infiniti m56 vs GS350. First impression.
04-10-10, 04:50 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
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infiniti m56 vs GS350. First impression.
drove by the dealership and stopped to take a look at the m56/37.
My review here is purely tactile and visual. You'll see that I disagree with Batman's review.
I didn't drive the car, (I defer that to autoblog and edmunds, et al) but I did a pretty good combing over the exterior and interior. I spent a long time in all 4.5 seats of the car and touched every button, ****, panel, seat, etc.
I consider myself pretty unbiased, as I'm not easily impressed by many things.
I'm also critical of the 3GS and Lexus as a whole. So I'm no fanboy of either party.
But let me just state my impression up front. The GS:M = 55:45.
Subjectively, overall, the GS is a 10% better experience, though its exterior design is getting long in the tooth.
EXTERIOR:
not much to talk about.
don't believe any of that "looks better in person" bullcrap. Those who say that probably have vaseline smeared on their eyeballs, or their computer monitor is really crappy.
To me, it looks exactly like the pictures. It was a bright sunny day in socal today. I walked around the car, squatted down, stood 15 feet away, and just observed the car from every possible angle. Looks exactly like the pictures.
While I was there, another couple took a black M37 out for a test drive.
From 10 degrees off center, looking from the front, the car looks like a slug with slant eyes and a goofy smile.
as they drove the car out onto the road, I observed its presence from the rear. It's a tight package, by no means fat in the ***.
Then again, from 40 feet away, any black car looks good.
INTERIOR:
In the picture below, I have circled the parts of the interior I am about to discuss-
People who compare the M interior to the LS460 interior...... need to be gagged with a ball.
I can tell you with certainty that all those people did was look at the press photos, and say "wow, the M interior looks so pretty compared to the LS".
I can see what you mean....
However, the materials are a FAR CRY from those used in the LS. (And I'm a person who thinks the LS looks like a big fancy camry. So I'm no fan of the LS either)
0. Interior space-
I'm 6'2'', and I fit snuggly. I had to slouch a little in the back seat, with ~1.5 inches of headroom.
The front had plenty of headroom.
I'd say with certainty that the interior space feeling is maybe 2% bigger than a G37 sedan. The G sedan headliner is scooped out in the rear, allowing for similar headroom in back.
I went in knowing that the car is narrower than your typical midsize luxury car. and you can feel it.
You can seat 4 of me, and a kid in the middle, and it will be a cozy fit.
after adjusting the front seats so that I was comfortable, I moved to the rear.
I had almost zero leg room. Ok, maybe half an inch. My knee was pretty much hitting the back of the seat.
This car is def not designed for 6'2"+. If you are a midget, or 5'6", I'm sure you'll be comfortable. Really though, if you're shorter than I am, you should feel ok.... unless you're fat or built.
I remember a long time ago, I test drove the last generation M, and I sat in the back seat, and the interior was cavernous compared to this.
Ok. onto the nitpicking......
1. Leather- I think the leather I saw in the M was the standard leather without the wavy stitching. My GS leather feels softer. Even the G37 convertible leather feels softer. No double stitching.
2. hard materials on the door panel. the plastic right below the window feels stiff and dry.
3. dashboard- I don't know what that pad is above the gauges, but it feels like vinyl. It's not even smooth either. It's rough. The rest of the dashboard is a soft slightly spongy plastic.
4. All the silver colored parts of the center stack, door, shifter, feel like painted plastic. I'm not sure if they're real aluminum. but they're definitely painted.
5. *****- small and dinky. chrome plated plastic, cheap feeling. There's the main navigation **** up top, 2 for the radio, and 3 below the shifter.
6. front passenger knee room- that bulge in the center stack, next to the radio controls and glove box, ate into my knee room. If my nuts were sweaty, and I needed to stretch, I'd have nowhere to move my legs.
7. Flawed radio design-- Let's say you just wanted to listen to the radio with the car parked. The shifter is only an inch away from the center console. It is positioned such that you need to play finger acrobatics with the presets. The shifter blocks preset 3 and 4, and a few other buttons.
To press the buttons, you have to go around the sides or over the top of the shifter.
8. TRUNK SPACE.. The ever important criterion often overlooked.
Because the car is a little taller in the ***, the trunk is taller looking.
HOWEVER, the trunk lining is so awkwardly shaped that it doesn't look big at all. The wide wheel wells eat a substantial amount of trunk space.
If you'd ever seen a 5 series trunk, you'd say "daaamn". That's a properly shaped trunk.
