Car: Infiniti G37 Coupe
Prices: £31,950 - £35,150 on the road
Insurance Group: 19
Emissions: 248g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 5.8s / top speed 155mph
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 26.9mpg
Safety: six airbags, ABS, ESP, pop-up bonnet
Dimensions: length/width/heightmm 4660/1820/1400
MEDIUM RARE
Our Rating: 7.6 / 10
Infiniti is taking a softly, softly approach to cracking the European market, so its G37 Coupe will have exclusivity on its side. Steve Walker reports.
For many coupe owners, their cars are as much about looking good as they are about going quickly and it’s much easier for a car to look good if the person doing the looking hasn’t seen five of them already that day. A little bit of exclusivity can go a long way towards getting your car noticed and the Infiniti G37 Coupe is a model that, in the short term at least, is going to have plenty.
Infiniti will be a new name to many in the UK. It’s the luxury brand of Nissan cars, so the relationship bears a lot of similarity to that between Toyota and Lexus. Infiniti cars have been on sale in the America and other markets since 1989. The brand punched through the 100,000 annual sales barrier in the US in 2003, so it’s been a major player in the prestige car market over there for quite a while. It arrived in Europe with a well developed product range including a couple of SUVs and the G37, a compact executive saloon which is also offered as a convertible and the coupe we feature here. The G37 underpinnings and engine are lifted from the Nissan 370Z sportscar which bodes very well for this sporty coupe version, even if wide ranging alterations have been made to give the Infiniti a more luxurious flavour than Nissan’s headbanger.
The 3.7-litre engine is the very same that’s found in the Nissan 370Z but it’s been de-tuned slightly to generate ‘only’ 320bhp. This is where you should divorce the two cars in your mind because the while the 326bhp Nissan is 4250mm long and 1525kg, the stretched chassis of the G37 is 4,660mm and 1706kg. It’s a far larger proposition with more of a focus on comfort and refinement. That said, it will still complete the 0-60mph sprint in under six seconds and lock horns with its speed limiter at 155mph. A more fitting comparison, and one that the G37 development engineers doubtless had in mind, is with the BMW 335i Coupe (306bhp, 1,600kg, 5.5s, 155mph).
Like the BMW 3-Series, the G37 Coupe is rear-wheel-drive. Unlike it, the Infiniti can be specified with a four-wheel steering system. This works by applying small amounts of steering to the rear wheels in order to assist those that the front. It aids manoeuvrability, tightening the turning circle at low speeds, and increases stability at high speed. The standard gearbox is a six-speed manual but there’s also Infiniti’s ASC Adaptive Shift Control automatic which has seven speeds and pa
The styling job that’s been done on the G37 Coupe is enough to make it the most attractive model in the Infiniti stable. The shape is classic 3-door Coupe with its long bonnet and roofline rapidly dropping away towards the tail. There are elements of 370Z in the swept back headlights and the chunky rear end but in general the car is more about its cohesive shape than any standout details. Infiniti played it quite safe with this early effort for Europe and rightly so. The interior hosts a four-seat layout and a 275-litre boot.
The cabin of premium coupes is a vital area for it’s here where owners must be reminded that the premium they’ve paid over more proletarian models has been worthwhile. As you’d expect from a Japanese brand, the build quality is hard to criticise but there are lots of buttons cluttering up the fascia and the cohesion of design that the leading brands achieve isn’t quite there. Infiniti makes a valiant attempt at compensating for any shortcomings with an equipment list as long as your leg.
Three trim levels are at the disposal of G37 Coupe customers. There’s a standard model, then comes the GT which adds a little more luxury and the S serves as a sporty range-topper. That’s not to say that any Infiniti customer is likely to feel shortchanged. Standard stuff includes an electric sunroof, Bi-Xenon cornering headlights, speed-sensitive power steering, electric front seats, parking sensors, I-Key smart entry, a six CD stereo, Bluetooth connectivity and 19" alloy wheels. For £1,300 more, The GT adds leather trim and electric heated seats. The S model has four-wheel-steering, a limited slip differential, firmer suspension, sports seats and upgraded brakes for just under £2,000 over the GT.
The competition for the Infiniti G37 Coupe will be tough. The likes of Audi’s A5 and BMW’s 3-Series Coupe aren’t about to lie down and give a newcomer breathing space. The Infiniti is a little cheaper than the versions of these rivals with equivalent power but it