As luck would have it, the week that I received the 2013 Infiniti G37 IPL Convertible, the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area weather took a turn for the worse. From sunny hot skies to dark, dreary, drizzly weather, I was cursed to not be able to fully go “topless” in this fun-to-drive Infiniti coupe. I was able to enjoy a few days with the top down, but even with the hard top up, the exciting driving experience of this Infiniti coupe was not completely diminished. As it stands, it’s a peppy, tight-cornering and stylish automobile that simply begs attention and nice weather.
What impressed me the most about this Infiniti is the careful balance between style, performance and technology. In terms of style, this convertible is, like most convertibles, a 4-seater. The front seats are comfortable, bolster your back and sides in the appropriate ways (with lots of adjustments on the driver’s side) and the white leather is perfect for leaving the top down – the seats don’t heat up and the contrast between the dark, almost black, purple exterior paint and the white interior make the G37 a pleasure to look at.
The lines of the body are heavily curved and swooping, which to me, gives the impression of a cat’s claws ready to pounce. There seems to be pent up energy within the design. Even the headlights look like claws.
Before I go into the rest of the items that got my attention of this 2013 Infiniti G37 IPL convertible, you can get a synopsis of the review on this YouTube video review (direct YouTube link here):
[youtube http://youtu.be/hDjE8sOXr1Q]
So let’s take a look at the performance side of the G37 IPL:
- 343 Horsepower
- 273 lb-ft torque
- 3.7 liter DOCH 24-valve VVEL V6 engine
- Rear-wheel drive
- 7-speed Automatic Transmission (note: no manual transmission is available)
- Drive Sport mode with paddle shifters
- IPL-tuned performance suspension
- 19″ IPL split 7-spoke aluminum-alloy wheels with summer performance tires
- Rev-matching on the down shift
- 17 city & 25 highway MPG
The specs above don’t really do the G37 justice. This coupe is really quick off the line. While I started out my driving experience using mainly the fully-automatic mode, after a few days I really started driving the engine hard and using the steering-column mounted paddle shifter.
You can be in fully-automatic mode and still down- and up-shift to your liking. One thing that was particularly exhilarating is the rev-matching when you are down shifting, especially down into 2nd gear as you decelerate. Having the tachometer needle bump up perfectly with a tiny engine roar was really fun. Even with my hard driving, I was able to average about 18.5 MPG.
Cornering was fun (and you can even turn off the traction control and fishtail the end a bit when accelerating out of a turn). The tires are grippy, helping you feel fully anchored to the road.
Do you like these pictures? You can see all of the photos of the 2013 Infiniti G37 IPL coupe over at my Flickr page!
But the real magic is in the retractable hard-top. Personally, I love hard-top convertibles. You feel a bit more secure leaving it parked outside than you do with a fabric one. There is one drawback, however, to a hard-top – when the top is down, your trunk space becomes extremely limited (which I will go into in a bit).
There is an easy-to-access button that you need to press and hold to open or close the top. The entire process (which you can see in the video above) takes less than a minute. I do recommend doing this while parked and not moving – just pull over to the side of the road. But the process is fast enough to get it done at a stoplight.
The number of gears and levers that do the magic of opening and stowing the top is truly amazing.
You can see the trunk above pivoting up to make room.
The roof then folds up…
And settles nicely into the trunk space.
Let’s talk about the trunk. With the top up, there is plenty of room to store your cargo.
There is a little flap that you need to have up and in place before opening the top. You can see it in the picture above. But once you put the top down, your trunk space is dramatically reduced to about 2 cubic feet. That’s not much! The video shows about how much space we are talking about.
In terms of technology within the cabin, there is lots of it.
All of the controls are clearly laid out and easy to access. Above you can see next to the top opener, there are two heating and cooling dials for the front seats. These work extremely well and it’s really nice to have additional cooling when the top is down and you are under the hot sun. There is the automatic shifter which you can use to manual shift as well. Above that are the climate controls which are quite intuitive. And above that row of controls are your audio controls and an analog clock which I love.
The main display is clean and clear. Whichever element you are in, whether it is navigation, phone (yes, you can connect your Bluetooth-enabled smartphone), and entertainment (complete with satellite radio), the options and controls are easy to use and understand. There is a center control dial which spins but also has buttons and selectors to help you navigate the screens. Once thing that I did find a bit interesting was the fact that the entire display and controls are completely forward facing and not pivoted (even slightly) toward the driver. That means that you do have to stretch a bit to do some of the controls. I would have liked to have had the entire console shifted a bit to the left to make driver access a bit easier. Also, with the top down, you sometimes get a little bit of glare on the screen, making it hard to read at times. A bit of a lip or shade at the top would have prevented this.
There are lots of controls on the steering wheel to allow you to not have to use the center console. Once nice design choice that I thought important to call out was the fact that the Bose speaker system had speakers built into the front seats near the headrest.
This allows you to really hear your music even with the wind racing through your hair.
The base price of the 2013 Infiniti G37 IPL Coupe Convertible is $60,600 and most of the “luxury” and “performance” features are included in this prices which tops out at $61,495 as tested. The G37 is aggressive yet elegantly designed…
…from the front grill…
…to the snuggly compact hidden hardtop.
Every single Infiniti that I have test driven, and I have driven a few now, I have really enjoyed. They seem to be meticulously engineered and thought out. You are both cradled in comfort and luxury, yet when it comes to performance, your pulse really gets racing when you stomp on the gas.
And the IPL tuning makes the G37 really sing when you are on the road! If you have a chance to take one of these convertibles for a test drive or rent or even purchase (lucky you), you won’t be disappointed!
Disclosure Text: Apart from the 7-day loan of the Infiniti G37 IPL Coupe Convertible, I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.
HTD says: You won’t regret going “topless” in this Infiniti convertible!
