1st

I don't think this comes a surprise to anyone.

The 7 speed automatic is a surprise, good move by infiniti.

I had a G35 and was really impressed. The tranmission was definitely the weakest point taking nearly a full second to change in 'manual' mode. The traction/stability control was awful as well.

It'll be interesting to see how clean the 'self-healing' clearcoat can stay.

I was never a big fan of the g35 and 350z because they were very heavy and slow for what they were priced against. I did get the chance to drive a auto g35 and I know what the 1st guy is saying the shifts were terribly slow, kinda like being in a shifttronic camry it took ages to go from one gear to another it was faster shifting in automatic mode then in man mode. Still a nice car though styling is a little boring for my taste but to each his own I guess.

Will the G37 AWD be available with a standard tranny?

I like the guys assumption up top about the changing of gear boxes will somehow automatically make things better. I guess first really is stupid.

Well why wouldn't putting a new gear box in change the shift characteristics?

It is a DIFFERENT transmission? I mean what actually shifts the gears and controls how long it takes to go from one gear to the next? Oh wait I thought they called that piece the transmission....

I like the car, and the up in power will be nice, but I can't ever see wanting to own one. I agree it seems heavy and more refined for what it should be (well the Infinity should be refined, but the 350 should be more raw and stripped down).

I hope the G37 has a distinctive exhaust note as the G35 did. Not that I loved it, but it was nice to see a car company that wasn't making 100k+$ cars care what they sounded like.

unknown

The 350z is heavy and slow compared to what it's priced against? You do know it's just over 3300 lbs right? meaning it weighs say 150 lbs less than a Mustang GT, And it hits 60 in the low 5's For the upgraded one that started in 2007 seem to range between 5.1~5.3 for the couple reviews I hit.

Ok it's not screaming fast but it starts at just under 30K.

So my question is what cars costing roughly 30K are both so much faster and lighter as to embarrass the 350z?

My 6 year old Firehawk. Heck, the old LT1 Firehawk with 315 hp did 0-60 in 5.3s according to MT, 4.9s according to SLP. Not lighter either.

Or if you want, I can say my GTO. Again, not lighter but faster in a line. But that cost more around 33k.

As for the lighter part, old SRT-4 had a curb weight of 2900 lbs, 0-60 was mid 5s though. At the same time, it cost 22-23k.

Cobalt SS, curb weight 3000 lbs. Mid 5s again. 23k for cost.

Comparing apples with apples seems to be an art tough to master. A G35 with a Cobalt.

You can compare a Cobalt with an SRT-4. Or a G35 with a BMW 3 series.

I just leased a G35xS about 6 weeks ago ... and I now see that they will have the G37 with the seven speed ... GRRRRRRR!!!! SH@T !!! I love everything about the car except the damn automatic transmission. Did not try the 7 speed, but it just can be better for sure.

Before this car I had a G35 coupe. If you want value-luxury-performance, this car is great!

Although it took me a while to have my first 4-door automatic car, I know like it a lot .... and get as much looks from girls than my other cars loll!!!

Ok so you have 2 muscle cars that would have cost the same or more if they were still in production that were discontinued due to a total lack of public interest, both of which had horrible cheap plastic interiors and neither of which could go around a corner to save their lives. oh and the faster of the 2 cars the GTO gets a 4.7 to 4.9 second range so it's only marginal faster in a straight line. And 2 FW Econo boxes The Neon SRT-4 being a 5.3~5.7 second car with a listed weight of 2984 lbs and a horrible rattle trap cheap plastic interior. And the Cobalt a 5.5 to 5.8 second car that weighs 2975, has a pretty crummy interior and is eagerly going to be replaced by GM with a car called the Beat.

If you wanted to add the Mazdaspeed 3 you might come closer, but keep in mind the 350Z is a well rounded car the new ones have a reasonably nice interior, good acceleration, and the 370Z that will be related to the cars in this article is rumored to weigh as much as 200 lbs less with the extra power it's going to get it will likely be very fast.

Travis, you said nothing of and about interiors, simply speed. An '02 Firehawk gets mid 4s for 0-60, they were underrated at 345-355 hp. Most put down about 320-330 hp at the wheels, meaning about 370-380 hp at the crank. Thank you LS6 heads.

