Shane D

I did this same comparison last year with M35X vs GS300AWD. So, a little outdated Canadian perspective:
Infiniti is still pretty unknown among the luxury brands. Double edged sword here in that they will discount a lot more than Lexus (up here), but have NO cache or status. Nobody around here has any idea what it is, or what it is worth. Are you looking for stealth or status?
17 months ago, my car hunt came down to these two cars. Inifiniti won hands down due to: more headroom, more options, lower price, and way more power. Also, as an unknown they seem to try a lot harder.
Obviously on a GS board you will get an onslaught of Lexus love.

In my part of the world the GS was more money for less options/power (but some status), than the Infiniti. Also service and reliability has been excellent with M35X!

Good luck with the hunt.

LexFather

Thanks for posting your thoughts

noobs

These are two fairly different cars. There is more room and getter visibility in the M and the interiors are models of contrast. Almost everything about the M is firmer, which is not always bad. The seats are quite firm and so is the ride. It is definitely noisier.

Perhaps the biggest differences are driving dynamics. The GS is a balanced car for sport and luxury. Some people complain that it compromises too much on both ends trying to find the balance. The M has great road feel and driving dynamics, although not as good as the BMW 5 series. The more aggressive accelerator tip in and close gearing ratio make this a fun to drive free revving car. It also make it less fun in heavy traffic. The M feels faster, the GS is faster with the new 3.5L.

At the end of the day, I would have been very happy with either. I chose the GS even though it was bit more cramped, had a deader steering feel and was less sporty. I guess I wanted the balance.

Also the cooled seats work better in the M

Shawnmack

Go with the GS 350. I have drove both been a passenger in both. The GS 350 is way faster I guess with the extra gear or something and to me the GS handles as well.

twister

I briefly test drove '07s G35x and M35x last winter. G35x felt smaller inside and too sporty, felt like they were competing with IS350 and trying to make the ride/steering stiffer like BMW. I didn't test drive M35 sport, just AWD M35x and for some reason the ride felt floaty (AWD suspension probably softer?), and acceleration wasn't as fast. Maybe it was just my biased opinion since I already had my mind set on GS I'm happy with my choice, and since neighbor has M35x parked right next to my GS350, I get reminded every day how much better my car looks

dunnojack

yeah. i don't like the m35 styling so much. the rear lights are way too big and old looking, and the back door windows are too busy.

i do like the g35 though, although nissan did bite a big chunk from the GS styling.

llamaboiz

Ask this question in a Infinity forum and see of the posts there match the posts here

twister

@ llamaboiz: I did way back, and was daring enough to ask the question over at 6mt.net. To my surprise, people over there were more civilized and we ended up with "you comparing apples to oranges" type of argument.

@ dunnojack: I do remember your soft spot for G35, must of been hard taking it out of your sig?

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

I don't know about apples to oranges since both of these cars are in the same price range and category (sport luxury sedan) that I would think it makes perfect sense to compare the two.

Nauticalx

Yes....they are head on competitors. TKO goes to Lexus!

DaveJ

I never gave the M much consideration when I purchased my GS300 because:

I much preferred the GS's exterior styling over the M's, and still do.
I disliked the M's interior dash design and really liked the GS's.
For $50K, I want the car to have a prestige badge, such as Lexus, Mercedes or BMW. Infinity just doesn't cut it.
The GS leans more towards luxury in the luxury-sport equation, which is what I wanted.
Lexus is perceived to have excellent quality, superior to Infinity.
I've always had great customer service with Lexus dealerships. Although there's always a few bad dealers out there, some say the Infinity dealer's customer treatment lacks compared to Lexus' dealers.

But, there are glowing reports on the M and their owners seem to really like them. And I'm very disappointed with the many times my GS's been in for service for mostly interior noises but are resolved now.

If I were shopping for a new car in this class, I would give the M a better look this time.

noobs

6mt is a G forum. The M and GS are direct competitors. Comparing the GS to the G is a bit apples and oranges. The G costs much less and is a different. Had a 2007 G35x as a loaner car for a day. It has even a more aggressive throttle tip in than the M. It really easy to buzz the engine and it handles very well. However the interior materials are no match to the GS or M and it's smaller. It's a really fun car to drive, but it no where near the luxury of the GS or the M for that matter. Bit like comparing the 3 series to the 5. Both good cars, but different.

It would more interesting to ask the question on fresh alloy in the M forum.

twister

Correct, forgot to mention 6mt is G3x forum When I was faced with ES350 buyback and had to choose a new car in November of last year, I first looked at G35 sedan since '06 model was more of a comparison to ES, while I realised later that '07 G35 was redesigned to compete more with IS350 in terms of performance/handling. So, in there an argument for G35 vs GS350 was apples and oranges. Regarding M35, unfortunately I never had a chance to compare M35 vs M35x and test drove only AWD "x" since its all they have here on East Coast (the same with GS350 RWD which you have to special order). Like I said before, my short test drive of M35x felt floaty and kind of disconnected from the road in comparison to GS350.

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

Didn't know that's a G forum, my apologies.

You felt the M35x was disconnected from the road compared to GS350? RWD or AWD?

twister

Compared to my GS350AWD. I mean, this is just relative to how I felt comparing apples to apples in this case between AWD M35 and AWD G350.

BTW, a little off-topic, but I don't think either M35x or even our other neighbor's 328xi have as big gap above the wheel as GS350AWD. That is probably the only major thing I'm not too happy with, and I don't want to lower my car.