ImpressionsThe car looked good in white with a nice pearlescent look to it. It wore the factory forged Nissan wheels which suited the car well in my opinion.InteriorSeats were soft and supportive, the bolsters were quite nice and went up to the shoulders. The clutch pedal changed the sound of the idle when pushed, and in general felt a bit weird. Had a sort of squishy feel with different weighting throughout the actuation. The shifter was pretty bad in my opinion. It was sloppy and vague, and even when stationary left me guessing what gear I was in. The steering wheel was thinner than my 130i (maybe that’s a given, BMW are notorious for fat steering wheels). The interior trim was okay-ish, though the buttons still felt plasticky and not even on par with basic Volkswagens in my opinion. For a coupe I couldn’t get the seat to get low enough, so it felt like I sat above the car more than I’d like. The rear seats had enough legroom for me, but my long torso meant my head was angled against the rear windshield. I noticed the doors were massive, thick heavy bastards.The DriveI remarked that the clutch felt much different to my car, and he’d said that I’d need to get used to it.Since the battery still wasn’t fully charged the salesperson half-jokingly said it’d be fine as long as I didn’t stall. We nervously laughed; “no pressure”. That resulted in me riding the clutch out a bit as we left the parking lot. Compared to my BMW the throttle was much more sensitive, but it still had a dead-region at the top of the travel. Once we got up to the first traffic light I was a bit alarmed to find out the brake pedal was incredibly mushy. I’d imagine it would be hard to heel-toe in this car because even in normal light braking my foot needed to plant the brake pedal much further than the level of the accelerator. The brake-feel didn’t give me much confidence at all.Using the gear shifter continued to feel strange. I now knew it was vague, but when I went to shift there was a surprising amount of vibration and “feedback” in the shifter. Now I’m not sure whether people like “feedback” from a shifter but to me it was disconcerting. The car was completely stock and very quiet, which made rev matching a little hard even with the windows down.The car felt very softly sprung, after a while I realised how little I felt in the way of potholes and road imperfections. Going around corners wasn’t the most connected experience, I could feel the weight of the car. I didn’t get to push the car much but from what I could tell it would make a great relaxed cruiser.Visibility seemed alright, probably owing to the relatively high seating position. Rear visibility was slightly limited, compared to a hatchback I kind of expected this, but when I looked over my right shoulder (in a RHD car) my eyes fell on nothing but B-pillar. Looking out to the left was better though, since I could see though the little quarter window.Once we’d gotten to a straight bit of road he gave me permission to let the car loose a bit. I drove the car up in second gear, and was met with a rough cacophony, like an old Ford taxi or something. Instead of feeling like a gradual build of excitement the noise it made gave me the impression that I should upshift just to stop the pain, it felt like it was hurting the car. The salesperson said that you couldn’t hear the exhaust note which contributed to the lack of tonality, but even the engine sounded ragged. I absolutely know for a fact that these VQ motors can sound heavenly, but in stock guise I can’t even hear the resemblance. The acceleration of the car was best described as “fine”. Compared to my 130i the engine has a bit more power but quite a bunch more torque, but honestly it didn’t feel that urgent or fast. I should probably have tempered my expectations but it didn’t feel much different to my car in terms of speed. Perhaps the gearing is longer, I’m not sure. We turned the car around at the next junction and headed back, doing the same acceleration run in the opposite direction. I tried revving the engine out more this time, but my impression hadn’t changed.ConclusionYou know how sometimes a person begins to look more physically attractive because you realised they have a great personality? When I got out of this car I just didn’t see the appeal anymore. In the US the car would be considered an Infiniti, as if it were some kind of step up from a standard Japanese car. To me though it still felt like just another Japanese car, and I don’t mean from the golden age of the 90s. I was hoping for tactility and character but unfortunately I didn’t find it. I’m sure this car would suit somebody looking for an effortless and comfortable cruiser, but at that point I’d just go for the automatic.Back into my CarHopping back into my car I felt the clutch pedal had a far smoother clutch action, with its biting point closer to the floor. The brakes were immediate, and the throttle was less touchy. The sound of the N52 motor feels much smoother and sounds sweeter to me. I’ve been making a concerted effort to find a direct replacement for my car, but I’m just drawing blanks. I guess the best result of an impulsive test drive is to prefer your current car anyway. via /r/cars http://ift.tt/2shzlRz
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