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Looking for the Perfect Summer Ride?

Published Friday, 13 April, 2012 by Blog Admin. Categories: New Inventory.


When the weather begins to get warmer it's time to get that perfect luxury car for the summer.  If you can't decide which one to choose let us help.  Look no further than the Infiniti G37 convertible!

 

The Infiniti G37 has a base price of $46,650.  And, the new Infiniti G37 is one of the most well-equipped luxury vehicles for the money.  Its 3.7 liter six cylinder engine generates 325 ponies and will take you from zero to sixty in 5.4 seconds.

 

The interior of the G37 is elegant and simple.  The luxurious leather seats…

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Infiniti’s New Model - The JX

Published Wednesday, 14 September, 2011 by Blog Admin. Categories: New Inventory.


Although the Infiniti EX and Infiniti FX crossovers, along with the powerful Infiniti QX 7-seater SUV have all been popular models for Infiniti a new model is on the horizon. Early predictions state that it will take over for the SUV segment.  It's called the JX concept.

 

The JX will be available at Infiniti of Manhattan in New York, NY soon and will be powered by a V6 engine ranging from 3.5 to 3.7 liters. To help fuel economy, JX will also receive a continuously variable transmission, also known as CVT.

 

There will be state of the…

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Inspired Performance with Sebastian Vettel

Published Wednesday, 06 July, 2011 by Morgan Buonaiuto. Categories: New Inventory, Community Events, News.

The World Champion and Infiniti Global Brand Ambassador looks ahead to Red Bull Racing's home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

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Infiniti Announces the 3-Row JX

Published Tuesday, 10 May, 2011 by Blog Admin. Categories: New Inventory.


The updated Infiniti EX was shown off recently at the New York Auto Show. Also announced was a 3-row sibling to the best-selling car, named the Infiniti JX.

 

The Infiniti JX is scheduled to be released in 2013 and will be a large crossover below the full-size Infiniti QX. It will contain three rows of seats with room for seven passengers. Inside, JX will debut Infiniti's next generation of telematics and "infotainment technology."

 

The vehicle's design language featured prominently on the Infiniti Essence concept should be stretched to SUV size for the JX.

 

Infiniti JX concept will debut…

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2012 Infiniti M35 Hybrid

Published Friday, 29 April, 2011 by Morgan Buonaiuto. Categories: New Inventory, Green, News.

Seven minutes. That's all the time we've been allotted behind the wheel of the 2012 Infiniti M35 Hybrid at Nissan's Oppama proving ground just outside of Yokosuka City, Japan. The near-production spec car we've come all this way to spend a paltry 420 seconds driving is a hugely significant vehicle for Nissan's luxury arm, as it's the manifestation of some six years of development, millions of testing miles, and billions of yen invested.

The M35 Hybrid is Infiniti's first vehicle powered by Nissan's all-new, in-house-designed, full parallel hybrid powertrain, which comprises a 3.5-liter V-6 engine working in conjunction with a single electric motor and two clutches. Nissan will initially launch the new system in its Japan-market Fuga sedan this fall. We'll get it next spring at a price set somewhere between the M37x all-wheel drive ($49,275) and base M56 ($58,425), which is in the neighborhood of its main bogey -- the Lexus GS 450h ($58,325). Not surprisingly, it will also be Infiniti's cleanest ride ever.

At the press event, a Nissan engineer outlined the M Hybrid's secret sauce: a gas engine/electric motor combo with twin clutches -- one dry, one wet. The former finds a home between the 3.5-liter Atkinson-cycle combustion engine (good for 302 horsepower) and the lithium-ion-battery-powered electric motor (67 horsepower). The dry clutch sits last on the same propshaft as the motor and seven-speed automatic transmission, and is always engaged. Basically, the lineup goes, from front to rear: gas engine, dry clutch, electric motor, transmission, wet clutch (see diagram below).

As with all hybrids, the idea is to rely on electric power as often as possible; Nissan's technique employs the twin clutches to decouple the gas engine from the transmission, which shuts off the engine completely. This approach nixes the need for a torque converter and allows for the direct application of power to the rear wheels (the only drive layout) -- further aiding throttle response and acceleration. Nissan claims there is no mechanical drag when the engine is shut down, so the whole package remains efficient and clean. A specially calibrated ECU orchestrates system reactivity and fluidity, and regulates engine idle to reduce fuel consumption.

There are four drive modes continuously transitioning during operation, depending on speed and driving behavior:

Scenario 1: Combustion Engine Off, Electric Motor On -- gradual acceleration, low-speed urban driving. First clutch disengaged, engine shut off, second clutch engaged. Motor drives rear wheels and uses power from the lithium-ion battery pack.

