
By Zach Bowman RSS feed
There's an almost infinite amount to love about the Infiniti G37 line. In sedan or coupe form, X or S guise, the vehicles deliver that difficult-to-attain blend of rear-wheel-biased performance, content and refinement with a manageable price tag. With the excellent VQ37 3.7-litre V6 engine pounding under the hood and the buyer's choice of manual or automatic gearboxes pushing power to the rear or all four wheels, the G37 family is one of the market's best arguments against sliding behind the wheel of a BMW 3 Series. That is, unless you wanted a truly serious performance machine.
German titans like BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been lapping European racetracks under their M and AMG banners for decades, honing performance hardware that customers would merrily plop down fat stacks of cash for later. While Japanese luxury automakers have been somewhat slow to embrace performance sub-brands, recent years have seen an explosion of consonant-laced badging stuck to sharper machinery. Among Japanese automakers, Lexus first dipped a toe in those waters with the company's F-Sport goods, and Infiniti has risen to the challenge with its new Infiniti Performance Line. By gracing the G37 Coupe with more horsepower, a sharper suspension, larger brakes and unique interior appointments, Infiniti has taken a first step into a world dominated by some of the world's most storied badges.
But is the IPL G37 a serious performance contender or simply a bolt-on queen with delusions of grandeur?
Find out: http://ca.autoblog.com/2012/03/16/2012-infiniti-g37-ipl-review-road-test/
Great writeup on the IPL. Love what they're doing but why didn't they do it a decade ago?
And here is the french version from Vincent Aubé:
Que doit faire un constructeur pour augmenter sa crédibilité auprès des aficionados? Il doit bien sûr posséder une division entièrement dédiée à la course automobile ou, du moins, avoir une branche sportive qui s’acharne à aiguiser les performances de ses véhicules. C’est un peu ce qui manquait à Infiniti, même si la maison mère, Nissan, a déjà NISMO.
Si la division luxueuse de Nissan veut aller jouer dans la cour des grands que sont les M de BMW, AMG de Mercedes-Benz, RS chez Audi ou même F chez Lexus (dans une moindre mesure), elle a intérêt à faire ses devoirs. Sa première incursion dans ce créneau « élitiste » s’appelle IPL (pour Infiniti Performance Line). La traduction n’est même pas nécessaire tellement ce nom est d’une simplicité. Et la première voiture qui a droit au traitement IPL est le coupé G37, un choix plus que logique.
http://auto.sympatico.ca/essais/6714/infiniti-g37-ipl-2011-a-peine-plus-aiguisee