I tried to picture how much luggage I could put in there, and if you put in a big suitcase, it would be a tight fit.
Getting back into my lexus after sitting in the M, my car felt so much roomier and more comfortable.
Again, I don't know how the M drives, cuz after looking at that interior, I came away with a "meh". The interior is not cheap. But it's not "OMG that is the most luxurious interior I've ever seen".
"meh" means- on par with the class.
"meh" means - I expected the car to be ground breaking.
so in sum:
1. kinda looks like a slug from some angles.
2. very snug interior space.
3. awkward layout of radio controls
4. trunk shaped weird.
My review here is purely tactile and visual. You'll see that I disagree with Batman's review.
I didn't drive the car, (I defer that to autoblog and edmunds, et al) but I did a pretty good combing over the exterior and interior. I spent a long time in all 4.5 seats of the car and touched every button, ****, panel, seat, etc.
I consider myself pretty unbiased, as I'm not easily impressed by many things.
I'm also critical of the 3GS and Lexus as a whole. So I'm no fanboy of either party.
But let me just state my impression up front. The GS:M = 55:45.
Subjectively, overall, the GS is a 10% better experience, though its exterior design is getting long in the tooth.
EXTERIOR:
not much to talk about.
don't believe any of that "looks better in person" bullcrap. Those who say that probably have vaseline smeared on their eyeballs, or their computer monitor is really crappy.
To me, it looks exactly like the pictures. It was a bright sunny day in socal today. I walked around the car, squatted down, stood 15 feet away, and just observed the car from every possible angle. Looks exactly like the pictures.
While I was there, another couple took a black M37 out for a test drive.
From 10 degrees off center, looking from the front, the car looks like a slug with slant eyes and a goofy smile.
as they drove the car out onto the road, I observed its presence from the rear. It's a tight package, by no means fat in the ***.
Then again, from 40 feet away, any black car looks good.
INTERIOR:
In the picture below, I have circled the parts of the interior I am about to discuss-
People who compare the M interior to the LS460 interior...... need to be gagged with a ball.
I can tell you with certainty that all those people did was look at the press photos, and say "wow, the M interior looks so pretty compared to the LS".
I can see what you mean....
However, the materials are a FAR CRY from those used in the LS. (And I'm a person who thinks the LS looks like a big fancy camry. So I'm no fan of the LS either)
0. Interior space-
I'm 6'2'', and I fit snuggly. I had to slouch a little in the back seat, with ~1.5 inches of headroom.
The front had plenty of headroom.
I'd say with certainty that the interior space feeling is maybe 2% bigger than a G37 sedan. The G sedan headliner is scooped out in the rear, allowing for similar headroom in back.
I went in knowing that the car is narrower than your typical midsize luxury car. and you can feel it.
You can seat 4 of me, and a kid in the middle, and it will be a cozy fit.
after adjusting the front seats so that I was comfortable, I moved to the rear.
I had almost zero leg room. Ok, maybe half an inch. My knee was pretty much hitting the back of the seat.
This car is def not designed for 6'2"+. If you are a midget, or 5'6", I'm sure you'll be comfortable. Really though, if you're shorter than I am, you should feel ok.... unless you're fat or built.
I remember a long time ago, I test drove the last generation M, and I sat in the back seat, and the interior was cavernous compared to this.
Ok. onto the nitpicking......
1. Leather- I think the leather I saw in the M was the standard leather without the wavy stitching. My GS leather feels softer. Even the G37 convertible leather feels softer. No double stitching.
2. hard materials on the door panel. the plastic right below the window feels stiff and dry.
3. dashboard- I don't know what that pad is above the gauges, but it feels like vinyl. It's not even smooth either. It's rough. The rest of the dashboard is a soft slightly spongy plastic.
4. All the silver colored parts of the center stack, door, shifter, feel like painted plastic. I'm not sure if they're real aluminum. but they're definitely painted.
5. *****- small and dinky. chrome plated plastic, cheap feeling. There's the main navigation **** up top, 2 for the radio, and 3 below the shifter.
6. front passenger knee room- that bulge in the center stack, next to the radio controls and glove box, ate into my knee room. If my nuts were sweaty, and I needed to stretch, I'd have nowhere to move my legs.
7. Flawed radio design-- Let's say you just wanted to listen to the radio with the car parked. The shifter is only an inch away from the center console. It is positioned such that you need to play finger acrobatics with the presets. The shifter blocks preset 3 and 4, and a few other buttons.
