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Base is pretty fancy at Infiniti |
BY ALAN VONDERHAAR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There's this to be said for having an "entry-level" model starting at $30,000: You don't have a lot of riffraff wandering into the showroom. That's the position Infiniti dealers find themselves in with the axing of the little G20, which had a sticker in the 20s.
Infiniti I30
| ZOOM |I still think most of the dealers, however, are as eager as I am to see a low-end luxury car roll up, especially with the retirement this year of the sleek, rear-drive J30. That leaves them with only two car offerings - the I30 and the Q45 - both, happily for the merchant class, standouts in their categories. They also have a Pathfinder-derivative sport-utility, the QX-4, a more debatable choice.
The I30 bears a strong familial resemblance to the parent company Nissan's Maxima, at least underneath the skin. The I30 has gotten a new front-end treatment this year and a bit of a fanny tuck, and is sufficiently differentiated in exterior appearance from the Maxima to justify its price premium in the minds of more open-handed buyers.
But in terms of the driving experience, it's closer than it ever has been, because the Maxima, like the Q45, has become more luxury-oriented and lost a little of its sporting edge. The plusher, softer feel suits the I30, where it's more likely to be expected than in the Maxima.
As with the Q45, there's a Touring series (I30t) for those who prefer a little more driver involvement. That's the one I checked out for this review.
The I30t has unique alloy wheels and hefty 215/55/16 tires, as well as beefy antiroll bars front and rear and a "sport-tuned" suspension. Don't be put off by that, or at least give it a try before you dismiss it out of hand. I wouldn't want the car any more compliant than it is with the touring setup, which I felt was a trivial price to pay in ride quality for the enhanced handling.
The I30 is palpably a couple of notches above the Max in its interior fitments, too, with sumptuously soft leather and a goodly amount of fake wood trim. The latter is dark and rather milky looking not too convincing. They should really use the real thing or none at all.
It comes so heavily outfitted that not even Infiniti's PR department could find any options to add. For a price of $32,500 for the Touring series, you get automatic transmission, climate control, wood and leather trim bits, power everything, including both driver's and co-pilot's seats, which are also heated, electrochromic rearview mirror, antilock, limited-slip differential, cruise, remote keyless entry, Homelink transmitter (a visor-mounted doodad that "learns" the codes and then subs for your handheld transmitters for things like gates and garage doors), alloy wheels, fog lamps, dual front and dual side airbags and a 200-watt, 6-six-speaker Bose stereo with AM/FM/cassette and CD player. There are of course also the requisite cupholders and a number of map pockets scattered about the car.
The tester's paint was something they call silver crystal, and it was the most lustrous finish I've seen in many moons.
Propulsion consists of a smooth V-6 displacing 3.0 liters, much like the one in Maxima. It makes 190 horses (at 5,600 rpm) and 205 foot-pounds of torque (at 4,000), so it's of a rather sporting nature, happier at 4,000 than 1,500. It still mated happily enough with the four-speed automatic, which shifted swiftly and almost unnoticeably, even when the throttle was wide open.
The touring series with automatic comes in around 3,200 pounds, so I was a little surprised at how easy it was to knock off sub-8-second 0-60 times without resorting to any of the drivetrain-punishing tricks less stewardly testers have been known to employ.
My surprise also came in part from the effortlessly quiet way in which the I30t accomplished that mission. Its only reaction to the heavy application of the whip was a slight squirm from the front, driving wheels, which quickly subsided as the tires bit the road. The I30 does not have a true traction control system, viz., one that uses wheel sensors to modulate the brakes and/or fuel delivery. Rather it employs a viscous, limited-slip differential gearset to keep one front wheel from getting too far ahead of the other.
The I30t does not beg to be treated like a sports car, i.e., it does not egg the driver on, as less dignified machines do, but showed itself plenty willing to go along with the fun if the driver so chose.
I could feel the touring suspension working as I rocketed down a tertiary road, but it was quiet as a butler and spared the occupants the considerable stresses that shocks and struts were undergoing.
At normal highway cruise velocity, the interior is muted, a rush of air the largest noise component, and with a relatively slippery 0.32 coefficient of drag, there's not a great deal of that.
Points are subtracted because although the shifter is floor-mounted, there is no readout for gear selection. An "overdrive off" light comes on when the switch on the shifter is pressed, which was an action I felt worth taking when just tooling around town. The overdrive is a fairly long-striding 0.69:1 ratio, so the 1:1 third gear ratio provided considerably more sense of engine braking.
The other instruments - the basic four plus two odometers - are highly legible, with a tilt wheel that tilts just enough to make sure they're visible, although it doesn't do much for the old pasta repository. New this year is an outside temperature readout, quite welcome here in a Midwest winter.
The I30t prefers premium fuel, although it will settle for regular if you are willing to settle for less performance. EPA ratings are 21 mpg city, 28 highway. My energetic style produced a tally of 24.3 on 91-octane unleaded premium.
The fuel filler door release and dimmer switch are side-by-side on the dash, behind the wheel - not the best arrangement. The moonroof isn't smart enough to know that if it's tilted and you push the slide button, it should untilt and then slide. You have to perform these as discrete operations.
The brakes are hefty discs, fore and aft, the fronts ventilated, rears solid. The antilock backup was as good as they come, pulsing so rapidly as to be unobtrusive and yet quite effective on wet pavement.
In a series of high-rate stops on dry surfaces, they showed a comforting degree of fade resistance.
Once ensconced, I had a sufficiency of both head- and legroom. In the back, it felt like a typical midsize - OK for two adults, claustrophobic for three. Interior volume is 99.6 cubic feet, and the trunk is 14.1, with a thigh-high liftover.
The Bose stereo was typical of the marque - exceptional in clarity and presence. Tuner sensitivity was about average, but fed a good signal, whether from a tuner or a CD, it really rocked. The power is more than adequate for anybody who doesn't wish to flirt with brain damage.
The I30 is made in Japan, apparently with loving care and attention to details of fit and finish.
The only thing "low-end" about this luxury ride is its size, which makes it more suitable for four adults than five. It feels like a bargain, though $30+ is a hefty outlay.
Alan Vonderhaar welcomes email at avonderhaar@enquirer.com and snail mail c/o The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202.
