thestumper

(RANT ON)

I remember being infuriated by that hack job of an article. $40K is NOT 35K, let alone 50K I expect little from journalists; by nature most of them aren't particularly bright - they do some research, make observations and then craft a story that justifies their bias. I've come to expect it, and I don't subscribe anymore for that reason, but this was one of their more laughable pieces of drivel in memory.

IIRC correctly there were quite a few letters to the editor but in true C/D form they defended their schlock. Whatever, but IMO there's no excuse for NOT factoring in street price - there are PLENTY of online sources that crunch the data and give averages. I don't care what the "official policy is", to me it's intellectually dishonest. I'm not sure they could have tried any harder to put the 328 on top. With the exceptions they gave to the other cars, the 37 should have easily been the choice - and it would have STILL been on the bottom of the price scale

I'm hoping for some recto-cranial extraction on behalf of the rags in the next round of comparisons, but I won't be holding my breath

(RANT OFF)

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Now that's funny, and I'll join you in not holding my breath.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

I remember that head 2 head.

I'm inclined to say anyone who bought a new G25 really ought not be allowed to make car buying decisions. Ever. They just aren't competent for the kind of judgement necessary to the task. You would think Car & Driver editors would be smarter... but apparently not.

brizey

The price thing in the car mags is ridiculous. It should scale the entire score...and do it in a non-linear way, too. Example: I will never be able to afford a new Ferrari. Reality. So in effect, it's price is infinite to me because it exceeds my discretionary spending power. So it scores ZERO in any comparison I ever make because it is not a real option.

The problem is that as cars get more expensive, they take an every increasing marginal percentage of your discretionary spending power.

Example:

Sensible car: $25000
G37: $40000
BMW: $50000

Discretionary spending power: $40000

So the Sensible Car costs zero

The G37 costs you $15000 of your $40000 or 37.5%

The BMW costs your $25000 of your $40000 or 62.5%

So effectively, the BMW costs you about 67% more of your discretionary money, not 25%. The point is...its not how much you got, its how much you got left. People make decisions on the margins. IF you decide to by a car, that first $25000 is spent. Then you decide how much more car you want. That is what you are doing when you are comparing cars. You are not comparing against not buying a car at all.

So...you really gonna spend double on a 335 vs. G37?

DONTTASEMEBRO

no new engine tweaks and I assume no weight reduction?

Boomer-Bob

iTrader: (1)

That stuff used to bother me too. Now I see them as total fail on the part of the competition. Turbo against NA, $50+K against $40-K etc. etc. Especially when equivalents could be compared. (with different results)

In my opinion, when you cheat, you were a loser before the competition.
It seems reality is mags run on ad $'s. Infiniti sells what ~100,000 cars in the US? Who's butt would a weak magazine's editor kiss?

Hmm... I guess this sort of “journalism” still bothers me.

I wonder what they will compare against a 550HP turbo QXX, $350K Lexus LFA?

SAL9000

You can build and check specs now on the Infiniti USA site. Looks like a ~75 lb weight reduction...

SAL9000

Though disappointed I could roll with the Q50 with current 3.7VQ IF it had a better transmission, and in specific, 8 speeds. 3rd gear should be a shorter with an additional gear between that and the current 4th gear. Of course I'd gladly roll with a DSG or M/T. As it is with the same 7 sp AT I'd probably pass on the Q50.

All in all though looks like they're going after the GS350 crowd with this thing (including price - full loaded Q50 AWD Sport MSRP is $54k). Nice car but not my cup of tea.

thestumper

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in "MSRP". Nissan (though not the only one...) is famous for inflating MSRP and then selling 5-10K under it all ay long at the high end. People used to complain about the "$40,000+ Maxima" but head on over to the Nissan boards and you'll have a hard time finding anyone who paid close to that.

Everyone wants a piece of what BWM, Audi, and Mercede's have... or at least they think they do... until they realize that a) it's a different type of customer with higher expectations, and b) you can sell a lot of cars "on the margin" as was described so well above. I always said I'd buy the BMW that was "only a few thousand more" than the Infinity/Lexus/whatever, but once I had them optioned out exactly the same apples-to-apples, it never was.

Why do I bring this up? Because it's my other concern for this car: that Infinity prices it too close to BMW/Audi/Mercedes and doesn't offer incentives. Then they wonder why the car doesn't sell (it doesn't have the right badge for that coin) and they have to blow them out with massive incentives or cheapen the content in subsequent models. It really doesn't matter if its the better car or not at that point.

SAL9000

My purpose in mentioning MSRPs was not what cars actually sell for but their relative standing in the marketplace - to competitors or in this case one car that replaces another - per the Infiniti USA site the Q50 is a ~10-15% bump in MSRP vs. the G37. This is notable considering the chassis is a light derivative and the drive train is unchanged vs. the G37.

terrycs

iTrader: (37)

I think the target is the soon to be released Lexus IS.

DONTTASEMEBRO

It's quite sad Infiniti is trying to sell a car like the German counterparts with the Q50. After adding some options a Q came out to be 50k and change...

nisslover

Infiniti has no problem selling the G, and probably won't have a problem selling the Q50 even with the price bump on the high-end fully loaded models. Its the rest of their lineup, besides the QX and JX, that need a kick in sales.

STownSaint

^while I agree with you, Infiniti has also established itself as the "bargain" option in the segment (G wise, at least), so messing with the price margin too much may be risky, time will tell I suppose.

nisslover

They actually kept the bargain aspect on the low end of the spectrum, at least for the introductory pricing, and this is where they sell the most cars, so that remains. But it seems those that want the options will be the ones experiencing the price hike... but in all honesty thats to be expected, esp if they want to be on the same playing field as BMW they have to be confident enough to charge the premium too. And you can't expect the cars to compete head to head with BMW and the likes on EVERY aspect for a cheaper price... jus don't work like that. Something will be skimped on. And it looks like they found a good strategy of start low get the bargain market and if you everything... be prepared to pay for it. but I am sure that base price will begin to creep up too the more people adjust to the new more premium Infiniti.