MFLetou

I wasn't sure to include this in the 2005 version ride report or start a new thread--if the mods deem appropriate to move it, feel free.

I'm a Gold member who rented from LGB. Despite calling three times and asking first for anything but a Taurus, and second, for a Mustang, my assigned car was...a Taurus. (With a sunroof, the agent helpfully added.)

This was a leisure trip to Beverly Hills with my wife. A Taurus was just not going to work, so I begged them for something else. They had virtually nothing, but after lots of keystrokes and looking around, the agent offered by an Infiniti G35 for what amounted to an extra $15 a day. I took it.

http://www.infiniti.com/content/0,,c...-12001,00.html

The car was pearl white, witrh 300 miles. It was sitting in a President's Club slot, Class H. No satellite radio. Sunroof, leather with heated seats (of course).

HIGHS: As previous posters have noted, acceleration is fantastic. It was perfect for Freeway driving, where my unfamiliarity with the area resulted in frequently being in the wrong lane and needed to make some crazy moves to get over. The real star was accelerating from 55-60 up to 80 or so---completely effortless. Most impressive. Handling was nice, also--very true, secure, good brakes. Good visibilty out the front. I'm 6'2 with long legs and had plenty of room--not as much as my wife's Malibu or my Intrigue, but enough. Great seats--good support, comfy, even for long trips. High quality materials, as expected.

LOWS: As great as the handling was at highway speeds, it was unimpressive at low speeds. Steering became very, very heavy, making it tough to maneuver in heavy traffic (like LA). Same thing for the throttle response---super touchy. In stop and go traffic, quite annoying. Even after I adjusted to it, it was still a jerky ride. My other major complaint seems to hold true for most Nissan products---a ridiculously wide turning circle. This car was not very nimble, especially for its size, because it takes so much space to turn. Also, I found the interior to be austere. Personal preference, of course, but it was rather cold. I really didn't like the 'orange' glow of everything (speedo, climate controls, etc). Climate control system and 6 Disc changer were not particularly intuitive, too. In order to get the ac on, for instance, you don't hit the 'ac' button--you hit 'mode.' Huh? And finally, I don't really care on a rental, but gas mileage was terrible. Now, I'm sure some of it was the driver, but...still....I averaged around 14 mpg.


Overall, this was a great rental that we had fun with. But I really wouldn't want this car as my everday driver---too hard to live with. I spend half my life in heavy traffic, snaking in and our of lanes in stop and go style. I'd get myself sick in this thing, and its just too hard to turn at low speeds.

Tummy

Gas mileage improves after the engine has a few thousand miles on it and you adjust to being easier on the throttle.

For the climate control, I think you should select "Auto" and set the temperature. The AC is then automatically selected.

They're replacing it with a mostly new design in 2007. I hope they improve the transmission, maybe a 6 or 7 speed auto. I read that it will also get a new 3.7L FSI engine with output in the range of 330hp.

I rented an FX35 from LAX last year and only averaged 9 mpg.

MFLetou

I tried selecting Auto, but nothing happened---the temp screen at the top of the dash stayed blank.

SpeedRicer

Yep, the Coupe concept looks very evolutionary -- which is good, since I like the current design. ^ With Lexus/BMW/MB all stepping up to the 300ish hp level with their respective cars, I'd imagine Infiniti won't hold back as well.

Loran

No satellite radio???? Are you sure? I've had the G35 in NYC, CLE, and SEA, and Sirius was always active. It was accessed through the built-in radio, not the Hertz add-on device.

Through Hertz rentals I've fallen in love with sat radio, and it would be a major negative if they got rid of it for the '06 G35.

MFLetou

Well, it might have been on there, but it wasn't active. Didn't come up on the bands. My wife and I have recently become Sirius subscribers and were looking for it. We actually had brought along our Sportster radio and hooked it up because the car didn't have it.

CrazyOne

Well, I always wanted to try one of these out, and finally I got what seemed like the right chance.

Normally I book C or even B, but after my last B at PIT (got "YB" Cobalt!) and last C at PIT (got "YC" Sebring!) I was leery. Plus, the rates were insane. Best I got for C was $47, and that was taking a plunge with a new CDP. F on that was only $51 (same as D, actually), so I decided to book F. I was going to book F with NL (using the excellent 3 days free coupon), which is a formula others have used to nice free upgrades sometimes, but when I put in the PC# the rates jumped too much. So I left it F and figured I'd try to finagle something at the airport.

Well, I got there and the assigned was a dreaded Taurus. (Isn't there a RIP date on these yet? When the heck are they going to be gone?) I might have been able to swing a switch to something else if it was there, but instead my inquiry was "Have anything fun?" And she's like well, not too much fun, all the Mustangs are gone, eh, might have a Volvo, or I have an Infiniti. How much more? $10/day. Oh, what the hell, probably won't be able to get one for $10/day on a $20/day C rate like I get sometimes. So take the chance.

So I took off in the White 2006 G35 this morning for Baltimore, and then down to DC tonight. I like it. I think the OP in this thread has it pretty much down. I don't mind the orange instruments, and I didn't have much trouble figuring out the climate control, but the steering did seem heavy in my long treks up and down the parking garage in Balt today. Also I didn't much like the seat adjustment setup. But all in all this is a satisfying car to drive. Mine had about 3k on it when I picked it up, and it is still classed as H.

