2011 Infiniti M56: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2011 Infiniti M56 as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- 2nd Place Is 1st Place Loser
- ECO is ODD
- Still Trying to Settle In
- Wide Console
- How Low Can You Go? Not Low Enough.
- Video Walkaround
- Heated Steering Wheel
- Starting
- Nice Interior Details
- Poor Placement of the Seat Controls
- 2011 Infiniti M56 Track Tested
- Warning, Warning! High Surf?
- A Suitably Luxurious Ride? Nope
- No-Default Knobs
- Intelligent Cruise Control
- Now That Is Some Serious Door Design
- More on the Heated Steering Wheel
- Dirty
- Watches the Weather
- Be Careful What You Wish For
- You Like'a Da Sauce?
- A Better Balance
- Practically Drives Itself
- Where's The Owners Manual? Wherever You Want.
- Yes, You May
- Doesn't Play Well With Others
- 5,000 Milestone
- IBA Off Warning
- A More Sensible Alternative
- Coming Unstuck in Time
- Buttons
- Blamo. Right in the Kisser
- Distracting Details
- Better Than Coffee
- 400 HP Is The New 300 HP
- More On The Ride Quality
- Automatic Handle Lights
- Surround-Sound Movie Time
- Donate a Kidney To The Z
- Speech Lessons
- Really Like The Interior Design
- Gallery of Textures
- Big Car, Small Game
- Seat Adjusters
- That Mirror Thing
- Luxe Detailing
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Reflections, Everywhere
- Dyno Tested
- Trip to Willow Springs
- 7,500-Mile Service
- Cracking 10,000 miles
- Automatic Retractor Seat Belts
- Forest Air
- Psychosomatic Wellness
- It Can't Be
- This Big Boy Can't Dance
- Blamo. Right in the Kisser Pt. 2
- Read The Owner's Manual
- No Replacement for Displacement
- Does the Bike Fit?
- Taking The Good With The Bad
- Choose Your Screen Color
- Climate Control Volume?
- Easy to Park
- Against the Grain
- Dear Infiniti
- Real-Time Traffic
- Fine Commuter, But Not Feeling It
- The Cost of a Windshield
- Not a Very Firm Handshake
- The Cost of a Windshield, Pt. 2
- The Signed Edition
- Climate-Controlled Seats
- 16 Speakers of Goodness
- Interior Harmony
- Macho Leather
- Which Would You Rather?
- Heavy Foot, Dirty Bumper
- Choose Your Cliches Carefully
- Puddle Lamps Video
- Now With Trunk Monkey
- Cabin After Dark
- Trunk Woodpecker
- Gas Door Urban Legend?
- Fish Out of Water
- Getting Rid of the Gunner
- Bringing Maggie Home
- Rear Sunshade Fixed
- Clear Warning
- Parking Brake
- Full Tilt
- Playing Favorites
- Vettel and Webber Tackle the Nurburgring in an M37S and M35h
- Pushin' It...Almost.
- This Shouldn't Bother Me...
- Realtor's Choice
- 2011 Infiniti M56 vs. 2012 Infiniti M35h
- Passenger Point of View
- Fuel Economy Edition
- Going the Distance
- Weak Stream
- Radio Presets + Much More
- Fifteen Thousand Miles...And Counting
- Oil Change In Its Near Future
- Severely Scolded
- As Frequent As You Wanna Be
- Touchy, Touchy
- Cooled Seats Are Cool
- What's Wrong With This Picture?
- Control Logic
- High H Point
- Adaptive Cruise Control Part Two
- Big Bucks
- An Entirely Different Kind of Pedal
- Felt Up
- 15,000-mile Service
- Girl Stuff
- Timepiece
- Just Civil Enough
- Eco Mode Options
- Inelegant Console Container Lid
- When Siri Met Bluetooth
- Cut It Out
- LATCH Me Up, LATCH Me Down
- You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
- Automatic Window Switch Malfunction
- The Car Is All Right
- Too Much Sauce
- Weekend Road Trip
- Works For Me
- Rev Matching Video
- Now Hear This (Video + Audio)
- Not the Best Choice
- Head and Shoulders
- Windy Night in L.A.
- A Comfort Mode Away From Greatness
- It All Makes Sense Now
- Worth Going Back to Discs
- Cedric and Gloria
- The End is Near
- Exterior Door Handle Lights
- Not Hot Enough
- I'm Going To Forget
- Just Missed It
- That's Weird
- Cool Gauges
- Fog
- Do We Really Need Seat Speakers?
- Recalled for Potential Oil Leaks
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
We like a winner. Dominate a comparison test and there's a good chance your ball goes into the hopper for entry into our long-term fleet. It's not a guarantee, but if a vehicle is fresh in our mind from a series of crushing victories, the vehicle is usually first to our tongues to answer the question, "What should we get next?"
The 2011 Infiniti M56, however, has not been much of a winner. First, the new V8-powered M56 luxury sedan got its rear end paddled by the granddaddy of the luxury sedan world, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E550.
More recently, the M56 got edged out by the 2011 BMW 550i. Both sedans had Sport packages, and after plenty of seat time we determined that the Infiniti's setup was just a little too sporty for our tastes. Instead of pleasantly firm and communicative, it was jumpy and overly sensitive. Fun on a back road, but too nervous in everyday driving.
But there's still something to the 2011 Infiniti M56. It's got loads of power, a tremendous list of standard features that undercuts the price of the big boys in the game and it doesn't come with the hang-ups people have about buying a Mercedes or BMW. Maybe it deserved another chance? Maybe an M56 without the overly wound-up suspension would prove to be the combination we were looking for all along.
What We Got
The 2011 Infiniti M56 comes loaded from the factory. Even for a vehicle that starts at $58,775, the features list is long: heated and cooled eight-way power front seats with power lumbar, rain-sensing wipers, power sunroof with remote operation, interior air filter, dual-zone climate control, Bose premium 10-speaker stereo, XM nav traffic, USB input, hard-drive-based navigation system, keyless entry/ignition, Bluetooth, analog clock, heated steering wheel and cruise control.
These standard features are, of course, in addition to the M56's burly powertrain. The transmission is a seven-speed automatic with a rev-match feature. The engine is a 5.6-liter V8 making 420 horsepower and twisting out 417 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm. In previous testing, this combination has been good for sprints to 60 in as little as 5 seconds and low 13-second quarter-mile passes. All of this for less than the price of the BMW 550i ($60,575).
But there was still a decision to make. Did we want to live with the sport suspension to see if it would grow on us? Nope, so we ditched the Sport package in favor of an extra helping of high-tech goods.
First was the Deluxe Touring package. This $3,800 checkbox includes a 16-speaker Bose surround-sound system with digital 5.1-channel decoding along with the frighteningly named Plasmacluster air purifier and its grape polyphenol filter element. The package also includes a power rear sunshade, quilted seat pattern, white ash wood trim, suedelike headliner, soft-touch armrests, door inserts, center console and knee pads and Infiniti's Forest Air system. This feature has advanced auto recirculation and a breeze mode that lets the air waft through the cabin like, well, a gentle breeze. It sounds silly, but it's designed to reduce that dry feeling you get on long drives. Surely we'll be giving this a thorough test.
Next box ticked was the Technology package. For an extra $3,000 it adds intelligent cruise control, lane departure prevention, distance control assist, intelligent brake assist with forward collision warning, blind spot warning and blind spot intervention systems, front pre-crash belts, active trace control, adaptive front lighting system with auto-leveling headlights and another Infiniti specialty, the Eco pedal. This varies the resistance of the throttle pedal so you don't accidentally go fast and waste gas. Should be an interesting feature to try.
The final option was a set of 18-inch split five-spoke aluminum alloy wheels ($1,650) wrapped in P245/50R18 Michelin Primacy MXM4 all-season tires.
Total price: $67,225. But, as the disclaimer at the bottom reads, this vehicle is on loan from Infiniti for the purposes of this test.
Why We Got It
The 2011 Infiniti M56 is the latest attempt by Infiniti to find a gap in the armor of the German stalwarts of this segment. Riding on the second-generation FM platform — shared with the Nissan 370Z and Infiniti's FX50 and G37 — the M56 is only marginally bigger than the car it replaces. But the size increase has come in an area that radio advertisements tell is very important: width. The new M is 2 inches wider and rides on the same wheelbase. This means a bigger cabin and if there's anything that says luxury, it's a spacious cabin.
This new M is also running a direct-injection 5.6-liter V8 with variable valve timing and lift. Despite the size and power bump over the outgoing 4.5, the new engine is 10 percent more efficient. Part of that lies in the wizardry of the new seven-speed automatic.
It's an interesting and (relatively) affordable package that has all of the makings of a real competitor for the crown. And then there's that whole suspension issue. It's been a long time since a Sport package caused such a stir and we're more than a little curious to see how the standard setup fares over a year's time.
Seeing the Forest (Air) for the Trees
For the past two comparison tests, the M56 has taken a backseat to the competition. This is despite the Infiniti being frighteningly quick and nimble for its size. But still, the swooping lines, smartly dressed interior and advanced powertrain have us coming back for more. And in this case, more means 12 months and 20,000 miles. Will it be more of the same? Follow the long-term road test blog to read more.
Current Odometer: 1,956
Best Fuel Economy: 19.5
Worst Fuel Economy: 15.0
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 17.5
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Follow the long-term road test blog for updates about our 2011 Infiniti M56.
I'm with Hellwig when it comes to the Sport setting. I'd just set it there and forget it. I tried out the Eco mode on the way into the office today and it's just plain odd.
Besides neutering a good chunk of the M56's performance, it also engages the EcoPedal, which pushes back when you start applying more throttle. You can push past it with enough leg pressure, so at least you can get a good blast of power if needed. It takes some getting used to, for sure, but I'm beginning to see its merits. I'd prefer something like the EcoPedal to the usual efficiency meters that require more attention. This means you can keep your eyes on the road, and that's always good.
Whether or not this kind of system sees widespread acceptance is anyone's guess. I think with some fine tuning, it has potential.
What do you think? Is it just a novelty?
Make no mistake, I enjoy driving around in our new long-term 2011 Infiniti M56. Save for maybe the Jag XF, it's the best looking sedan in the premium, midsize, rear-drive class. I also like the driving position, which has a low-cowl feel with an expansive view out the front.
For some reason, though, I can't get used to the throttle response. It doesn't seem to matter whether I have the dial in Normal or Sport, response is very soft at tip-in. Give it little more... and Blammo! Congratulations! You're in a V8 sedan! Revel in the awesomeness of it all!
Which is to say, the torque comes on with a fury. Which is great when I'm the only one in the car.
And when my boyfriend's parents are in the car? Ah, well, not so much then. I've yet to record a clean trip when I didn't jerk their necks to and fro at least once with a clumsy go-pedal input. I really can't explain this... I didn't have a problem with the M56S that we put in a comparison test against the Benz E550 last spring (although we noted an odd throttle calibration in that M, too).
Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a chaffeur.
Some of my family rode in the 2011 Infiniti M56 over the New Year's holiday, and one of my relatives immediately noted that he felt cramped riding shotgun in the midsize sedan.
This didn't surprise me, because there's a definite cockpit-like feel in the M56. The dash and console kind of wrap around the driver, and even in our non-S long-termer, the front seats have defined lateral bolstering. I'll run some numbers after the jump.
To start, the Infiniti is a touch narrower than some rivals in this class. It measures 72.6 inches across, compared to 73.2 inches for the 2011 BMW 550 and a whopping 75.9 inches for the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E550.
Even so, the Infiniti offers comparable shoulder room if you believe the published specs — 58.4 in the M56, 58.3 in the 550i and (apparently) just 57.8 in the E550. I suspect, though, that there's a more obvious difference in the hiproom, but unfortunately, neither German manufacturer has published that spec. The Infiniti is listed 54.3 inches of front hiproom.
Then, I looked up specs for my family member's car, the 2003 Toyota Avalon. It's only 71.7 inches wide, but its published front shoulder room is exactly the same. Look at the hiproom spec, though, and it's more telling: The Avalon offers 55.2 inches of front hiproom. So that's why my relative felt cramped. (And yes, yes, this is an unfair apples-to-oranges comparison.)
Obviously, there are different packaging issues in the rear-drive M56 (drivetrain bits and all), versus the front-drive Avalon, but the Infiniti's curvy center console design certainly reduces available hiproom even as it contributes to the sedan's sporty feel.
My first impression of our 2011 Infiniti M56 is generally quite positive. Besides looking gorgeous on the outside, I find the interior to be simultaneously beautiful, well made and utterly functional. In motion, it's quick, balanced and responsive. Infiniti puts out some quality stuff.
But I may never drive it again. Why? It's the driver's seat. I can't stand sitting in it.
Oh, It's comfy enough as far as the shape goes, the leather is nice and it has heating and ventilation. But none of that matters because I simply cannot make the seat bottom go down far enough to suit my 6' 2" frame. I feel kinda like I'm sitting on a high perch, looking through the windscreen's tint band and peeking under the sunvisor, or something. It's not a headroom issue, it's a seeing-out-the-front-properly issue.
Yes, the power adjustable seat cushion can be adjusted up and down both at the front and back ends, but it's that back edge — the business end cradling my "sit-upon" — that stops well short of low enough. And I can crank myself down a little farther by lowering the front some more, which, unlike the back, has plenty of range. But when I do that I lose all thigh support and start to feel like I'm sitting at the top of a slide, waiting to hurtle over the edge.
OK, I probably will drive it again. But there's no summer Oregon trip in this one's future — short hops only for me.
Now I have something new to obsess about. Our Infiniti M56 has a heated steering wheel. It came in really handy this week. I've had some early morning starts when the temperature outside was only 40 degrees F.
I know that's not freezing, especially when compared to the rest of the country. But a heated steering wheel can be really comforting. This one warms up quickly, gets pretty hot, then fades and eventually shuts itself off.
By contrast, the heated seats in the Infiniti get warm, not hot, even at their highest setting. You activate them by turning a dial and they stay on until you turn them off.
It shouldn't be surprising that the M56's cabin is a nice place to spend time. And I've already come to appreciate some of the details on display inside this sport sedan. Following is a little tour of the finer points.
Go ahead, tell me why it's not nice.
See that narrow opening between the seat and the door? That's where you have to shove your hand to get at the seat controls. Not sure why it seems so tight on the M56, probably just my seating position. I'm sure the designers asked to put the controls down there so the buttons wouldn't clutter up the curves of the door panel. Can't blame them for that, but they should have done a better relocation job.
We've had the 2011 Infiniti M56 in our office before and the results have always been the same, "great numbers, but boy does that sport ride get tiring."
Our new Long Term Infiniti M56, however, does not have the sport package. It rolls on 18-inch wheels with all season tires but still has that great 420-horsepower V8 and solid chassis. So it's got some good stuff going and it doesn't have the rough suspension which should add up to a better every day car. But.what's it add up to on the track? This is a sport sedan, right?