To press the buttons, you have to go around the sides or over the top of the shifter.
8. TRUNK SPACE.. The ever important criterion often overlooked.
Because the car is a little taller in the ***, the trunk is taller looking.
HOWEVER, the trunk lining is so awkwardly shaped that it doesn't look big at all. The wide wheel wells eat a substantial amount of trunk space.
If you'd ever seen a 5 series trunk, you'd say "daaamn". That's a properly shaped trunk.
I tried to picture how much luggage I could put in there, and if you put in a big suitcase, it would be a tight fit.
Getting back into my lexus after sitting in the M, my car felt so much roomier and more comfortable.
Again, I don't know how the M drives, cuz after looking at that interior, I came away with a "meh". The interior is not cheap. But it's not "OMG that is the most luxurious interior I've ever seen".
"meh" means- on par with the class.
"meh" means - I expected the car to be ground breaking.
so in sum:
1. kinda looks like a slug from some angles.
2. very snug interior space.
3. awkward layout of radio controls
4. trunk shaped weird.
Last edited by dunnojack; 04-10-10 at 06:22 PM.
04-10-10, 06:47 PM
#4
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Posts: n/a
I can't believe I'm saying this but I agree with multiple points of DunnoJack. I drove a M56S today as well.
He is 100% right the rear seat got significantly less room than the old model. This car is 194 inches long and rear seat legroom was avg at best with good headroom. The Jag XJ is the same, 194 inches long even WORSE legroom. IN comparison the GS is 190 inches long with as much legroom but with less headroom.
It is tiring seeing all these cars get bigger, wider, taller (in some cases) and interior room does not translate.
He is 100% right the rear seat got significantly less room than the old model. This car is 194 inches long and rear seat legroom was avg at best with good headroom. The Jag XJ is the same, 194 inches long even WORSE legroom. IN comparison the GS is 190 inches long with as much legroom but with less headroom.
It is tiring seeing all these cars get bigger, wider, taller (in some cases) and interior room does not translate.
04-10-10, 08:42 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I went mainly to check out the overhyped interior. People were saying it's better than top line flagships. I wanted to check the facts myself.
My conclusion is- the wavy form factor of the interior is meant to convey a sense of elegance. But that's it.
Once you touch the leather and other surface materials, your sense of awe is markedly diminished.
the interior is nice enough, but not flagship nice.
My conclusion is- the wavy form factor of the interior is meant to convey a sense of elegance. But that's it.
Once you touch the leather and other surface materials, your sense of awe is markedly diminished.
the interior is nice enough, but not flagship nice.
04-10-10, 10:26 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
I drove the M56 today and was very impressed. The car was beautiful, handled very very well, and drove like a dream. IMO they beat the 5 series in terms of performance , handling, and interior quality( GS by far as well). I havent driven the new E class yet but I like the styling on this new M more than the new E class
04-11-10, 06:28 AM
#7
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I went mainly to check out the overhyped interior. People were saying it's better than top line flagships. I wanted to check the facts myself.
My conclusion is- the wavy form factor of the interior is meant to convey a sense of elegance. But that's it.
Once you touch the leather and other surface materials, your sense of awe is markedly diminished.
the interior is nice enough, but not flagship nice.
My conclusion is- the wavy form factor of the interior is meant to convey a sense of elegance. But that's it.
Once you touch the leather and other surface materials, your sense of awe is markedly diminished.
the interior is nice enough, but not flagship nice.
I may be completely alone here, but I'd rather have a Hyundai Genesis, especially when you consider price. I am test driving the V8 Genesis on Tuesday ! --
Last edited by Cut-Throat; 04-11-10 at 08:43 AM.
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04-11-10, 08:07 AM
#9
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I had the exact same experience as dunnojack! --- I did not test drive the car either, as the dealership only had one! --- Nor do I want to test drive the car! The wavy dash screams of cheapness to me! -- A lot like lipstick on a pig, or a 70 year old broad dripping with rhinestone jewelery. Simple is beautiful. If you can get the job done with minimum glitz, you have a classy appearance for the long haul! I like the very simple lines of the Genesis a lot better!
I may be completely alone here, but I'd rather have a Hyundai Genesis, especially when you consider price. I am test driving the V8 Genesis on I Tuesday ! --
I may be completely alone here, but I'd rather have a Hyundai Genesis, especially when you consider price. I am test driving the V8 Genesis on I Tuesday ! --
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https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...s6-others.html
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