Infiniti’s Studio on Wheels Bows

NEW YORK – Everything about the completely redesigned ’07 Infiniti G35, which had its world premiere at last April’s auto show here, exudes power, including a more muscular body and a bigger 300 hp V-8 engine.

But not least among the improvements is a more powerful audio system that Infiniti says transforms the car into a recording studio on wheels.

“From the beginning of the G’s development, the sound system was considered a core element of the vehicle’s DNA, rather than simply a feature or an option,” says Mark Igo, Infiniti vice president and general manager.

“Working with Bose, we feel we’ve achieved our vision with the studio on wheels.”

The sound system, previewed recently at a recording studio here, reproduces music in a way that virtually puts the listener in the studio with the band.

“You’ll hear stuff off a CD you’ve never heard before with this system,” says a Bose engineer.

To produce this quality, the car and audio engineers from the companies designed the system from the ground up.

New G35 hits U.S. in November.

Instead of working with a list of features and specifications, Bose engineers made thousands of acoustic measurements of the car’s interior and then placed the components where they would reproduce optimum sound fidelity.

The internal structure of the G35 doors and the specific shape and size of the holes in the speaker grilles were tailored to optimize sound quality. Infiniti engineers designed the front doors around the audio components.

The new G35 sound system has 10 Bose neodymium-magnet speakers, including an industry first 10-in. (25-cm) woofer in each front door

“That’s never been done before,” says a Bose engineer.

The inverted motor structure of the woofers is squeezed into 2.6 ins. (6.6 cm) of depth that allows their placement in the doors.

There’s also a 10-in. third woofer on the rear shelf of the car.

In addition, the system includes a 3-in. (7.6-cm) mid/high range speaker in each door and one in the center of the instrument panel. Each rear door contains a 6.5-in. (16.5-cm) neodymium full-range speaker. There is also a 1-in. (2.5-cm) tweeter located in each side mirror patch.

A digital amplifier powers the G35 sound system, which has three times the processing power of the original G35 audio system. Bose says this delivers a more detailed, lifelike sound.

Jim Hooke, senior manger-Infiniti marketing, says the studio on wheels will be a popular feature with G35 buyers.

Infiniti has sold 33,345 G35s so far this year, down 19.0% from like-2005. In all of last year, 68,728 G35s were sold in the U.S.

“We’re looking at the ’07 model to improve (sales),” Hooke says.

The Miami and Los Angeles metro markets and both coasts in general are expected to lead G35 sales.

“We would like more sales in the heartland,” Hooke says.

The Infiniti executive believes the new 300-hp engine, which has 80% of its internal parts redesigned, also will help ’07 sales.

The new G35 will be available in all- and rear-wheel drive. Hooke forecasts 70% of sales will be RWD models.

“But initial orders might be more heavily AWD weighted,” he says.

Prices for the G35 won’t be released until closer to its on sales date in November. However, Hooke says the AWD option will cost about $1,800.