My example also does not have any sat radio installed. Nissan/Infiniti gives purchasers a choice of Sirius or XM, and you have to pick which module (one or the other), and it is indeed optional according to the manual. (Before checking it I had tried to no avail to find it.) No worries, though: my portable Sirius Sportster works just fine, though it is a shame to mar the nicer car with the tacked-on windshield mount and dangling wires. (Plus, the Sportster's backlighting is blue; wow, does it clash! )

I could get used to this. My only dilemma is can I justify getting the extra $10/day reimbursed given that I ended up Pricelining my hotel for this trip because those rates were so crazy. (Hey, I could have just said the hell with that and booked a convenient place at $300/night. Since I got the Omni Shoreham at $99 on Priceline, I've saved them much more than the car upgrade. )

SpeedRicer

Had one of these last week at DFW as well -- always a fun car. ^ I was a bit suprised to see a new one though, since agents at SFO have told me that the G35 is on its way out from Hertz (being fully replaced by the Zephyr).

The upcoming redesign is rather evolutionary as well, albeit with a predictably healthy increase in the power department:

Tummy

I got a 2006 G35 today and am somewhat disappointed. I've been renting the G35, usually an upgrade from an F, since Hertz started getting them a few years ago. The suspension and brakes on this latest version is much less sporty than previous years. While not floating, I feel that the suspension is much softer and allows a lot more bodyroll. The 2003+2004 models had very grabby brakes, I didn't like it at first, but after getting use to it, they felt very confident inspiring. The new ones have a vague feeling.

Overall, I think I might prefer the Magnum / 300c with the 5.7L Hemi. The handling between the 35 and the Magnum feel similar to me now, with the Magnum having stronger off the line acceleration and a lot more room. Surprisingly, I get similar gas mileage when driving mostly highway.

CrazyOne

What I discovered after driving this once was that while I'd drive it any day over the Taurus I would have gotten for F, and it was fine compared to many other rentals, I would no longer look to buy one of these over a more garden variety sedan that costs thousands less. I couldn't figure out what the G35 was really giving me over, say, an Accord or Camry, except for a little added exclusivity. How much more performance? How much better handling? It didn't seem like it could be that much.

I've got another rental on Thursday and reserved a C this time as the prices are not quite as insane. If I could just get a Mazda 6 all the time for C I think I'd be plenty happy, really....

Tummy

I don't understand how people can stand driving "garden variety" sedans all the time, everyday. The Camry doesn't handle at all and when I drive it, it feels like I am not in control. Like it would slide right off a highway off ramp.

I would say that the performance, exclusivity, and handling increase from a Camry XLE V6 to a G35 is worth the extra $3400, similarly equipped.

CarolDisney1

I was given one of these as free upgrade this week.

Having driven Infiniti's in the past (I owned the G-30 and I ?) I was not overly impressed. Nice car, but as others have posted at low speed it seems "heavy" (And I know nothing about cars.... I just didn't like the way it drove in traffic.) It was nice on the Fl turnpike and it rides well..

Now my G-30 was a manual transmission and I think that if this car comes in manual that would fix my only objection. (I realize that finding manuals in the US is getting harder and harder, but I drive a manual transmission right now, Saab 9-3 convertible)

Tummy

You can get it with a manual. $31,200

http://www.infiniti.com/g_sedan/models.html

SpeedRicer

Agreed -- the Camry SE is at the limit of how "soft" I'd like a car to be. Anything beyond that is too boat-like for me. It would be nice if Hertz would carry more Subaru Legacies (especially in turbo 2.5GT trim ).

Unfortunately, the G35s that Hertz carries are standard models, but even those can be quite fun at the limit if you turn off the stability/traction control. Not as good as the 3-Series, but very close IMO. And with the Sport Suspension package, the dynamics are even better. Remember, the G35 is the Japanese-market Nissan Skyline, which includes the world-famous GT-R spec. So the basic architecture is great -- it's just that they soften it up in the base model for more mainstream consumer appeal.

TMOliver

That's been my "gripe" with the G35 recently, just another sedan, and hardly worth the "upgrade" price on a rental and certainly not a car to buy in that price range.

The Mazda 6 remains the best combination of handling and comfort in the modestly-priced "sports sedan" category (and for normal rentals). As for the new Lincum Zephyr, it's more of a gentle breeze, not likely to get you anywhere in much of a hurry, and certainly not worth uypgrade price.

Strangely, and me no Chrysler fan, the best rental I've driven lately was a Magnum wagon from Thrifty after another reservation had been screwed up and the original agency had to find a substitute from another company. Other than being awkwardly uncomfortable trying to see from beneath the too low windshield line (with the seat "down" as far as possible), it wasn't a bad car, just unsuited for long-bodied drivers.

The Hertz Tauruses reflect the owner's (Ford) policy...What the Hell to do with all the unsold new "Tauri" scattered about the US. Worth little more "new" (in actual prices) than they would be after serving in a rental fleet for a while, better they should be driven for rentals than on sit gathering dust on a storage lot or be sold at deeply discounted prices.

Remember the ghastly looking Pontiac Aztec, almost unsaleable, which went on one more year because the parts bins at GM were full, so after being stripped of trim and fancy options and mostly painted white, was sold to fleet operators for less than half of list?

TMO