Anyone spend time with an Infiniti G37?

[takemorepills]

My lease is coming up on my GTI. So, I am looking for a nice car to replace it, that I can buy outright. I have zeroed in on the 2010+ G37x AWD coupe. I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with one of these cars? And if you could relate that experience to our Mk7 GTI's. I have a GTI SE with LP and Fender, and there are a few things that matter to me:

- Sound quality of the stereo, seems the Bose G37 system should be at least as good as the GTI Fender? Modern cars that interest me can be difficult to do audio upgrades to, so it is important to me to be happy with the stock setup in whatever I buy

- Quality of the headlights. TBH, not so impressed with the LP, I do LOVE that the LP lights swivel and illuminate corners, but the throw and beam cutoff is weak. Is the G37 better?

- road/wind noise? I have heard a few quibbles about G37 road noise, I am quite happy with my GTI.

- Power...I noticed that G37's can trap 103-104 in the 1/4 to a stock GTI's 98-100, so should be better, but in day-to-day how does the linear VQ37 7AT feel compared to the 2.0T DSG?

If anyone has any experience, thank you for sharing!

 

[Nappy216]

My lease is coming up on my GTI. So, I am looking for a nice car to replace it, that I can buy outright. I have zeroed in on the 2010+ G37x AWD coupe. I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with one of these cars? And if you could relate that experience to our Mk7 GTI's. I have a GTI SE with LP and Fender, and there are a few things that matter to me:

- Sound quality of the stereo, seems the Bose G37 system should be at least as good as the GTI Fender? Modern cars that interest me can be difficult to do audio upgrades to, so it is important to me to be happy with the stock setup in whatever I buy

- Quality of the headlights. TBH, not so impressed with the LP, I do LOVE that the LP lights swivel and illuminate corners, but the throw and beam cutoff is weak. Is the G37 better?

- road/wind noise? I have heard a few quibbles about G37 road noise, I am quite happy with my GTI.

- Power...I noticed that G37's can trap 103-104 in the 1/4 to a stock GTI's 98-100, so should be better, but in day-to-day how does the linear VQ37 7AT feel compared to the 2.0T DSG?

If anyone has any experience, thank you for sharing!

I went from a G37x Sedan to a GTI Autoban MT6 completely different animals but here is my take
-Fender sound system is better.
-G37 Road Noise was worse.
-Compared to GTI the G37 AWD rips your head off from dig. I don't recall ever being beat off the line in the G.
- VQ motors are smooooth as can be.
- GTI more practical for day to day. easier to put stuff in/out & much better MPG and still fun to drive.

The the biggest reasons I switched....handling and practicality
The GTI is like a go cart compared to the heavier G. G handles ok but you really feel the weight. The trunk in my G was tiny and the seats did not fold down so I could never put anything in it. Might not be as bad for the coupe...think the seats fold down... but tough to beat a hatch back for day to day use.

Good luck.

 

[demi9od]

GF has a '12 g37 Journey. 60k'ish miles. It's got power on demand but it's definitely a boat compared to the GTI. Tall sidewalls, softer suspension, and curb weight all contribute.

Road noise seems fine to me, though it's got a fair share of leather on leather squeaks that I might be able to fix with some conditioner.

Can't comment on the Bose since we don't have it, and there are so many street lights here I could drive with lights off at night, so I dunno.

Keep in mind the VQ motors are hard on oil so I've read, so don't plan on pushing even synthetics past 5k.

I like the car but given the choice if both are in the driveway I'll take the GTI out 6/7 days.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

 

[takemorepills]

Thanks for the input guys.

I love my GTI, but the residual on my lease isn't so good, and the FWD thing bugs me to no end (we live in the Pacific NW always wet, no traction) I would definitely keep a Golf R! My co-worker has a G35 coupe and I love the way a Japanese GT coupe feels. I have had seat time with a G37 sedan, and I just don't like the G in sedan form at all. To replace my beloved GTI, it'd have to be an AWD coupe.

