2009 Infiniti G37 Sedan 6MT

I got into the Infiniti G37S sedan expecting the vague, unnatural clutch-to-throttle relationship we'd complained about in our Four Seasons G37S coupe, but I was shocked to find no such issue. Clutch take-up felt much lower and had a much clearer engagement point than I remember from the coupe. Did Infiniti address the issue for the 2009 model year? (A brand spokesperson says no.) Was our coupe a "Monday car"? Has my recollection of that car simply been exaggerated by hearing so many other staff members whine about it? I suspect the answer is a combination of all these factors, but I nevertheless came away liking the G37 more than I remembered.

I'm also convinced the sedan is the best flavor of the brand's mid-size FM-platform products. It handles as well as the coupe and has more interior space than the EX35 crossover/wagon. I also admire the fact that Nissan designers were able to make the sedan voluptuous and interesting looking in its own right, without jumping on the four-door-coupe bandwagon.

Still, the G37 is clearly a summer car. It's not that it's terribly intractable in the snow - I actually traveled to and from Detroit on treacherous roads with no issue. But you can't drive flat-out on frost-covered roads, and the G37 is just no fun unless it's driven flat-out. Like the other VQ-powered vehicles I've driven recently, the sedan sounded fantastic in kamikaze runs up to the engine's redline but buzzy and annoying under normal acceleration.

One other change I appreciated from our 2008 - and this is a biggy - are the new seat warmer switches. Whereas the coupe had Nissan's standard issue, cheap-looking switches, the sedan features classy-looking dials that are much easier to read.

David Zenlea, Assistant Editor