Vehicle: 2011 Infiniti M56
Odometer: 1,290
Date: 12/14/10
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $67,225
Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Seven-speed automatic
Engine Type: Naturally aspirated, direct-injected, V8, gasoline
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 5,552 / 339
Redline (rpm): 6,700
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 420 @ 6,000
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 417 @ 4,400
Brake Type (front): 12.6-in one-piece ventilated steel discs with 2-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): 12.1-in one-piece ventilated steel discs with 1-piston sliding calipers
Steering System: Hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent double-wishbones, coil springs, monotube dampers, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink, coil springs, monotube dampers, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): P225/45R 18 91W M+S
Tire Size (rear): P225/45R 18 91W M+S
Tire Brand: Michelin
Tire Model: Primacy HX MXM4
Tire Type: All-season
As Tested Curb Weight (lb): 4,037 (55.8% front)
Test Results:
0-30 (sec): 2.2 (2.4 TC ON)
0-45 (sec): 3.4 (3.6 TC ON)
0-60 (sec): 5.0 (5.2 TC ON)
0-75 (sec): 7.1 (7.3 TC ON)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 13.2 @ 107.3 (13.3 @ 107.4 TC ON)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.7 (4.7 TC ON)
Braking
30-0 (ft): 30
60-0 (ft): 118
Handling
Slalom (mph): 63.5 (62.3 TC ON)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.86 (0.85 TC on)
Db @ Idle: 42.3
Db @ Full Throttle: 72.4
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 65.1
Acceleration Comments: There was no advantage to using the transmission's sport mode for acceleration runs — shift speed and shift RPM were identical to Normal mode (but sport does quicken throttle response and hold gears longer in full Automatic). The M56 wants to creep forward when overlapping pedals, so RPM could not be greatly raised before launch.
Braking Comments: stopping distances were repeatable and fade wasn't an issue; pedal feel was moderately firm. But the pads were smoking heavily after the last stop.
Handling Comments: Skidpad: Does not exhibit the edginess of the sport suspension and summer tire equipped M56. This one pretty much wants to circle the skidpad in a steady understeer push. The ESC was aggressive at cutting the throttle when turned on but the result proved only slightly slower. Slalom: Softer suspension and all-season tires translate to a les precise but more forgiving M56 than the sport package model we previously tested. Still, the chassis remains responsive to the point that you still need to keep on your toes about oversteer- both power on and drop-throttle.
Here's the sort of information the M56 insists I need to know. The interuption, which it speaks aloud over the audio system, inevitably comes right in the middle of some critical piece of the podcast I'm listening to.
Although I wasn't able to capture the warnings as they flashed across the nav screen, they occur virtually every time I drive the car. There's a running log which can be dug up in the infotainment submenus (see photo), but no intuitve means to turn them off.
And a high surf warning? Really? I don't need a high surf warning unless ther's going to be world-changing event. And I live in Southern California.
I'll dig around in the manual and see if there's a way to disable this function soon enough. In the mean time, uh...watch out for high surf.
The Infiniti M56 checks off most of the luxury car boxes. Lots of leather? Check. Handsome styling? Check. Is my butt heated and/or cooled? Check. Wind and road noise abated? Check. More technology than the Lunar Module? Check. Squishy interior materials? Check. Abundant power? Oh yeah. Silver dusting on the wood trim? You betcha.
How about the ride? No way, certainly not at this price point.
This isn't about me thinking a luxury car should waft down the road like a '65 Cadillac with marshmallow pumped into the springs. No, the M56 doesn't absorb impacts with the sophistication of a proper $50,000 luxury sedan. It hits a bump and it feels like the giant wheels are smacking against it, sending jittery vibrations throughout the car. The M56 Sport model only exaggerates this to the point of being maddening. In contrast, the 5 Series or E-Class feel like they are mashing those bumps into submission while keeping its body motions in check. "I am German, I vill crrrush you!"
I compare it to catching a baseball. I was taught to "have soft hands" and cradle the ball, pulling gently back as the ball enters your glove. This dampens the impact against your hand and prevents the ball from bouncing crudely out. Other luxury cars feel like this when making contact with road imperfections, but the M56 has the hands of a 41-year-old DH manning third for the first time in seven years.
While I'm not a fan of the new 5 and think it suffers from being too isolating, the old 5 managed to be both engaging and compliant. The M56 just isn't there yet.
In a day when every feature of the modern car is reset per single key cycle, it's refreshing to see these knobs in the M56.
Both Ed and Mark have beaten the always-stays-in-sport-mode thing to death already so I won't bother with that. The real point here is that I enjoy setting these knobs where I want them and knowing they'll be in the same position the next time I start the car.
And as a hidden bonus, it means I can leave the seat heaters cranked up to ass-fry for the next sucker who drives the car. Nice.
Infiniti wasn't kidding when it called its adaptive cruise control "Intelligent." Take a careful look at the information available in this photo and then hit the jump.
Yup, I've got the cruise set to 74 mph and the car is only going 10 mph. That's because the M's Intelligent Cruise Control will slow the car to a complete stop in traffic. It's an awesome technology.
Yes, other manufacturers have offered this feature for several years as well, but this is the first time I've experimented with it in heavy traffic. In the M, the system will slow the car to a stop when traffic dictates, turn itself off with an audible beep and then release the brake when the gap in front builds to a pre-set distance. With the M creeping along, all the driver has to do is tap the "resume" button and the car will begin following traffic like it was before — all the way up to the pre-set speed.
Naturally, it takes some time to learn the system's nuances, weaknesses and drawbacks. And I still covered the brake pedal while learning its capabilities, but that proved largely unnecessary. Infiniti says it's good to .5g deceleration, so while it might not prevent a crash in a worst-case scenario, it will still mitigate one.
Here's the bottom line: I drove about 16 miles in bumper-to-bumper traffic and another 40 or so in heavy, high-speed traffic. Didn't touch the pedals once.
Listen to an automotive designer talk about his or her latest creation and they'll likely tell you all about how "sculpted" the shapes and lines are throughout the car. More often than not, I look where they're pointing and see nothing but straight lines and flat panels.
That's not the case on our M56. Just look at that door panel, it's gorgeous, at least as door panels go. The shape of the wood trim, the creases in the leather folds and the simplicity of the controls are all beautifully combined into one cohesive panel design. It's striking and yet still perfectly practical, a design job well done.
I know this isn't the most important feature on the car, but you know how I get obsessed with all things heated.
I've been spending the entire week in the Infiniti M56. We've had some beautiful warm days in the 70s and some chilly mornings in the 40s and 50s. I've noticed that the steering wheel heat adjusts intensity to the outside temperature.
If it is a warm day and I turn on the steering wheel heat, it only gets lukewarm and eventually shuts itself off. If it's cold out, it gets nice and toasty, fades, gets really warm again, then fades to a lukewarm. It never stays on for my full commute home.
The seat heaters stay consistent throughout my ride.
Some of you mentioned you have heated steering wheels in your cars. Do they behave the same way?
We've recently been talking about how dirty light-colored floor mats can get. But look at this big muddy footprint in our Infiniti. Light colored mud on dark floor mat. There's no winning.
Our M56 went for a much needed bath today.
I'm a seriously addicted surfer and snowboarder. So for me, watching the weather is akin to a compulsive gambler checking the odds in Vegas or reading a racing form. While I can appreciate that the 2011 Infiniti M56 would let me know that there's a high surf warning — although I'm sure Surfline.com would have tipped me off to a big swell long before — the car's nanny-like weather alerts quickly start to sound a lot like Chicken Little.
I've driven variations of the Infiniti M in three different locations — LA, Detroit and the Pacific Northwest — and each time the various vehicles issued some type of audible weather warning. In Motown it was a flood warning on a sunny summer day. In the PNW it was something to do with thunderstorms, and recently in LA it was because of high winds — mild Santa Anas one day, and a stiff sea breeze the next.
I obsessively stay on top of the weather, and appreciate that the M56 can give me current conditions, warnings and forecasts — not only for my area but across the country. But the audible weather reports get tiring and, fortunately, they can be easily turned off.
Bob Dylan famously sang "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." And if you own an Infiniti, you don't even need a Brick Tamland. Though using Brick's voice in the M would be a big improvement.
"Scott, we've got an assignment for you down in Orange County. Can you drive the M56?"
Being that I've never driven our M56, or any M56 for that matter, I enthusiastically said yes. Then it struck me: I'm setting up lights for this shoot. How am I supposed to fit all my gear, especially the c-stands into this thing?
Well, it doesn't have fold down rear seats which really is a bummer for my mass of gear. I'm a little fearful to place my stuff on the rear seats. I don't want any damage done to the leather seats or door trim from hard case corners and metal components shifting around as I drive down to the OC.
Thankfully our M56 does have a pass through so I was able to fit my c-stands in the trunk. The rest of the trunk, while fairly large, does have some pretty good intrusions from the rear wheels; something you'd naturally expect for sure, but with my inflexible large gear bags it was a little tricky. With a little wiggling and a couple of tries I was able to get all of it in.
I was pretty surprised but very happy. I was able to fit all my junk inside that trunk.
Like I said in my last post, I've never driven our M56. My first eye opening driving experience was while patiently waiting for traffic to clear at the exit of the office garage. Once my window of opportunity opened I hit the gas.
The tires screeched loudly and my eyes opened up like saucers as the tach rapidly pegged. The M56 was flying like a bat out of hell. I didn't want to go that fast, but there I was tearing up the road. With a loud "Holy Poop" expletive said to an audience of one, I learned to respect the Infiniti's power.
Allow me to channel the Wooderson for a moment. Let me tell ya was the Infiniti is packing here, alright? We got a 5.6-liter, 32-valve V8, pumping out 420 hp @ 6,000 rpm with 417 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm. We're talking some trucking muscle.
Jacobs wasn't kidding about our longterm 2011 Infiniti M56. Thing's got motor. Holy crap. Just dip your toe and there's an ocean of thrust at your command. Doesn't matter much where the tach's pointed, it just hurls forward.
This past weekend was my first seat time in the big sedan, and the car in this guise is far more convincing than in full-kill Sport trim. We had the Sport for our comparison test from several weeks back, and I came away from my time in the car thinking it was trying too hard. Too stiff, too fiddly, too much intervention, too much trying to convince you that it's a real sports sedan. It wasn't honest.
When the M56 is dialed back a notch as it is like this longtermer, it's a terrific car. It has the compliance you want but still enough substance in the damping and steering to convey a premium vibe. Shades of sportiness without all the pretense. It's honest.
And, yeah, it hauls ass. Truly a wolf in sheep's clothing.
If you're like me the idea that a modern car, through its numerous and often imposssible-to-defeat electronic controls, is practically driving itself is an infuriating concept. Just the notion makes me want to punch whoever thought this was a good idea. Let me drive. Believe it or not, I can actually do it. And I enjoy it.
However, there is one thing which boils my blood even more than a car which doesn't do what I want.
LA traffic.
Kyle Reese said it best: It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."
Unless, of course, you drive a car with various electronic controls which make it more bearable. Like, say, our long-term M56. As you might have already read, the M is capable of covering serious miles in bumper-to-bumper traffic without the driver ever touching a pedal. In fact, I can make the majority of my 55-mile commute home — inlcuding a 200-degree transition ramp — without touching the pedals once.
And, combined with technologies like Blind-Spot Warning (pictured in the top photo) and Blind-Spot Intervention, which subtley keeps the car in its lane at the hands of a wandering driver, I'm finding I can get along with the idea of otherwise intrusive electronic controls. Plus, Inifiniti was smart enough to put the on/off button for Blind-Sport Warning within easy thumb reach on the wheel (pictured above). Don't like its warnings? Disable it in a nanosecond.
Let's face it, there's no glory to be had sitting in traffic at four mph. That's not driving, that's insanity. And I'll take every bit of help I can get.
Some days, that commute isn't so bad.
After a few months of periodically driving the M56 I have, on several occassions, had a need for the owner's manual. Looked in the glove box once and mistakenly assumed there wasn't one in the car. Today I found it.
In the trunk.
This isn't surprising and I should have looked there sooner. Several German manufacturers locate it there because, on cars with this much fucntionality, the thing is huge and would consume valuable glove space should it reside in the box.
When I removed it from the wall of the trunk I discovered that it's located there via some kind of mutant velcro that sticks to the trunk liner like superglue. This feature allows it to be stored anywhere in the trunk, like here:
Or, more creatively, here:
Maybe now I can figure out how to turn off the high-surf warnings.
Such an arcane feature, I hardly noticed it. Our M56 features door-mounted ashtrays for rear-seat passengers. A real ashtray, too. One that doesn't tell you with an icon of a circle-slash overlaid on a cigarette that it's not really an ashtray. Not a stashbox for coins and gum wrappers.
Nope. A real ashtray for real smokers — most likely Japanese businessmen of legitimate endeavor or otherwise — who will use and appreciate it. A small flip of the bird to hyper tobacco morality. The M56 even has one up front with a real lighter coil. I can't remember when I last saw a lighter/ashtray in a current American or import car.
Can American automakers get away with this anymore, without getting skewered as irresponsible? No examples come to mind. If they do include a receptacle, you're implored not to use it as such. Sometimes it's lined with felt. I'm curious to see how far Fiat/Chrysler will push Italian leisure principles into its future product.
Dig that chrome accent on the auto window control, as well.
But forget smoke and fire. This car owns. It's butter. The seats, the steering, the technology, the throttle. It parts traffic for you. You hardly notice the V8 until you summon it. Then it's impossible to get off your mind.
Our 2011 Infiniti M56 is chock-full-o high tech
nonsense
features. There's (and yes, I'm copying this directly out of the intro instead of typing it) "intelligent cruise control, lane departure prevention, distance control assist, intelligent brake assist with forward collision warning, blind spot warning and blind spot intervention systems, front pre-crash belts, active trace control, adaptive front lighting system with auto-leveling headlights" and more. If nothing else, they're nifty toys to talk about. Unfortunately, there is something else...
Our M56 refuses to play nice with my Valentine One.
Now, refusing to get along with a radar dector isn't so bad in, say, a Smart, but this thing has some 420(!) horsepower and has excellent wind-noise damping. 65 in this thing (on the right pavement) feel like park. Setting up the ol' V1 comes shortly after plugging in my iPhone.
And it's not that the V1 doesn't work, it does. But then it starts with completely random, full-strength laser warnings. And as owners of radar detectors know, the laser warning is the loudest and most annoying of them all. More than annoying, though, if your car is causing false positives on the radar detector, what good is the detector? There's a parable about a boy and a wolf that applies here. Go ahead and insert that.
I've tried the same thing with an Escort and the same thing happened. Never got a false read with any other car with similar features, only this one.
Oh, that and the M56 doesn't get along with the already signal-challenged iPhone; close the door and a bar-or-two drop immediately.
Annoying or deal-breaker? I've yet to decide.
We introduced our 2011 Infiniti M56 on Dec 29, 2010 and in just over two months, we've crashed through the 5,000-mile mark.
Hooray!
In that time we've had no problems (except for some radar detector interference) and averaged 17.9 mpg. At this pace, we're on track to hit 30,000 miles in 12-months of testing — though that estimate is probably off due to a small sample size.
Sorry for the blurry shot, but getting a picture of a near-random warning light that only turns on for a second or two 75% of the time you accelerate full throttle above 30 is more difficult than it sounds. And explaining what you're doing to the rent-a-cop in the empty mall parking lot is even less fun.
Anyway, the point: Over the weekend, the IBA (Intelligent brake assist) OFF warning light on our M56 was turning itself off and on. Normally this would happen during hard accelerations, but every so often it would just pop up at a steady highway cruise.
Now, according to the owner's manual, "The light illuminates when the Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA) off switch is pushed to OFF. This indicates that the Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA) system is not operating.
When the IBA off indicator light illuminates while the system is turned in (without the warning chime sound), this light indicates that the system control is temporarily unavailable.
