PH Fleet Update: Infiniti G37 Coupe
Our unassuming coupe proves a surprise hit with continental race-goers at Le Mans
Ordinarily a visit to Le Mans is a chance to show off your taste in cars, an opportunity to stretch the legs of your finest automobile, be it extreme, antique or just plain fast. For a motoring journo it's a chance to blag something as exotic as possible (generally on the flimsiest pretence of some sort of feature article).
This year, however, we decided to (shock, horror) take our own cars (shudder). Well, almost. Because although Stuart and RacingPete wafted over in Stuart's very management-appropriate silver BMW 525d, and although Garlick took a brave pill and bellowed over in his now astonishingly loud Chimaera, I took the PH fleet Infiniti. Which is my own car in as much as it's the one I drive to work every day, but not my own car in as much as it actually belongs to Infiniti. Still, it's not perhaps the most exotic 'blag' you can think of.
It is, however, a thoroughly decent way to cover large distances in both speed and comfort. The seats are comfy (provided you are not of too chubby a disposition - those Japanese must be a slim-hipped lot), the Bose stereo is lusty enough to drown out my terrible singing, the air-con is strong and effective, and the 3.7-litre V6 settles into a long-legged lope that allows it to sit comfortably just a few careful kph above the 81mph legal maximum of a French autoroute.
Oh, and the adaptive cruise control, often a bit of a pain on busy UK motorways (though you can override its distance sensor by sticking your foot on the throttle, this seems to be rather missing the point) comes into its own on the lightly trafficked autoroutes that wend their way towards Le Mans.
Most intriguingly of all, however, the unassuming silver Infiniti got rather an appreciative audience en Sarthe, from both continental types and the British alike. At the Classic British Welcome in St Saturnin (a thoroughly well-attended car meet on the Friday morning of Le Mans), for example, the G37 got ushered into the 'VIP' parking area, and even drew a few curious and admiring glances.
This is probably partly down to the car's sheer rarity and relative obscurity - not all that many people seemed to know what it was - but it was a gratifying vindication of my faith in a car that has been christened the 'Almera' by some of the harsher elements of the PH office staff (you know who you are...).
But as enjoyable as the Infiniti is, it's not perfect. The looks are a wee bit anonymous from some angles, the interior has a little too much eau de Nissan about it for a £40k car, and the grey/cream leather is collecting grime a little too quickly. Worst of all, the gearbox just doesn't quite cut it - it feels half a generation behind the best modern autos. It's nothing serious, but it's just a bit too slow to respond, whether you're in flappy paddle manual mode or full-on auto.
And that's a bit of a killer, because to choose a G37 you have to actively not want an Audi or a BMW equivalent, both of which are objectively better. But there are surely plenty of people out there like that. Some of them, presumably, were the ones whose eyes were drawn to it au Mans...
That said, I'm with Riggers in support of defending the Red Bull, err... Infiniti. It's comfortable, powerful enough, balanced, and unlike our Seat Cupra, has its driving wheels in the right place. It does need a manual gearbox, though.
I'm very happy with my G37 and it has only attracted positive comments - so far, anyway, but I really can't get on with the auto 'box. Seems too sluggish in auto mode and it's hard to keep track of which (of the 7) gears you're in when changing manually because the 'box will change down (but not up) by itself, too. Would much prefer a decent manual. Meh!
Still, that's the only real issue - otherwise it's smooth, quietish, quick enough, room enough for 4 (just) and good ride / handling balance.
Mine is the coupe convertible version which adds to the enjoyment greatly IMO and is in red with black interior which, if you don't mind me saying, Riggers, looks a bit more "right" than the grey / cream but that's a subjective opinion.
I also like the relative rarity and the service from Infiniti Reading and recommend a look if anyone doesn't want the default German offerings.
But is it a good or a bad thing? Not telling until I write my full report, so you'll just have to wait and see...
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