Honest to Goodness; The Infiniti G35 stands out from its own crowd.(News)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)

Byline: Natalie Neff

Pardon the brutal honesty, but despite the ``Revival Plan'' and some power advantages, serious drivers can still find Nissan mired in mediocrity, its Frontiers clad in cheesy plastic rivets that pop off with a twist of the wrist, and its torque-steering Altimas decked out with cheap, rickety interiors. Even its luxury-division Infinitis tend to underwhelm, from the boaty Q45 to the forgettable QX4. Granted, the Maxima performs well, but this year Nissan has marginalized the car. Thank goodness for the Z car-and for the truly inspiring Infiniti G35.

The G35 doesn't stand out simply because of its context, either. Infiniti's entry-level rear-driver shines brightly against the whole universe of cars, thanks to a smooth yet powerful engine, superb chassis and all-around fun-to-drive demeanor.

The same engine found under the hood of Nissan's Altima, at 240 horsepower, and Maxima, at 255 horsepower, cranks out a line-burning 260 horsepower in the G35. The all-aluminum 3.5-liter dohc V6 also produces 260 lb-ft of torque at 4800 rpm, and uses Nissan's Continuous Variable Valve Timing Control System to maximize power and torque across a wide band. The G35 has tremendous off-the-line performance and simply flies down the highway, with gobs of passing power available in any gear, at just about any revs.

The G35's five-speed automatic transmission with sequential manual control shifts crisply and quickly, and we consistently were able to chirp the tires in both first and second gears from standing starts-in fully automatic mode. Throwing it into manual mode gave us more control over shifts, but we would love to see Infiniti equip the G35 with a six-speed manual transmission, as in the Z.

Power alone isn't enough. The G35's four-wheel, multilink independent suspension gives the car great over-the-road feel, helped out by its almost perfectly balanced 52/48 front-to-rear weight distribution. Its optional sport suspension-which uses tauter springs, higher damping-rate shocks and bigger 215/55R-17 performance tires than on base G35s-virtually eliminates body roll and gives the G35 superb cornering ability. The G35 has a bit of understeer ...