When the IBA off indicator light illuminates with the warning chime sound while the IBA system is turned on, theis light indicates that the system may not be functioning properly. Park the vehicle in a safe place. Check to see if the laser sensor is clean. Turn the engine off, then restart the engine.
If the IBA off indicator light illuminates after following the procedures above, it may indicate that the system or Active Trace Control (if so equipped) is malfunctioning. Although the vehicle is still drivable under normal conditions, have the vehicle checked at in INFINITI retailer."
I pulled over the first time I saw it and read the above section (2-16) and, despite not hearing a beep, I checked the sensor (pictured below) and found nothing obstructing the view then re-started the vehicle. The light popped on a few more times, but no chime.
According to the book that means there's no problem, the system is simply unavailable. I think we'll mention it at the next service, but there doesn't seem to be a rush for this to be serviced. Would you take it in or wait it out — considering the pulled section of owner's manual above.
Fuel prices these days have everyone second guessing their car-buying decisions. As I drove our long term 2011 Infiniti M56 last night, I tried to put myself in a buyer's frame of mind. If I was in the market for one of these cars, I would choose the 2012 M35h Hybrid instead. Here's why.
When we tested the M35h, the performance numbers were very similar to the M56. While the allure of a V8 is awfully tempting, I'm fine with sacrificing a few tenths of a second in track times in favor of significantly better fuel economy. The EPA estimates that the M56 will get 16 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway and 19 mpg in combined driving. The M35h hasn't been formally rated by the EPA, so I'm basing this on Nissan's estimates. The automaker says that the Infiniti M35h gets 27/32/29. This is a 53 percent increase in fuel economy over the M56 and still 38 percent better than an M37.
Here's something else that would appeal to me as a potential M buyer. The M35h's starting price is $4,750 less than the M56. From this perspective, the hybrid looks like a screaming deal. Yes, the M37 is still $6,650 less expensive than the hybrid, but if I had enough money to consider an M56, then the price wouldn't be the only deciding factor. I'd like to make a statement with my car, too. I'd want my buddies at the law firm to know that I'm into performance, but I don't have to be reminded of it at the gas pump every week.
As I take off my M56 loafers and spray them with Lysol, I'll ask you to put yourself in these shoes. If you could own any of the three, which flavor of "M" would you choose?
*UPDATE: Thanks to reader Mikes12 for pointing out that the EPA has formally rated the M35h.
Let's take a moment to celebrate daylight saving time. It's wonderful to come home after work and still have enough light to enjoy the sunny, smiling faces around the neighborhood (including the ones on the mural next to Eddie's Liquor & Jr. Market).
I noticed, though, that the time change put the Infiniti M56's analog clock at odds with the satellite radio time display. It's my mantle clock versus the cable box all over again. Fortunately, the Infiniti's analog clock is easier to reset than my mantle clock.
Getting it to exactly match XM time is tougher, however, when you only have four hour marks to work with. I approximated 6:17 and let it go at that.
These are the buttons which adjust the driver's climate control temperature in our long-term M56. They work fine. But there's one way they could be better.
Knobs. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Took a rock (or some form of debris) on the commute home last night. Right in the middle of the windshield near its base. Made an absolutely horrid sound when it hit, which scared the life out of me.
Looked around, but in the dark couldn't pinpoint the location of the impact. Didn't even confirm the damage until this morning. Frankly, I'm surprised it's not worse given the intensity of the hit.
And that's just how it goes on the LA freeways. Bummer.
I love almost everything about our long-term M56. It's fast, comfortable, intuitive to use, big enough and good looking. I even love its interior. Except for one detail.
Can you guess what it is from this photo? Revelation after the jump.
Chrome.
It doesn't belong in interiors. Especially on surfaces as close to the driver as the face of the steering wheel. Although the photo doesn't capture it perfectly, it does give you some idea how distracting and powerful the reflection from even the smallest piece of chrome can be.
And on certain stretches of my morning commute, this thing is absolutely blinding. Hits me right in the eyes. As long as I'm on that trajectory there's little I can do but squint or cover the emblem with my hand.
Right by my house is the entrance to the 405. The meter light is always on. The best way for me to wake up in the morning is to patiently wait at the light for green. Once it flips, I gun it. It's my favorite part of the morning.
This short, albeit shaky vid, is just a taste of the legs on this powerful Infiniti. I could hardly keep the camera still in one hand as it blasted off. I love the power this thing can pump out. I just wished it wasn't so muffled. I wanna hear that V8 growl.
I feel like I fell asleep in my office chair, woke up and suddenly found myself in a different world. Who decided that it was OK to offer more than 400 horsepower in a V8-powered mainstream luxury sedan?
Well, I guess the automakers did. Our 2011 Infiniti M56 thumps out 420 hp. The 2011 BMW 550i has 400 hp. Oh, poor Lexus GS 460 — you're so 2008 with your paltry 342 hp.
The thing is, you used to get this kind of power only in dedicated sport sedans like the old 2000-2003 BMW M5. I remember being awed at the 394-hp figure at the time. Now getting 400 hp out of your regular midsize luxury sedan is like seeing another Kardashian post on TMZ. Yawn.
But for me, this rise in power has negatively affected something: balance. Our M56 is ripping quick, no doubt. I did a four-hour freeway drive last week (moving in relative slow-mo speed — the Fiat 500 in the photo above) and found the M56 constantly tempting me to accelerate past posted speed limits. The M56 imparts that big-car, big-displacement sense of hooliganism. You grin a lot when dipping into the M56's throttle.
But as Spidey's uncle Ben said: "With great power comes great responsibility." Unfortunately, the rest of our M56 feels like it's tuned for 300 hp. Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying Infiniti can't build a 400-hp chassis or anything like that. It's more about my expectations. If I've got 400 hp, I want my sport sedan's handling and braking to match. But going around corners, our M56 feels no more than what it is: a 4,000-pound, mild sport sedan riding on 18s with 225-series tires. That V8 will get you to a corner right-quick, but then what? Engine and athleticism aren't in harmony.
I know we wrote that the sport-package-equipped M56 we tested rode too stiffly. And perhaps I'd be complaining too if I spent significant time with it. Or maybe Infiniti should retune the sport package, perhaps adding adaptive dampers. But for our M56, I think I'd just have to pick the sport package.
Back in January, James wrote a post about our M's ride quality. His basic premise was that luxury sedans like the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class are superior in the way they deal with bumps in the road. While I agree with that basic premise (and in general James and I have pretty similar takes on cars), my overall opinion on our M56's ride isn't nearly as negative as his was.
James wrote: "The M56 doesn't absorb impacts with the sophistication of a proper $50,000 luxury sedan. It hits a bump and it feels like the giant wheels are smacking against it, sending jittery vibrations throughout the car." I've been driving our M56 for a week straight and haven't noticed anything "jittery" about the ride. In my opinion, the car deals with bumps in a perfectly acceptable manner.
Again, I agree that our M56's ride isn't as good as a 5 Series or an E-Class, particularly if they're fitted with their optional adaptive suspensions. But my overall take would be that while the ride isn't quite as refined as what you can get from other mid-size luxury sedans, this deficiency is a pretty minor issue.
When you walk up to our Infiniti M56 with the key fob in hand (or pocket; the car's keyless ignition/entry), the exterior door handle lights click on automatically when you get within a few feet. You don't have to press unlock button on the fob to make it happen.
The auto function is nowhere near a being a necessity, but I thought it's a nice little touch.
Our Infiniti M56 comes standard with navigation and the 8-inch display screen. It also has the optional Bose sound system (it's part of the $3,800 Deluxe Touring package) that includes 16 speakers and 5.1-channel surround sound. Since listening to my regular music doesn't involve surround-sound, I was curious to see how what the audio experience was like when I popped in a DVD movie to watch.
I'll leave it to our senior technology editor, Doug Newcomb, to eventually give the M56 his full audio review, but surround sound was definitely working when I tried out Saving Private Ryan. The Bose system also includes two personal speakers in each seatback for the front seats. Their output is pretty discrete, but they were putting out what seemed to be rear-channel support when I put my ear up close to hear.
It was odd having this great surround-sound experience matched to what is still a pretty small viewing screen. I don't think you're ever going to go sit in your M56 in your garage to watch movies if you've got a decent home theater setup at home. But it's still neat and, if nothing else, something to impress your friends with.
The 5.6-liter V8 that goes into the Infiniti M56 is a beast. It's one of the two things I like most about our car. But it's a shame that the V8 sees such limited play in other models. So how about this, Nissan: Figure out a way to shoehorn it into the Nissan Z to create a limited run of 560Zs. Would this not just be super cool?
First of all, it would fix the biggest issue I have with the current Z: it's a great car in need of a great engine. The current 3.7-liter V6 is just too buzzy and just kills the character of the car. The V8 isn't a high revver, but I think I could live with that given an increase to 420 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque. Plus, I'd argue the Z needs a power increase if Nissan hopes to compete with the latest models of the Mustang and Camaro. Last month, the Camaro outsold the Z nine to one. The Mustang, eight to one.
No doubt it'd be a tough thing to do. Maybe the V8 wouldn't fit in the Z's engine bay. Maybe Nissan doesn't have a manual transmission suitable for the V8's power. Maybe it'd bring an unwelcome change in weight distribution or handling. Maybe it'd be really expensive. Maybe the reduction in fuel economy would further mess up Nissan's CAFE goals. Probably, it's all of the above.
But it's nice to dream, right?
It's Distracted Driving Awareness Month here in California, and every highway sign warns us (with terrible apostrophe abuse) "Texting Ticket $159+ Its Not Worth It." The CHP and more than 200 other police agencies are taking a zero-tolerance approach to drivers who hold their phones for chatting or texting as they drive.
So yesterday was a good day to test the voice-activated dialing command in the 2011 Infiniti M56. I used the touchscreen to pair my phone before setting out — that was a snap. On the road, I followed the voice commands to access my iPhone's contacts. So far, so good. When asked who to call, I said, "Cheryl's cellphone."
And that's where the trouble started. The system heard it as "Sheryl," and the options I got all started with "Sh": Shankman, Shay, Shilo, Shingleton. Cleverly, I noted the last-name trend and I tried again with Cheryl's last name, which starts "Do." More like d'oh. The system wouldn't display her listing.
So when traffic came to a halt on the freeway, I used the touchscreen to make the call. (The M56's touchscreen dialing commands are locked out until the car is slowed to a crawl or, better yet, stopped. The CHP likes that, I'm sure.)
After I got home, I took the system up on its offer to analyze my voice to see if we could improve communication. The M56's screen and voice commands prompt you to say a specific phone number. The system records and analyzes your voice for volume, speed and start of speaking. If you talk too softly, too slowly or start your commands too early or too late, the system might not understand you.
In several tests, the system told me that my volume and speed were good, but I was starting to speak too soon after the system's prompt. I thought I was waiting, but finally, I did a silent count to three before I started speaking. That was a tad too long, as you see in the screen shot. A two-count turned out to be perfect. And when I tried my voice commands again, I had better results in getting the contacts I wanted. Thanks for the elocution lesson, Infiniti.
Besides the V8, my favorite thing about our M56 is its interior. The color scheme is a bit too dark for my tastes (you can get others, obviously), but otherwise it's just really well done. In particular, I like the sweeping look of the dash and the ergonomics.
For the latter, I've just noticed that most of the controls fall readily to hand and are easy to use. I particularly like how the center stack is close to the driver; I never feel like I have to stretch for any of the buttons. In that sense, it's like driving a smaller car, like a Miata. I'm also keen on the tactile feeling from the nicely contoured door releases and sensible steering wheel controls.
Other than perhaps display screen graphics, I prefer our M56 to our BMW 528i in regards to interior design.
When I got behind the wheel of our 2011 Infiniti M56, I was struck by the variety of textures, made me want to touch everything. Which I did. But check it out. I wanna touch that speedometer! And you probably can't tell by the picture but it looked like the clock had some raised surfaces. In any case a very luxurious-feeling interior, nice details. What say you?
Found myself in Sacramento watching Sac State play Air Force in a non-conference game, which is a long way to go to watch such a small game. Ah well, it's spring. Such things happen.
Did learn that as a spectator, it is sometimes smart to take note of the mascot adopted by the local team, as it usually involves the most ubiquitous form of indigenous wildlife. This is not a big deal when you are at the University of Michigan, since it's unlikely you'll meet any wolverines on the streets of Ann Arbor. But at Sacramento State, you're sure to meet the local variety of the hornet, and we spent a few innings watching the game from a student parking garage just beyond the left field fence, the equivalent of the row houses across from Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The Infiniti M56 is the biggest car I've driven north in a while and it's definitely big, 194.7 inches long on a 114.2 inch wheelbase and 4,028 pounds. As much as the standard comparison for this car is now BMW's latest 5 Series, I still think of the M56 as a 7 Series car. The M56 isn't exactly an Infiniti Q56 with all the SUV bodywork stripped away, but it definitely drives big, maybe because you can't see the corners very well.
Did my usual balloon-foot run on Interstate 5 on the way back just to see what kind of mileage I could squeeze out of this big car. Didn't hope for much, as the M56 gets about 23 mpg in everyday driving, and this 420-hp 5.6-liter V8 is very much a representative of the Nissan's straightforward way of getting power, which is to use plenty of gasoline.
The run back amounted to 441.8 miles (the trip computer says), a combination of about 20 miles of rural two-lane, about 300 miles of dead-straight Interstate and then a final 100 freeway miles over the mountains and through L.A. The M56 averaged 63.8 mph, about as much as you can hope for when you're running 75-80 mph among all the cars on the Interstate on a Sunday and then get tangled up with traffic in the L.A. basin (one 3-mile stretch of stop-and-go traffic).
The M56 did the distance at 25.8 mpg. Probably you'd have to hypermile it to do much better, since I've got the lightest right foot around here.
To get optimum fuel economy (did I mention a gallon of premium goes for $4.46 along Interstate 5?), I tried to use the M56's super-duper cruise control, which tries to maintain a steady following distance to traffic. It's a device that you really want in California, where there are so many cars on the road that conventional cruise control makes you disengage it pretty frequently to avoid slower cars and trucks, no matter how smart you try to be with matching the pace of traffic.
But I couldn't really get along with M56's system, as it whoa-ed up a little too soon no matter what distance I set the disengagement point and then returned to speed a little too slowly. To make it useful, you just have to camp out in the fast lane and spend your trip with your eyes in the rear mirror on the watch for closing traffic (and CHP cars) instead of looking ahead.
Actually the bane of travel on Interstate 5 is the left-lane campers doing the very same thing, only slower (naturally) than you. That's the trouble with freeway driving in this state – it's a psychology test, not a driving exercise.
Maybe I need more time to figure it out, but the whole experience with the M56's cruise control devolved into a contest of wills with the electronic brain as well as the traffic, and that's not the right frame of mind for hours of tedious travel. Of course, the cruise control didn't panic and shut things down because it thought a roadside billboard was the back end of a parked semi, which is what the first radar-controlled cruise control in the Mercedes S-Class used to do.
Big car, small game. Ah well, I didn't get stung by a yellow jacket at least.
Hey, check this out: The M56's seat adjustment controls are on...wait for it...the seat.
Why this matters after the jump.
Some German cars, like, say, this Mercedes-Benz CL550 and its four-door brother, the S-Class, put the seat adjustment controls on the door. It's an odd place for them, really.