 

[SpaceGhost]

My lease is coming up on my GTI. So, I am looking for a nice car to replace it, that I can buy outright. I have zeroed in on the 2010+ G37x AWD coupe. I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with one of these cars? And if you could relate that experience to our Mk7 GTI's. I have a GTI SE with LP and Fender, and there are a few things that matter to me:

- Sound quality of the stereo, seems the Bose G37 system should be at least as good as the GTI Fender? Modern cars that interest me can be difficult to do audio upgrades to, so it is important to me to be happy with the stock setup in whatever I buy

- Quality of the headlights. TBH, not so impressed with the LP, I do LOVE that the LP lights swivel and illuminate corners, but the throw and beam cutoff is weak. Is the G37 better?

- road/wind noise? I have heard a few quibbles about G37 road noise, I am quite happy with my GTI.

- Power...I noticed that G37's can trap 103-104 in the 1/4 to a stock GTI's 98-100, so should be better, but in day-to-day how does the linear VQ37 7AT feel compared to the 2.0T DSG?

If anyone has any experience, thank you for sharing!

I had a g35 coupe. It was a much better car than my GTI. I drove a g37 when they did a recall on my car. I preferred the lower ride and stiffer suspension of the coupe but awd limitless traction was fun. I got to beat the fck out of their loaner all day. Funny thing I think the recall was the exact same fuel issue as the recall on my 15 GTI

The thing with GTI stats are sure if you can get traction but what's the chance of that happening? Straight line on a warm day. You'll enjoy being able to rocket launch out of a side street without worrying about traction.

The GTI is fun on a twisty road but no more fwd especially with a turbo for me. I am even teaching my kids don't ever buy a fwd car cause they suck!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[takemorepills]

New cars are funny to me. So much power these days. Ending up in FWD platforms. I remember in the 90's as a Honda enthusiast we would've been jizzing in our pants for days if Honda made a turbo Civic, Accord or Prelude. Now look, turbo CTR, turbo Si, turbo Accords. All FWD. Be careful what I wish for, I guess.

As much as I love the GTI, it has made me hate FWD more than ever. I won't even consider any of the newer high-HP FWD cars from any manufacturer now.

I'd love to get an R, but my dealer has a $4k ADM on them.

 

[SpaceGhost]

GF has a '12 g37 Journey. 60k'ish miles. It's got power on demand but it's definitely a boat compared to the GTI. Tall sidewalls, softer suspension, and curb weight all contribute.

Road noise seems fine to me, though it's got a fair share of leather on leather squeaks that I might be able to fix with some conditioner.

Can't comment on the Bose since we don't have it, and there are so many street lights here I could drive with lights off at night, so I dunno.

Keep in mind the VQ motors are hard on oil so I've read, so don't plan on pushing even synthetics past 5k.

I like the car but given the choice if both are in the driveway I'll take the GTI out 6/7 days.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

My 06 coupe had 110K when I traded it in. It wouldn't even use a 1/4 of a quart between 7500 miles oil changes. In comparison my GTI goes through 2 quarts every 10K and it's close to needing another one. It actually used 3 quarts during the initial 10K, but now is slightly better.

Initially my GTI was getting 24 mpg which was only 1 mpg better than the G, but my mileage is better now between 26-27. I think it was 26.8 last time I checked. So expect slightly worse mileage.

I don't recall that there were a lot of people on the g forums complaining about excessive oil use certainly not more than on the VW forums. Guess you got a bad one.

I had the Bose and now the fender. I don't think there is much difference. The G35 was quieter so it was easier to hear the system on the highway, but it was about the same in terms of sound quality.

 

[SpaceGhost]

One nice thing about the AWD is that it's a rear bias so it's putting most of the power to the rear wheels so you don't feel like you are being pulled around like a toy on a string.

I had the HID lights so they were obviously better than my GTI which as the normal headlights, but the GTI normal headlights are best normal headlights I have ever seen. Really notice it when driving my wife's escape at night.

The power as I already mentioned is more usable even with the RWD version, but I would also note seat of the pants the G35 seemed much quicker when you got up over 80 mph.

 

[demi9od]

Ours doesn't eat any oil, I've just read the VQ engines break down oil faster than most.

 

[takemorepills]

Thanks guys, lots of good feedback here.

