YOKOHAMA, Japan – In honor of INFINITI's 35th anniversary, today we look back on the G coupe, sharing lesser-known details about the luxury performance coupe.
Shaped by a master driver
Master driver Hiroyoshi Kato joined Nissan Motor Corporation in 1976 and has spent time behind the wheel of almost every Nissan and INFINITI vehicle produced in the decades since.
Kato's master touch, and the input from his team, was a key to the engaging drive experience the INFINITI G35 delivered. He recalls his first experience in the G35 during its early development phase.
Platform drew learnings from Nissan's racing program
The G35 coupe was underpinned by a platform that drew on learnings from the racetrack – particularly, Nissan's LeMans and Group C racing programs. Known as the 'Front Midship' or 'FM' Platform, it positioned the compact 3.5-liter DOHC 24-valve V6 engine, just behind the front axle, for optimal front-to-rear weight balance and allowed INFINITI's designers to push the wheels out to the car's corners.
The result was a 52:48 front/rear weight distribution, which aided handling and stability. Rather than targeting a 50:50 distribution, the engineering team sort to have slightly more weight over the front tires.
Nimble handling paired with explosive response
Kato reveals that INFINITI benchmarked the BMW 3 series during the development of the G35, confirming examples of both U.S. and Japan-spec BMW 3 series were imported and put through their paces at company's Tochigi proving ground.
Rather than going head-to-head with the driving feel offered by competitors, INFINITI engineers knew they needed the G coupe to deliver a distinctly unique and rewarding feel.
Kato recalls INFINITI engineers set a target of delivering "nimble handling and with explosive response," noting that they aimed to "create a wow feeling for drivers".
A key to this, was ensuring quick and direct steering response and impressive line-traceability – paired with less linear and more aggressive acceleration. As the launch timing approach, even within the team, there was some nervousness as to whether the steering feel was "a little too aggressive" or "too direct for the tastes of luxury coupe buyers" – however any concerns were allayed when they saw customer and media reactions.
Thousands of miles spent honing an engaging drive
The G35 Coupe was assembled in the company's production facility in Tochigi, Japan. Adjacent to the plant, is Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s Tochigi proving ground, which opened in 1973, just three years prior to Kato's arrival in the company. A little over 6.5km's (approximately 4 miles) in length, it features terrain and conditions that replicate the roads of a variety of regions around the globe.
During the peak of the G35 development, Kato recalls clocking up an average of one hundred laps at the track each day. In any given week, this meant he was driving approximately 3,250km's (2,000 miles) or more, in either the G35 development vehicle, or a competitor evaluation product – at speeds up to 200km/hr on the high-speed circuit. To put this in distance in perspective, its roughly three times the length of Japan's main Island, Honshu.
A challenging and rewarding addition
Later in its lifecycle, the INFINITI G35 introduced a rear active steer system. Kato recalls the complexity of tuning the technology, which relied on less-advanced electronic control devices, than are readily available today.
The system enhanced the vehicle's handling performance by adjusting the rear suspension geometry according to steering input and vehicle speed. It used an electronic control unit to calculate the desired vehicle dynamics, based on vehicle speed and steering angle sensors, with a control motor adjusting the rear geometry accordingly.
Kato recalls the substantial effort that went towards "ensuring the system felt natural and aided driver control and engagement, rather than taking anything away from the driver". For Kato, the biggest challenge was to retain the "nimble feeling beyond the computer calculation– ensuring human feedback was central to the development equation".
INFINITI 35th Anniversary
That concludes our look back on the models that helped establish INFINITI, told through the words of those that were there. INFINITI's official 35th anniversary falls on November 8th, 2024, marking three and half decades of challenging the conventions of automotive luxury.
INFINITI's brand values have remained untouched since 1989. Three simple words that permeate the organization, the way we do business, the way we treat each other and way we prioritize our clients: Human, Daring, forward. The daring legacy of INFINITI's earliest models, lives on as we commence our product renaissance, beginning with the all-new INFINITI QX80.
To find out more about INFINITI's latest products and technologies see www.global.infinitinews.com.
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