After all, I don't go looking for the door release on the seat. And when I find the window switches on the center console or on the dash, well, I'm equally annoyed.
So I'm glad Infiniti did this right.
The idea that side mirrors should readjust themselves (see above) every time a car is in reverse has always been lost on me. In the M56 — and many German cars — the mirrors tilt downward to show, well, I don't know what.
The photo immediately above shows the driver's mirror in its default positon while the first image shows it with the car in reverse.
I suppose this is an effort to make visible the curb or any obstacle below the car's waistline which might otherwise not be as obvious. Still, I find it annoying. Always have. What if I want to look for obstacles elsewhere? Why should the curb have veto power over, say, a child playing further back?
Near as I can tell, there's no way to disable this feature. Bummer.
Here's a tactile detail in our 2011 Infiniti M56 that is frequently overlooked, even among luxury car makes — steering wheel stitching. Roll your eyes if you will.
Go ahead, I'll wait.
Done? Okay.
First off, the leather on the M56's wheel is as supple as lambskin. Really nice stuff. Were it stitched with your typical thread in a typical fashion, you'd feel the discontinuity every time you touched the wheel. Definitely uncouth.
It might be difficult to see here, but that stitch you see above results in a very slight raised portion of leather between the rows of thread. This way, all you can feel is said soft leather rather than the thread, which is never anywhere close to as pleasant to the touch as the cowhide. It feels almost as though the thread isn't there. I'm sure there's some impossibly esoteric description for this type of seam. Any tailors out there?
Whatever it's called, this type of seam makes a noticeable difference. As such I made a point to check out the seams of the last two luxury cars I drove. Our Equus' stitches are as coarse as horsehair and protrude significantly. They're actually quite poor. Next was the current Mercedes S-Class. Guess what? It, too, has a rougher feel at the stitches than the M56.
I'm not crazy about the secondary controls on the M56's steering wheel, but Nissan's leather-wrap department scores an A+.
I somehow ended up in the middle of the desert this week and had to drive back in our long-term M56 (notice the bug graveyard on the bumper). I'm usually not a fan of cruise control, but on a flat, featureless expanse of highway, I gave it a shot. The last time I tested an Infiniti QX56, I complained that the adaptive cruise control was far too abrupt. When traffic cleared in front, the QX felt like it almost hit full throttle to reach the target cruise control speed. When a car entered the same lane, the QX felt like it slammed on its brakes.
I expected the M56 to be similarly jumpy, but I was wrong…
It was smooth — a nice gentle ramp up to speed and a gradual coast to slow down. I'm glad Infiniti got it right on this one. Cooled seats also made the drive seem a lot shorter. There some things that I don't like about the Infiniti M56 (I'll save those for another post), but as a long-haul sedan, I admit, I'm a fan.
A few weeks ago Josh criticized the chrome accents on the steering wheel of our 2011 Infiniti M56 for distracting the driver. The steering wheel is by no means the only problem. Glare from the central retina searing tower is equally intrusive. And whatever you do, don't look down.
Reflected sunlight from the faux-wood-ultragloss surface around the shifter guarantees ocular obliteration. I shouldn't have to drape my jacket strategically throughout the interior just to drive while the sun is up. Looking at the pictures gives me a headache all over again.
Having driven our 2011 Infiniti M56 around for several months, one thing is certain — this big, comfy luxury car has motor. It's an impression we've relayed on several occasions.
Seat of the pants is nice and all, but what sort of powerband does this thing really have? Too often the butt can be fooled by calibration-related tweaks. Is it a top-end screamer or a low-down stump-puller? Such questions keep us up at night.
The dyno has no time for subjectivity or hyperbole. So we did the right thing and strapped our M56 down to the rollers of the Dynojet 248 inertia dyno at MD Automotive in Westminster, CA. The result is, as the kids like to say, after the jump.
The M56 is powered by, aptly, a 5.6-liter DOHC V8 engine. Nissan's being using just such a thing in their Titan and Armada offerings for years.
However, the M56 doesn't use the VK6DE found in those brutes. Instead it employs the newer VK56VD guise, which shares its fundamental architecture (bore spacing, bearing package, etc.) but adds new heads packing direct injection, variable valve lift hardware and a variety of other tweaks.
The core VK engine goes back even further, starting life a decade ago at a piddling 4.5 liters. It's probable that at 5.6 liters the VK is at its limit in terms of displacement.
Nissan's peak ratings for the M56 (as measured at the flywheel, of course) are 420 hp at 6000 rpm and 417 lb-ft at 4400 rpm. Here are its results we measured at the wheels:
The VK56VD clearly favors... well, all engine speeds, really, but it's no slouch down low. There's more than 350 lb-ft of torque to the wheels between 2400 to 5400 rpm and a peak of 377 lb-ft. Power climbs all the way to the 6300-rpm fuel cut where it reaches its peak of 380 hp. Curiously, it didn't reach the 6700 rpm rev limit published in Infiniti's literature. It could be that the M56 has a 130-mph governer, which corresponds to 6300 rpm in fourth gear.
For a luxury car to properly soothe, you don't want some cammy, thumping beast of an engine. Those are great for sporting vehicles but just don't cut it in a luxosedan. You do, however, want torque. Preferably down low, to help muscle a heavy sedan off the line.
In terms of engine design, big cubes inherently deliver big torque (if not, something is very wrong), but also big fuel consumption. That's where direct injection comes in, boosting volumetric efficiency and facilitating a high compression ratio by cooling the intake charge. This in turn results in increased power and improved fuel consumption. Did somebody say 'free lunch'?
You can get a better idea of an engine tuned for a performance car versus a luxury car by comparing the M56's mill to the Ford Mustang 5.0-liter V8 here. Similar in layout (and stroke is nearly identical), the Ford produces exactly the same peak power as the Infiniti, despite being down by 0.6-liter and armed only with conventional port fuel injection.
The Nissan's VK, however, wallops the Ford down low. Note how the torque curves diverge as revs drop. At 2500 rpm the Infiniti generates more than 60 lb-ft more torque than the Ford. What's missing (and what we'll never know) are these engines' BSFC characteristics, or the amount of fuel required to generate a given amount of power as mapped over their entire speed and load range. The fuel-saving benefits of the VK56VD's variable valve lift, high compression and DI would be particularly evident here, particularly at part load.
Makes me wonder what the VK56VD could do were it worked over for performance-car duty. My guess is that it wouldn't take much for this engine to produce supercar-worthy, rock-star high end. Not that there's anything wrong with 380 rwhp. Just fantasizing about a 560Z, I guess.
Our 2011 Infiniti M56 paid a visit to the House of Charmin West the other weekend. For those of you out of the loop on potty hut nomenclature, this is the building located near the go-kart track at Willow Springs Raceway. But we weren't at Willow Springs for the karting.
Instead, we went up the hill for a little recreational driving school on the Streets.
It wasn't until the last minute that we considered driving the M56 for the school. But we were too late. There was already a slightly modified beater Celica with our name on it.
It was a fun day and a long day. When it came time to climb into the M56 for the 125-mile drive home it was a relief. Despite its sporty demeanor the M offers a reasonably compliant ride and exceptionally comfortable seats. It was plenty soft enough for me, forgetting that I'd been in a Celica for the previous 4 hours.
Over the past month I've put a good 750 highway miles on the M56. Adaptive cruise control. Serene interior. Satellite radio controls at my fingertips. I can't ask for much more. And once the sun lowers in the sky the annoying interior glares disappear. This M is unexpectedly becoming my favorite highway cruiser in the fleet.
Forgive us for being a tad late in reporting this, but our Infiniti M56 got serviced a while back to commemorate 7,500 miles on the odometer. Santa Monica Infiniti charged us $45.95 for labor and $23.52 for parts to change the oil and oil filter, and to rotate the tires.
We're happy to report that our trip to the dealership was uneventful. Nobody tried to scam us and the M56 was in and out in a matter of hours.
Last night, on world famous Sunset Blvd., our long-term 2011 Infiniti M56 covered its 10,000th mile. The car still feels new and has yet to need a repair of any kind. Which, lets face it, is how it should be.
This hasn't really bothered me but whenever I've had a passenger in our long-term Infiniti M56, they've been freaked out by the seat belts.
As soon as you unfasten them, they recoil automatically. They move pretty quickly and you have to get your arm out of the way or else you'll get tangled up. Here is a short video of them in action.
Like I said, I don't mind them. I got used to them and don't really think about them anymore until I have a passenger.
Tell us about the seat belts in your car.
See that button with the pine trees on it? That's the button used to activate a feature that Infiniti calls "Forest Air." And they're thinking of clean, bracing forest air, not the skunk-sprayed kind.
Forest Air includes a high-tech air purifier that deodorizes bad smells and Infiniti says it even works to deactivate viruses and bacteria. So the next time an editor comes down with a cold, this is the car they're getting. There's also a humidifier designed to tweak and optimize the air's moisture levels.
I couldn't tell you if the air purifier and humidifier are doing their jobs, but there's another aspect of Forest Air that's easier to gauge: its air delivery, which is designed to mimic that of a gentle breeze. The air from the M56's vents is modulated, so it feels more natural and less mechanical. It's a nice touch, one that adds a measure of refinement to an already pleasant cabin.
Does your car have an air purifier and/or humidifier? Have these features made a big difference for you?
Ever since Warren posted about the Forest Air setting in our Infiniti M56, I've been using it nonstop. I've been sneezing and coughing for almost three weeks much to the dismay of my coworkers. And I've tried everything to get back on track. I've been to the doctor, I've taken a variety of over-the-counter and prescription medications.
I've been trying to limit how many of our cars I drive so I don't germ up everything in the fleet. I've been in the Infiniti all week and am finally starting to feel better. Perhaps I'm kicking this illness at last.
Or do you think the Forest Air setting is helping to save me from the canyon of pollen I drive through every day? Maybe it's all in my imagination. Either way it hasn't hurt.
The specs on the Infiniti M56 says the cargo area is 14.9 cubic feet with all seats in place. I can't believe that is all, not that that would be particularly small.
I went shopping this weekend and bought bulky things like pillows and door mats and also stopped for groceries in the same trip. The M56 trunk seemed so huge to me. It swallowed up everything and still had room for more.
I was very surprised when I looked up the actual measurement. I thought it would be at least 16 cu.ft.
Have a look at the photos and tell me if I'm crazy.
Really, I've tried.
I've put this big boy on wide roads and narrow, on gently winding two-lanes across rolling pasture land and nasty little tangles in narrow canyons. I've dialed it up and dialed it back. Driven it with my fingertips and driven it with my biceps. Made the tires rush smoothly through the bends and made the brakes smoke into hairpins.
But it ain't dancing for me.
When you let this car drive in the comfort mode, it does a fine job of insulating the cabin from the tremble of rough pavement, but even mild variations in the camber of the road surface tip the car out of balance. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to distract you. And as soon as the road starts to bend back and forth, the car just seems to tip out of its comfort zone altogether, rolling awkardly (even if it's just a little) and taking an uncomfortable set. Even left-foot braking doesn't seem to help the car keep its balance.
You can give yourself the illusion of tightening things up in the Sport mode, but the overlay of abrupt throttle response makes the task of guiding this 4,037-pound car down the road worse instead of better, because quick power inputs just make the chassis confused. And don't be blaming it all on the tires, as these 50-series 18-inchers make this car more predictable than the M56S's 40-series 20-inchers and don't give up more than a fraction of grip, much as our testing of the M56 and the M56S has shown. And the M56S's trick four-wheel-steer program is really better at producing numbers in the slalom than in straightening out a long and winding road.
What we're talking about here is balance — a nearly indefinable coordination that you look for in any athlete, human or mechanical. And this car doesn't have balance.
Infiniti knows what balance is, as the original 1990 Infiniti Q45 showed us all those years ago. But every time I drive this car I want to head for the Nissan proving ground in Arizona, start throwing springs and dampers and bars and bushings at this car until it comes good. Maybe throw some new electrons at it, too.
There should be a good car inside the Infiniti M56, but right now this big boy can't dance.
Remember this? Well guess what...your predictions were right.
And I know you love being right.
No surprise here, but that simple rock chip is starting its ugly and unstoppable spread across the windshield.
What the heck is AFS? Push the button on the M's instrument panel and a small "AFS Off" light illuminates. Nothing changes. Well, nothing changes during the day.
AFS, it turns out, is Infiniti speak for active headlamps (Adaptive Front lighting System). And these lamps on the M56 do some pretty cool stuff. I'll leave it to the owner's manual to reveal all the details. Because, after all, I know you all love the owner's manual.
At least to me, there's nothing quite like a big V8 or V12 under the hood. I had a momentary lapse of reason last week with some electric cars, but I'm all better now. What cured me?
Our Infiniti M56 and our 5-oooooh Mustang.
It's that intoxicating flood of power; the rumble and roar of the exhaust and the ability to dispatch that idiot in the right-turn-only lane that thinks he's going to beat you through the intersection. So long, sucka!
Just knowing you have that power on tap is worth the price of admission. It's like that crazy friend of yours that is always up for some ridiculous adventure. The one whose favorite phrase is, "hey y'all, watch this!" You can live vicariously through that friend, but it's much more fun actually being there with them.
Meanwhile, six-cylinder and lesser engines leave me feeling like I just spent time with the friend that got pressured into getting married and starting a brood. The dependable friend that is just a bit shy of actually living. The one you want to toss into a Fight Club ring to get him burning with a little more intensity. Adding a turbocharger is about the equivalent of joining him on some adult summer camp to live out some rockstar or tough guy fantasy. Both the engine and the friend end up being a fun time, but only a simulation of what the raucous buddy or V8 can deliver.
More. Give me more.
It's baaack. After a brief hiatus, our "Does the Bike Fit?" series has been renewed for a second thrilling season. Popular demand (meaning no more than one Edmunds staffer expressed interest. And no, it wasn't Jacquot; he already thinks he knows all there is to know about bicycles) pretty much required we keep it going.
Today we examine the Infiniti M56. So, does the bike fit?
As you can see, yes, the bike does fit. But it's a bit of a squeeze-fest to stuff a mountain bike with cheater 29-inch wheels into the back seat, despite the fact the M56 is actually a good-sized sedan.
Now, why the back seat, you ask? Because the M56 doesn't have folding rear seats, so there's no ability to use a trunk pass-through. This is quite inconvenient for lazy automotive editors who prefer to just throw their bikes into test cars with nary a thought. Or a bike rack.
No test cars were harmed in the making of this blog.
Here's the deal: I've blogged too much on the M56. But that sure as heck doesn't mean I'm going to quit driving it. This is a glorious sedan: powerful, comfortable, intuitive...I could go on.
But I won't. Because this morning my wife drove the M and found a few things to talk about.
Her first comment is essentially the same as mine. I'll save you the details, but she largely covered the M in glory and ended with "I could own one of these."
Right. Don't get any ideas.
But she did have observations. The first is that the rear headrest is small enough to create a good rearward sight line between the outer headrests — something that's been a problem for her in other large sedans.
And then there is this. The dot. I'll use her words: "In the universal language of car icons, what the heck does the dot mean?"
Good question, honey.
Here's something cool. The M56's display screen allows you to choose your preferred background color: Silver (like this), brown or black.
Which do you like?
