1991 Infiniti G20 Tested: A Good Thing in a Small Package

From the archive: Astaire's style, Ginger's legs, and Merman's, uh, voice. View PhotosDick Kelley|Car and DriverFrom the April 1991 issue of Car and Driver. Our lnfiniti G20 test car cost, coincidentally, twenty Gs. That price included front-wheel drive, an all-independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock circuitry, leather seats, a power sunroof, and, of course, the twin-cam, four-cylinder, sixteen-valve engine that also screams bloody murder in Nissan's Sentra SE-R and NX2000. Yet the message coming through the seat of the pants confirms the G20's overt sophistication. It echoes what we've said for decades: an expensive small car makes a better value than a bigger, more wasteful, equally pricey car. In other markets, alas, the smaller Infiniti sells for much less money, comes in considerably more spartan trim, and wears a no-disguise Nissan name tag. As Nissan's luxury-car division, Infiniti prices the G20 at half the cost of its big, breathtaking Q45 supersedan. The two represent solutions to the push/pull between the lust for big, fast cars and the need for small, slick ones. See all results for used 1991 Infiniti G for sale near 10330 So the market for big-buck minicars grows. Customers already pay $30,000 for small BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes less efficiently packaged than the G20. (Infiniti sells its cars through a nationwide network of 78 dealers, with plans to increase that total to 108 by 1992.) Infiniti promotes the G20 as an "entry-level luxury car." Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes, and Infiniti's archrivals Acura and Lexus already perch on this tiny dot of a segment in a market where pickup trucks and mid-size sedans rank as the monster sellers along America's "Miracle Mile" dealerships. Yet the G20 makes no mystery of why less can be more. It makes friends in a flash. Its aerodynamic styling draws admirers to its conservative curves. Its enticing interior knocks hedonists out of their socks and into its seats. Its lively feel puts the bite on buyers hungry to get out there and snarf up some road. We've snarfed up miles aplenty in this G20, and plenty quickly. Fortunately, its "anycar" shape and muted color qualify it as a stealthster. Yet its details bespeak distinction. The body's lines, masses, and features flow in subtle harmony. The nose makes a minimal aerodynamic obstruction, leading the way without uncouth aero aids to a low drag coefficient of 0.30. The side windows blend with their trim and B-pillars to form almost seamless ellipses. Oblong headlights, though nothing to flash home about, emphasize the width of the low nose. The tail's blocky lights and low lift-over height suggest the big trunk tucked deep within and as flat as Arsenio Hall's crown. The downside: extra space in the wheel wells that makes the alloy wheels and Bridgestone blackwalls look undersized, even toylike in an era of larger-diameter wheels and lower-profile tires. Yet seen at an angle, the Michelin MXV3 195/60HR-14s on six-inch rims lend a substantial look. See all results for used 1991 Infiniti G for sale near 10330 You'll find the cabin more substantial, though the power sunroof and bulging headliner take a chunk out of headroom. (Leather upholstery, the sunroof, and a four-speed automatic transmission are the G20's only options.) Infiniti kept the cabin narrow for tidy outer dimensions and minimal frontal area. For a 2829-pound car only 175 inches long, the legroom stretches out nicely front and rear. The back seat dishes up plenty of thigh support and, as Infiniti intended, comes well supplied with foot space for a car of this size. Credit astute apportioning of the 100.4-inch wheelbase. Short overhangs, particularly up front, provide an elongated "cab forward" interior. It translates front-drive's space efficiency into useful space—just what you'd want from development focused on a modern interior. Four six-footers fit fine. They won't rattle around, but they won't wish everybody used Dial, either. We couldn't wish for a better-looking interior. Caramel-color leather offsets door trim and a dash fascia colored milk-chocolate. (The velour headliner continues down the pillars—Infiniti, ah, going with the flow.) For once, having many seat adjustments doesn't mean power buttons at your fingertips, but the manual settings work fine. Big bolsters support the torso without intruding on cruising comfort. If you're tall, the steering wheel tries to sit in your lap. A lever on the column adjusts the wheel's height but may not keep the leather wrapping its thin rim from blocking the tops of the speedometer and tachometer—especially the ever-popular, right-to-redline range from 3000 to 7500 rpm. The Japanese illogically fit control stalks for the windshield wipers that must be flicked down to turn them on and then further down to speed up. Somebody also specifies cruise-control electronics and throttle reactions that lag badly, sampling and adjusting road speed so slowly that it

1991 Infiniti G20 Tested: A Good Thing in a Small Package

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