2006 Infiniti M45 Sedan
Eddie Haskell Moves into the Neighborhood
By: David Ray, www.hookedondriving.com
For: The Wheel
When we learned of the imminent delivery of the Infiniti M45, it was with only mild
disappointment that it was not another two-seater sports car to flog and review. Oh well,
all the tests can’t be done on sports cars, so why not the M45 from Infiniti? Little did we
know what we had in store for us. The car arrived without fanfare, in what Infiniti calls
“Umbria gray.” This is actually a mocha color, with a slightly mismatched chamois
colored leather interior. First impressions? Clean design, but nothing that really stands
out. No wings or splitters, nice 18 inch, eight spoke wheels on this contemporary but
conservative looking sedan. Guess we should give the designers kudos for achieving a
.28 coefficient of drag. OK – we can deal. Not all tests are exciting; after all, we haven’t
done a review lately on the drive to church. We thought of cars the rear-wheel drive M45
must consider as competition; the venerable BMW 5 series, the fast comer Audi A6, that
brutish Cadillac CTS-V, and the Swiss-watch-like Lexus GS series. Well, we said,
“Guess it makes sense for Nissan/Infiniti to at least offer something to loyal buyers of
other Nissan Infiniti products who may have cashed in stock options or just got a
promotion.” The car sat for most of a day before we created an opportunity to warm up
the 32 valve, DOHC 274 cubic inch V8 and put the 335 horses to work.
Then everything changed. Sitting in the car for the first time, it was like Goldie-locks all
over again…this car felt just right. Excellent seats, liberal adjustments, a tilt/telescope
wheel that we placed exactly where we wished all steering wheels could be, and the very
nice new keyless start button to bring this discovery to life. Hum – quiet, but in a subtle
way, not over-insulated. A hint of engine rumble, and a mild burble from the back side.
Seems just about right for a respectable sedan like this. So far, our first impression is
confirmed – this is a well-conceived, but conservative, contemporary sedan. That feels
and sounds very nice. As we hit the road, it didn’t take long to discover that our first
impression was totally wrong. Are you old enough, or have you seen the “Leave it to
Beaver” reruns to remember the character Eddie Haskell? If you can, you’ll get what the
M45 is about. You could sneak this car by your spouse as a perfectly respectful form of
transportation. “Please,” “Thank you” and “You look lovely today, Mrs. Cleaver”
manners are ingrained in the M45’s persona. However, there is nothing but mischief
built into this understated brat. Road manners are immediately striking. A crisp, firm but
pleasant ride, a light feel to the wheel without an over-boosted sensation, and very quick
shifts by the 5 speed automatic. Wow, this car feels just right. The more time we spend
in the M – some city stop and go, a quick freeway run, and the winding two lane home,
the more we experience a rare sense of harmony in this suspension. Springs, shocks and
bushings all seemingly working from the same page and creating a ride that the nonenthusiast will enjoy, while the more spirited driver will grin about, knowing that he/she
can push the car much harder if needed. As we spend a second day with the car, an
emergency U turn shows us the 36 foot turning radius of the M – this is a VERY nice
feature in parking lots and many real world situations. The M45 veritably whips about as
needed in tight spaces.