Despite what the picture above may be alluding to, no, you cannot adjust the volume of the M56's climate control. But I wish we could. You see, as I was stuck in bumper to bumper to bumper to bumper to bumper traffic last night (should've taken the Harley home), I noticed a weird whistle and hum.
Initially, I thought it was the big delivery truck next to me, but the noise persisted after he crawled a few car lengths ahead. I turned off the climate control and it was silenced. I turned it back on and after a few seconds, the noise returned.
The noise is coming from under the hood, not through the vents, thankfully. Once you get past 35 mph (which pretty much never happened last night), it becomes less noticeable. But it's still loud enough to hear when the radio is on while you're stopped. To me, it sounds like something's wearing out, almost like a chirping fan that used to be inside my old (first-gen) plasma TV. The climate control still works as it should, though, so perhaps this is just something to investigate the next time it's in the shop.
That's a shot of the Casahashi backyard. Getting into the spot where the Infiniti is pictured is pretty easy for smaller cars (Cruze, Mazda 2, Fiat 500), but larger cars like the 5 Series and even our Kia Optima require a bit more work. The smaller cars slot in there with a 6-point-minimum turn. The last time I got the BMW 528i in there, it needed a 10-point turn. How did the Infiniti fare?
Surprisingly, the M56 got into the spot requiring only a 6-point maneuver. Impressive, considering its size, but even more so in terms of the ease in which it did it. The light steering made lock-to-lock turns a cinch and the turning circle seemed well-suited to tight spots. The rearview camera with the predictive lines was also a welcome addition and eliminated any need for parking sensors.
I experienced the same thing with our FX50, so now I'm wondering if this is an Infiniti thing. If it is, color me impressed.
It's my third time in our 2011 Infiniti M56. I'm sitting at a stoplight, still amazed by the car's acceleration in Sport mode and mystified (or is it mist-ified?) by the Forest Air feature. Then I look to my right and realize that the Japanese white ash center console is roughly as big as my coffee table. Granted, this plank is beautiful and it's the real thing. The finish is amazing and the grain begs for a caress.
But I find myself wondering why there's so damn much wood in this car. In addition to the console, why is there a ribbon of ash encircling the cabin, suggesting the prow of a chariot? Why is a car that's nominally about 21st century power and technology paneled in a material that's better suited to the top of a George Nakashima table?
What do you think? What effect are designers trying to invoke with this generous helping of forest product?
See that? That's a real, honest to goodness throttle cable.
Since none of the presets you've managed to come up with are any good, I'd like you to throw out that select-a-mood electronic throttle bulls*!# and use one of these instead. You might as well just go back to letting the driver select, via their ankle, whether they want to save fuel or haul ass.
Summit Racing has them. Here's the link. They're only 40 bucks.
Thanks.
I don't often use the nav systems or map features in cars unless I'm going out of my way. On a daily basis I usually don't even put them on. Last night, however, as I sat in traffic on the freeway, I used the Infiniti M56's real-time traffic map. I didn't have any intention of changing my route but it made me feel better when I finally starting seeing yellow and then green instead of red.
The video is a little blurry but you can see the blinky blinky red line let's you know when you're really screwed:
There's no denying that our 2011 Infiniti M56 has an exciting engine once you get past the halting throttle response. The torque hits hard after that, yet the V8 likes to rev (and I like engines that like to rev), so assuming you have a big enough gap in traffic, you can just keep on going before easing up on the throttle and letting the transmission upshift.
Ride quality is pretty good without the Sport package, as the big sedan is compliant and forgiving over most surfaces, and road noise only gets excessive over the truly bad sections of freeway. So with the standard setup, the Infiniti M56 is up to par in ride comfort for a midsize luxury sedan.
Yet, I'd take the Sport package back if I could.
Because I'm a glutton for punishment? Yes... because I know how this car rides with 20-inch summer tires and the more aggressive spring and damper calibrations. But I miss how the M56S feels — the more immediate turn-in response, the exaggerated steering feel. Nah, it's unlikely I'd really make use of the 3-mph difference in slalom speed between this M56 and the last M56S we tested during a commute.
But the M56S drives like a more interesting car — it's the kind of car I'm motivated to take on a back road and, at this price level, what's another $3,650 for a sport package? I'm planning a road trip to Montana later this summer, and I'd choose an M56S for that adventure with no hesitation (it's a solo trip so no worries about others' ride-related discomfort). But the M56? It feels a bit too much like a Honda Accord with a V8 engine.
"Hello, local auto glass guy? I'd like to get an estimate on a windshield for a 2011 Infiniti M56."
"Oooh, we don't have those yet. You'll have to call a dealer. It will be expensive."
Click.
"Hello, Infiniti Santa Monica? I'd like to get an estimate on a windshield for an M56"
"What year is it?"
"Really? Um, 2011."
"There are two types of windshield. What is the VIN? ...Ok, we don't have that windshield in stock. We'll order one. It should arrive in about a week. The cost is $1,250. We charge $250 for the labor, the rest is materials."
"Ok, order one up."
Click.
I've heard car designers refer to a car's "handshake" on various occasions. It's designer speak for the way a car introduces itself to the driver. It can refer to everything from the feel of the seats to the sound of the warning chimes. It can also be something as simple as the thump of the door closing or, in this case, the feel of the door handle.
Our M56 has fairly elegant looking handles with an easy to use keyless entry button. They deliver a good first impression — at least until you reach out and grab one. You expect something solid, mechanical and precise. Instead you get a handle that feels hollow and made of plastic.
To its credit, it is precise. The handle fits and moves with zero freeplay, but given that it's the first thing you touch every time you get in the car, it always leaves me a bit cold. And for the record, the handle on our BMW 528i isn't much better in this regard.
We got the call that the windshield for our 2011 Infiniti M56 arrived, so we dropped it off at Santa Monica Infiniti for installation. Our advisor estimated a week for parts to arrive but it showed up sooner. That was yesterday morning...
Yesterday afternoon the phone rang. It was our advisor. The seal that came with the new windshield was defective. He had checked other dealerships for the part to no avail. Now he was calling to see what we wanted to do next.
Guy: I know you're anxious to get your car back. I can offer you a 10% discount and use the defective seal. Or, we could reuse the existing seal. What would you like to do?
IL: If this was your wife's car, what would you do?
Guy: I understand completely. We'll order the new seal. Unfortunately, we're going to need until tomorrow morning when our next shipment arrives. Sorry for the delays.
IL: Ok. Give us a call when it's ready.
Days out of Service: 2
Last time I had to get a windshield replaced it cost about $350. The windshield for the M56 set us back nearly a grand more than that at $1,300.64. But for that ginormous price we got the signed edition, with the artist's trademark signature — just a minimalist "JB" — on the corner of the windshield. Not sure where this came from but I'm keeping it case JB becomes famous some day.
It was also thoughtful of Santa Monica Infiniti to take the oil change sticker from the old windshield and put it into our new windshield to make absolutely sure we changed our oil frequently. (I took a photo of that too, but it didn't look like much.) It was somehow fitting that our sticker was carefully reinstalled on the day that Jiffy Lube decided to re-evaluate the 3,000 mile oil change.
I've experienced ventilated seats before and they work okay. They aim to prevent your butt, thighs and back from becoming a sticky, swampy mess in sultry weather, and they accomplish this by pushing ambient air from the seats.
Our Infiniti M56 has climate-controlled seats. It's an approach that takes the whole ventilated-seat concept and does it one better.
Instead of ambient air, the M56's seats send blasts of cold air into your butt and back area.
I cranked it all the way up and it did such a good job of keeping things chilly that it left the back of my pants feeling almost damp. Felt like I was sitting on an Igloo cooler, and when the mercury rises, that's a lot more pleasant than it might sound.
All in all, this feature is a pretty sweet antidote for oppressively hot days.
After spending the better part of a week in the Hyundai Genesis R-Spec, I came to realize that its thoroughly magnificent Lexicon audio system has probably ruined every other stereo for me. Seriously, it's just that good.
Nevertheless, last night I decided to see how the M56 stacks up (in more ways than just the stereo, but you'll have to wait a few more days for the full Genesis story). Equipped with the Deluxe Touring package, our M56 has a 16-speaker Bose surround-sound stereo. Most notable is the little speakers on the front seat tops, which are unique to Infiniti, meaning they are either an ingenious idea soon to catch on or a gimmick nobody else bothers with.
My test CD was Dave Matthew's Crash and I thought the system did a great job of separating out the myriad instruments and vocals. In total, it seems like an excellent system that I'd be happy paying extra for. In the end, however, I still prefer the Lexicon. I'm not an audio aficionado, so you'll just have to settle for my simple, layman's, SAT-style conclusion of ...
Hyundai Lexicon > Infiniti M56
Seems like we all have a collective crush on the M56's interior. Warren recently praised its bum coolers and James enthused on the audio system, including the two personal speakers in front seat shoulders. Several readers also commented on their fondness for the interior.
I hadn't been in the M56 for quite awhile. In between, I'd put some miles on the 528i, Equus, and TSX, and sat shotgun for awhile in the new A6. But the M interior is something else.
Maybe I'm a sucker for that cascading center stack and the convex audio faceplate, which looks both totally modern and minimalist retro. Or the wavy leather-wrapped hood shading the gauges.
What's most striking is how Infiniti designers made something cohesive out of this asymmetrical riot. Check out how the elements in the front passenger compartment — the soft-touch material, chrome strip and ash trim — meld into the door panel and an elongated, fading teardrop. It really looks like the last flourish of a complex kanji, coming off a brush dipped in ash and aluminum. Even the stitching pattern of the seat bottoms reminds me of undulating kelp.
Only complaint? The branding in the seat backs. I already know what I'm driving. If I wanted everyone else in the cabin to know, I wouldn't hide it between my shoulder blades. Just this side of tacky, but forgivable when enveloped in so much other aesthetic love.
The leather on the seats of our M56 looks a bit different from that seen in your typical luxury car. It's as soft and sumptuous as it should be, but it also has a vaguely distressed quality to it, reminiscent of what you'd see in a slightly worn leather bomber jacket.
And yes, the seats have always been like this. The effect isn't the result of all that time spent cradling the backs and backsides of our editorial staff.
The car's seats feature semi-aniline hide; this type of leather is available only with the $3,800 Deluxe Touring package. Other perks of this package include the Forest Air system, a 16-speaker Bose sound system, suede-like headliner and a power rear sunshade.
Anyway, this slightly more assertive leather fits pretty well with the M56's personality, which is obviously more sporting and testosterone-fueled than that of your typical luxury sedan.
Today's topic is redundant volume control. Yep. That's the most interesting thing I have to say about our long-term 2011 Infiniti M56 — far more so than gushing about the car's explosive acceleration down freeway entrance ramps as you breathe on the throttle, or rehashing criticism about the suspension's state of tune, which is out of sync with the promises the V8 makes.
So volume control. These days, you get it on the steering wheel and you get it in the traditional location on the audio head unit. I'd say I use the steering wheel controls consistently in maybe 30-40 percent of the cars I drive. This drives my boyfriend nuts. He's an incurable by-the-book guy and can't understand why I'd take my right hand away from the 3 o'clock position on the steering wheel, divert my eyes from traffic and twist the volume knob on the center stack.
However, in our M56, my argument for doing exactly that is solid. Yes, there will be photos after the jump.
Here's the two-sided volume button the M56's steering wheel.
It works alright, but it's not the greatest. For one, it's mounted too low on the steering wheel for a frequently used control. If you're left hand is 9 or 10 o'clock, you have to come out of that hand position every time. Also, the button is a flimsy piece to find in a $67K luxury sedan and doesn't have a solid feel when pressed.
And here's the volume knob on the Infiniti's center stack.
It's texturized and trimmed in real metal. It always feels perfectly damped when I turn it. It's surrounded by gorgeous wood paneling. Using this volume knob is as much about aesthetic joy as it is function for me. And I so use it 98 percent of the time even though it's mounted near the bottom of the center stack — because Infiniti made the odd decision to put the climate controls, rather than than the audio controls, directly under the nav screen in this car.
What's your position on redundant steering-wheel audio controls... do you bother using the ones in your car?
I noticed this today as I was pulling in behind the M56. Looks like there's some carbon exhaust buildup on the bumper. I'd guess this has something to do with the way the car is driven.
...at wide open throttle.
And, yes, it's on both sides.
The M56 is a respectable handling full-size luxury sedan. Even our car without the Sport Package's 20-inch wheels, summer tires and stiff suspension will stomp most comers in the On-Ramp Grand Prix. But it's no go kart.
And it annoys me when people say as much.
You see, there are people who understand cars, know a thing or two about driving fast and have actually done so once or twice in their lives. And then there are those insulting wonks who insist on tossing out worthless cliches like the one my neighbor used last night to describe the M56's handling. He actually said the words "man, it handles like a go kart."
No. It does not.
Go karts pound the snot out of you. They vibrate so hard you can't see. They're nervous. They're frantic. They're anxious and they're insanely responsive. Drive them hard enough and they will break your ribs, your kidneys and your spleen — in that order if you're lucky.
The M56 will do none of these things. Drive it hard while forgetting to activate the climate control and you'll be lucky to break a sweat. But it will get on down the road with a quiet, peaceful and relentlessly rapid pace. It will go and go while keeping its occupants comfortable, isolated from the world outside and as safe as they deserve to be. Bend it into a corner and it holds a line with confidence, encouraging more throttle just past the apex like a textbook-handling rear-driver should. It's confident, intutive and stable. It handles like, well, like it were on rails.
So put that in your cliche pipe and smoke it, neighbor.
Some months back Brent Romans told you about the automatic puddle lamps on our long-term M56. They activate based on the proximity of the key fob so when you walk up to the cart at night they flip on as you approach. It's a nice feature and I figured you might want to see it in action. Video after the jump.
Walk within a few steps of the M and the lamps come on. Nice.
So I jumped in the M56 for my early commute this morning, threw it in reverse and was immediately alerted to the presence of a trunk monkey. I wasn't able to capture the occurence on the first go-round, but quickly discovered the source of the jackhammering coming from behind.
And I captured it on video after the jump.
Turns out, the trunk monkey gets upset only when the rear window shade is attempting to retract (crowding his territory, perhaps?). This occurs, of course, when the car is put in reverse or when one manually activates the shade. Also, the shade will only go about half way up.
Car repair expert Mike Schmidt predicts the problem is that the motor which retracts the shade has lost track of the "up" and "down" position limits so it's trying to retract a shade that's already down.
Me? I'm sticking with trunk monkey.
The dealer will settle this dispute soon enough.
So maybe you've been wondering what the M56's cabin looks like when the sun goes down. Or maybe not. Either way, another nighttime look at the car's cabin follows after the jump.
All in all, I think the M56's cabin looks just at good at night as it does in the daytime. I like the fact that the illumination isn't garish and harsh, and that there's a certain consistency throughout. White is used a lot on the gauges and the center stack and I find it pretty soothing.
What do you think?
My esteemed colleague Mr. Jacquot discovered a rattle that he attributed to a trunk monkey. I think he's wrong. I think it's a woodpecker — with a jackhammer. Another video after the jump.
Yup, it sounds like the problem is worsening. As soon as I put it into reverse it just goes nuts. Unlike Josh's experience, which rattled for only a few seconds, it continued for a good 12 seconds this morning.
I had never driven the 2011 Infiniti M56 before, so when I pulled into a gas station to fill up I checked for the little triangle indicator that points to the side the fuel door is on. Being a classy and understated luxury sedan the tacky indicator was missing. No problem. I just looked to see which side of the gas pump the nozzle was positioned and I knew that meant the gas door was also on that side.
