Autoblog

Entry luxury crossovers are only a few weeks from getting a new competitor, and the Infiniti EX35 will be priced to sell. The base EX begins at a reasonable $31,300, and includes a 297 HP 3.5L V6, five speed automatic, and six air bags. Infiniti also offers a RWD EX Journey for $34,850, and leather-trimmed seats, moon roof, and front and rear sensing systems come standard. AWD is a $1,400 option on both models. Infiniti also offers several option packages that will bring the little CUV over the $40,000 mark, but that's the standard top end for much of the segment.

The EX35 has good looks, a willing chassis based off the G35 sedan, and an outstanding VQ engine. At these prices, Infinity should meet sales quotas and steal buyers from other luxury nameplates at the same time. The EX35 will be available beginning December 21. Check out the press release after the jump.

[Source: Infiniti]

J.D. Power and Associates has polled owners of factory-nav equipped vehicles, and Infiniti's zippy-performing setup gets the nod for top honors from end users. Part of the win might be chalked up to the hard drive that the Infiniti system comes with, making it more responsive than a DVD based navigation system. Infiniti owners also tend to be more tech savvy than owners of other navigation-equipped vehicles, further contributing to the win. The study's results show that even after coming up with a few extra thousand dollars to get the fancy LCD in the dash, most drivers hardly scratch the surface of what the systems can do for them. Apparently, watching a little triangle follow an animated route is all many owners ever use their nav systems for, preferring to be even more helpless and use live operators to talk them in.

Ignorance leads to negative comments about maps that are out of date (easily rectified via updates), while actual technology gets in the way when it comes to wonky voice activation and real time traffic updates that have limited coverage in some areas. Despite the complaints, most owners declined to go back to the dealer for any kind of solution. Some owners apparently purchase navigation systems because they like the fancy cachet, while others actually use the systems. Those that use their nav more than twice a week tended to be more satisfied, pretty much proving that navigation systems are complex and take time to learn how to fully utilize before they're more than an expensive electronic bauble. Having used the Infiniti navigation system, we can say that it is among the best when it comes to ease of use and accuracy, but unfortunately, we're not junketing enough to far flung locales to actually need it.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Official word has yet to come down from on high, but it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Infiniti G37 will eventually get AWD hardware. Potential buyers are asking dealers, who are in turn asking Infiniti about channeling the VQ's urge through all four wheels. The M45 and G35S will both be gaining AWD in the near future, so it does bode well for the possibility of a G37x. Official statements are vague about any actual developments, other than to say "it's reasonable to expect it may happen." It's also reasonable to assume that Infiniti's watching the competition like BMW and Audi proliferating AWD euro-luxers, and they'd be remiss to neglect offering the same capabilities.

[Source: Inside Line]

Nissan plans on adding an instant fuel economy reader to every new Nissan and Infiniti it sells by 2010, and the meter is already available Stateside in the Altima and G35. The gauge is being added to show drivers how to drive with reduced fuel consumption in mind, and Nissan thinks owners can achieve 10% better fuel economy after using the gauge to adjust driving habits.

As an owner of a Volvo S40 with the same feature, I can personally tell you it works. My fuel economy went from 24.5 MPG to 27 MPG within a couple weeks of discovering the feature, and all it took was more coasting before stop lights, and less heavy acceleration from a stop.

[Source: Autoblog Green]

This has been a huge week on Autoblog, as we launched our completely updated website, and we're celebrating this feat by giving away a fully-loaded $29,000 Dodge Nitro. (Enter every day through June 14th by clicking here.) We also had reviews of both the Chevy Silverado and the Infinity G35, and we had a great post on the Jeep JT Conccept proving it is more than just some thrown-together concept.

To get a three-minute recap on the past week, all you need to do is click play on the video above. We've also added links below to some of the more significant galleries from the last seven days. This week, music comes from Three Legged Dogg with "Frozen Summer". Enjoy!

If you have a 2007 Nissan Altima or a 2007 Infiniti G35 Sedan, you might want to keep your mobile phone in a different pocket than your car's fancy I-Key fob. The fobs, as you're probably well aware by now, enable and disable the cars' keyless ignition systems. According to Nissan, the problem is that if the fob is touched by a cellphone while a call is in progress, the software that controls the I-Key's automagic goodness could be altered or erased, rendering it useless. Furthermore, the damage is not reversible, and the I-Key simply becomes landfill fodder.

