Costa Mesa, CA – Welcome back everyone.  I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and rang in the New Year festively and safely and are hitting the ground running in 2009.  The New Year always brings about certain changes or hope of changes via resolutions.  Some vow to lose weight, get more sleep, save more money, work harder, Etc., mine is to attend as many Motorsport Events as possible this year!  My main goal is to make it to at least one F1 and one Aussie V8 Supercar event, neither of which I’ve made it to yet.
                Of course that will mean international travel and my hope is to be able to bring you some interesting reviews from abroad of vehicles that we don’t have access to here in the States and to test my skills of driving on the “other” side of the car, not to mention the “other” side of the road!
                In the meantime we will all have to settle for cars available in the US and there are many great cars to occupy your shopping list, one of those being the new for 2009 Infiniti G37 Coupe Journey.  The G35 was a smash hit to say the least for Infiniti, and why not?  It was a competent, sporty, sexy, quick and pretty easily “pimped” out via aftermarket parts and accessories, car.  So what do you do to back up the success you’ve already had?  You of course add more horsepower, make the handling more responsive and you wrap it in a sleek, well sculpted body.
                My favorite things about this car were the grip and “right now” turn-in response, think about changing directions and almost telepathically it’s done.  Sight lines are great so placing the front-end exactly where you want it is a breeze.  The other was the rev matching downshift blips and the exhaust note while blipping down through the gears.  Of course this being an Infiniti there is much more to like then the performance, but perform it does.  The 3.7-liter (hence the G37 designation) DOHC V6 now unleashes 330 Horses and 270 lb-ft Torque via the rear wheels through a 7-speed transmission with manual mode.  Shifting in manual mode is accomplished via large handsome solid magnesium paddles attached to the steering column versus the steering wheel.  The right paddle for up shifts and the left for down shifts.  When or if you get tired of using the paddles simply plop the gear shifter to the right and resume normal auto slush box operations.  Shifts are smooth in full auto mode but being an enthusiast I prefer the bang-bang of the paddles especially in

spirited driving situations and the 4-piston front/ 2-piston rear, ABS enabled brakes slow things down in a hurry with no complaints.
                Luxury and safety accompanies all that performance too.  The aforementioned ABS, electronic brake force distribution (EBD), traction control, tire pressure monitoring system, roof and seat mounted air bags, active head restraints, crumple zones and of course the obligatory emergency inside trunk release (I often wonder if these are ever used).  On the luxury side you get the moonroof, heated leather front seats and outside mirrors, one hell of an audio system aptly named the “Infiniti Studio on Wheels” with 11 speakers, trust me – it rocks.  You also get power tilt and telescoping steering wheel with controls for stereo, Bluetooth, and the intelligent cruise control system at the tip of your fingers.  All of this is part of the Premium Package for an additional $3,200 over the base price of $36,650.00.  Add to that the Sport Package with the viscous limited-slip Diff and handsome 19-inch alloy wheels shod with summer performance tires and other goodies and you’ve got yourself one hell of a sled that will fit in with, not to mention run with, any of the German offerings in this class.  I would suggest adding the Nav package too as Nissan/Infiniti seem to have this technology down to just about the no-brainer level as far as ease of use goes.  The sticker for all this good stuff you ask - $45,045.00, cheap it isn’t, entertaining, comfortable, good looking it is.
                This car fits like a glove but is easy to get comfortable in and even offers a usable trunk, the back seat, not so much, best used in short bursts by adults but plenty of room for children.  As with any car with this type of performance potential fuel economy is what you make of it.  EPA is 18 City and 26 HWY.  I averaged 17 MPG overall with a mix of city and highway driving.  The rev matching and corresponding exhaust note with a shift from the left paddle at high revs from 3^rd to 2^nd is habit forming.   I’m sure that didn’t help my MPG.  Just try and resist it…..I dare you!

                Well back to planning on how to meet my resolutions.  Happy New Year! 

Column and photos provided by Rich Branch, EVP of Race Central TV and Radio Network Partners.