For the M56 it turned out to be true. But is this the case on all cars?
According to Snopes.com this isn't true. It's an urban legend that began circulating on the internet in 2007 often entitled, "The World's Best Kept Auto Secret." It would be nice if there was always a way of telling which side the fuel door was on without sticking your head out the window. For instance, maybe they could put a little triangle next to the gas pump symbol.
I had requested the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor for a trip to the Sierra but it was already taken. Instead, I took the 2011 Infiniti M56 and headed north to Lone Pine, about 230 miles north of Los Angeles. Saturday, we drove to a trailhead north of Bishop, elevation 9,300 feet. The luxury sedan handled the road just fine in the sport setting and the 5.6L V8 had plenty of power even in the thin air. Parking at the trailhead I felt a bit sheepish like a city slicker at a rodeo. But really, for driving paved roads to any trailhead, the M56 was great, even though it didn't fit the image of the rugged outdoorsman that I try to cultivate.
My hiking buddy owns a QX56 and he had a few comments comparing the two vehicles.
First, my friend said that being in a sedan made him feel like his butt was scraping on the ground. Still, he loved the front seat leg room (and the rear seat occupant didn't complain when he slid the seat back). And he admitted that his Infiniti SUV's fuel economy is only in the high teens. On the drive from Los Angeles to Lone Pine the M56 got 21 mpg and on the return trip we saw 28 mpg using cruise control set at 70 mph.
My friend spent a lot of time playing with the nav system and said the downloads in the M56 were slower than in his SUV. Also, we both noticed that the small icon of the speed limit sign, visible on the nav screen, disappeared when we left the interstate. Driving U.S. Highway 395 through the small towns in the Owens Valley the speed limit is frequently changing and the highway patrol is out in force. Easily seeing the speed limit would be very helpful.
The only thing that put a damper on the trip was the Gatling gun noise coming from the window shade malfunction. When you put the M56 in reverse it sounds like you under attack from about 20 seconds. It will be visiting the dealership soon to have that repaired.
If you saw Takahashi's post about the M56's stuck window shade, you know that every shift into reverse was accompanied by a grinding motor drive that sounded like a B-movie Tommy gun sound effect. It was slightly annoying to maddening depending on who you asked and how recently they had completed a three point turn.
We took the M56 to the local dealer this morning and the service adviser said that the whole retractable shade unit would have to be replaced. It's now on order and should be in shortly. In the meantime, we'll be figuring out how to drive the M56 without ever having to put it in reverse.
While it doesn't quite compare to Brent using the Mustang to deliver his wife to the hospital in a cloud of burning tire smoke, I just happened to be driving the long-term Infiniti M56 when we brought home our newest family member, Maggie.
She was rescued from a high-kill shelter in San Bernardino by Jimi's Angels and taken to their store called Barks & Bitches here in LA. It's a neat place. Though also a pet store, it primarily functions as a home for about 20 rescued dogs who get to play with each other while being trained and acclimated to other dogs and humans. They also let you take them for walks, which gives you the rare opportunity to essentially test drive your dog. You can see why this appealed to me (not to mention that our 8-month-old Maggie is already housebroken and pretty well trained). If you're thinking about a dog and live in Los Angeles, please consider them or any rescue place. There are so many loving, adorable dogs out there who deserve a chance.
Any way, commercial over. I had my wife and her sister sit in the M56's back holding firmly onto Maggie in the middle. There'll be no dogs milling about the car on my watch, as I prefer not to murder my dog with an airbag. I'll be buying one of those doggie car seats soon, since we were told she travels well.
The rear sunshade in our 2011 Infiniti M56 is fixed. No more trunk monkey, trunk woodpecker or whatever it is you crazy kids call it these days. We waited a day for the new rear shade assembly to arrive, at which point Santa Monica Infiniti replaced the annoying one. Order is restored.
Total Cost: None
Days out of Service: 1
As you'd expect from a vehicle in this price range, our M56 has a trip computer that allows you to scroll through various screens so you can monitor things like exterior temperature and average miles per gallon.
One thing I noticed this weekend is that when the tank is almost empty, the trip computer defaults to a "Distance to Empty" display, regardless of what screen you had it on originally.
Some might argue that this setup just gives you an excuse to procrastinate, but I appreciated the constant and very explicit reminder. Of course, if you're low on gas and your vehicle has a trip computer, you'd likely check your distance to empty anyway. But I like the fact that the M56 saves you that extra step.
After a long drive yesterday, I was happy to finally get home and call it a night.
Pulled into my driveway, put the Infiniti M56 in park and looked down at the center console for the electronic parking brake lever.
And there wasn't one.
Instead my left foot felt for the emergency brake pedal, which was quickly engaged.
With the level of refinement and tech in the Infiniti, I was kinda suprised to find an old-school brake.
A couple days ago, Kelly said that she was surprised to find an old-school parking brake on the M56. I was happy to find that the M56 has a new-school power tilt/telescope steering wheel. Here's the control for both functions — sorry for the slightly blurry image.
Maybe I'm a short girl with long arms, but steering wheels often seem to be too high and too close for comfort. I really like being able to adjust both positions on the fly until I attain the perfect blend of reach and height.
As I was eagerly making my way to the M56 after work the other night, I realized a couple of things.
The first thing is that I really like driving this car. The mill feels like it's bursting with power and is responsive to even the slightest throttle inputs. Every maneuver becomes a recipe for enjoyment.
The second thing is that I like driving this car more than I like driving our 528i. I'd never have guessed that I'd wind up feeling that way. They're both big cars, but the M56 feels more spry, less ponderous.
Our M56 is a good-looking sedan within and without, but I still prefer the chilly Germanic aesthetic seen in the 5 Series (and the E-Class), and that's definitely something I'd consider if I were shopping in this segment. When it comes to driving dynamics, though, the M56 really tickles me, more so than the 5.
Sure, neither Webber's M37s or Vettel's M35h are as powerful as our 2011 Infiniti M56 with its 420 horsepower V8, but in the hands of these two, both are more than up to the task of tackling the Nurburgring way, way faster than any normal person could in the 56.
But who wins, Vettel in a hybrid or Webber in the conventional car?
I know everybody loves it when we gamble with the distance-to-empty calculators. For the record, the last number I saw was 21 miles to empty before I got the three lines.
Then I wimped out.
...but it does.
There's a small but perceptible delay between the time the M56's start button is pressed and the time the engine begins to crank over.
It makes me a little crazy. You?
As I was parking the Infiniti M56 outside my realtor's office this morning, I thought what a perfect car it would be for her. The lease is nearly up on Barbara's Lexus RX 350, and she's been mulling over her choices, considering a sedan this time.
Infiniti is a nice, upscale brand for sales, without seeming too pretentious. The M isn't huge, but still roomy enough for driving clients around.
If you were in sales, wanting to make a careful impression, what would you choose?
Hybrids usually suck. At least they do when it comes to on-track mannerisms and performance-oriented driving. After all,some of them are so fuel economy-focused that they forget to be cars.The 2012 Infiniti M35h doesn't have that problem. The text at the top of the window sticker tells you what this car is concerned with, "V8 Power with 4-Cylinder Fuel Economy." Sounds....unlikely....
So when things like "Have you driven it?" "Guy, it's way faster than it should be!" "It's gotta be as fast as our M56 with the V8"and "Powersliding a hybrid is fun" started being lobbed around in talks about the 2012Infiniti M35h we knew we had to settle this the only way car guys know how: with numbers.
M56M35h
0-30 (sec): 2.2 2.3
0-45 (sec): 3.4 3.7
0-60 (sec): 5.0 5.5
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 5.1
0-75 (sec): 7.18.2
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph): 13.2 @107.313.8 @ 100.8
30-0 (ft):3030
60-0 (ft): 118 122
Skid pad lateral accel (g):0.86 0.81
Slalom 65.163.1
Vehicle: 2012 Infiniti M35h
Odometer: 4,199
Date: 7/26/2011
Driver: Mike Monticello
Base Price: $54,595
Price as tested: $65,395
Specifications:
Drive Type: Longitudinal front engine with electric motor, rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Seven-speed automatic
Engine Type: 3.5-liter V6 with 50 KW electric motor
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 3,498/213.5
Redline (rpm): 7,000
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 369 combined (302 @ 6,800 gasoline motor and 67-hp electric motor)
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 258 @ 5,000 gas and 199-lb-ft electric motor
Brake Type (front): 12.6-inch ventilated disc with two-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): 12.1-inch ventilated disc with single-piston sliding caliper
Steering System: Electric power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent double wishbone, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink with coil springs and stabilizer bar
Tire Size: 245/50R18 99V M+S
Tire Brand: Michelin
Tire Model: Primacy MXM4
Tire Type: All-season
Wheel size: 18-by-8.0 inches
Wheel material (front/rear):Aluminum alloy
Weight as tested: 4,163
Test Results:
0-30 (sec): 2.3 (2.5 TC on)
0-45 (sec): 3.7 (3.9 TC on)
0-60 (sec): 5.5 (5.7 TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec):5.1 (5.2 TC on)
0-75 (sec):8.0 (8.1 TC on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 13.8 @ 100.8 (13.8 @ 102.5 TC on)
Braking
30-0 (ft): 30
60-0 (ft): 122
Handling
Slalom (mph):63.1 (59.6 TC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.81 (0.80 TC on)
Db @ Idle: 41.7
Db @ Full Throttle: 74.8
Db @ 70 mph Cruise:64.3
Acceleration Comments:Not as quick as the last M35h we tested. Hmmm...was that early car a bit hopped-up? Could not coerce any wheelspin at launch. Still, good power off the line. Quick shifts. First run with ESC on had highest trap speed. Most of the others were about 2 mph slower. Manual shifting via console lever (pull back for downshifts). Will hold gears to 7,000 rpm redline. Does not blip throttle on downshifts.
Braking Comments: Moderately long pedal travel, with inconsistent and slightly mushy feel during stops. Considerable nosedive, lots of ABS commotion, but semi-reasonable stopping distances that were a bit erratic in length.
Handling Comments:
Skid pad: Stability system cut throttle enough that you could go full wood, but it kept the car right at the limit of adhesion. Smart. Abrupt throttle delivery made ESC off runs a bit harder to control than they should've been, making playing with the throttle difficult. Tires felt very slippery,as ifyou were on ice. Just wants to understeer.
Slalom: Wow, what a boat. A lot of weight to try and toss around here, and the M's trying to do so on a very soft suspension. You also sit kinda high, giving a top-heavy feel. This is a slow-in, fast-out kind of car. Get behind and it massively understeers. But it was kind of fun to power-on oversteer a hybrid at slalom exit. Stability system is overly intrusive when switched on, adding a ton of brakes if you get aggressive with the turns.
Vehicle: 2011 Infiniti M56
Odometer: 1,290
Date: 12/14/10
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $67,225
Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Seven-speed automatic
Engine Type: Naturally aspirated, direct-injected V8, gasoline
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 5,552/339
Redline (rpm): 6,700
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 420 @ 6,000
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 417 @ 4,400
Brake Type (front): 12.6-inch one-piece ventilated steel discs with two-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): 12.1-inch one-piece ventilated steel discs with single-piston sliding calipers
Steering System: Hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent double-wishbones, coil springs, monotube dampers, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink, coil springs, monotube dampers, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): P225/45R 18 91W M+S
Tire Size (rear): P225/45R 18 91W M+S
Tire Brand: Michelin
Tire Model: Primacy HX MXM4
Tire Type: All-season
As Tested Curb Weight (lb): 4,037 (55.8% front)
Test Results:
0-30 (sec): 2.2 (2.4 TC on)
0-45 (sec): 3.4 (3.6 TC on)
0-60 (sec): 5.0 (5.2 TC on)
0-75 (sec): 7.1 (7.3 TC on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 13.2 @ 107.3 (13.3 @ 107.4 TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.7 (4.7 TC on)
Braking
30-0 (ft): 30
60-0 (ft): 118
Handling
Slalom (mph): 63.5 (62.3 TC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.86 (0.85 TC on)
Db @ Idle: 42.3
Db @ Full Throttle: 72.4
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 65.1
Acceleration Comments: There was no advantage to using the transmission's Sport mode for acceleration runs — shift speed and shift rpmwere identical to Normal mode (but Sport does quicken throttle response and hold gears longer in full Automatic). The M56 wants to creep forward when overlapping pedals, sorpm could not be greatly raised before launch.
Braking Comments: Stopping distances were repeatable and fade wasn't an issue; pedal feel was moderately firm. But the pads were smoking heavily after the last stop.
Handling Comments:
Skid pad: Does not exhibit the edginess of the sport suspension and summer tire-equipped M56. This one pretty much wants to circle the skid pad in a steady understeer push. The ESC was aggressive at cutting the throttle when turned on but the result proved only slightly slower.
Slalom: Softer suspension and all-season tires translate to a less precise but more forgiving M56 than the Sport package model we previously tested. Still, the chassis remains responsive to the point that you still need to keep on your toes about oversteer- both power on and drop-throttle.
I, too, spent a lot of time on the 101 this weekend, more than I should have had to. But that's life in sunny southern California. Traffic jams on the freeways even on the weekends.
The girls and I headed north to the outlet stores in Camarillo. Lots of good shopping, lunch, talk — you know, girl stuff. As always I'm the designated driver and my friends look forward to seeing what car I'll turn up in. My passengers were very pleased with the Infiniti M56. It has a spacious interior, soft touch surfaces, and lots of comfort features like heated/cooled seats and a strong air conditioning system with rear vents for backseat passengers. Satellite radio provided uninterrupted entertainment, an insulated quiet cabin didn't interfere with good conversation, and a roomy trunk held all of our goodies.
My friend Bonnie really liked the paint color. It's silvery gray but she detected a touch of a brown undertone to it. She thought it was unusual and that the interior color of the leather was also an interesting combination that made for an elegant presentation.
I ended up not using the navigation system. It is easy to use but slow going when inputting your destination. It tries too soon to guess what you are typing and is often wrong. No, I don't want to go to Ventura Blvd in Oxnard, I want to go to Camarillo. You also can't use it while the car is moving, so my shotgun passenger couldn't work it on the fly. And it gave us strange directions. So I cancelled the route guidance.
The placements of the seat heater/cooler controls could be better. I accidentally bumped on the seat heater with my purse. You know I like my heated seats but not on a hot sunny day. And my passenger accidentally bumped on her seat cooler. It kind of freaked her out a little until she realized what it was.
All in all, it was a good day and we got loads and loads of new clothes. As a bonus, here is a picture of Bonnie's beautiful puppy, Mickey.
Last week we brought you a track tested shootout between our Long Term 2011 Infiniti M56 and the hybrid-powered M35h.
The M56 with the big V8 walked away with a decisive win in the performance category, but that was to be expected. The M35h, though, held its own.
So now we turn the tables and look at the two from a greener POV to see how each stands up in real world driving.
The EPA says that the 2011 Infiniti M56 should get 16/25 with an average of 19.
The M35h, should manage 27/32 with an average of 29 mpg.
But do they?
| 2012 Infiniti M35h | 24.4 |
| 2011 Infiniti M56 | 19.2 |
So we didn't hit the EPA numbers on the Hybrid, but we've pretty much nailed them for the M56. This could be due to limited miles compared with the thousands and thousands we've logged in the one we own, or it could be because the hybrid is a blast to drive and has a ton of torque and we got carried away.....
