Intro
Back in the UAE, fuel and taxes were never an issue. Buying a powerful car was a regular thing. It is very frustrating on the road to drive a small powerless car. The drivers would not respect you, not give you a way, and will do their absolute best to kick you away. Especially if you are driving in the left ( fast ) lane. That’s why I always drove powerful cars. I owned a 2000 BMW 330 CI M package, and a 2008 Infiniti G35. I will probably talk about those bad boys on some other blog. After owning the 2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan, my love for this car and brand has grown ever since. In this blog, I will share some facts and opinions about the Infiniti G35.
Performance
Engine
The Infiniti G35 2008 sedan is equipped with a powerful 3.5-liter V6 engine that delivers 306 horsepower and 268 lb-ft of torque. It is almighty VQ. The VQ engine is a series of V6 engines produced by Nissan for use in various vehicles, including cars and SUVs. One of the most popular cars that is also equipped with it is the Nissan 350z. The term “VQ” stands for “V-6 Quality,” which highlights the engine’s focus on performance, smoothness, and efficiency.My car was American specs, which surprisingly had more horsepower than the GCC specs.
Gearbox
The car has a 5-speed automatic transmission, but there is also a 6-speed manual transmission available. The manuals were extremely desirable which made it quite hard to get my hands on one of them. The gear had the option for sport mode. Beast mode activation.
Exhaust
The car had a dual stock exhaust system. I never thought of replacing it. The car sounded magnificent on the stock. A lot of people asked if I had anything installed, but that’s the VQ engine BABY. I also did not want to install any loud exhaust to avoid the stereotyping of loud annoying G drives.
Handling
The handling is something else I really loved. You could steer the car with one finger. It is excellent, thanks to the car’s sport-tuned suspension and responsive steering. The car is RWD, you did not need to be an expert to do donuts or burnouts. All you had to do was push the pedal just enough, turn the steering wheel and the car. Some are AWD, but that’s the G35X.
Acceleration
The car accelerates from 0 to 100 Km/h in just 5.5 seconds, which is impressive for a car of this class. To put this into perspective, once I press the pedal to the metal, the G force hits you and your head is pushed back. The car was able to achieve the top speed of 260 km/h, with no sweat. I was really impressed about the acceleration and the speed because it does look like a regular car. A total sleeper car.
This is a short list of cars that actually struggled to keep up with my G on a straight line:
– 2014 Ford Mustang GT
– 2012 Dodge Challenger R/T
– 2009 BMW E90 335i
– 2008 chevrolet caprice SS
– 2014 VW Golf R : I actually had to slow down before the curves on the road as I wont have a chance against the AWD R.
Design
Exterior
Overall, the shape is characterized by smooth, flowing lines and a low-slung, aerodynamic profile. The design of the Infiniti G35 2008 sedan is sleek and stylish. With a long hood, aggressive front look, short rear deck, and a low roofline that gives it a sporty appearance. The car’s exterior is accentuated with chrome accents, and it has a distinctive front grille that is unique to the Infiniti brand.
At the front of the car, the G35 features a bold, aggressive grille with a prominent Infiniti emblem. The headlights are angular and wrap around the front corners of the car, giving it a sporty look. The body of the G35 is long and low, with a slightly curved roofline that slopes gently toward the rear of the car.
The rear of the G35 features a raised decklid and a subtle spoiler that enhances the car’s aerodynamics. The taillights are narrow and elongated, and they wrap around the corners of the car for a modern look. Besides all of that, the car is symmetric the left side looks exactly like the right side which makes it more attractive. Maybe the Land Rover Discovery should look the same next model…
Interior
The interior is well-designed, with premium materials and attention to detail. The seats are extremely comfortable and supportive. With full automatic leather seats, sitting on those bad boys for hours wouldn’t bother you. The only down part was, leather seats on hot summer days will grill your skin, but that’s an easy fix. The car had a very powerful A/C that cooled the car in a very short time. Besides that, I tinted the car with a heat resistance tint, and that kept the heat outside. There is plenty of legroom and headroom for both the driver and all passengers, even back.
The car is equipped with a nice infotainment touch screen system which seems a bit ahead of its time since the car is a 2008 model. Besides that, it had bluetooth for calls only unfortunately. For music, it had 2 audio jacks, which I used to connect the phone to the audio system in the car via audio aux cable. The audio system, and I am not exaggerating, was the best audio system in a car that I experienced. It was the BOSE system, that thing was a banger. I honestly cannot think of any better car audio system that I drove or got a ride in.