The interior of the M45 is flat out excellent. The seats all around are firm but very well
formed, with good thigh support and a sense of wrap around the shoulders. While the
bolsters on the front buckets are modest, we felt so firmly planted in the base of the seat
that there was no struggle to stay put during hard cornering. We had a sprouting 6 footer
who is our official back seat evaluator report that the rear seat of the M45 is one of his
favorites. There is plenty of room for an ample adult even with the driver’s seat adjusted
almost all the way back. The trunk as you might imagine from the lines of the car is
huge. As one becomes familiar with the M45, the question occurs, “Why would anyone
need the bigger heavier Q 45?” Good question, guess we have no quibble with anyone
wanting more room – but we’ll bet they really don’t need it. While the overall design,
space utilization and cosmetics of the interior are an A+, the dash controls need a bit
more homework and come in with a B-. The dash has two tiers: One set in the traditional
vertical, facing the occupants, and the upper tier, tilted 45 degrees skyward ala minivan
dash protocol. We never understood this – it may have been one of those ideas that
looked so good on the AutoCAD diagram that it made it to production. But we would
prefer a more conventional layout. Those of you who have read this column over the last
year know our conniption fit about the intrusion of navigation systems into the car’s basic
operating controls. Suffice it to say (we will spare you another fit), that the M45 is not as
bad as the worst (iDrive from BMW), and not as good as the least obtrusive (Acura’s
touch-screen). The Bose sound system was good, but did not distinguish itself. And the
seats, once again were excellent, with our first experience with front seat coolers being
very positive. The flow through air in the buckets would be a huge benefit on a long
Highway 5 tour of the valley on a hot day.
Then we left the Cleaver neighborhood to let Eddie do his thing. On sporting roads, the
M45 is one of the best sedans we’ve driven for overall feel, predictability, power and
control. We had the standard M45, with 4 wheel independent suspension and 12+ inch
ventilated discs at all four corners. There is a sport version with rear active steer and a
taughter, sport-tuned suspension. But we were not at all disappointed with the standard
model. The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) is effective at preventing wheel-spin, but
wait, we’re enthusiasts who love wheel-spin! So we turned the DSC off, and then kicked
the gearshift into manual mode, and the conversion to Eddie was complete. OK – this car
is a hot rod. This oft-used term just fits this conservative looking sedan when you’re
really on it. Remembrances of the CTS-V flash before us – we loved the V, but the M45
has a more refined feel. The V8 is smooth as silk, but pulls plenty all the way up the rev
range. The handling offers crisp turn-ins, with a predictable body roll to bring the tail
around, while not being quite as harsh at the Caddie. (We’re sure the CTS-V would
trounce the M45 on the track, but that’s not what this car was built for). This translated
into a car that feels 500 lbs lighter than its actual curb weight of 3900 lbs. We probably
would vote for bigger sway bars on any street car and the M is no exception. On the
other hand, if we pushed this car much harder we might end up with Eddie and his owner
in the slammer. As we became more confident with the car’s handling, we became more
aggressive in the use of the manual shift mode. A memory of running a 350Z automatic
in manual mode on the track came back to us…the Nissan/Infiniti approach to manual
shift mode is much more enthusiast-oriented than those of Daimler/Chrysler, BMW, and
even Porsche’s Tiptronic. How? Once the M45 is in manual shift mode, you have to
drive the car and imagine yourself with a clutch. Other systems will take over and shift
for you if you get carried away and forget. The Infiniti will just hold you up at the rev
limiter and threaten to bend valves if you don’t flick the shifter. This trains you quickly
to really be dialed in and aware of the red line – really driving the car. What’s more, this
transmission is as quick a unit as we have experienced. We bragged about the AMG
Mercedes Speedshift – this transmission is every bit as good. Also – when the Infiniti’s
DSC is off, it’s really off. They trust you to know what you’re doing whether you do or
not! With it disengaged, you will find the M45 fully capable of a head-to-head drifting
competition with the GTO down the street. This car will do a wicked burnout on the way
out of the church parking lot. This begs the weighty question: If we are true enthusiasts
and we’re not showing off, but burning rubber because we really appreciate how cool this
is, would that mean we are forgiven?
Our encounter with the Infiniti M45 was truly a trip of discovery. With no previous
exposure to the car, and only a passing pre-conceived notion of what the car was, we
were nothing short of astonished at what we found. This car is the equivalent of a Lexus
GS that’s been to the BALCO labs on more than one occasion for its ingestion of
steroids. Having said that, the M45 makes no real-world compromises because of its
performance sedan attributes. The $54,000 M45 is a totally capable and competitive
player in the sport luxury market. Anyone shopping for a BMW 5, Audi A6, Lexus GS
or Caddie would do well to seriously consider the subtle but extremely competent Infiniti
M45.
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