Like craigdred, I was recruited for a focus group about our car. Love the fact that I got to spend 2 hours talking about the car and getting paid for it!
It was a small group -- just 4 guys, so it was a pretty casual and frank discussion. Specifically, the group was about the car seats, and we covered pretty much everything that's ever been discussed here (as far as I can remember). Lack of memory seats, average leather quality, lack of color selection, seat belt discomfort, rattles, leather wear, weak lumbar support, and so on.
Additional areas for improvement were also discussed:
- limited capability of nav (as compared to FX, M, Q)
- Poor paint quality
- Horrible Bose system
- Brake dust and squeal problems
Can't quite remember what else we covered at the moment, but there was definitely a wide range of topics even though the general focus was on the seats.
Overall, had a good time and was glad to be able to bring up some of the issues we've discussed on this board. Hopefully, Infiniti will listen and make improvements to future models.
-Ken
P.S. Apparently, the nav in the 04 coupe has more features (like tire pressure readings). Can anyone with an 04 confirm?
Tire pressure doesn't show up on the nav, there is a little annoying light that is on the gauge cluster that lights up when the pressure is low. I saw it briefly when I had my stock pressure sensors put on my 19s. Wish it gave the readout per wheel instead of just a little light coming on.
Makochan
2004 6MT Coupe DG/G/6MT/premium/4 piece aero/navi/19"Volk TE37 Gunmetal/Z-tube/JWT Pop charger/Tein Flex/EDFC/Nismo sways/Stillen rear control arms/Stillen rear tow arms/Performance Nissan Racing front control arms/Polished Crawford Plenum/Nismo Headers/Fujitsubo Y-pipe/Fujitsubo exhaust/TS ECU/Stillen 5wire earthing kit/JDM badging/Alum pedals/Nismo titanium shift knob/Clear corners/Data Systems Grill(coming soon)/Huper Optik tint
Kool kloh. I did that once for the C5 Corvette. Was fun. Got to pick the backend from about 5 variations......hmmmm... come to think of it they didn't listen either!
03 Laser Red 6MT | Willow int | No fancy stuff | 30% Tint and 3M Clear Bra
There was a quick discussion at the very end about how message boards have played an important role in getting information about the car. I was about to mention this site when one of the other participants went on about g35-driver.com, and by the time he was done, the moderator was ready to "close shop" so I just let it go.
Too bad the 04's don't have a truly upgraded nav. Hopefully, Infiniti will get the message and treat the G35 as not only a performance car, but a luxury one as well. Hope Infiniti doesn't ignore the feedback like what Chevy did!
I was hoping they would show me something new (like what GTO got to do), but I had a pretty good idea about what the topic was going to be when I got recruited. About a week ago, I got a survey in the mail specifically about the seats, in which I put some negative feedback on. I'm sure that's why my name came up for the group.
Specifically, I talked about the fact that the nav systems in the Q, M and FX all offer additional features such as actual tire pressure guages (for each tire) and a lot more ability to customize the features of the car. For example, setting the sensitivity of the auto headlights, setting the amount of time the dome light stays on after exiting the car, setting auto-locks, etc. A full list of the functions can be found here, but none of the features are accessible by the end user. I'm not sure if ALL of the features are accessible by the Q, M, and FX...but some of them are. Why not do the same for the G was my point.
By the way, the M has voice recognition. I'm not sure if it's nav has it or not, but you can say things like, "stereo", "volume up", "lock doors", "windows up" etc.
The most the Nav does in the '04 is show when maintenance is due, how your fuel economy is, and of course how to get to places.
I think the sales guy even told me that it showed the tire pressure on the '04 nav, but I've had it for 5 months and I didn't see anything. Just the same annoying light that Makochan saw....
2004 G35 Sport Coupe 6MT
Twilight Blue | Willow - NAV | Premium | Aero
By the way, the M has voice recognition. I'm not sure if it's nav has it or not, but you can say things like, "stereo", "volume up", "lock doors", "windows up" etc.
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<font color="navy">That's what I would like to see, and with a phone routed thru the Nav. That way when you look up a place, e.g. a restaurant, and get the address and phone number you could have the Nav set it as a destination and dial the phone for you, and see if they have a wait or get a reservation. </font id="navy">
The brake squeal drives me nuts! Almost 8K miles and I have always had the problem. Infiniti simply tells me it is a "known issue", but does nothing about it.
6MT Black on Black - Premium / Nav / Aero / ATI Procharger
366 rwhp
<font color="navy">That's what I would like to see, and with a phone routed thru the Nav. That way when you look up a place, e.g. a restaurant, and get the address and phone number you could have the Nav set it as a destination and dial the phone for you, and see if they have a wait or get a reservation. </font id="navy">
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As long as we're talking blue sky here, I'd love to have the nav integrate with my iPod. How great would it be if you could dock your iPod and view/control your playlists on the nav. If this were the case, then the iPod could be docked anyhere. Even under the armrest console. Sure would be nice to have my cupholders back
scg35sc - As a matter of fact, Infiniti HAS done something based on all of the negative feedback the brakes have gotten. Not sure if they're doing this for the 04's, but I think anyone who got an 03 or 03.5 received a letter stating that their first brake & rotor replacement would be free. That's pretty good customer service in my book.
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Attended a G35 Focus Group tonight
