Infiniti G37X S Coupe smoothly covers all seasons
Infiniti G37X S strikes a sporty pose, concealing AWD capabilities.
By John Gilbert
When a car has really smooth handling, we say it feels as if it’s riding on rails. But no rails I’ve ever ridden on come close to the level of smoothness of the Infiniti G37X S Coupe.
Smoothness: A subjective thing, usually difficult to quantify. But not this time. This one’s easy. The Infiniti G37X S belongs on the list usually reserved for some models of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Acura, or Lexus.
There are a lot of memorable features about driving the Infiniti G37X S for a week in all imaginable weather conditions, but the most impressive is that remarkable smoothness when cruising on a freeway. That is not to diminish the Samurai-sword precision with which the G37X S carves around curves, or accelerates, stops and handles.
But at $41,450, the 2013 G37 Coupe with all-wheel drive can be the perfect prescription to cure the midlife-crisis-blues as a legitimate sports car to ease the aging process, but the AWD is worth the added base price because it lifts the car to all-weather, all-climate performance. Appearance-wise, the G37 has a sleek, GT look, and that signature Infiniti grille still shows a resemblance to a stack of sword blades, twisted slightly at either end.
The 3.7-liter V6 blasts off with 330 horsepower and 270 foot-pounds of torque, and the 7-speed automatic harnesses all that power either gracefully or with neck-snapping force — you pick, using the slick-shifting Drive-Sport mode, with its impressive steering-column-mounted shift paddles. The transmission has rev-matching throttle blips. Programmed to function when you’re in manual shift mode and click the left paddle for manual downshifts, the revs pop up as though you had a stick shift and were heel-and-toeing on a road-racing track. Read more
Prius V gives Toyota versatile hybrid entry
Addition of longer, larger Prius V gives Toyota well-rounded group of hybrids.
By John Gilbert
The world of alternative-energy vehicles is expanding virtually by the month, or week. Hybrid vehicles, electric cars, turbo-diesels, cars with tiny gas engines, and combinations of those, such as turbo-hybrids, all seem to have validity and are marketed to be better than the others. All we know is, there is no single answer to the problem of clean and efficient running, just a number of varied answers, all contributing to a cleaner world of automotives.
It makes sense, then, to reboot the ol’ analytical brain by going back to Toyota, to examine how and where the Prius is situated. The Prius was the first hybrid, although it was beaten to U.S. sales outlets by Honda with its Insight. Since then, The Prius has soared to great popularity, outselling all hybrids with the trusty Hybrid Synergy Drive.
The Prius line itself is almost a separate entity. While Toyota became best-known for its top-selling Camry midsize sedan, when car-buyers slowed down and then retrenched, many observers now say that Toyota is best identified by the Prius line. Along with the standard Prius compact sedan, Toyota brought out two cousins, the subcompact Prius C this year, and the elongated Prius V a year ago.
The Prius V is best described as a wagon-like hatchback with the same drivetrain as the standard front-wheel-drive Prius, but with a larger storage area behind the back seat and a higher, squared-off roof. While the smaller Prius C starts at just over $20,000, and the plug-in version of the Prius sedan can run to a high of over $30,000, the Prius V is priced at between $27,500 and $30,000. Read more
Fiat 500e is nothing short of electrifying
By John Gilbert
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The Fiat 500 is cute, fun, efficient, and economical, but nobody would really call it electrifying. Until now.
For 2014, the Fiat 500 will come in a version called the 500e, with the “e” standing for electric. Before consumers in 49 states get too excited about the 500e maybe becoming their electric car of choice, however, the car will require a little California Dreamin’ because the only showrooms it will reach in its initial launch will be in California.
The normal 500 has a distinct minicar look to it, and the designers and engineers have done an impressive job of smoothing out all the little quirks and wrinkles, spending 140 long hours in wind-tunnel testing to reduce the aerodynamic drag by 13 percent, to a 0.3111 coefficient of drag, said Brett Giem, who is chief engineer on the electric Fiat project. The smoothed-over frontal area makes it appear that a very sophisticated and high-class custom shop took the normal 500 and did a prize-winning job of altering it, leaving a unique look, but unmistakably a Fiat 500.
Inside that thoroughly revised bodywork, there is a structure and suspension strengthened and stiffened to optimize handling — the Fiat “fun” quotient — but something is missing. The small but effective little 4-cylinder engine with its clever MultiAir system that powers the normal Fiat 500, or the turbocharged version in the Fiat Abarth, are nowhere to be found, replaced by a powerful Bosch-supplied electric package, which consists of a liquid-cooled and heated 364-volt lithium-ion battery with 97 individual cells, created by Samsung. Computer wizards can figure out the equations, but the electric 500e develops 111 horsepower out of its 83 kilowatt electric motor, at 4,000 RPMs, with 147 foot-pounds of torque, which peaks at 0 RPMs.
Rear view of 500e shows mini car with surprising room.
Fiat, which now owns Chrysler LLC, is building the Fiat 500e in Toluca, Mexico, at the same plant where the regular 500 is being built, and the reasons for making the 500e available first in California includes: maximum demand for no-pollution alternative energy cars, an impressive array of rebates for electric cars, and an infrastructure of charging stations that set a standard for the rest of the country.
That doesn’t mean the 500e will be out of sorts in other regions. The development team did cold-weather testing in Bemidji, Minnesota; high-altitude testing in Denver; hot and dry weather tests in Las Vegas; varied weather and road surfaces in Michigan; and hot and humid testing in Naples, Florida. At the same time, Chrysler LLC was developing a climate-controlled test facility in California that can recreate desert heat, rainforest humidity, plus freezing rain and snow.
