ORANGE WITH ENVY; INFINITI'S NEW DROP-TOP HAS DISTINCT APPEAL.(NEWS)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

WE'RE CRUISING THROUGH BEVERLY Hills, Calif., in the new 2009 Infiniti G37 convertible, top down, sunny day, following a beautiful Ferrari 360 Modena. Up next to us pulls a 40-ish woman with hair so orange it could be on a traffic cone. She is driving a ratty "90s Celica GT convertible, also with the top down. Does she even look at the Ferrari? No. Instead, Carrot Top's sister yells out, "Beautiful car! and gives a thumbs-up to the Infiniti. She didn't even see the Ferrari.

So, maybe buyers to whom this svelte cabrio appeals will be more interested in style than in performance. Now, the G37 convertible is no slouch in the performance department. It shares a drivetrain and a rear-wheel-drive platform with the magnificent Nissan 370Z. It's powered by a 325-hp, 3.7-liter V6 driving the rear wheels through your choice of a six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic. We are on record as liking the coupe version of the G and loving the 370Z.

This version is nearly as powerful and graceful under hard tromping as its fraternal coupe twin with the roof, but it's considerably heavier. Curb weight is listed at 4,095 pounds, 453 more than the coupe. When they chopped the top and added all of those trusses and staples to hold the magnificent carcass together, it slowed the whole thing downnot by a huge amount but enough that you won't mistake it for a Z. You might not even mistake it for a G coupe, at least from behind the wheel when you're paying attention to the corners through which you fly.

A more aggressive final drive ratio tries hard to ...