2005 Infiniti G35 Powers to the Head of the Class

Infiniti has a 3 year/36k mile maintenance program on the brakes. At no cost to the owner that seems to me like world class support!!

Don't get me wrong --the G35 is a great value . I can't think of any car that gives a daily driving "bang for the buck" sport/luxury experience like this car .
BUT --let's rewind a bit. Some might recall the early 1990's when Japanese sports cars were challenging the auto market . The turbo Z was as good as it got .
After years of hiatus Nissan decides to built two cars --the 350 Z and the Infinity G .My personal feeling has always been that they should have only built ONE . In fact I feel that Nissan has both the design and engineering capacity to design a GREAT car rather than just a mediocre but great value . I had said for years --why doesn't Nissan build a 50K sport/ luxury supercar which would spay and neuter the BMW M3 and have Porsche owners like me noticing it .
Nissan could have done this --BUT they didn't .So instead we have the 350 and the G --of which the G is the better car .
I can praise the car - and the improvements -- and the price --BUT in my opinion it's not the BEST car they could build --they could do much better .

The Skyline is not sold in the USA , and I did not add a plus sign to that 50 grand price . My opinion is that Nissan/ Infinity has to earn the confidence of clientele in that segment first --not just with performance --but with reliability ,luxury, customer service and whatever it takes for them to attract cusomers to buy their cars above the competition . The M3 has already established itself as a excellent sports sedan and unless they "Bangelize" the next redesign model with customer repellant (which BMW seems to do these days) the car will continue to sell well.
I'm not criticizing the 35 grand price of the G . In fact --I did say it's a great value . In my opinion they could have offered a better car at a higher price -- a great car INSTEAD of a bargain. They didn't .
If you think my standards are high --your choice of opinion. I won't lower the bar and accept mediocrity when a car company has both the design and engineering capacity to build a better vehicle. If a customer wants to save 15 K buying a G over an M3 -- it's not as if he didn't spend any money to buy that car . In fact I feel that that extra 15 K would have gotten him a much better car with that M .

G35 vs comparably equipped 330i
The G35 sedan offers 110% of the Bimmers acceleration (I spend a great deal of time at track events and while the 330 has slightly better gearing, its hp/weight ratio will NOT allow it to "smoke" a G35, this is just BS. The G35 also has 98% of the handling of the Bimmer(anyone that thinks you will take a corner significantly faster or somehow loose a G35 in the twisties given equal drivers just doesn't have a clue about these cars. They are very evenly matched)
The only area where the Bimmer really shines is in road feel and feedback, but honestly, no one does this better than BMW. To sum it all up, I am in the market for 1 of these cars to replace my Maxima and almost 8K more for a slower, slightly better handling BMW just doesn't compute for me, not that I can't afford it, but i've learned to never throw away good money. I am as big a fan of BMW (well, the old BMW) as anyone but the G offers a more affordable, roomier alternative.