The Primera was a very competitive car in its day it was considered the best handling front wheel drive car in the world, in England and Germany it dominated its class which included the E30 / E36 and the then new C class.
The Altima which came out 92/93 didn't help the G20 the KA24 engine was better suited to the automatic transmission whereas the G20's SR20 really needed a manual transmission to be a driver's car. But I can see why many people chose the Integra now Acura is the MDX, Lexus the RX. Lincoln and Infiniti are largely irrelevant.
In the early years infinitis sold at a deep discount off MSRP you could buy a 92 with leather, sunroof, manual for 17k plus taxes and license. The J30's were also heavily discounted.
The best car from Infiniti. The one that came out for 2002 was subjectively the best looking and has aged gracefully. Can recall back when everyone wanted a G35 coupe. Don’t know what’s the deal with Infiniti now. Seems as though they just given up. The Q50, while having adequate power, is an outdated joke that simply can’t compete. And it’s now supposed to be their ‘flagship’ sedan. Instead of focusing on obese SUVs, they need to dedicate some attention to their sedan. Great chatter!
If Mazda went ahead with their luxury brand, it would’ve outsold Infiniti and probably been on par with contemporary Acura. Infiniti shot itself in the foot by dropping the M and allowing the G/Q50 to become embarrassingly outdated. Shame what it’s once best selling model has devolved into. Out of all luxury/sporty midsize sedans, I now place Infiniti’s offering last.
Yeah its sad...I have a soft spot for Nissan...But they have made some questionable decisions! Mazda is attempting to position themselves as a Acura like player as opposed to mainstream.
Mazda is a niche player they always made the wrong decisions like doubling down on the wankel, then the miller cycle engines. In areas with snow Mazdas rust to nothing, in areas with heat their dashboards crack, shrink, curl and peel. Their cd4e transmissions were almost as unreliable as a cvt. No, just no to Mazda
@earlscheib7754 That was a Ford transmission some Mazdas used due to Ford owning a portion of them then. I heard rust on older Mazda up North was a thing. The dash thing was mainly on Mazda 3s and they had a warranty extention to get them replaced Other brands had dash issues too like Toyota and Nissan. The rotaries were Ok untill the 90s when the twin turbo one became overly complicated and the Renesis one in the RX8 was junk.
The G20 was a misstep, in my opinion. Nissan had to decide whether to follow Honda's approach of a Civic-based entry-level car, or Toyota's approach to not offer something that small for an entry-level product. Infiniti chose to offer a luxed-up economy car. Lexus got it right, in my opinion. Nobody would have bought a luxed-up Lexus economy car.
Yeah it was expensive for what it was. Nissan was pulling cars they were selling overseas already,slapping a Infiniti badge on them, and calling it a day. The G35 was their first serious player.
@doug6191 The ES250 was more a fancy Camry LOL. The Premira would have been Nissans Camry of sorts for the European market as opposed to a mere Sunny (Sentra).
Infiniti missed the mark from the start and will never recover from that. The monied people respect Acura and Lexus, but most are not impressed by other Japanese cars. Infiniti might be OK for your children, but you find relatively few at the country club. Those who are a "step up" in society have European cars and above them one of the "exotics", though they may have a Lexus or Acura as a daily-driver. What these people seek isn't top performance levels, but instead seek styling and status symbols along with enhanced performance. Infiniti never quite reached that balance and will have to create something exceptional to catch up. Nissan has often had a somewhat funky style, something akin to Virgil Exener's late Chrysler designs, and that limited their mass appeal in those cars. Honda rarely missed the mark on styling and performance, while Toyota's advanced manufacturing approach gives them that edge on everyone else. The upper-end market does not want a 'commoner's car", but instead want some exclusivity to set them apart. Price alone isn't enough; social peer respect matters more and Infiniti never quite earned that. IMHO none of these cars are worth their price, as common car models now have almost all of what they offer, and it's only market manipulation and perceived status that gives them "extra value". Yes, your car choice says something about you, but Infiniti doesn't quite say the right things.
Yeah..The G35 and G37 was the closest Infiniti got to being a legitimate player, as they were nice and offered alot for the money (at the time) With crossovers and SUVs continuing to get popular, the G and later Q50 became more of a niche market. Infiniti really did stumble out of the gate. A expensive ad campaign that didn't even show a car in it and a nice flagship offering paired with a car than looked more 1985 than 1990.
@@jermainec2462 thats why now they sell front wheel drive based crossovers and beefed up batches and most stupid Americans buy that rebadged Nissan crap ... Infiniti used to be one of a kind, great reliable,.sporty vehicles ... I bet the fx series looks much better and drives much better than any crappy fwd crossover these days ..
I hope Infiniti can make a comeback, they've been losing and struggling at least since 2015, I hope Infiniti doesn't disappear.
Me too. They really need to update their lineup more often. The Q50 is a decade old now as a example.
My fave is the m30 coupe. Rare and beautiful.
They are rare, but I did see a nice convertible one recently.
The Primera was a very competitive car in its day it was considered the best handling front wheel drive car in the world, in England and Germany it dominated its class which included the E30 / E36 and the then new C class.
It was nice. Over here the Integra was just perceived as a better value.
