I went to a local Infiniti dealer tonight for my first ever hands-on encounter with a G37. I test drove a new 2008 Journey coupe w/ Navi/Prem/Sports and also a used 2007 G35 Journey coupe w/ Navi/Prem/Sports.

I was worried about head-room (6'2") and was pleasantly surprised that when I got in I didn't "sense" the ceiling above my head at all. I figure I probably had about 1" of clearance. I made sure to sit in the back seat as well and would certainly not be comfortable back there myself. The legroom was actually decent but I couldn't find a comfortable sitting position for my head. I had to slouch and tilt it to the side or lean forward a bit. But then again, the rear seats won't be used much, and not by me!

It was a weird feeling actually "feeling" the road. I've been driving a crappy Ford Explorer Sport (sport..hahahah) for about 6 years now so pretty much ANYTHING is an improvement, but it was a weird feeling to feel like I had a feel for the road in my hands. I accidentally hit a HUGE pot hole while test driving (oops...didn't see it coming and neither did the salesman because we were both messing around with buttons in the car) and while I certainly felt it I didn't bounce all over the place. I also intentionally hit a bump and it's not like it shook my spine, which I was a bit worried about as I've read about how many sports cars make you feel every little imperfection in the road.

A question - When I was driving it I'd punch the gas and it seemed like there was a bit of a delay before the engine would really kick in. I also noticed a similar thing with the shifting, a 1/4-1/2 second delay between telling it to shift and it actually shifting.

Another question - Also, at some point I had the MPG display up and it said I was averaging 7 mpg. Yes I had punched it a couple times but mostly I was just doing normal driving. Does this car actually drop down below 10 mpg for brief stretches of road sometimes?

Overall I loved the driver's seat. I never even pushed the pedal all the way down (traffic + wet road + paranoid of wrecking it) and it still was a beauty.

I did clip a curb once though, I just about crapped myself. I was turning right and the curb gradually curved and then all of a sudden just abruptly went straight, so it wasn't a fully-curved curb. I didn't notice so I turned as if the curb would keep turning and BAM, there goes the back right tire. Fortunately we all just pretended it didn't happen.

 

Sounds intense man. Buy the G37!!!

 

wow... lol you curbed a rim on a test drive... rofl.... sorry man but that's just a bit much.

i'm guessing you drove a 7AT? apparently using a grounding kit will increase throttle response and shift time... so yeah

the gas mpg... i wouldn't worry about that... depends on your driving really and there probably wasn't enough miles on the car to have a real "average" some people have even got 30 mpg in this car... I THINK... all highway cruising though but that's still good for this big engine.

 

Actually, he didn't test drive a 7AT it was all 5AT 2008 journy and 2007 g35.

Now to the OP about the questions. 1) Yeah there was a delay when I test drove the AT to but in the manual you don't really get a bad delay. Has for shifting did you have it on DS mode? 2) For the MPG meter are you talking about the meter was it is all MPG like a bar that goes up and down or a screen that had the MPG on top and MPA at the bottom. If the MPG was a gauge were was a bar than yeah the MPG meter is going to go below 10 mpg because were are giving it gas at a uneven amount of flow as while driving on the highway it will even out. The MPG is the same with me if I give it was in the city it goes below 10 mpg but on highway with cruise control on I get about 26 to 30 depending on how fast I want to go but if manually want to cruise on the highway I get about 18 to 24 MPG.

 

Name a car that isn't a hybrid and gets more than 10 mpg when you literally punch the accelerator... Don't worry, the 10mpg is normal. You'll notice that on just about any car with the MPG meter.

 

The delay is why autos suck.

The tranny is down shifting for you because it senses that you want power and you want to go fast. It's not the engine revving up or anything, it's all tranny.

So if you had a manual, you would have zero delay (provided you shift fast or anticipate well).

 

Yea, it was a 5AT on both.

Well the thing is I don't want to have to be dealing with a stick all the time, as I do want this to be a nice everyday driver but also want the flexibility to shift it myself when I want to. That's why I want to go with the auto.

When it was in auto I think (if I remember correctly) the display said it was in 'D' mode, and when I kicked it over to manumatic-shift mode it switched automatically to 'DS' - what's the difference between these and can it be in 'D' mode but also allow me to shift it myself at the same time?

How much does that grounding kit matter and why didn't Infiniti do the same thing in the factory?

And yea, I still can't believe I clipped that curb. Ugh...

 

This post is why you fail.

Quote:

A question

When you want to select a gear faster just put it in manual mode. If you want full auto but faster downshifts just put it in DS mode
Also once you put some miles on it it will learn your driving habits and respond quicker.

 

If you're going to buy the car make sure its not the one you tested haha Did you test it in Manual Mode? gears shifts there are a little less laggy, but still lag. Get yourself a set of grounding kits and call it a day.

 

When I was messing with the paddle shifters I had moved the shifter towards me. When I did that it automatically went into "DS" mode and I could shift using the paddle shifters. I'm confused as to what you mean by "manual mode" vs "DS" mode.

Thanks.

 

Manual mode is basically you moving the shift **** to the left when its on D (going to DS) THEN shift using the paddles or up & down from the ****. If you leave it on DS, the G will do the shifting for you in a "sportier" manner

 

I thought that if it wasn't moved to the left then you couldn't use the paddle shifters, and shifting it to the left then allowed you to use the shifters and do the shifting yourself? What I was complaining about was that when I hit the gas pedal (in any mode) it seemed like there was a slight delay in the engine revving up and that when I used the power shifters (with the shift **** in the left position) there was a slight delay shifting.

Can you use the paddle shifters in "D" mode?

 

you can use the paddles when the shifter is to the right it will just revert back to normal after a certin period of time.

 

lol...salesman never mentioned that.

 

he is a dumb @ss