by Rex Roy

Diving into a right-left-right downhill combination at Barber Motorsports Park just outside of Birmingham, Alabama , lots of things snap into focus. First, the 14-inch front rotors on the 2008 G37 Sport really burn off speed in a hurry. Second, the entire package is well balanced and just plain easy to drive quickly and smoothly. Third, the 2007 BMW 335i coupe provided for comparison may have some advantages over the Infiniti, but you'll notice more of the BMW's deficiencies (rather than advantages) on the track.

The last thing: it's nice to take turns. As in, let someone else drive after a few hours. They'll appreciate it.

Not out of whole cloth

Infiniti introduced their G35 coupe back in 2002 as a 2003 model. Those with a keen mind for the ephemeral recall it was introduced with its four-door counterpart the G35 sedan, and that the market warmed to the coupe as a more mature alternative to its shorter-wheelbase two-seat cousin, the Nissan 350Z. Sales for Infiniti's 2+2 regularly outpaced seasoned competitors such as the Audi TT, the Mercedes C-Class coupes, and the G's arch nemesis, the BMW 3-Series coupe.

At the 2008 G37's introduction, it became clear that Infiniti wanted to improve the G, but not stray too far from their winning formula. There's a reason why the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," is an old saying.

In a disclosure that meant to give the press a peek inside the minds of development engineers, the Infiniti team referred to the G37 as "The Seductress." Everything they did was designed to make the new coupe sexier and more…ahem…capable of plying her trade. Thankfully, no collagen or silicone was used in the revamp.