Scenario 2: Engine On, Motor Off -- mid to high speeds. Both clutches engaged. The engine powers the wheels, while the wheel motion and motor help the recharge the batteries. The gearbox's high final gear ratio also aids efficiency.

Scenario 3: Engine Off, Motor Off -- deceleration or coasting. First clutch disengaged, engine shut off, second clutch engaged. Vehicle inertia (i.e. regenerative braking) recharges the batteries.

Scenario 4: Engine On, Motor On -- full acceleration. Both clutches engaged, while engine and motor power wheels. Batteries are discharged.

About those batteries: a lithium-ion battery pack generating 1.3 kWh is located under the trunk's floorboard (which of course compromises cargo space). The setup is structurally similar to that of the the upcoming Nissan Leaf, but is tuned specifically for fast charge/discharge properties versus all-out range. Lamination bumps up cooling efficiency, while the use of manganese positive electrodes stabilizes temperature.

Nissan says its setup is more efficient than Toyota's two-motor Hybrid Synergy Drive (like the one used in the Nissan Altima Hybrid and Toyota Prius), but no exact details were given since final fuel consumption and CO2 output have not been determined yet.

Our hosts did say this hybrid powertrain is approximately 66 pounds lighter than Toyota's system, less complex and cheaper to produce. Overall, the system adds 264 pounds to a rear-wheel-drive M37's curb weight (for a claimed total of under 4150 pounds). Furthermore, the production M35 Hybrid is expected to achieve Versa-like fuel-economy ratings (roughly 24 mpg city/32 mpg highway), while providing enough sportiness to consumers looking for an entertaining ride (0-to-60 mph in an estimated 6.1 seconds). For reference, a rear-wheel-drive M37 is rated at 18 mpg city/26 mpg highway and hits 60 mph in 5.3 seconds. But how does this hybrid drive?

Lean into the throttle and acceleration is immediate and smooth; it gently jostles you back into the supportive throne. While the hybrid doesn't feel as quick as the M37 and certainly not as brisk as the 4.6-second-to-60 M56, don't throw this hybrid into the pile of boring gas-electric road machines just yet.

While cruising slowly, the hybrid system, with the gas engine on and the electric motor off, operates in near silence, the only in-cabin noise coming from the air conditioner. With the throttle applied lightly, the M35 Hybrid can operate under electric power at speeds up to 62 mph (for how long and at what point the engine will kick in wasn't revealed by Nissan engineers), which compares favorably to the Prius Plug-in Hybrid EV we've had at the office. Adding to its impressiveness is the seamless way the engine switches on and off when accelerating and decelerating.

"Stay in left lane and notice the hybrid system," an engineer tells me. "Feel the brakes? Very nice, yes?" Indeed, they are. Brake feel is brilliant. Key to this is what Nissan labels the Electric Driven Intelligent Brake system. Instead of a booster, the setup uses a high-friction motor and ECU to apply synthetic brake force to the pedal while controlling regenerative braking operations. The result is a progressive and firm pedal.

The M Hybrid also employs a new electro-hydraulic power steering system -- another fuel-saving, world's-first technology. Power assist comes from hydraulic pressure and is controlled by an ECU and motor drive that operate only when steering assist is called for. As we felt during our short flogging, the helm proved smooth, weighty, and precise.

More often than not during the extremely quick test, the M35 Hybrid's engine was off and decoupled as a result of us being off throttle, or in some corners, traveling at low speeds. It's not always a good sign to see the tachometer needle pinned at zero while rolling fast, but this time, it's fine by us (the hybrid coasts on electric power and can regenerate juice at any speed if needed). When you do crave that extra grunt, the sleeping gas engine under your right foot is ready to awake in an instant. Further, the hybrid doesn't lack for sportiness -- hit a corner aggressively and it feels much like a sport package-equipped M37, plowing mildly but remaining tractable and collected.

Climb inside, and plush leather awaits, covering nearly all visible panels as it does in other M iterations. A revised blue-hued instrument cluster shows battery charging levels, while the center LCD clearly indicates which systems are driving the wheels.

When asked about a possible plug-in option, engineers on hand simply smiled politely and remained tight lipped. We wouldn't be shocked if the team in Oppama is indeed developing a similar setup, especially given the soon-to-arrive Chevrolet Volt and Toyota's Prius plug-in.

So while Infiniti may be fashionably late to the luxury hybrid party, this technology-stuffed, sporty hybrid sedan certainly looks as though it will be a green machine worth keeping on the guest list. Our notion of the hybrid/luxury segment has definitely been adjusted -- and it only took seven minutes.

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