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It’s hard to feel like a somebody in LA. No matter who you are, how much you’ve achieved in your life, how generously you tip, or any number of other factors that allow us to feel good about ourselves most places on earth, none of that means squat in Los Angeles. What you drive, however, goes a long, long way.
Stereotypes are sometimes true, sometimes not, but here, in Tinseltown, the place that gave us reality TV and the Paris Hilton industry, superficiality does indeed reign. Of course, the amount of money you have doesn’t matter so much as the amount of money you appear to have, and the easiest way to advertise that is a new, shiny, expensive-looking car.
Driving the brand new G37 convertible through Beverly Hills is a pleasure, partly because the car itself is a pleasure to drive, but also because, cruising down those palm-lined boulevards, top-dropped, stereo thumping, we manage to turn a few heads. It might have something to do with the fact that it is a cool-ish morning in March, and we are likely in the only vehicle with its top down in the whole LA County-area, but we choose to believe it’s because we look so good.
In any case, buffed and detailed to a high shine (the car, not us) we look right at home on these mean streets. Sleek, curvaceous and with an exhaust note that purrs like a ravenous jungle cat, it looks and sounds every bit like a big-engined luxury convertible should, making the pair of pasty Canadian car reviewers inside look like high-powered TV executives or something.
Leaving the gated mansions and manicured lawns of the 90210 behind and making a left turn down Sunset, we wind our way into the Santa Monica mountains on a twisty series of canyon roads towards the ocean. Here the fun begins. The steering is easy but firm, and the G37 convertible holds to the turns with the handling finesse we’ve come to expect from Infiniti’s sport models. Like the G37 sedan and coupe, it is a capable, invigorating machine, and threading it through the turns is the best kind of driving fun.
Unlike the sedan and coupe, however, the G37 convertible has a bevy of features that distinguish it from its siblings. Among these is the impressive Bose Open Air Sound System, designed specifically for top-down driving. With 13-speakers, including two handsome aluminum-accented personal speakers in each front headrest, the system automatically adjusts volume and sound levels depending on your speed, and whether the top is up or down. A sensor also checks for ambient sound, compensating for wind noise at speed. That said, with the windows up and the optional mesh windscreen in place over the backseat, there is remarkably little wind or noise to speak of. For us West Coast-types with our $700 haircuts, this is a useful feature indeed.
