RON430

You know, this is a great point. Reducing lap times on that billiard table of a track, the Nurburgring, by stiffening up spring rates, bushings, bars, and using stiffer sidewall tires is something that any moron, high school student, or aftermarket tuner could do. Getting balance between ride and handling is something that takes some intelligence if not a bank of supercomputers. And this is precisely what Lexus should be doing. I do not want a race car for the street. But that awful "freeway float" that has defined a few generations of Lexus, is also not what I want. And Lexus is not alone in stiffening up suspensions. Most all of the brands we regularly talk about have done that including BMW. Some of it may be simply the side effect of the great rush for those cool looking and hard riding low profile tires. The silky balance that BMW once had between ride and handling is long gone. I won't rant again about run flats but I had that just demonstrated by a friend when he entirely changed the dynamic of his 7 by replacing the run flats - so much for this generation of run flats giving a better ride.

Then again, it is sure easier for BMW (or MB or Audi) to get a better lap time on the ring than build a long term reliable car with minimal maintenance requirement. But in the recent comparos on Toyotas, some very unToyota like squeaks and rattles are becoming more prominent. I think it was the C&D review that placed the Camry well down in a recent comparo that noticed build quality issues and raised the point that if Toyota loses their build quality, what have they got? As for whether Infiniti is worrying BMW on purpose or accident, we will find out in the next few models from Infiniti.

S8B

Correction:

The G35/M35/M45/FX35/FX45 are all built off the FM Platform.

There's no such thing as a "350Z Platform"

(I know what you intended to say though; They share the same platform, as the 350z is also in the FM Platform)

.

mavericck

I agree it's about being able to find the perfect combination of sportiness and comfort. This is something air suspensions and magnetic shock absorbers are very good at helping a suspension engineer achieve. I also agree with your opinion of run-flat tires....horrible idea. I'm so thankful Audi and Porsche decided against using them. I'm also thankful they're not on my LS as well.

I however disagree with your statements about the Nurburgring. You see a car MUST be dependable to be able to survive development and testing on the Nurburgring. This is what makes their cars so solid and reliable (mechanically and as far as I am concerned, in every other aspect as well), because they must be able to endure the torture testing that takes place on the Nurburgring which is far more demanding than just being designed for a normal jaunt to the grocery store. Why do you think Lexus and most of the major car manufacturers take their cars here to test them to the breaking point? And "billiard table of track"...are you mocking this phenomenal track? It is regarded by nearly every car enthusiast as the greatest and most demanding race track in the world and for you to mock it is just plain ridiculous.

You need to take a look at this video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...30111&hl=en-GB