To Infiniti And Beyond, Or Not
Generally speaking, we prefer coupes over sedans because we live lonely lives in a constant search for sexual companionship and don't have families to lug around. Therefore, all other things being equal (and they never, ever are), we prefer Infiniti's upcoming G35 coupe to the G35 sedan that's already on sale. The two-door goes on sale this fall.
Though it's missing two doors, the rear-drive coupe sits on the same 112.2-in. wheelbase as the sedan. But the coupe is 3-in. lower than the sedan and 4.3-inch shorter in length. In the nose sits the increasingly ubiquitous Nissan dohc, 24-valve 3.5-liter V6, in this case rated at 275 hp (15 hp more than in the sedan). The engine itself is pushed far back in the wheelbase to produce a "front mid-ship" layout and a 52/48 weight distribution. To no one's surprise, the suspension is mostly carried over from the sedan, with multi-link systems front and back and with four-wheel, ABS-equipped disc brakes.
Infiniti showed its new G35 two-door Sport Coupe, which looks spookily like a new Nissan Z-Car, at March's New York Auto Show. But while the rear-drive G35 coupe shares much with the Z-Car, the Infiniti is a 2+2 while the 350Z is a pure two-seater. But they're close-real close-in appearance. The G35 Coupe is offered in two models. The luxury version comes wearing P225/50VR17s up front and P235/50VR17s in the back. Front P225/45WR18 and rear P245/45WR18 tires on the appropriate wheels are available on the sport version. A Brembo oversized brake package will also be an available option on the sport.
With its squat, almost mean, appearance (at 71.5 in., the Sport Coupe is 2.6-in. wider than the sedan), knife-edged Xenon headlights and LED taillights, the G35 coupe looks an awful lot like the soon-to-appear Nissan 350Z.
The most interesting thing about the G35 Sport Coupe is that the G35 is the Skyline in Japan. And the Skyline is, obviously, the base for that high-testosterone totem of performance, the GT-R. Imagine the G35 Sport Coupe with wider wheels and tires, some wings, an all-wheel drive system and two turbos wheezing into the V-6 and you might have the next GT-R. Or you might not. But if that's what the next GT-R is, we'd better get one in this country.
Mazda Joins The Turbo Revolution
Except for the Porsche Turbo engine, exhaust-driven turbochargers seemed to have virtually disappeared from production cars a couple of years ago. Now, thanks in no small part to the popularity of turbos among high-performance zombies like you, they're showing up on everything except maybe NORAD's early-warning radar. The latest hatchling from the turbo incubator is the Mazdaspeed Proteg, which will go on sale at Mazda dealers in the fourth quarter of this year with production limited to just 2,000 units during the 2003 model year.
To produce the Mazdaspeed Proteg,
Mazda's high-performance parts division called upon Callaway Cars (which has built turbocharged Corvettes and Range Rovers over the years) to engineer the conversion. Callaway bolts a Garrett T25 turbocharger to the regular Proteg's already sweet-natured 2.0-liter four, plumbs it though an air-to-air intercooler and makes use of it with a Tochigi Fuji Sangyo KK Super limited-slip differential and 24mm half-shafts (2mm larger in diameter than stock). The standard five-speed manual transmission remains in place, backed by a heavy-duty clutch. With a projected 170 hp available, this car ought to run about even with cars like the Ford SVT Focus and Honda Civic Si (but still get spanked by such turbo whooshers as the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Evo VII).
To announce the extra power aboard, the Mazdaspeed Proteg will get the expected styling twizzlers (oversize front air dam, rear spoiler, some lights), and a slightly lowered ride height over Racing Hart 17-in. five-spoke wheels, wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza RE040 P215/45ZR17 unidirectional tires. In fact, Racing Beat was responsible for whacking on the suspension, and it's conjured up specific front MacPherson struts, a strut tower brace, higher-rate coil springs, re-valved Tokico dampers, and a larger stabilizer bar bracket and bushings. The rear suspension gets Racing Beat-tuned independent struts with "Twin Trapezoidal Links," revised coil springs and a larger stabilizer bar. The brakes are larger Euro-spec units.
Following in the ear-shattering tradition of the Proteg MP3 (which it replaces in the Mazda line) the Mazdasport Proteg gets a 450-watt Kenwood audio system, with six speakers and, naturally, the ability to play MP3-encoded CD-R/RWs. The interior is further blessed with Sparco seats with "suede-like" (as opposed to real suede) side bolsters, a Sparco shift knob, a Nardi steering wheel and silver faced gauges.
When the Mazdaspeed Proteg shows up in our hands, we'll put it in these pages to continue our tradition of delivering the very finest automotive ass-on-the-shitter reading.