LEXA
05-19-2008, 06:26 PM
Golf Digest has a short writeup of the EX35 in its "Long Drives" feature at this link (http://www.golfdigest.com/courses/2008/06/longdrives) which is kind of a combination car review/golf trip. The writer Matthew Rudy takes an EX35 ten hours north from San Francisco along the coast on the gorgeous PCH/ Highway 1 up to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, second on their list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses.
http://www.golfdigest.com/images/courses/2008/06/coar01_longdrives.jpg
EXCERPT:
For 530 miles, California Route 1 careens around mountain hairpins, edges along 1,000-foot oceanside cliffs, then angles through old-growth redwood forests before returning to the seaside at the Oregon border. And it's golf season 12 months of the year. Sign me up.
I needed all-wheel drive, luggage space and enough legroom for the long trip, so I requisitioned an Infiniti EX35 crossover -- a surprisingly elegant mash of a G35 sport sedan and an FX35 SUV.
Grandiose technological pronouncements for new cars are almost routine these days, but the EX is stuffed with so much cutting-edge gadgetry that Jim Lovell could have piloted it home from orbit with no help from Houston. The standout is a how-did-they-do-that camera system that shows the entire perimeter of the car on the navigation screen when you shift into reverse. If you back up over the neighbor kid's Big Wheel, it's not the EX's fault.
Equally flashy is the lane-departure warning system, which gives a "friendly" beep when it notices you crossing a lane line. Which is fantastic if you're, say, dozing off at 75 miles per hour, putting on mascara, or attempting to tap out a text message, but migraine-inducing when you're carving deserted switchback curves. The system works like an invisible dog fence; you start driving between the lines just to avoid the penalty for straying.
That's a shame, because the EX easily qualifies for membership in the tiny band of SUVs that you can actually drive instead of just aim. At least the wicked exhaust note drowns out the warning chime when you're blasting by a rusted VW Microbus in the passing lane.
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And Matthew Rudy's bottom line on the EX?
The Good: Mixes taller driving position with a sports sedan ride
The Bad: Lane Departure warning technology is neat...and really annoying
http://www.golfdigest.com/images/courses/2008/06/coar01_longdrives.jpg
EXCERPT:
For 530 miles, California Route 1 careens around mountain hairpins, edges along 1,000-foot oceanside cliffs, then angles through old-growth redwood forests before returning to the seaside at the Oregon border. And it's golf season 12 months of the year. Sign me up.
I needed all-wheel drive, luggage space and enough legroom for the long trip, so I requisitioned an Infiniti EX35 crossover -- a surprisingly elegant mash of a G35 sport sedan and an FX35 SUV.
Grandiose technological pronouncements for new cars are almost routine these days, but the EX is stuffed with so much cutting-edge gadgetry that Jim Lovell could have piloted it home from orbit with no help from Houston. The standout is a how-did-they-do-that camera system that shows the entire perimeter of the car on the navigation screen when you shift into reverse. If you back up over the neighbor kid's Big Wheel, it's not the EX's fault.
Equally flashy is the lane-departure warning system, which gives a "friendly" beep when it notices you crossing a lane line. Which is fantastic if you're, say, dozing off at 75 miles per hour, putting on mascara, or attempting to tap out a text message, but migraine-inducing when you're carving deserted switchback curves. The system works like an invisible dog fence; you start driving between the lines just to avoid the penalty for straying.
That's a shame, because the EX easily qualifies for membership in the tiny band of SUVs that you can actually drive instead of just aim. At least the wicked exhaust note drowns out the warning chime when you're blasting by a rusted VW Microbus in the passing lane.
------------------------------------------------------
And Matthew Rudy's bottom line on the EX?
The Good: Mixes taller driving position with a sports sedan ride
The Bad: Lane Departure warning technology is neat...and really annoying