Either way, 5 mpg is a significant increase. Is it enough for you to consider the hybrid?
From the office to my place is about 48 miles, door-to-door. That's a pretty average commute for most Southern Californians (although it probably sounds insane to many readers around the country). I wasn't too concerned when signing out the M56 last night with only a quarter-tank of gas, nor when the range meter indicated the car only had 52 miles left in it. Yet only a couple of miles from the office, before the freeway, the meter dropped to 47.
This could be tight. Still, a quarter of a tank and less than 50 miles? Well, what the hell - why not? The Leaf has left us nearly or totally stranded a couple of times with its fluctuating charge-remaining estimates. And the Countryman almost left Dan Edmunds floating in a busy intersection with its optimistic estimate. Time to see if another long-termer would leave us hanging. It would be a good chance to test Eco mode at any rate.
Eco engaged, the M56 started resisting throttle input. It gives you a little leash on acceleration, but quickly starts fighting back. Interesting, but annoying. You can impose your will, but the car is still loathe to accelerate, as if hoping you'll change your mind. But I realized this was for my own good and went with the program. On reaching the on-ramp, the M56 had already given me back a couple of miles on the range meter.
The surge up the on-ramp starts slow and measured, but soon enough we're up to merging speed and the throttle becomes more compliant. The system seems to distinguish between the sharp, articulate pressure you'd use for a quick passing or evasive maneuver, and the greedier, roll-on pressure you'd use for just bossing your way around the lanes. It never felt like it compromised safety or the assurance of quick power for a few tenths of MPG.
I used dynamic cruise in Eco for most of the way home, kept right, and watched as the range meter slowly increased its estimate, then only very gradually started dropping digits, after several miles. More importantly, the fuel gauge fell only gradually and only just into the red. When I finally rolled in the driveway, the M56 indicated it could still go another 45 miles and finally issued a low-fuel warning. When I fired the car up in the morning, the meter revised its estimate down to 36.
Eco mode worked well enough. In city driving, it's probably maddening; just the couple of miles to the freeway on-ramp in Eco was an awkward dance of insubordinate throttle and engine braking while moving through signals and erratic traffic. But once on the highway with a little gallop, it acted more as a firm, but likeable trainer.
This is the driver side windshield sprayer on our 2011 Infiniti M56 at full stream. I can assure you that the blast over on the passenger half of the glass is equally pathetic.
Last week I criticized the Hyundai Equus (and others) for lacking radio preset buttons. Well, the Infiniti M56 does have them and I like that. In fact, I like this entire set up. There are physical buttons, but they are well separated and there aren't too many (unlike Honda or our Volt). There is a multi-purpose knob, which is the best way to zoom in on the navi map or whip through iPod menus. What sets the Infiniti really apart, however, is that it has a touchscreen on top of all that. It's mounted high and thus not readily at hand meaning you don't use its functionality that often. But there are those times when it's quicker to just lean forward and press the screen — like when wanting to switch to a North-up navi map orientation.
I really appreciate this redundancy because it allows you to choose your preferred method of controlling the car's myriad electronics features. I wish more cars were like this, and really, the Equus is only a touchscreen and six numbered preset buttons from being equal.
Nine months: that's how long it has taken to put 15,000 miles on our 2011 Infiniti M56 long-term test car. Our goal is to put 20,000 miles on our long-term guests in a year, so we're right on schedule.
In that time the Infiniti suffered a cracked windshield, developed a squeaky rear sunshade. The former cost a grand to replace; the latter was fixed gratis under warranty. Apart from an oil change and tire rotation or two, that's pretty much been it.
The EPA rates the big V8's fuel economy at 16 mpg city, 25 mpg highway and — this is the important one to focus on after miles of accumulated driving — 19 mpg combined.
Our observed average after 15,000 miles of detailed record keeping? 19.1 mpg.
Nailed it.
Our 2011 Infiniti M56 coughed up this oil change reminder on its nav screen during the first restart that came after it crossed the 15,000-mile barrier.
We'll take it in very shortly — unless, of course, I decide to do this one myself. You'll be the first to know.
Actually, my new neighbors and Mike Schmidt will know before that. And then there's the guy who'll be selling me the oil and filter.
I suppose I can promise you no better than fourth to know.
As the Infiniti M56 heads into its 15,000-mile oil change, I had occasion to look at the records from its 7,500-mile service back in May. The service advisor chided us in writing at the time, noting that the oil was "extremely dirty." (A subjective assessment, I would guess. I don't think the service included an analysis of the oil). He wrote that we should be changing the car's oil every 3,750 miles. As the consumer-advice team here reviewed the paperwork this morning, the warning gave us pause.
In this story, our writers debunked the myth of the 3,000-mile oil change. Most modern cars can go 7,000 or more between changes. The "less severe" Schedule 2 for the M56 calls for oil changes at 7,500-mile intervals. But according to the car's maintenance guide, Schedule 2 generally "applies only to highway driving in temperate conditions." If you're not on the open freeway in 70-degree weather, in other words, you should be using the "more severe" Schedule 1. That means an oil change every 3,750 miles.
Infiniti says severe means:
- Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures
- Stop-and-go traffic in hot weather or low speed driving for long distances
- Driving in dusty conditions or on rough, muddy, or salt-spread roads
- Towing a trailer, or using a camper or car-top carrier.
In our time so far with the Infiniti M56, we've done the normal around-town trips that might have been less than five miles, and some measure of stop-and-go traffic in hot weather — it's LA, after all. Does this really mean we should be changing the oil twice as often? Based on our oil-story research and articles on oil-testing, I'd say no. What do you say?
Okay, yes, another post about our longterm 2011 Infiniti M56's oil. And yes, you've seen this image recently. But I couldn't help but think that the service advisor missed an opportunity to bolster his admonition to change the oil every 3750 miles.
Being the curious type, I did as the lead shot suggested and pushed the 'Info' button. The image above flashed up. Neat, you can set the odometer intervals for maintenance alerts.
Digging deeper...
... the oil change interval programmed in our car is 5250 miles. Must be some factory default setting, as it's neither the aforementioned 3750-mile interval, nor the 7500-mile interval called out by the Schedule 2 maintenance. But that's neither here nor there.
Now, at the last (or first) service visit, a truly clever service advisor would have entered "3750" in place of the 5250-mile interval you see above. It's likely that many customers would simply comply and bring it in for service when directed by the electronic overlord.
In all seriousness, I'm a bit surprised that the M56 doesn't employ some kind of oil condition model to determine when to send the service flag up. You know, those systems that can kind-of sort-of guesstimate the oil's health based on driving style, time at temp, revs, etc.
Still, I do appreciate these kind of alerts. Just make sure nobody's monkeyed with them before placing stock in them.
After spending almost a week in a very off-road capable but not particularly sporting SUV, it was refreshing to hop in the Infiniti M56 and have real power at my disposal in traffic. I'm talking REAL power here. What a terrific V8. Good sounds, smooth, and did I mention its power?
But, the M56 does have a few faults, some that might actually keep me from buying it.
As you might have guessed, this is another throttle tip-in story. There's actually more to it than that, though. In sum, the M56 is kind of spastic. In Sport mode it's ridiculous how abrupt it is leaving the line. Switching to Normal is better and more manageable, but still jerky if you hit the throttle with any force. Of course you could try Eco mode, but that's just plain silly, as the throttle seems to actually put force back against your foot. Good way to give your right leg a workout, though.
Compounding abruption matters here is an automatic tranny that's particularly hunty. I mean, why does it shift down at the slightest provocation? It's got a brawny V8 to just power right through it. My solution here was to just run it in Manual mode and do the shifting, up and down, myself.
Heck, even the brakes can be touchy. And then there's the power steering wheel switch, which moves the wheel at lightning speed. I don't know about you, but I prefer mechanisms that operate slowly so that I can find the exact right setting. The M56's steering wheel blows right by that spot. I mean, what's the rush here?
I don't know about you, but I don't give a crap about heated seats. I have no use for them in southern California, ever, even during what people here term "winter." I'm sorry, but where I come from, a 65-degree day can't ever be termed winter. Not saying no one needs or wants heated seats, just that they aren't on my radar.
What I do care about, though, are cooled/air conditioned/ventilated seats, or whatever you want to call them.
It was especially hot the other morning as I was rushing to get to the airport. Had just come back from a run and was still pretty toasty even after my shower.
But the Infiniti M56 and its ventilated seats saved me from showing up to the airport with swamp-back syndrome. In terms of recent inventions, two near the top of my list would be: 1) the DVR and 2) ventilated seats.
As much as I appreciated the M56's seats, they could be even better. Setting number 3, the highest, should be stronger. And the seat back fans need to go further up the seat so that they hit more than just your lower back.
The manual shifting function, that's what. The direction you pull/push the lever is opposite from what makes sense.
I do like that the system gives big throttle blips on manual downshifts, but the lever operation should be push forward for downshifts, pull back for upshifts, and that's not the way it is here on the M56.
What boggles my mind that most manufacturers set up their manual-shifting automatics incorrectly.
So why is the direction you push/pull the lever important?
Most of the time when you're downshifting, you are decelerating and the force of that moves your body forward. Therefore it makes sense to push the lever forward. Why fight physics, right? And when you're accelerating (and therefore upshifting), your body is moving rearward, so it makes sense to pull back for the upshift.
But only a few manufacturers opt for the correct and intuitive operation, such as BMW, Mazda, Ford and Lincoln.
Pretty much everyone else does it wrong. Even Porsche, with its automatics and now their PDK dual-clutch systems, sets up their shifting in the wrong fashion, being pull back on the lever to downshift. The hilarious part with Porsche is that the sequential transmission in their 911 GT3 Cup race cars is push forward to downshift.
Ask an official from BMW or Mazda why they have their automatics set up the way they do and they'll tell you it's all about the way the body is moving during upshifts/downshifts. That's how they settled on push forward/downshift, pull back/upshift.
Ask any of the other manufacturers how they chose their shift direction, and they either a) have no idea, "It's just the way we chose to do it." or b) say it's the way the industry does it or c) say it's the way their customers want it.
For some reason, some people associate shifting down with pulling back. I just don't get that.
Now, if I owned the M56 I'm sure I would eventually get used to its incorrect operation. But it would still always be wrong.
It's possible you've been following the ongoing debate here about shift logic. You know, which direction you should shove an automated manual gear lever to trigger an upshift or downshift. It's also possible you don't care.
I'm betting otherwise.
Here, for your perusal, is a control where Infiniti gets the logic right.
That knob, when using the nav system, controls the mapping zoom function. Turning it right (as the icon indicates) zooms in on the map. Turning it left zooms out. This, friends, is how it should be. Like driving a screw, turning the knob clockwise moves your perspective closer.
Unsurprisingly, not all manufacturers agree.
Our 2011 Infiniti M56 has some seriously comfortable seats. They're well trimmed, have nice thigh support and are pretty stylish, too. If not for one little thing, I could sit in these for hours and hours on end.
Unfortunately, there is one little thing that keeps this from being an Infiniti seat love fest: the high H (hip) point.
Like a number of men, my +- 6-foot frame is made almost entirely of torso and when I sit in the M56, I feel like I'm sitting ON the car and not IN the car. It's a small but crucial difference, especially in a sport sedan. Reclining the seat back doesn't really help and makes me look foolish, so that's out. The low roof ( thanks sunroof) doesn't help, either.
Now, it's understandable why they do this: People (mostly women if we're being honest) want a tall, commanding view of the road ahead and the more they get this from a sedan, the less they need an SUV. Feeling small does not encourage shopping. Still, in a sport sedan, there should be some sense of being one with the vehicle.
Me? I just want the 9,054-way power seat to go down another 2-inches so I don't feel like I'm riding a stool on top of a rocket ship.
When our 2011 Infiniti M56 passed through 15,000 miles a couple of weeks ago, observant readers studying the celebratory photograph noticed the car was in adaptive cruise control (ACC) mode. How could they tell? The indicated speed was a few mph lower than the cruise control "set speed", a situation that can only occur on flat ground when one is following another motorist who is travelling slower than the ACC system's target velocity.
Futhermore, the presence of only one (out of a possible three) illuminated bars on the dash was proof that I had set the system to the "closest" following distance. A mild scolding ensued.
The above photograph was taken at that closest following distance, with the image compressed slightly because the camera is zoomed in a little.
This is the unzoomed shot...
Remember, this is one "bar", the closest ACC following distance setting. One bar is, as near as I can tell, roughly equivalent to the amount of space sufficient to invite one car to move in between me and the van ahead without thinking for one second that I'd been cut off.
Two bars is enough for two cars to move into the space ahead without any of the involved parties taking offense or trading rude hand gestures. Three bars allows for three lane changers. That's not exactly the defined intent, mind you, but that's how it works out in our M56.
But in this common no-need-to-panic situation the M's ACC system panics anyway. It responds with an immediate chop of the throttle and dab of brakes in a situation where you or I would simply breathe imperceptibly off the gas and allow the gap to restore itself gradually — if we let it restore at all.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. ACC systems were originally developed over two decades ago as part of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS) initiative, an engineering exercise that sought to explore and define intelligent systems such as this that could pack cars closer together than drivers would otherwise do on their own, and do it safely. Computers monitoring the space ahead while they controlled an electronic throttle and computer-regulated brakes were supposed to allow more traffic to occupy the same freeway at a productive speed, improving traffic flow while avoiding billions in roadbuilding expense.
The technical elements are here today but it seems ACC will never be allowed to carry out this mission in a legal climate that leads to following distances for such systems that are GREATER than what drivers would otherwise choose for themselves.
Ironically, big following distances and the specific way in which ACC reacts to interlopers can cause problems in the very sorts of moderate freeway traffic situations in which ACC was supposed thrive. Opportunistic drivers understandably move into inviting open spaces, which in turn triggers the above-described exaggerted ACC response that attempts to restore the gap ASAP with an urgency that is frankly startling to the car following directly behind.
The miffed pilot of said car will most likely zoom around and into the freshly restored gap, possibly accompanied by a helpful hand gesture proclaiming your Number One status, therby continuing the cycle and marching you steadily backward until you turn the damn thing off.
ACC systems work best in two places: 1) on the open road, where you don't need it anyway unless you're not paying attention when you come up behind another car or; 2) when travelling in LA-style car pool lanes as shown in the above photo, where infrequent access points are spaced a couple miles apart.
As it stands now, adaptive cruise is an expensive option that I don't need or recommend.
Wow! Now that's a lot of Aston, and I don't mean Sean. (He spells it wrong, anyway.) Our 2011 Infiniti M56 carried me to a secret mission at the local Aston Martin repair shop. All will become clear in a couple of days.
Not a good place to visit if you dislike spotless white garage floors and Bond-mobiles.
I'm OK with both.
As you can see, the gas pedal on our M56 is a little different than most. It does more than just transmit your every whim to the engine, it has a mechanism that can actively intervene.
It's part of the "ECO" drive mode, a setting that you might not be surprised to learn doesn't appreciate big chunks of throttle. Try to mash the gas and you get some very noticeable push back from the pedal. It's quite possibly one of the oddest sensations I've ever felt from a car.
And it works, if only because it feels so positively creepy that I decided to simply easy off the pedal and go slower than fight the Hal under the hood. If this is the future of fuel economy, it's going to get much scarier than you think.
