not offering a forced induction option for the Z or G series. And yeah, bad branding with the badging and naming convention. I think the final straw for most Infiniti enthusiasts was the lack of manual option for the Q60, which really makes no sense now with the new Z using the same engine with a manual option. Personally, I think they should have at least kept producing the Q60 coupe in a final limited edition batch with that 6 speed transmission; it might have spurred up lost interest and appreciation. I’ve also worked in dealerships for the past 2 years and have heard from others who came from Infiniti and talked about their rising issues with brand performance etc. Never heard good things.

So much potential. I loved my G35 6 speed coupe. It was a blast, great visibility around corners, had a VLSD which was good enough for the street, and was easy to work on. However no forced induction factory options still sucked. There was never enough torque especially in lower rpms. Same for my G37 6 speed I still own. And after a while, most of us want to go a little faster, and I’ve gone down the rabbit hole myself. I didn’t do much to my G35 coupe other than basics like intakes and coilovers, but was much younger then, and just learning car mechanics. My G37 coupe started bone stock and has been turned into a mixed-use light track car, for time attack and general track events. These cars are freaking phenomenal driving cars…but you have to really have to pay to play if you want to see its potential…more than you should. It needs suspension work to shine (ie nice coilovers, arms, end links, sway bars), some brake upgrades, definitely an oil cooler, breather mods to get the most out of the VQ, and especially needed a tune. And the exhaust from the factory never matched the G35’s purr, which was a huge selling point IMO. As a G37 owner with a very heavily modified car, might I also add that I personally can’t stand single exit exhausts on this car, it just trashes the exhaust note, and tarnished the aftermarket Infiniti community IMO. To each their own I suppose. I’ll hold onto my G37 as long as possible regardless. Happy to share pictures of my little track project G37 if anyone is interested. Too much is done to it to list out.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by Socal_R8

Nice, had the same wheels but it that silver/gold color like this one.

I wanted that color as well, but black was the only thing they had in stock at the time and I was an impatient young 24 year old lol (last black car I ever owned though!). Those wheels were really nice for the times...made by Rays!

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

I wanted that color as well, but black was the only thing they had in stock at the time and I was an impatient young 24 year old lol (last black car I ever owned though!). Those wheels were really nice for the times...made by Rays!

They looked awesome in black. And yeah, those Rays wheels were forged too. Still one of the best OEM wheel designs IMO.

[Mike_H_]

Pretty grim outlook for Nissan

[Ugly Kar]

No different than Jaguar. They think some cute marketing is going to save them rather than making cars people actually want.

[XutvJet]

It's really sad what has happened to Nissan. They were the poop from the 1970s to early 2000s. They were only Japanese automaker that injected performance and style into their models and they were reliable. The Z32 300ZX is TIMELESS. The 3rd gen Maxima 1989-1994 was fabulous, especially the 1992-1994 SE 5MT. Then there was the 1990s S240 SXs, the Hard Body trucks, the Pathfinders, and those dead sexy 1st gen Zs.

I was a Nissan/Infiniti lover from 1999 to 2012. I had a 1995 Maxima SE 5MT and then a 2003 Infiniti G35 sedan auto. I modded, drag raced, and auto-x those cars extensively (don't laugh hehe). That VQ30 in the Maxima was a jewel and felt very much like a BMW inline 6. It was super smooth and the induction noise was impressive. I added a variable intake manifold from the Middle East/European models which allowed that VQ breath above 5600rpms and greatly increase top end power. With an ECU flash to increase the rev limiter, that thing gained 30whp/20wtq and revved to 7200rpms. That car went 13.9s@102mph with just an ECU flash, pre-cats removed, and the fancy intake manifold. Back in the early 2000s, that was kinda quick for a V6 sedan. In stock form, the car went 15.0@95mph. That car had over 140 1/4 mile passes and 110K miles and it still had the original clutch even with 5000rpms clutch slip launches!?!?!?

I then got my G35 and thing was freaking awesome too. I focused more on suspension on that car and swapped over many 350Z parts and did some minor exhaust mods and an intake manifold plenum spacer. That car ran 14.0s@100mph with hardly any mods. It was also surprisingly good in auto-x for a midsize sedan. The VQ35 in that car was great too, but wasn't remotely as smooth as that stellar VQ30.

Both of those cars were extremely reliable.