GTOs are well known to be traction limited, from a roll it would walk away from a 350z. I also don't think a 350z can do 175 mph without the limiter. I am also pretty sure the it has a nicer interior then the 350z too, but that is an opinion.

The old SRT-4 could keep up with a 2003-2006 350z. It would be a drivers race, similar 0-60s and quarter mile times. The weight is also in dispute. Lowest I have seen is 2870 lbs, highest is 2970 lbs. The old SRT-4 was a modern day muscle car, stripped out and built to go fast. And both the Cobalt SS and SRT-4 cost more then 5k less then the 350z. Stage 3 SRT-4 with toys would cost under 28k dealer installed, meaning you still have your warranty. At that point, it destroys the 350z, both '03-'06 and current. It is extremely traction limited at that point though, not much faster 0-60 from stock, but more then a full second quicker on the quarter.

The funny thing is I didn't mention the Solstice GXP, which has the same numbers as the Cobalt SS. That car can go around turns just fine. But the new one is suppose to be 300 hp and 300 ft-lbs, and it still weighs 300 lbs less then the 350z.

I have also heard rumors about the diet that the 370z is suppose to go on, but they are just that still, rumors. But there is a wild card. The new Camaro is coming on the scene too, though no one is sure of cost on that yet. If the G8 GXP numbers are any indication, look out. The Camaro is suppose to weigh less and make more power then the G8 GXP. The best part is the G8 GXP gets the same numbers as a GTO, but weighs about 300 lbs more in the GT form. Expect even more weight (stabilizer bars, bigger brakes, better suspension, larger rims, etc) in the GXP version. G8 GXP is making only 2 more hp and 0-2 more ft-lbs then the GTO did. So the Camaro if it weighs around the same as the GTO, making more power then the G8 GXP and same platform, it will be smoking, more so then the 01-02 Firehawks and SS's.

And the Cruze is replacing the Cobalt, not the Beat.

And lastly, the GTO went out of production because they stopped making the Monaro. They also couldn't bring anymore GTOs to the states because the factory was at capacity. It was an old platform and was replace with Zeta, which is clearly superior as proven above. The Holden Coupe 60 is suppose to be the new Monaro, and possibly a new GTO or G8 Coupe.

Cruze ... Beat, GM is replacing so much of their line up currently, sorry I got confused there, but with such a large number of terrible cars that no one will buy I sort of lost track of the goings on at GM for a bit.

As for the GTO, I could have picked up a new 2004 that had been slashed from a 33K sticker to 20K because in mid 2005 when I ended up buying my Nissan (same dealer) they still had 4 of them in stock, that they couldn't get rid of. They were desperate to sell them and even at 20K they had a hard time doing it, because those things sat around for months after I bought my car which was in May, For the record In 3 full production years GM managed just 38,586 sales compared to their hoped for sales of 18k per year which was capacity of the plant So basically they had the ability to meet sales demand for another 15,414 cars, Heck looking at the records GM imported 15,728 GTOS's in 2004, but were only able to sell 13,569 of them. So no capacity was not an issue for the GTO.

Nice try at revisionist history there though. The GTO was not a flop because I will it to not have been one. Nice mantra if you chant it enough times maybe you can convince yourself it's true again.

'04s were not desirable for a few reasons. First, no dealer would let anyone test drive them. Second, dealer mark ups. Third, they were missing things like the hood scoops and dual exhaust, something die hard GTO fans wouldn't be without. Fourth, the '05s were better cars: better engine, dual exhaust, hood scoops.

As for price slashing, no one wanted the '04s after the '05s. They had everything that was missing in the '04s that people complained about. As for sales, again, dealer mark ups and people knew the specs on the '05s. So get a better speced, more 'complete' car, or wait till the '05s came out and get a '04 dirt cheap, which many did since the LS1 had a better aftermarket at that time.

As for 2005, they didn't make as many do to the shortened model year, 11,069 total. They actually couldn't meet demand this year. 2006 numbers were 13,948 cars, 3k more then '05 thanks to demand. Total production was also 40,745.

GM could only make a maximum of 18k units a year do to factory limitations.

So the '04s were indeed flops do to a number of factors, but the '05s and '06s weren't. You also stated that is was discontinued do to lack of demand, which wasn't the case. They simply stopped making the car because the platform was at the end of its life.

Nice try.