I researched a few other cars also, another strong contender for me was the LS460 AWD (I really like Japanese iron). But, shockingly, the LS460 has far more issues than the G37s do. And, the issues are super expensive to fix. The DI systems are noisier than the GTI, and there is a pair of fuel pumps that do go bad at $2k a piece. And the suspension on the LS460 has a known issue with the control arm bushings that is also a $2-6K repair. The G37, being port FI relieves me of the DI maintenance worry and the HPFP failures of many other comparable cars. The only bad thing that occurs to G37s that I found, the rear timing cover seal can go bad in the '09 and older models creating a $2k repair bill.

As far as oil consumption goes, it is hit or miss. I had a VQ35 for 100K and it never used more than a quart every 7500 miles.

 

[JC_451]

SpaceGhost hates anything to do with throttle modulation so you'll have to forgive him for the traction comments.

 

[takemorepills]

My lease is coming up on my GTI. So, I am looking for a nice car to replace it, that I can buy outright. I have zeroed in on the 2010+ G37x AWD coupe. I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with one of these cars? And if you could relate that experience to our Mk7 GTI's. I have a GTI SE with LP and Fender, and there are a few things that matter to me:

- Sound quality of the stereo, seems the Bose G37 system should be at least as good as the GTI Fender? Modern cars that interest me can be difficult to do audio upgrades to, so it is important to me to be happy with the stock setup in whatever I buy

- Quality of the headlights. TBH, not so impressed with the LP, I do LOVE that the LP lights swivel and illuminate corners, but the throw and beam cutoff is weak. Is the G37 better?

- road/wind noise? I have heard a few quibbles about G37 road noise, I am quite happy with my GTI.

- Power...I noticed that G37's can trap 103-104 in the 1/4 to a stock GTI's 98-100, so should be better, but in day-to-day how does the linear VQ37 7AT feel compared to the 2.0T DSG?

If anyone has any experience, thank you for sharing!

I finally drove one today, a 2014 G60 (G37) AWD 7AT. I must say, an EXTREMELY nice car! We also test drove a 2012 LS460 AWD. (Notice we are looking at AWD now?!)

-stereo: The Q60 Bose system sounds almost exactly like my Fender system in our GTI. Volume levels and such are on par with each other, only slight sound differences at different volumes, but when at max volume, they sounded relatively similar, which is to say quite good.

-didn't get to test headlights.

-road noise: Q60 was better than my GTI is currently because my DSG is noisy. Prior to my DSG being noisy, about the same.

-power: Q60 has NO traction problems. That being said, the 2.0T DSG GTI still feels more powerful at speed. The Q60 7AT was very good, I felt no preference between the DSG or the 7AT, both are excellent but the 2.0T in the GTI feels more powerful. Maybe because of the very linear VQ37? A draw here IMO.

Anyways, the Q60/G37 was great. I could definitely replace my GTI with it. However, the car that really wowed me was the LS460. It was OBVIOUSLY faster than my GTI, bordering on "brutal" with AWD launch (380HP V8) and easily as "quick" as the GTI is under way. The Mark Levinson stereo was FAR better than my Fender system, wow. While the LS460 is FAR less dynamic/sporty than the GTI, the GTI is the only car I have received speeding tickets in the last few years. So, I think I may replace the GTI with a LS460 AWD.

Thanks for the input guys, really everything everyone said here was spot-on about the G. I actually did feel it is a better car than a GTI all things considered. Such a nice machine! But hey, the GTI is pretty damn decent too. Just the FWD sucks balls SOOOOOOO damn bad!

 

[adam1991]

-didn't get to test headlights.

On a 4 year old car, if those headlights aren't already oxidized, they will be very very soon.

 

[takemorepills]

On a 4 year old car, if those headlights aren't already oxidized, they will be very very soon.

Yeah, they weren't oxidized. Because we were looking at cars at bigger dealers, I am sure they have their PDI/detailer guys hit the headlights with some renew compound. I have seen both G37s and LS460s with oxidized headlights.

My wife's Saabaru needs to be renewed every 9-12 months otherwise they get really bad.

Whatever happened to glass headlights?!?!?

 

[adam1991]

I'd pay extra for glass headlights as an option.