After the 1st gen G35s, Nissan/Infiniti really went downhill which is so sad. I thought they really were going to become the BMW of Japan with the intro for the FM chassis but they didn't make improvements and really struggled with the adoption of tech and reliability plummeted. They started marketing to lower income people and their quality slide as a result. I think the initial nail in the coffin was the financial crisis of 2008.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Nissan lost me so many years ago. I'd still have the right S13, R32, and R34, but that's where it ends.

Every once in a while I'll hear an R35 and be like, wow, what a sound. Or there's this Q50 Red Sport I see now and again that has a great front end, even with the basket, but that's all the car has.

Sad, really.

Nissan also lost me many years ago. Had 1987 Pathfinder. Indestructible. When Nissan decided to migrate the Pathfinder to the car platform, that was it. Never looked back.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Ugly Kar

No different than Jaguar. They think some cute marketing is going to save them rather than making cars people actually want.

Totally different. Nissan has some decent cars, they're just too expensive. Jaguar had no decent cars, and they were too expensive.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Totally different. Nissan has some decent cars, they're just too expensive. Jaguar had no decent cars, and they were too expensive.

Oh I beg to differ sir. Slightly.

[B58-M340iX]

Just hope they don't go down like Mitsubishi did. I really loved me some DSM GSX and 3000GT VR-4/GTO back in the day. Nissan needs to do some cool stuff. They pulled a Toyota 4Runner with the GTR. Seems like it has barely changed in 15 years.

[M3 GUSTA.G80]

My first car I bought that I was truly proud of and babied was a 2008 G37 coupe. Black with black interior and I tinted it just right. I absolutely loved that car, owned it for 10 years before I bought my M340i in 2020. It was fun to drive, mod, I loved how it looked and the body lines, and honestly stock it had some really well made components and was set up well. You really did not need to mod it if you didn't want to. Exhaust in particular for a stock car was really great.

Dad was also a master tech for Nissan for many years when I was a kid and we had some Nissans with sentimental value growing up. As a kid I was a huge Nissan stan in peak JDM era.

It's so sad to see all of this happening. Nissan is a legendary brand in the canon of motorsport and cars in general and it's heartbreaking to see them make so many bad decisions and run the company into the ground. I really hope this can turn around somehow, because there are so many exciting aspects about Nissan that can be dug up and maybe dusted off a bit for the modern era.

[TXSTYLE]

It's only getting worse.... https://nypost.com/2024/12/10/lifest...s-dealerships/

[SteVTEC]

Infiniti had a great thing going with the G35/G37. There was a lot of buzz and brand recognition, and it was a formidable 3-series competitor.

So yeah, just trash all of that, rename everything "Q" that nobody understood, literally reinvent the wheel with this steer by wire crap that nobody wanted and made the car feel funny to drive, and then start dropping CVT's in your mainstream SUVs and other cars which everybody hates and aren't reliable at all, and basically stop evolving your cars too.

Shocker.

I still remember when nearly every other car around here was a 1st or 2nd gen Infiniti G35/G37. They were super popular and very well liked and respected. Infiniti's product planning team took all of that momentum and flushed it straight down the toilet.

[Alfisti]

Marketing in automotive is vastly over rated, success is primarily driven by product.

[Phizzzle]

G35/G37 was my dream car as a kid. Sad to see Infiniti going down like this.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Marketing in automotive is vastly over rated, success is primarily driven by product.

Disagree. A lot of it is brand image, which is just marketing. Look at what crazy prices people pay for new 911s, or Maseratis, etc. They're selling a brand even more than the product. Porsche has a good product too, but not anything better than a multitude of cars at the same or lower price points. They've just continued to offer a few things nobody else will (namely a manual transmission). And then they have brand obsessed people blather on about the engineering, the heritage, the refinement, etc. They're good cars, but not 2-3x as good as their competitors as they're priced at.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Oh I beg to differ sir. Slightly.

If I didn't already have a Z4 Coupe, this would be in the fleet. Just a superbly beautiful design.

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Disagree. A lot of it is brand image, which is just marketing. Look at what crazy prices people pay for new 911s, or Maseratis, etc. They're selling a brand even more than the product. Porsche has a good product too, but not anything better than a multitude of cars at the same or lower price points.

To a degree, but it is backed by a good and typically unique product. Also, for top shelf luxury goods, there is a bigger proportion of "how the product reflects on me" over "how the product serves my needs". Nissan and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Infiniti are much more in the later category, so no amount of sexy marketing will overshadow poor products. On the other hand, no amount of good product can overshadow poor perception at the higher end of the market (see the struggle of budding premium brands from established manufacturers, latest being Hyundai's Genesis).