Friday, April 10, 1992 - North Shore News - 25 Photo submitted POSITIONED BETWEEN the smaller G20 and top-of-the-line G45, the new Infiniti J30 is a four-passenger rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan with standard features such as leather seating, 210-horsepower V6 engine, four-speed automatic transmission, CD player and dual airbags. Infiniti J30 IT WAS during a pleasant morning drive over the twisty two-lane roads which wind their way up to Mount Baker thai 1 was reminded of another Infiniti automobile, the big V8-powered Q15. Like the J30, its rather unusual and distinctive styling belies its performance potential. The J30 is a very enjoyable and safe car to drive, not only power- ful and agile but smooth and comfortable as weil. Automakers call this “stress-free” driving, a concept encompassing ease of operation, quietness, and capable performance. The J30 approach is the European ideal of luxury where safety and performance are as impertant as ride and creature comfort::. The new J30 is up against some pretty heady competition in the marketplace, including the BMW 535i, Audi 100, Mercedes-Benz 300E, Jaguar XJ6, and Lexus ES300. At a base price of $40,000 (which includes just about everything), the J30 carries on a Japanese luxury car tradision: of- fer the same features for less money and watch your marke! share grow. I won't go into a discussion of the merits or faults of the 3530's rather dramatic styling. Nissan’s San Diego design cenire chief, Garry Hirshberg, wanted tc do something different from the ubi- quitous wedge shape. and in this he succeeded. The very round J30 makes a distinctive styling state- ment, particularly from the rear. Gre Wiison TEST DRIVE The interior, which was design- ed in Japan, is more conservative, but very functional. A ‘classic’ look was created using an old- fashioned ceatrally-mounted gold-colored clock and round in- struments with traditional letter- ing. Just about everything is soft to the touch and pleasing to the eye. A walnut-covered console and left-hand armrest complement the high-quality vinyl dash and leather-covered seats, steering wheel and shift knob. The centre console is high and wide, with a storage bin and fold-out cupholders, and control buttons are not only large and easy to see, but are actually canted towards the driver. 1 took a particular fancy to the extra-large two- finger driver’s-side power win- dow button. The front bucket seats are “scooped out’’ and offer excellent support, as do the rear seats. In truth, the J30 is a four-passenger automobile, since the centre rear seat is more of a divider than a seat. The J30’s air conditioning system now uses an environmen- tally friendly refrigerant rather than the traditional freon {chlorofluorocarborn or CFC) tefrigerant that is commenly blamed for damaging the earth’s ozone layer. In addition, all plastic parts weighing more that four ounces are coded for future ling. is the first Infiniti to offer both driver and passenger airbags and seat belt tensioners (which automatically tighten in the event of a collision) for both front and fear outboard passengers. Automatic climate control, elec- trically adjustable driver and pas- senger’s seats, CD player with Boze speakers, pre-wiring for a celular phone, and keyless entry system are also standard. The trunk is a little smaller than average and the rear seats don’t fold forward to increase the cargo space; however, 286 litres is still sufficient volume for most loads. The front engine/rear-wheel- drive J30 uses a slightly modified version of Nissan’s 300ZX engine, a 3.0-liire V6 with four valves per cylinder and four overhead cams developing 210 horsepower. This engine has a dual personality, be- ing very smooth and quiet at low revs, and quite sporty and audible at higher revs. At 100kim/h, the J30’s engine turns over a very relaxed 2,400 rpm, but is quite capable of spinning up to its 6,900 rpm redline with relative ease. Balanced handling is one of the J30’s most rewarding charac- teristics. Though there is some Price as tested: $39,500 Type: four-passenger, door sedan Layout: longitudinal engine/rear wheel drive Engine: 2,960 cc V6, four overhead cams, 24 valves, se- quentiai multi-point fuel injec- tion Horsepower: 210 @ 6,400 rpm Transmission: four-speed automatic, electronicaily-con- four- front body lean, the rear-wheel-drive design with fully independent suspension provides grippy han- dling, and there is less nose-dive and front tire scrubbing under braking. The J30 has tremendously yow- erful brakes, too, pulling this 1,600-kilogram car to a stop very quickly. An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is standard equip- ment on the J30, providing surer stops and better steering control. A special performance-oriented model, called the J30T, equipped with Nissan’s HICAS four-wheel steering setup, alloy spoke wheels, and a rear spoiler, is available for a base price of $42,500. I don’t know whether it’s inten- tional, but all Infiniti models, the G20, J30 and Q45, offer con- siderably better performance than their appearance would indicate. trolled Height: 1,389 mm/54.7 in. Tires: 215/60 VR15 all-season tadials Trunkspace: litres/10.1 cu.ft. Warranty: Complete four yr./ 100,000 km; Major compo- nents six yrs/100,000 km. Cheek out the Infiniti J30 at Infiniti of Northshore, 1160 Marine Dr., NV 286