Two years removed from its last major restyle, Infiniti has upped the ante on its G sedans once again. The 2009 edition of Infiniti’s near luxury midsize now packs a new powertrain. Known as the G37, the new models are equipped with a 3.7-liter V6 making 328 horsepower and 269 lb. ft. of torque. That’s 22 more horsepower than the motor it succeeds, and it’s also plus two in the gear department. The standard automatic transmission now boasts seven speeds.
The autobox has a sport mode, downshift rev matching, and you can click through the cogs via steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. However, if those manumatic modes aren’t enough to satisfy you, Infiniti also offers the purists a six-speed manual gearbox, in the G37S Sport 6MT model. The Sport is one of four trim levels for G37 sedan, which also include the base G37, G37 Journey, and the G37x AWD. Prices for Infiniti’s G series sedans start at $33,250. Our test car was a G37x All Wheel Drive sedan, with an MSRP of $35,750, and a delivered price of $42,985.
The 3.7-liter six is comfortably powerful, though the motor’s 328-hp rating sounds higher than it feels under foot. The seven-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly and effectively widens the engine’s power band. The fleetest of the G37s is likely the Sport model with six-speed stick. Published reports have pegged that car at 5.2 seconds for the run from 0-60 mph. The EPA estimates fuel economy for the All Wheel Drive G37x at 18 city, 25 highway. In a week of driving that ran more country than city, we averaged 20 miles per gallon overall.
Author: Dan Lyons
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