The Altima which came out 92/93 didn't help the G20 the KA24 engine was better suited to the automatic transmission whereas the G20's SR20 really needed a manual transmission to be a driver's car.
But I can see why many people chose the Integra now Acura is the MDX, Lexus the RX. Lincoln and Infiniti are largely irrelevant.
@earlscheib7754 The SR20 was definately better with the manual.
In the early years infinitis sold at a deep discount off MSRP you could buy a 92 with leather, sunroof, manual for 17k plus taxes and license. The J30's were also heavily discounted.
Nissan had some big rebates in the 90s too.
Nice video on the Infiniti G.
Noticed the new editing style too.
Thanks..New computer..New editing software...Like the new one, but still tweaking audio!
The best car from Infiniti. The one that came out for 2002 was subjectively the best looking and has aged gracefully. Can recall back when everyone wanted a G35 coupe. Don’t know what’s the deal with Infiniti now. Seems as though they just given up. The Q50, while having adequate power, is an outdated joke that simply can’t compete. And it’s now supposed to be their ‘flagship’ sedan. Instead of focusing on obese SUVs, they need to dedicate some attention to their sedan.
Great chatter!
Thanks Rob! Guess time will tell Infinitis fate.
If Mazda went ahead with their luxury brand, it would’ve outsold Infiniti and probably been on par with contemporary Acura. Infiniti shot itself in the foot by dropping the M and allowing the G/Q50 to become embarrassingly outdated. Shame what it’s once best selling model has devolved into. Out of all luxury/sporty midsize sedans, I now place Infiniti’s offering last.
Yeah its sad...I have a soft spot for Nissan...But they have made some questionable decisions! Mazda is attempting to position themselves as a Acura like player as opposed to mainstream.
Mazda is a niche player they always made the wrong decisions like doubling down on the wankel, then the miller cycle engines. In areas with snow Mazdas rust to nothing, in areas with heat their dashboards crack, shrink, curl and peel. Their cd4e transmissions were almost as unreliable as a cvt. No, just no to Mazda
@earlscheib7754 That was a Ford transmission some Mazdas used due to Ford owning a portion of them then. I heard rust on older Mazda up North was a thing. The dash thing was mainly on Mazda 3s and they had a warranty extention to get them replaced Other brands had dash issues too like Toyota and Nissan. The rotaries were Ok untill the 90s when the twin turbo one became overly complicated and the Renesis one in the RX8 was junk.
The G20 was a misstep, in my opinion. Nissan had to decide whether to follow Honda's approach of a Civic-based entry-level car, or Toyota's approach to not offer something that small for an entry-level product. Infiniti chose to offer a luxed-up economy car. Lexus got it right, in my opinion. Nobody would have bought a luxed-up Lexus economy car.
Yeah it was expensive for what it was. Nissan was pulling cars they were selling overseas already,slapping a Infiniti badge on them, and calling it a day. The G35 was their first serious player.
Did you forget about the ES250? (although you're right, nobody bought it)
@timothyhh The ES250 wasn't a fancy Corolla, though. The G20 was a Primera, a relative of Sentra.
@doug6191 The ES250 was more a fancy Camry LOL. The Premira would have been Nissans Camry of sorts for the European market as opposed to a mere Sunny (Sentra).
talk about VINFAST and INEOS grenadier cars
Infiniti missed the mark from the start and will never recover from that. The monied people respect Acura and Lexus, but most are not impressed by other Japanese cars. Infiniti might be OK for your children, but you find relatively few at the country club. Those who are a "step up" in society have European cars and above them one of the "exotics", though they may have a Lexus or Acura as a daily-driver. What these people seek isn't top performance levels, but instead seek styling and status symbols along with enhanced performance. Infiniti never quite reached that balance and will have to create something exceptional to catch up.
Nissan has often had a somewhat funky style, something akin to Virgil Exener's late Chrysler designs, and that limited their mass appeal in those cars. Honda rarely missed the mark on styling and performance, while Toyota's advanced manufacturing approach gives them that edge on everyone else. The upper-end market does not want a 'commoner's car", but instead want some exclusivity to set them apart. Price alone isn't enough; social peer respect matters more and Infiniti never quite earned that. IMHO none of these cars are worth their price, as common car models now have almost all of what they offer, and it's only market manipulation and perceived status that gives them "extra value". Yes, your car choice says something about you, but Infiniti doesn't quite say the right things.
Yeah..The G35 and G37 was the closest Infiniti got to being a legitimate player, as they were nice and offered alot for the money (at the time) With crossovers and SUVs continuing to get popular, the G and later Q50 became more of a niche market. Infiniti really did stumble out of the gate. A expensive ad campaign that didn't even show a car in it and a nice flagship offering paired with a car than looked more 1985 than 1990.
talk about Chinese cars manufacturers international expansion
That's somthing I could look into...
The moment they ditched manual ... Many purists said good bye ...
Agreed.
nobody was buying enough of them for infiniti to keep making them ...
@@jermainec2462 thats why now they sell front wheel drive based crossovers and beefed up batches and most stupid Americans buy that rebadged Nissan crap ...
Infiniti used to be one of a kind, great reliable,.sporty vehicles ...
I bet the fx series looks much better and drives much better than any crappy fwd crossover these days ..
@jermainec2462 The crossover wave had a adverse effect for sure.