5 Things I Like About the Infiniti Sport Sedan
Last month I posted an article about the seven things I don’t like about my Infiniti sports sedan. It seems like it’s time to set the record straight and come up with some stuff that I actually like about this new used car.
Although it’s easier to build a list of items you hate, I still found five things that made getting rid of my first generation Cadillac SRX a lot easier.
With that said, I guess it’s just human nature to miss the luxury accessories of an older car. Out of the five features I like about the Infiniti luxury sedan only two of them are options I never had before. Without further delay, here are five things I like about the Infiniti sport sedan.
The Appearance of the Infiniti M37X
This Japanese luxury sedan manages to look like a more expensive car than it is. Somehow it pulls this off without a lot of flashy chrome or dramatic body lines. As my girlfriend and I adjust to owning a sedan as opposed to a crossover, we truly enjoy walking out to the Infiniti after a meal at an upscale restaurant. Sometimes as we’re walking towards the car my girlfriend says is this us? When I tell her yes, she says, wow you must have a lot of money.
The M37 generation only lasted three years and is available in seven different colors. However, two different shades of black and three different in gray makes it seem like 3 color choices. Our sedan is wearing the Platinum Graphite Gray color shown in the top picture. The car above is wearing Liquid Platinum Silver. I’ve never owned an automobile with a better paint finish. They laid the primer and base coat on thick and the clear coat glistens to protect the undercoats. The car does an excellent job at hiding imperfections and accumulated dirt in between car washes.
This Infiniti Sport Sedan has Serious Horsepower
Although an M37X is not a race car it certainly performs adequately. These cars are based on the Nissan Maxima platform, but have rear wheel drive. And in the case of our sedan it has all-wheel-drive. With a seven speed transmission and an extra low first gear, the M 37 has an impressive hole shot. At the stop light drag races the car keeps up with Corvettes and Ferraris for at least the first two gears.
The 3.7 L 330 HP engine is the same motor that you’ll find in the Nissan 370 Zx. Again this is not the fastest car in the world and is beaten by many Camaros and Mustangs on race day. However, from my perspective, I have never owned an automobile with more than 330 HP. Even my 1979 6.6L big block Pontiac Trans Am didn’t have more ponies under the hood. There is one thing for sure; I would like to know what this Infiniti sport sedan would run in the quarter-mile. We plan a trip to the closest drag strip for a Friday night street racing test run. I will post the results as soon as I get them.
High Performance Rear Wheel Drive
In a world where Japanese and Korean cars are still stuck in the front wheel drive mindset the Infiniti car company only makes rearwheel drive performance models.
I’m not sure if it’s because my first car, a Dodge Charger muscle car was rearwheel drive, but I think this is the way it should be. I would rather have a car pushed by the rear wheels then pulled by the front wheels. Although front wheel drive will have its advantages in a snowstorm I would certainly pick a RWD automobile for a road course like Watkins Glen.
The Infiniti has Motorized Side Mirrors
Finally, we are getting to a feature that was not available on my beloved Cadillac SRX. The Infiniti luxury sedans are equipped with motorized side mirrors. They can be set to automatically pull in when you turn off the vehicle and there’s also a manual button to operate the side view mirrors. Maybe this feature stands out to me because more than once I came out to my car to find the side view mirror broken and hanging thanks to hit and run damage.
I really appreciate this feature as I roll up to the house and hit my automatic garage door opener. Although I consider my garage a bay and a half in size, the Infiniti luxury sedans are extremely wide automobiles. Being able to pull in the mirrors gives you about another 8 inches on each side of the car. I would probably miss using the side mirrors when backing out of the garage, but the car does have a backup camera so this is not an issue.
The Rain Sensing Wipers Work Great
The Infiniti luxury sedans come with rain sensing wipers as standard equipment. I don’t know how I lived without this feature in the past, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live without it in the future. Infiniti does an excellent job with its implementation. When you set the wipers on automatic the wipers will only swipe when they’re needed. Of course, when they’re needed is sometimes a matter of opinion.
Infiniti has you covered as the automatic feature has a sensitivity adjustment. This way you can set them to swipe when there are a few drops on the windshield or many drops, which ever you prefer. My Cadillac had a delay wiper feature that worked OK. The problem was it used a timer. This method doesn’t allow for an on the fly automatic adjustment for the amount of rain falling from the sky. On the Infiniti I can just leave it on auto and if it starts to rain, I’ll get a few swipes and when the rain stops so do the wipers.