Nissan's modifying the key to correct the issue, and will provide new ones to owners once it's straightened it all out. According to the AP, this'll happen sometime in the fall. In the meantime, some dealers are stocking up on spares just in case, and you'd be advised to follow Nissan's advice and keep a little distance between the key and your phone. After all, you don't want the simple act of pressing the Start button to turn into an exercise in futility -- especially over something as mundane as checking your voice mail.

[Source: AP]

click above image to view a high-res gallery of the Infiniti G35 S

A while back we had a G35 S 6MT in the Autoblog Garage. That car was delivered in a delightful snowstorm with high-performance tires showing some wear, so it was quite difficult to get a good bead on the car's true capabilities. How ironic, then, that we should get a second chance with the G35 S. This time, it was delivered in gorgeous spring weather wearing a set of ooey gooey Blizzak LM22s. You can't win.

While the snowshoes hindered capabilities slightly, they were far more accomodating than a snowstorm when it came to wringing out the G35S. Our previous impressions of the car still stand, but we did gather useful dry-road experience, as well. The VQHR's 306 horsepower was a heady brew, and the bark from the exhaust had a ripply crescendo that encouraged redline shifting with the 5-speed automatic's manual mode. This car is seriously eager. The burble is sometimes wearying on highway jaunts, or when you just want to slip away unnoticed; but as car guys, it's tough to deny the allure of a bitchin' exhaust note.

Sometimes news is just too good to keep to yourself. Just ask GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. With his company supposedly claiming 13 spots on Edmund's Consumers' Most Wanted list, Lutz just had to brag a bit on the corporate blog before the winners were made public.

And he should brag. Most other car of the year awards are chosen by us automotive writers who usually prefer horsepower over hip room. As the name implies, Edmund's CMW awards are chosen by the car-buying public. And despite not voting with their wallets, the car-buying public who visits Edmund's really like their GMs.

The GMC Acadia got Most Significant vehicle of the year, beating out Honda's Fit, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Ford Edge and the Toyota Tundra.

Click through to see Edmund's press release as well as the other category winners.

[Source: Edmunds, GM FastLane Blog]

The nice folks over at Nihon Car and Bike have been letting out a few choice pieces of automotive tunage straight from the Nippon Convention Center at this year's Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS).

The TAS has historically been a showcase for aftermarket tuning houses to show off their wares, but over the past several years, the OEM manufacturers have been getting into the game more and more.

Case in point: the brand new Nissan Skyline (or Infiniti G35 on these shores) sedan gets a full body massage, with the addition of a new front fascia, side skirts, a small spoiler, and a revised rear bumper to house a set of enlarged exhaust outlets. Although it isn't clear how the Skyline got its new stance, the whole package is dropped over a set of nine-spoke, 20-inch wheels.

No information was provided about what, if any, mods were performed within the engine bay, but knowing how Nissan's engineers can get when left alone with some R&D dollars, we'd expect something pretty entertaining.

[Source: Nihon Car & Bike]

UPDATE: According to Automotive News (Sub. Req.), the redesigned G35 will debut in New York, this April, along with a small crossover that may see production towards the end of the year.

Click the image to enlarge.

We've tired of trying to discern what styling cues will be pulled from some of the concept sketches that come our way. Thankfully, the nice folks over at Nissan Sport have a thorough and thoughtful design analysis of the G35 coupe illustration that was released earlier today.

We'd encourage you click on over for their full breakdown, but a few elements are worthy of note.

The front bumper seems to have taken the brunt of the modifications, dispatching some of the angularity seen on the concept, while the two air intakes on the front bumper have been nixed in favor of a gaping inlet in the middle, accompanied by two smaller intakes on either side. The "katana" grille is still present, however the implausible (for the time being) door mounted cameras have been replaced with more conventional mirror units and the c-pillar's kink seems to have been smoothed out to better match the roof's plunge into the hatch.

Follow the link for a few other Nissan-obsessed writers' opinions and look for the production vehicle to, hopefully, bow sometime this year.

Thanks for the tip, Guru G!

[Source: Nissan Sport]