Cars.com's Mike Hanley takes a look at the 2009 Infiniti G37 convertible. It competes with the BMW 3 Series convertible and Lexus IS convertible.
Transcript
<v Narrator>Cars.com Auto Reviews Hi, I'm Mike Hanley with cars.com and I'm here with the 2009 Infiniti G37 convertible.
It's a brand new retractable hardtop from Infiniti that competes against models like the BMW 3 Series convertible, Volvo C70, and the Lexus IS convertible. It keeps a lot of the sporty demeanor that we like from the G37 Coupe, but there are some drawbacks if you get the convertible. One of the nice things that our retractable hard top gives you over a conventional soft top, is that it can keep the nice, smooth, clean look of a coupe. And that's what this G37 convertible has. It carries on the lines that the regular coupe has to give you this nice profile look. It takes about 30 seconds to go up or down with the retractable hard top roof. And the operation is mostly smooth. It's takes longer though than some other retractable hard tops in the market. It's only at the very end when the trunk lid is closing, that it really kind of shakes the vehicle. One of the nice things about retractable hard top convertibles is that they don't give up much in terms of visibility compared to a regular coupe. Checking over your shoulder in the rear view mirror, you have great views all around in this car. The downside though, with the convertible in general, is that when you cut the roof, it's gonna lower structural rigidity, and you can feel that in this car when you're going over rough spots in the road. Structure shutters a little bit, it's not terrible, but it's definitely noticeable. One of the big sacrifices you're gonna make if you choose the G37 convertible is in the cargo room area. First of all, it's pretty heavy just to lift up the trunk lid. And while the convertible does have 10.3 cubic feet when the roof is up, if you're gonna be putting the roof down? You have to raise this partition. And then there's only two cubic feet behind it. All this space gets taken up by the roof. Now, granted, there is a back seat in the car. That's probably more useful for holding luggage than carrying people, so you can throw your stuff there. So despite its relative lack of cargo room, when the top is down, the G37 convertible is a pretty decent first effort overall from Infiniti. And it still retains all fo the performance and athleticism with a G37 coupe that we like so much. It's also something of a value buy in this category because it starts at around $44,000, which is a fair amount less expensive than the BMW 335I convertible. So if you're shopping for a model in this price range, this is one you probably should definitely check out too. (upbeat music) <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com. For our blog, kickingtires.net.
