2008 Infiniti M45S

The FM platform, like the perennial Ward’s 10-Best-winning VQ engine, has been one of Nissan’s true hits. Supporting innumerable models from crossovers to sports coupes to sedans and more, the front-midship chassis has proven a winner in nearly every vehicle it touched. But it’s going on seven years old now, and that’s beginning to show through. The Infiniti M45 is the largest of the sedans based on the platform, and the Sport variant, badged with a red ‘S’, is the most driver-focused version of the M45, so it’d be reasonable to think this was the best car you could buy on the FM platform. But you’d be wrong.

Equipment and Features
The M45 has a range of fairly basic equipment that other cars should, but often don’t, have. The backup camera with the animated overlay that shows not just where the car is, but where it’s going to be based on steering input, is a tremendous aid. The simple navigation system that shares the same screen is itself really quite good, despite a display of only average resolution. It finds locations quickly, recalculating routes without a significant wait and generally doing what it’s supposed to without error - something that certainly can’t be said for some highly over-complicated offerings from the competition.

Technical
The powerful 325hp/336lb-ft V8 engine makes freeway mergers, red-light take-offs and the odd country road a blast. It sounds throaty and powerful, too. The way the car takes off when the go-pedal is leveled makes me think it may well be somewhat underrated in terms of power. It feels significantly more powerful than the G35 or even the Mustang GT, for instance, even though those cars are rated within 20hp or so of the M45.

The five-speed transmission is equipped with a manual-shift mode, but it lacks real purpose.
Fuel economy, however, is not so great. Our week-long trek with the car through the wilds of suburbia revealed a consistent pattern: 12-15mpg in typical driving, with low 20s on the highway, for an average of about 16mpg. That’s about 22 cents per mile in fuel costs, or three times the cost of a 50mpg Prius - not that the Prius could ever lay claim to the comfort or style of the M45. It’s actually about average or better than a lot of the V6 luxury sedans we’ve tested lately, however, so the V8 offers a lot of good (low-end torque and pulling power) for no real downside. It is, however, somewhat below the 16/21mpg city/highway and 18mpg combined rating the EPA gives the car.

Final Verdict
At the end of the week with the Infiniti M45S, we were left feeling somewhat disappointed - for a car that delivered such a great first impression, read like a dream on paper, and promised to be all things to all people, it just ended up failing to follow through. Nearly sporty enough to justify its fairly harsh ride and nearly high-tech enough to justify its expensive options packages, the M45S falls short of the high benchmark set by the latest crop of large luxury sedans, and without a significant price advantage, it’s just not quite good enough to make our list of recommended cars in the segment.

© Source: motorauthority
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