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Home  JST's Cornered Test Drives So I drove a G35
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Written by JST
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Monday, 08 April 2002 |
Went down to the dealer to have a look.
Bad stuff first:
--The interior is cheap looking. It's not as bad as the IS300, and
doesn't have the Panasonic boom box detailing, but the vast swaths of
cheap silver plastic look like...vast swaths of cheap silver plastic.
Other cheapie touches include the LED display on the radio, which looks
like an old calculator, and the weird buttons on the steering wheel (as
well as the nasty wheel itself, which looks like it arrived through the
Time Tunnel from 1985).
--The trunk is large, but the SEATS DON"T FOLD. Why are Japanese
companies so completely unable to grasp the wisdom of this feature? The
IS300, the WRX, and now the G35 all force me to rent a truck when I
visit Ikea, or to leave my bike on a rack exposed to theives and the
elements. This alone is *almost* a deal breaker.
--The manual tranny (which is the only one I'd buy) is still 7 months or so away.
Now the good stuff:
Wow. This is an impressive piece. Overall, it's a far more serious
attempt than the boy-racer Lexus. The VQ35 is a slick engine, producing
thrust in a manner that will seem hauntingly familiar to E36 M3 owners.
It really is on the same level as the S52. The power is prodigious,
too, with a fat midrange and a strong pull all the way to the redline.
Engine noise is good, with a nice, rorty exhaust note.
The chassis is super stiff. It's been a while since I've driven an E46,
so I can't compare directly, but it seemed very similar in terms of
torsional rigidity. The suspension is very well sorted, with the same
resistance to dive, squat and roll present in the E46 SP. FWIW, I was
driving a G35 with the base suspension (and weak-kneed Goodyear RS-A
tires). I don't know what the sport package will do, but the base
suspension already smokes the settings on a base 325i. A definitive
handling analysis awaits a back-to-back drive with a 330.
The steering is interesting. It's not artificially heavy, as was the
old steering in the E46, nor is it as light as the later racks. I'd peg
it someplace in between. It's a lot more communicative than either, but
it's also a bit quick and darty. If the M3 steering is a 10, the old
E46 a 7, and the new E46 a 6, this is an 8.75 or even a 9. The steering
wheel, while hideously ugly, has a nice grippy surface and a thick rim;
it sits somewhere between the too-thin E46 wheel and the just-right E46
M3 wheel.
The seats are acceptable. They feel comfortable, and while the bolstering isn't super aggressive, I was not sliding around.
Overall, I was extremely surprised at the dynamic goodness of the G35.
This is a car close to a 5 in size, yet with driving dynamics similar
to a 3. It's clear to the driver that this is a bigger (and, yes,
slightly heavier) car than the 3, but as with all well-engineered
vehicles, it shrinks around you the faster you go. Unlike the Lexus,
which seemed like a 3/4 effort, dynamically this one is 95 percent
there (and, truth be told, in some areas--like the engine--it may walk
the 3). All of this for 32,XXX, which is about 8-9K less than similarly
equipped 330 (and about 4K less than the one I would spec out).
Assuming good clutch/shift quality, when the 6 speed comes out this car
is going to be a monster. Cost no object, a 330 would still be my
choice, but that 4K is a lot of money.
Originally posted on bimmerfest.com.
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