Filed under: Coupes, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Japan, Infiniti, Nissan
Nissan forgets to take out trash and fuels speculation

In its haste to leave Southern California, Nissan apparently forgot to check with the local salvage yard and make sure its spent prototypes were destroyed while it was moving its operations to Tennessee. Unfortunately for Nissan, some anonymous Nissan Performance Mag staffers found a banged up 2007 Infiniti G35 (we assume sedan, although it's not specifically stated) hiding out under a cover in an auto salvage yard. Normally this wouldn't be noteworthy, as the major auto mags have already reported on the production version of the 2007 Infiniti G35, and in one case already pitted it against a BMW 3-Series. However, none of the major auto mags went into great detail about the new VQ35HR motor that will be powering the G35 and, presumably, the 2008 Nissan 350Z.
John Smalberys from Nissan Performance Mag has taken information brought back by his staffers before they were accosted by a junk yard dog and written a great piece dissecting Nissan's flagship V6 from top to bottom end. We'll spare you the intricate details here, but Smalberys theorizes that because the engine is so much beefier than the VQ35DE it replaces, that Nissan is planning to turbocharge it in some application. One might expect such an engine to appear in the 2008 Z-car, either as standard equipment or as part of a high performance package. Smalberys also notes that the upcoming Skyline GT-R is expected to receive a punched-out, twin-turbo 3.7-liter variant of the G35's new 3.5-liter, and that this new engine platform could possibly be enlarged all the way up to 4.5-liters in the future. Check out Smalberys' in-depth piece at Nissan Performance Mag if you really want to know more about the nuts and bolts of Nissan's new VQ V6.
Top tip, David!
[Source: Nissan Performance Mag]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
neil 4:46PM (9/14/2006)
Which mag pitted the 2007 g35 against a bmw 3 series? I haven't seen that. Thanks for any info.
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Gidge 4:50PM (9/14/2006)
MotorTrend. And if I had a hoist with me, I would've taken a very fast "souveneir" with me :)
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rwdmtparkingonly 5:14PM (9/14/2006)
At first I thought that this might be a 5mph bumper test car, but the damage looks like it must have occurred on the street. The Nissan employees are so shaken up about leaving CA for TN that they can't even drive.
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Mr. Oblong 5:50PM (9/14/2006)
Winding road also had g35 and 3 series comparo.
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AnonymousInsights 6:00PM (9/14/2006)
Kewl story. Would be rather interesting to find this baby under a cover in a junkyard. Great story.
I AM STILL PISSED ABOUT WOMENS BRA'S AND SHOES FLASHING ON AUTOBLOG. PLEASE GO GET ANOTHER ADVERTISER THAT IS AUTO ENTHUSIAST RELATED. I CAN'T BEAR MUCH MORE. HIDEOUS!
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Fabulo 6:08PM (9/14/2006)
AnonymousInsights: Firefox AdBlock Filterset.g
Also buy a tivo.
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Eric 7:00PM (9/14/2006)
AnonymousInsights:
RSS Autoblog into Safari on a Mac = no ads!
Of course, if you're stuck with a PC then you're probably hosed unless there's some Safari-like browser for PC out there....
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naggs 7:46PM (9/14/2006)
anything you can do with a mac you can do better on a pc
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Adam Singer 8:12PM (9/14/2006)
Wow, that new VQ sound like it's gonna be a monster. Maybe it will be a spiritual successor to the RB.
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Meek 9:16AM (9/15/2006)
I'd bet you could get AutoBlog feeds through Bloglines.com
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N Z K 2:23PM (9/16/2006)
Are you sure it was written by John Smalberys and not John Bigboote? The man's name is a joke, guys. Have a look at Buckaroo Banzai sometime.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086856/fullcredits
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John Smallberrys 12:27AM (9/18/2006)
Reply to #11... WOW really ya think! umm...maybe a pen name used to protect the idenity of the writer?
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John Smallberrys 12:28AM (9/18/2006)
found the link http://www.NissanPerformanceMag.com
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apachewoolf 12:03PM (9/23/2006)
We were actually talking about this engine on allnissans.com (one of nissanperformancemag.com's forums) when they posted the new edition of nissan performance mag. We couldn't beleive they actually found this car.
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James 6:31AM (11/10/2006)
What a cool find i wouldnt mind finding something like that in a salvage yard.
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