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Saab 9-5 Aero vs Infiniti G35 Sedan Comparison Test
Ok this won’t exactly be a C&D comparo, but it’s what I came up with after test driving both cars earlier today. I currently drive a ’92 Saturn SC, which is a fun car and has been incredibly reliable. It never leaves me stranded and has never needed any serious work. But it’s time to buy myself something nice, and these are the two cars I’ve been looking at most. I wrote this up to help myself organize my thoughts, and to help get comments and opinions from you guys. Let me know what you think!
Exterior walk around
These are both nice looking cars. The G is definitely more distinctive, and more up-to-date looking with its short overhangs, sloping rear window, and cool head and taillights. The 9-5 has much more subtle styling. The 9-5 has a few more color choices, and the G is lacking a dark blue paint option. The 9-5’s rims are more distinctive, it’s got a 10 spoke “turbine” look. Nice, but I think I might like the G’s more generic looking 5 spokes. It’s really a toss up, I think they’re both pretty slick looking.
Interior
Again both of these cars have pretty nice interiors. The Saab’s is a step or two higher than the G’s in most aspects though. The materials, fit and finish are all nicer in the Saab. The G isn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, but the 9-5 really is top-notch. Nice soft touch surfaces, tight fit between the different parts. Same situation with the buttons and other switches. The Saab’s are just plain nicer. There’s also smoother action in the steering column stalks. Same story with the AC vents. The Saabs have the little joystick knobs for adjusting them, and they feel very solid and nice. The G’s are more like those in a “regular” car.
That’s probably how I’d describe them. The G’s interior is like that of a really nice regular car. The 9-5 feels more like a “luxury” car.
Features
Both have loads of goodies that my Saturn obviously lacks. The Saab comes out slightly ahead again. It was wet out when I took the test drive, and I am now a believer in the Saab’s automatic windshield wipers. They worked perfectly. The Saab’s headlights are bi-xenon, the Infiniti’s are low beam xenons. Both have heated seats, the Saabs with 3 settings, the G’s with 2, and the Saab’s rear seats are also heated. The 9-5 has available ventilated front seats too, which I wasn’t able to test out but could be a great summertime feature. Both have sunroofs, power seats, doors, locks, cruise, stability control, brake assist, CD, auto climate control, etc.
The Infiniti has reclining rear seatbacks, a neat feature. This is at the expense however of folding rear seats, a feature I’ve grown accustomed to in my Saturn. The Saab’s rear seat bottoms can even be removed to allow the seat backs to fold down totally
flat. Pretty cool.
Both are pretty much the same as far as safety features go. The G does have curtain side airbags that go to the rear seats, the Saab doesn’t. The Saab has whiplash protection seats though. The 9-5 gets excellent crash test and real life crash performance, I haven’t seen any info for the G but I imagine it’s quite good too.
The Drive
First with the Saab, since I drove it first. I was able to take it on my work commute loop, about 35 or 40 miles of mixed highway, stop and go w/lights, and back roads through the farms. This car has great, comfortable seats. Excellent side bolstering, wonderfully soft leather. Just fantastic.
The transmission is a 5 speed stick. The stick itself is a normal height, and the knob is unusually fat. It’s quite round. Comfortable in hand though. The clutch is light but a bit vague when you’re coming off the pedal. The shifter bumps from one gear to the next quite easily, with a moderate throw. No “snick snick” like I’m used to in the Saturn, but it’s a good, positive feel. A slight bit of vibration in the stick when you’re accelerating hard was noticed.
This car’s engine is great. Love the turbo torque. 258 lb-ft continuously from 1,900-4,500 rpms. Apparently there’s also an “overboost” that bumps it to 272 lb-ft for up to 20 seconds at a time. I probably got that going too. As for turbo lag, there is a bit. If you’ve got it under 2,000 rpms, it will take about a second for the boost to climb up to the peak. If you’re up around 3,000 rpms or higher however, it’s non existent. The power comes on instantly. This car hauls ass. I came off an on ramp going about 20 mph in second gear, floored it to the redline, shifted into 3rd and stayed on the gas. I was going about 90 mph before I knew it. The engine was surprisingly smooth and quite too, I was expecting it to be a bit more noisy.
As for torque steer, I really didn’t notice it. Once while passing on a small two lane road, I floored it in 3rd at about 50 mph, and felt a slight tug while I made my passing maneuver. Nothing bothersome though.
