M35/45

Vehicle: 2009 Infiniti M45 Sport
Price as tested: CDN$69800

Performance: There are 2 different powertrains reside underneath M’s bonnet. The base car comes with VQ35DE with 303hp and 268lb/ft of torque. As we have experienced with all M35 that comes standard with ATTETS-AWD, 303hp feels somewhat lacking. However, its the 4.5 liter V8 that is the engine of choice in M’s case. That powertrain is not only sweet as a nut, its got performance to boot. That means its good for 325 ponies and 336 lb/ft of torque. That 22 extra horses and 68 lb/ft of torque really make the M does. It transforms the M from a boring luxury sedan into one with sporty flair. Along with all the advanced CVVTCS variable valve timing technology, this luxury car certainly isn’t lacking anything called speed. Its willing in both low, mid and even high rev ranges. The throttle response is quick and responsive without the usual abrupt feel of some of its peers. The only transmission that is available on M45 is the smooth shifting 5-speed manumatic. This gearbox is not only willing to up and downshifts, it also learns driver’s behaviour quickly and effectively through its fuzzy logic program. This is a truly good match with this willing V8 motor. On the other hand, without such a willing gearbox. The base M35X would have become pretty much a dog.

Handling: Along with a stiff chassis as a good fundmental, our M45 comes standard with the optional sports package. New for 2009, you can choose an M45 with AWD with standard suspension or RWD with sports package. What makes the Sport different than the rest of the M range is the addition of rear active steer, 19″ wheels and stiffer suspensions. Combined the already good chassis with the sports suspension, it makes the M45 drives more like a sports sedan than a luxury sedan. With nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution and active rear steer, M45′s tail is able to have some oversteer whenever an enthuisastic driver wants it to. The best of all, M’s Vehicle Dynamic Control or VDC, is not intended to step in unnecessarily until the vehicle rears its ugly head. This suspension is able to absorb bumps and roughness relatively well without the usual floatiness so many on luxury boats. The steering provides decent feedback and its precise enough to please most enthuisasts. Its also weighty enough without being too light.

Brakes: Consider M45′s 4004 lb of leather-lined luxury, its braking performance is a delightful surprise. The stopping distance is short. Brake pedal feel and modulation are decent enough to haul this beast to a stop without any hestiation. Combined with an ABS that doesn’t have unwanted intervention, you pretty sum up its overall dynamic package.

Interior: With the recent facelift of the entire M range, Infiniti has improved its use of materials and level of fit-and-finish a whole lot over the earlier car. That means M finally got the plastic materials that are on par with anything in its class. The rest of the layout is typical Infiniti. That means a lot of standard features from power leather seats to dual zone climate control.

The biggest disppointment has to be found in the trunk. Consider M’s trunk liftover already high, its lack of a proper fold-down rear seats and narrow opening would only make loading luggage worse.

Conclusion: Unlike Infiniti’s previous attempts of cracking on the higher end of the luxury spectum, this M45 represents a real deal. It got plenty of power, handles surprisingly well and offer lots of features for the money. Just like the G37 sedan we just reviewed, M45 is another Infiniti worths of consideration if you are looking for something that offer lots of content for the money with a luxury nameplate.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2009 Infiniti M45 Sport
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Performance: 4/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 3/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 3/5

Overall rating: 3.25/5

Vehicle: 2007 Infiniti M35X, luxury with aluminum trim
Price as tested: CDN$60200

Performance: Underneath M’s hood, there are 2 engines available. The uplevel M45 is powered by a 4.5L DOHC 32-valver V8 with 325hp and 336 lb/ft of torque. Or the tried-and-true VQ35DE in our tester. This application of Nissan’s proven VQ35DE engine series is good for 275 horses and 268 lb/ft of torque. The acceleration and seat-of-the-pants feel are about average. With maximum torque arrives at 4800 rpm, there is always a feel of an acceleration lag between the throttle input and vehicle starts to pick up the speed. Its 275 hp is barely enough to move 4043 pounds of heavy metal. While this engine unit works beautifully in Nissan Z to Murano, it just doesn’t cut it in the much heavier Infiniti M. The saving grace for the whole powertrain is the smart shifting 5-speed manumatic. Without the energetic work ethics of this manumatic, the M35X would simply feel like a dog. This manumatic allows enthuisastic driver to rev pass through redline before upshifting. Although the rev matching isn’t as smart as Audi’s DSG, its logically enough to satisfied the target audience of this luxury sedan.

Handling: Consider the M is based on the lengthened G platform, its level of stiffness and rigidty are undoubtable. However, its dynamics is a mixbag consider Infiniti would love you to think its a sports sedan. Let’s begin with something positive. The steering provides decent feedback and precision. Its also surprisingly responsive and “Z like” crispness during left-to-right transitions. Nissan’s ATTESS-ETS has always been rated as one of the best rear-bias all-wheel drive system in the world. Suffice to say, it works as expected. As it provides a rear-wheel drive feel when pushing into a curve. When the system detects there is a wheelspin in any of the offending wheel, the AWD would kick-in to save all the nasty. Here comes the negative parts. A proper sports sedan needs a supple suspension that both handle and ride well. In M35X’s case, this suspension is soft and feels softly sprung during aggressive transition. Unfortunately, its feels rough riding when going through washboard pavement and expansion joints. The crispness of the steering tends to become numb when going aggressively. It feels like the whole vehicle has lost something when the going gets tough. When you are really going for it, its instrusive Vehicle Dynamic Control would kick-in abruptly when the back end starts to slide.

Brakes: With M35X’s standard 4-wheel discs, standard ABS with EBD and BD. M has a very complete braking package. It also delivers a short and sure-footness braking feel and distance judging by its over 4000 lb curb weight. The ABS doesn’t kick-in unnecessarily. Brake Assist also works extrmely well, which doesn’t feel like grabbing driver’s foot during assistance.

Interior: Its pretty well layout inside the M. That means a clear and analog instrumentation gauges. An excellent dual automatic climate control, a great set of comfortable leather seats and all the luxury items one expects from an Infiniti. However, the quality of the plastic materials still feel downmarket when you look at M’s over 60k price tag. It just fell short behind the competitions. The aluminum trim feels tacky. With the center console having a keyboard-derived design, it tends to feel grimmicky when Nissan can go with a much simpler design.

There are plenty of head and legroom for rear-seat passengers. The space is enough to seat 3 adults comfortably at the rear of M.

In terms of cargo space, its another mixbag. While the liftover height is acceptable, the lack of fold-down rear seats really have hammered the overall versatility.

Conclusion: With the previous Infiniti M being an unremarkable car, one would expect the new one would be significantly better. While M45 is a really good car, if somewhat overpriced. The M35, especially M35X, are nothing special. It just doesn’t stand out in one single area while there are many worth of criticisms. Except if you really “want” an Infiniti mid-size luxury sedan with AWD, there are plenty of better choices in the market. Namely Acura RL is much better alternative than M35X, its also one of the best choice in this segment.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2007 INFINITI M35X
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Performance: 2/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 2.25/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 2.25/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 2.5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 2/5

Overall rating: 2.25/5