Another feature that I really enjoyed was the sunroof. I honestly dislike the looks of convertible cars, especially soft tops, but the sunroof does it for me. I used that thing almost all the time. Putting the sunroof in tilt position, gave the car such a nice aggressive sporty look to die for.
With comfortable seats, nice music, sunroof, cold AC my passengers were always having a blast.
Costs
Reliability
Let’s face it, Infiniti is a rebadged Nissan. Nissan is reliable, and so is Infiniti. Despite what a lot of people said, especially before I bought it, it was all myths. Owners across the globe reported few problems even after years of ownership. As long as it’s well-maintained, it should provide years of trouble-free driving. The only things I had to actually fix were coolant reservoir leak and AC gas refill. Since the car was American specs, and wasn’t made for UAE something doesn’t do well in extreme heats. That explains those two issues. Besides that, regular maintenance with no surprises kept the car riding smooth like butter.
Some drivers once did not leave enough safety distance and ended up denting my car’s rear bumper. It took me an hour to actually fix it myself at home.
Fuel
The fuel tank has a capacity of around 75 liters. I am sure you wonder how much it consumes. Well, I owned the car in the UAE, so gas was never an issue, I do miss that now in Europe. If I drive like a normal regular civilian, the km range is 550 km, which is not that great but not that bad for the power you have. I took it to the track to push it to the limit once, the range was 260 kms so yeah, it can consume if you want it to.
Options
Comfort Features
The car is packed with features that enhance the driving experience. Some of the features include:
- Bose audio system: The car has a 6-speaker Bose audio system that delivers high-quality sound.
- Rearview camera: A camera is installed to help the driver to see what is behind the car when reversing. The camera was really never clear, but it’s something
- Parking sensors: The car had front and back sensors if you are into that, can’t park huh? Actually, those drove me crazy that I had to deactivate them DIY style. I cut wires until it stopped beeping.
- Bluetooth connectivity: Bluetooth connectivity allows the driver to make hands-free phone calls.
- Navigation system: The car has a navigation system that helps the driver to navigate to their destination easily.
- Cruise Control: I actually never used it. The idea of cruise control started to terrify me after I watched a video of a car crashing due to a stuck cruise control system. No thank you.
- Analog Clock: I mean, is there anything classier than this? Come on.
Safety Options
The Infiniti G35 2008 sedan is equipped with top safety features. Some of the safety features include:
- Anti-lock brakes: The car has anti-lock brakes that prevent the wheels from locking up during hard braking, if you didn’t know.
- Traction control: The traction control that helps to prevent the wheels from spinning on slippery surfaces. Turn it off, and off you go, drifto mode activated. The car is extremely slippery when it’s raining. During the period of owning the car, I did not call it rain, I called it drifting Lubricant.
- Front and side airbags: The car has front and side airbags that provide protection in the event of a collision.
Moving countries
Once I had to move from UAE to the Netherlands, I actually considered either shipping the car to my home country Tunisia or to the Netherlands. Shipping it to Tunisia was not an option as we have strict rules for importing cars. The car should not be older than 5 years in order for you to register it and keep it, which wasn’t the case. I studied the second option to ship it to the Netherlands, it wasn’t financially smart at all. Shipping costs, registration costs, taxes were massive. It would’ve been cheaper to buy it from here.
The only way out was to actually sell the car. Despite that I had very good offers for it, and it was sold in a few days after I published the ad, it did not feel right. After driving it for a while, creating great memories and putting smiles on my face and never letting me down, I had to give it away. The gentleman that I sold the car to was; nice enough to drop me back home from the registration office, he broke 3 of my own rules driving the car. He was smoking, ate and he drove over the speed bump way too fast that I heard it scratch the undercarriage. Even though I’ve been driving several cars since then, nothing felt the same.
Conclusion
The Infiniti G35 2008 sedan is an excellent luxury car that offers great performance, style, and comfort. Its powerful engine, sporty handling, and well-designed interior make it a great option. The car is also equipped with features that enhance the driving experience and provide safety to the driver and passengers. If you are in the market for a luxury car, the Infiniti G35 2008 sedan is definitely worth considering.