I was only allowed to drive the G for about 5 minutes, in the area immediately around the dealership. I got to drive a 6 speed sedan. The clutch was surprisingly heavy! I do like the short shifter, it’s neat. Nice short throws. I did notice some reluctance to get into gear sometimes. I heard that this is something that clears up after a few 1,000 miles though.
My limited test drive kept me from working the G out like I did the 9-5. I was only able to get it up to about 50 one time. I was able to give it some gas and work through the first 3 gears, but that’s about it. The engine is very responsive without feeling jerky on the gas pedal. Great pickup, from what I could tell. Nice and smooth, with a good sound. I can see why people like this car so much.
For handling, I can honestly say that both cars felt similar. Now I know the G is rear wheel drive, aluminum double A-arm suspension, 52-48 weight balance, etc. But from what I was able to do with them, neither was noticeably better than the other. Both gripped strong in the turns, handled bumps (big and small) with ease, and just overall provided a comfortable, smooth, yet firm and inspiring ride. The G gets a slight advantage in body roll, it was a bit more level in the turns than the 9-5, but not much. I suppose if I was really taking the cars to their limits, the G would have distanced itself, but driving around the way I normally do neither separated itself.
I give both of these cars very high marks for performance and driving comfort. Either one is going to be a lot of fun. I just wish I had been able to run the G through it’s paces the way I did with the 9-5. Which takes me to the sales experience…
Salesmen
Went to VOB Saab in Rockville, MD, and Coleman Infiniti in nearby Bethesda. My experiences could not have been more different. The Saab salesman found a car like I wanted to test, brought it over, and sat with me in it for about 15 minutes, going over the features, controls, etc. We looked at the little mini-owner’s manual to figure a few things out, and I was on my way. He said “see you when you get back” and I was off for my test. Took me about 45-50 minutes. When I returned, I got a CD (Metallica) from the Saturn and popped it in the CD player (excellent HK sound system btw, very crisp highs and midranges, with very decent but not booming base). While I was sitting there listening, he came out with some answers to some questions I had before the test ride, and we checked out the trunk, back seats, under the hood, etc. Then we headed back in and talked price. He got me some brochures, showed me the MSRP & Invoices (surprisingly up front, said not to worry about MSRP because they sell at invoice) and discussed the current cash back and financing options. Answered a few more questions and I was off on my way to Infiniti.
I met the guy at Infiniti, who showed me to the car I’d be testing and let me look at it for a bit while he finished with another customer. No biggie. He them came out with the keys, and drove the car off the lot to a small parking lot. Here he zoomed around, giving it plenty of gas, hard on the brakes, getting the traction control and stuff to work. Talked about the various performance and handling features of the car. Very car-salesman like. On the way to the parking lot, he asked what kind of car I currently drive. I said a Saturn, and commented that I’ll be very lucky if whatever car I buy next turns out to be as reliable and trouble free as my Saturn. He responds with something along the lines of “well Saturn doesn’t even show up on the lists of most reliable cars, and Infiniti’s on the top, so you can be guaranteed that you’ll be getting a more reliable car.” WTF? The guy slams my car and lies at the same time. Interesting.
Ok after the parking lot zoom around I get in the driver’s seat and take it out. He’s in the passenger seat, directing me where to go. Like I said earlier, I never get above 50 or so. Not a thorough test drive. He asks what other models I’m considering. I tell him the 9-5 Aero. He starts up again, “That car doesn’t compete with this one. In fact it doesn’t compete with this car in any fashion. It’s fine if you just want transportation, but this is a real driver’s car. GM can call it whatever they like but it’s not on the same level as the G35.” He goes on to mention all the features of the G, saying the Saab lacks them. At this point I realize that I know more about these cars than he does. He mentions a bunch of features that the Saab does in fact have. I could have mentioned that it did have them all, mentioned the other ones that the Saab has that the G doesn’t and tossed in that the 9-5’s interior is nicer. But I didn’t. Once we got back he gave me a price sheet and discussed the procedure for ordering one. Very helpful on this stuff.
But this guy has now given me a crappy test drive and insulted both my present car and the other car that I’m considering. I’m trying not to let my opinion of the salesman influence my opinion of the cars, but it’s tough.
So there’s my review. Hot damn that’s pretty long, hopefully some of you actually made it through the whole thing!
jeff
posted by 63.215.15...
, Fri, 11 Apr 2003 22:07:05
, Fri, 11 Apr 2003 23:09:31
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