Electric cars and hybrids are carving out their own niches in the automotive world, with the critical difference coming in drivability, and range. Concerns about price seem reasonable, given that the Chevrolet Volt is over $40,000, and cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus EV, which are the prime competition for the 500e, also cost more because of the expense of the electric motor system. The 500e costs $32,500, but starts out with a $7,500 federal tax credit, which reduces the price to a workable figure. The 500e is offered for a $199-per-month lease deal with $999 down, and there are other California rebate and incentive deals with zero-pollution cars that can be manipulated to create another lease deal of $169 a month with 0 down. Read more
Even 6-figure BMW 750iXL halted by ice, tires
Ice and snow can't eliminate the classic lines and amenities of the BMW 750iXL.
By John Gilbert
Remind me, someone, to plead with the press-fleet powers at BMW to send me the new BMW 750iL for a second test-drive week, after the persistent snow and ice of this never-ending winter finally cash in their chips. As it is, the chance to experience the many wonderful features of the car, which is BMW’s flagship of luxury and class, was undone by a couple of snowstorms and some easy-slip tires.
It’s not as though I didn’t get a chance to test the 750 extensively. All the things I experienced with the car were very impressive, even for a car whose sticker price topped the $118,000 mark. As usual, the lofty price of a BMW can also be said to be worth it, based on the level of technical refinement and engineering brilliance. This car had the 4.4-liter V8, with more power than any normal driver could ever need, and all the luxury features imaginable, and a few beyond imagination.
But one characteristic out of the car-maker’s control was a major flaw, in the Great White North. The tires BMW put on the car were Pirelli P7 Cinturato by designation, and I know from past experience they are among the very best tires in the world on dry pavement, and for high-speed maneuvering. My past experience with those tires in Minnesota winter driving is less extensive, limited to the BMW X1 crossover, and in both cases, the low-profile beauty of those tires, and their ability to stick like glue to a dry track at high speed, became the farthest thing from a driver’s mind after a snowstorm.
As i was driving the 750, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the huge snowfall that hit the Northeast back in late February, I think it was, burying much of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and points north under 27 inches or snow of snow. A storm of that magnitude would be incredible wherever it happened, but it wouldn’t have commanded the national news and weather programs on network and satellite. Every time you turned on the television, you couldn’t escape the newscasters, inside their parkas, doing their obligatory reports while standing outside during the most intense parts of the blizzard.
A woman on either CNN or The Weather Channel was in a convenience store/gas station parking lot, and the swirling snow in the background made it appear to be on the edge of the Arctic Circle. She noted a car behind her spinning helplessly and unable to get out of the unplowed lot. Finally, two or three large fellows pushed and pushed and finally the free-spinning Acura TL got enough momentum to disappear out on the streets. Moments later, a subcompact, possibly a Nissan Versa or Toyota Yaris, came around the gas pumps and went by, covered with snow, and also spinning its front drive-wheels. “Here comes a little tiny car,” she said, “which, of course, will have no chance getting through this snow because it’s so light.” With that, the little car kept on churning and made it on out of the lot.
Tires matter. True, they matter for high-performance speed and cornering, and they also matter to the mainstream for long wear and smooth cruising. But they matter most in order to propel your car safely through the worst of foul-weather storms, where going off the road or being unable to get to your destination can leave you marooned. And the tires that work in one extreme condition are completely unsuited for the other extreme. Being stationed in Northern Minnesota, where such winter storms are common — and seem to be never-ending well into April of this particular year — even untrained drivers are aware of the need to get traction in wintry driving, which is mandatory for getting to work, if not simple survival. For the rest of the world, or our country, the masses may be totally unaware of the importance of worthy all-season or snow tires. And national reports on television that are erroneous don’t help.
The Acura TL in the live shot, for example, has front-wheel drive, but may well have had the factory-issue Michelin tires that are so good in dry weather and for long wear, but have a hard compound that refuses to earn traction on ice or snow. And the woman’s editorial comment about how “little cars” have no chance of getting through prove that not only experience but a shred of common sense is important before claiming that a cars size and weight is all that matters. The small car in question had front-wheel drive too, and even though it’s light, it has its weight centered over the drive wheels, and with adequate all-season tires it can keep churning on icy roads or deep snow.
I’m not blaming The Weather Channel for sending out an attractively snowbanked, on-the-scene reporter who was unaware that the right tires can make a front-wheel-drive car get through such conditions, regardless of its weight, but to issue such misleading statements is as ill-advised as it would be to ask me for an impromptu comment on the difference between an occluded front and that Alberta Clipper coming down from the northwest. Read more
Grand Caravan achieves objectives better than ever
Dodge Grand Caravan shows off latest refinements, with many more inside.
By John Gilbert
It’s time for minivans to rise up and claim their rightful place at the top of the family vehicle chain.
You’ve got to pity the poor minivan. Everybody who owns one appreciates it, to the point of wondering how their families could ever get along without it. But it is universally scorned, to the point of acting as though they’d never consider buying one, and even some of those who own them keep it hidden and only take it out when the kids need to haul a hockey or soccer team full of buddies to the next practice or game.
It wasn’t always that way. When the Dodge Caravan was at its peak, it seemed as though everybody had one and everybody who did loved to show them off. Essentially, minivans were the vehicles that drove station wagons to extinction. But after several decades of loyal, trustworthy, and efficient transportation, in all weather, minivans also led directly to the derision that might be called “Soccer mom syndrome.” Minivans didn’t seem all that macho, so men would always say they got the minivan for their wives, who had to haul kids to practices and games.
Meanwhile, sport utility vehicles became the vehicle that did to minivans what minivans had done to station wagons, and it although minivans kept selling, they almost had to be hidden over in the dark corner of the dealership, or left on the back lot, and delivered in a plain, brown wrapper. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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