The M56 has a two-tiered center console bin, which I like. What I like even more is the fact that the bin is lined with felt. Makes the bin look nicely finished and feels good to the touch.
A lined bin is one of those things that, for me, suggests attention to detail. Makes the car feel a bit more special. And you're seeing it more and more these days, even in cars that cost a lot less than the M56.
Which special details catch your eye?
We told you that our 2011 Infiniti M56 needed service. What we didn't share was that we already took it in to Infiniti Santa Monica for its 15,000-mile service. This interval calls for the basics, an oil change and tire rotation, so we didn't expect much. But there were a couple of extras we didn't see coming.
Included in this visit were 3 recall items:
1) Navigation system update (ITB11 — P1235)
2) Bluetooth microphone replacement (ITB11-047-P1239)
3) Rear sunshade replacement (ITB11-05-P1238)
Yes, the rear sunshade job is the same one we had done before. Now it is a known problem. What we don't know is how the dealer gets paid for doing the same job on the same car twice even though we didn't ask them to. Curious.
Warning: This post is about purses. So, unless you are a female or a murse carrier, this probably won't interest you.
When I first get into a car, I like to put my bag next to me while I get settled. I dig for my sunglasses, access card, camera, phone, etc. Whenever I do this in the Infiniti M56, my purse messes with the settings. It easily puts on the seat heaters or coolers. Yesterday, it put me in Eco mode. I have to make sure I reset everything before I take off. The designers obviously did not purse-test this car.
If you're still reading, I did warn you it was about girl stuff.
Someone from Germany had just arrived and the first thing she says is, "That is a very nice clock." It's not something she sees very often in the land of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
The dashboard clock has been a design element in every Infiniti since the introduction of the 1990 Q45, a signature of timeless elegance in a car meant to otherwise step beyond the traditional style of the day. As Infiniti has evolved since then, the clock has remained. And even though the clock itself is really not truly stylish, it's arguably more notable now than then, as the digital readout of cell phones has almost completely replaced the timepiece, even an electronic one like this.
But as the woman from Germany reminds us, the clock still sets the M56 apart. Like the antiquated mechanical timepieces for the wrist that now are becoming fashionable again, the clock shows us that utility can be transformed into style and romance, just like the automobile itself.
No doubt there are plenty of other little devices that engineers would like to put into the space on the dash, probably some kind of port for an electronic connectivity device. But I think a clock is exactly what you want.
Last night, I went out to dinner in our long-term 2011 Infiniti M56 with my boyfriend's family. There's just enough legroom and shoulder room for four adults to get comfortable in this car — nobody had to scoot way up, but neither is there tons of room to spare.
His parents give me the benefit of the doubt in most areas, but I was still making an extra effort to be smooth with my inputs. I didn't even consider using the drivetrain's Sport mode. Still, the M's non-linear throttle response got me on two occasions, as the big V8 suddenly tugged hard on the leash as I was accelerating gingerly from a stop. "This car must have a lot of power," I heard from the backseat.
Uh-huh, it does. And that makes me want to cut the Infiniti some slack. This car is rated for 420 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque, and when you floor the throttle on a freeway entrance ramp, well, it gets exciting in a hurry... when did we start thinking of 400-horsepower sedans as docile creatures that should be as easy and smooth to drive as a Toyota Avalon? I think I'm going to blame Mercedes.
P.S. If you're in L.A. and hunger for Hakata-style ramen (wherein the broth is pork bone-based), Shin-sen-gumi is a good place to go.
Perhaps you remember Ed's post a few weeks back about Hal under the M56's hood. You know, the throttle pedal that pushes back. Well, it turns out, like most features on the M56, this one is adjustable.
The push-back pedal, until now, freaked me out enough that I've avoided the M's Eco mode. But not only can the pushy pedal be switched off, it can be effectively subdued by switching it to soft mode. Probably still won't win me over, but I'll give it a shot.
I have never liked this detail in our 2011 Infiniti M56. The car has a huge, dual-tray container plus padded armrest combo that spans the width of its wide center console. But it is the least elegant component in this cabin.
Infiniti designers put a powerful spring-loaded opening mechanism on it so that you wouldn't have to exert what little force might be necessary to lift the lid yourself. But it's a really fat lid and it lifts high to give you access to both tiers of the console, and no matter how many times I open, there's never a good place to put my right arm during the process so it always gets bumped. Also, the plastic release lever/latch feels flimsy when you press it (to execute the opening procedure) and when you go to shut the whole thing, the lid shuts with an unsatisfying clack.
Here's how to fix this: Make the console container narrower. Use a slightly less aggressive spring-loaded mechanism. Use higher quality plastic for the lever/latch and the lid itself. And while you're at, source nicer vinyl for the armrest part.
Like a whole lot of other people, I got the new iPhone 4S this weekend and went crazy trying out its voice-activated personal assistant, which (who?) is called Siri. In addition to asking Siri to explain the meaning of life, I asked it to play songs via Bluetooth Audio in our M56.
It worked great. I told Siri: "Play 'Your Heart's a Mess,' " and the song immediately rang out through the car's Bluetooth Audio system. The track info on the M56's display lagged a bit behind the start of the song, but it caught up quickly.
I suspect that Siri-like ease of use is a long way off when it comes to OEM voice-command systems. But maybe Siri and other intelligent voice-activated smartphone programs are all we really need. Siri is in beta at the moment, so its applications for drivers are probably not anywhere near realized yet.
If you have a new iPhone 4S, what tricks can it do with your car?
This may seem like a small thing (and it's not like this is exclusive to this car), but I really appreciate the space they carved out of the backs of the front seats of our 2011 Infiniti M56.
Maybe it's hard to tell from this photo, but the cutouts are pretty deep, which is great for the knees of rear seat occupants with long femurs (especially since the back is made of hard plastic, despite being partially covered by the soft magazine pocket)
It also increases the space between tiny, kicking, scraping toddler feet and the front seat, and I'll take any assistance I can get in that fight.
Every time I have to install my kids' car seats in a new car, before I open the car door, I pray to the patron saint of easy car seat installations and intact cuticles (I think it's St. Ashton) that the LATCH anchor points in the rear seats will be easy to get to.
Some cars tuck their LATCH anchors behind convenient doors or flaps that open nice and wide for easy access. Some LATCH anchors stick out from their spots just enough to help you out, but not so far as to cause discomfort to an adult sitting in the seat. Others are hidden treacherously deep behind the seat and require the sacrifice of knuckle skin during both installation and de-installation.
Today, in the 2011 Infiniti M56, St. Ashton let me down. Buried deep between this seat back and seat cushion, underneath the helpful little identification button lies a LATCH anchor point. You can just see the tip of the black metal anchor in the above photo. Note that I'm using all the strength in my scrawny hand to push the seat cushion up.
Now, I know most people don't move child safety seats around as frequently as I do, so maybe my perception of the importance of this is skewed. So I'm curious: does the placement of LATCH anchors (and tether anchors) make a difference to those of you with kids in car seats?
And here's one for those of you without kids in car seats: how do you feel about the LATCH anchors that are more prominent and stick out a little bit? Hate 'em? Don't care? I really want to know.
Apologies for the poor grammar in the headline, and stealing the title from a Bob Dylan song. But that's exactly how I felt when I went out to the Infiniti M56 in a hotel parking garage in San Diego this week and found that the battery was dead.
Of course, I checked to make sure it wasn't due to user error, like leaving the headlights on (the switch was in the Auto position). And I since I was comparing the car's in-dash nav system to a portable and a smartphone nav app for an upcoming test, I made sure not to leave the two 12-volt power cords for them plugged in.
A call to AAA got me going, although it didn't solve the mystery of why the battery was out of juice. But the minor inconvenience pretty much ruined the rest of my afternoon.
I was in San Diego to moderate a panel discussion on car technology at an event organized by the people who put on the Consumer Electronics Show. After the morning panel I was sequestered in my room, cranking to meet a 5 o'clock copy deadline — and wishing instead I could just go drive around to see how the nav systems worked in an unfamiliar city. But mostly just to get out and drive.
I finished a half hour early and headed for the door and a cruise along the coast. But it was not to be. By the time the AAA guy got the Infiniti fired up with a jump, it was almost dark. He advised that I drive the car for at least 45 minutes to charge the battery. So I set all three nav systems to find a school named after my surf buddy and glass artist Steve Correia in his old stomping grounds on Point Loma, and got there at dusk.
The cause of the dead battery? The only clue was a warning light in the dash for the Intelligent Key system, and the AAA guy mentioning that he's seen problems like this before with the technology.
I made sure that the engine cranked after shutting it off when I returned to the hotel an hour later. And as I walked up to the car the next morning to drive back to LA, I was relieved to see the courtesy lights in the driver's door handle greet me. And that it started without a problem.
Here's something that's never happened to me before: The Infiniti M56's one-touch automatic down/up power window system stopped operating properly. I noticed this yesterday as I was leaving the Edmunds parking garage. I hit the power window switch once to roll down the window to flash my parking pass at the gate, and that worked just fine, but when I hit the window switch once to power the window back up, the window only moved a small amount.
Hmm...that's weird.
After fiddling with all the switches when I got home, it was obvious the one-touch power-up function wasn't working on any of the windows.
A consultation with the owner's manual revealed that there is in fact a power window automatic function initialization/reset process. Here it is:
You have to perform the reset at all four windows, but otherwise the process is simple. And the important thing is it worked and we now have our automatic power-up function back.
Because of Doug Newcomb's problem with a dead battery in the M56 last week, the exact culprit of which had yet to be resolved, Vehicle Testing Manager Mike Schmidt asked me to take the Infiniti over the weekend to see if everything was okay. He must've thought: "Monticello has nothing to do, what will it matter if the car dies on him?"
Luckily, the M56 started up just fine every time. Of course that also means we still don't know exactly what drained the battery in the first place. Doug swears he didn't leave lights or anything on in the car.
The only thing I did have to do was reset the power window automatic-up function, which was screwed up by the dead battery, the simple process of which was covered here last Friday.
When I drove our M56 for the first time, I was shocked by the amount of power available instantly. Well, during my second go around I had the same problem.
Every start I had was a double start, meaning I would touch the gas, find it was too much, dial back and then reapply an appropriate amount. My wife gets car sick very easily so the herky jerky double starts put the M56 at the bottom of her list of favs. The only way I was able to get around this problem was resorting to putting it into Eco or Snow mode. In those modes the car is listless and boring. I just couldn't find the sweet spot with this car.
If it's just me, yeah I don't mind the sauce. This is the first time I'm going to say this, but I think the M56 has too much power for traveling with passengers. I'd prefer a little more progression.
You aren't going to hear much from our 2011 Infiniti M56 for a few days. It was assigned the cush job of cruising up the coast this weekend. Not too far, though. Just a jaunt up to the central California coast. Maybe we'll see Hearst's zebras.
I drove the M56 up the coast yesterday from the office in Santa Monica to an event in Santa Barbara. The short drive was remarkably free of traffic and it was a clear fall day. Perfect to appreciate the view and the car.
It produced two observations:
1) My nose looks like a sail in profile.
2) More importantly, the M56's sun visor offers ample aft travel in this position. Blocking the setting sun on the West side of the car wasn't an issue. It's something that's been a problem in other cars.
That will be all.
Several of our long-term cars have automatic transmissions with sporting intentions. Among those is the M56. Also among them is Acura TSX. I addressed my feelings about the Acura's performance issues a few weeeks ago.
Today I'll show you why I like the M56's gearbox.
The M56, which lacks steering-wheel-mounted paddles, still has awesome rev matching. As evidence, watch how smooth it is while dropping four gears at freeway speed and then accelerating. There's never a lurch as every shift is met with the exact engine speed necessary to match the vehicle speed. Even better, it sounds good when it revs.
There was enough positive response from yesterday's rev-matching video that today I offer this: Another video for the sole purpose of listening to the M's glorious V8.
It really does sound good in the upper reaches of the rev range, no? Not to mention, this thing is fast. After not driving it for a while I'd forgoten. Sheesh.
I chose our 2011 Infiniti M56 for a peaceful drive up the coast last weekend. I thought I had things all figured out. Well, my plan backfired.
The M56 was a great choice for the wife and I to make the trip. It was not the best choice considering we had to drop off the kid and associated paraphernalia at the grandparent's about 60 miles into our drive. At this age, he doesn't travel light...
The trunk was already loaded with the high chair, stroller, playpen and various plastic distraction devices when the word came down that there was more.
"We need to pack the Exersaucer (giant green thing) too." Still, I thought I was ahead of the game. I slid the exer-thingy in the back seat next to the child seat. Food, diapers and the sort were packed into the immense trunk. Plenty of room for the 3 of us.
But the cascade continued, "Don't forget the bathtub. Here are my bags. And some snacks for the drive." Once it spilled into the front seat I knew I was in trouble. I kept packing, even buckled the bags into the seat, before the inevitable reached my ears. "You expect me to ride back here? I like the car, but not enough to ride like a sardine for an hour. Let's take my Journey."
I didn't have much ground to stand on. It was cramped in there. I didnt realize this kid had so much stuff. My home is being overrun with plastic. Now the car. And now I had to drive an old Journey on my vacation. I was bummed.
Any other weekend the M56 would be a great road tripper. Not this time. But I can't really fault the car for being too small. My life has just become too big.
It's been a while since I've been in our Infiniti M56, so when I saw it was available last night, I jumped at the chance. Once seated, though, I remembered a minor comfort issue I have with this car.
I ghosted back the image of myself to show you how the top of the seatback runs right through the middle of my shoulder blades. Normally, that's not a problem, but I can actually feel where the seatback stops and it presses me ever so slightly forward.
Then there's the headrest. It feels like it's canted just a bit too far forward, putting me in a mild slouch. Unlike other luxury sedans, the Infiniti's headrests aren't adjustable in this manner. I know that these issues aren't a big deal on my 40-minute commute, but on a road trip, I think this could really get on my nerves.
On a side note, as we get close to the one-year mark with our M56, the interior looks as fresh as it did when it arrived here. After almost 20,000 miles, there are few, if any scuffs, faded spots or evidence of daily wear and tear that you'd expect.
We are experiencing freakishly strong winds in the Los Angeles area. They started last night and are supposed to continue until Friday. On my morning commute there were several downed trees and broken traffic lights.
But last night I had no idea this was happening until I started seeing leaves flying by like the wicked witch of the west. I was cozy and insulated in the Infiniti M56. I didn't even feel a pull or push on the car while driving on the freeway. Its 4,000+ pounds kept it steady. I don't think I would have wanted to be in something small like a Smart car last night. I may have gotten punted off the road.
After the jump, there is a video of the crazy leaf activity and swaying trees.
Look at all of those glorious settings....
This is the interior of an Audi. It offers Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual settings that can modify the engine, transmission, steering, shocks and sport differential. It's way better than the Snow, Sport, dot and Eco setting on our M56. In fact, you can't even get adjustable suspension on an M56, let alone adjustable steering and diff.
And that's a real shame. After nearly a year with the M56 I'm finally used to the way the throttle works (sport and snow are the best settings), I love the interior and besides being a little high, I really like the seats. But I just couldn't put up with this car's ride.
Brent Romans offered this critique, "Again, I agree that our M56's ride isn't as good as a 5 Series or an E-Class, particularly if they're fitted with their optional adaptive suspensions. But my overall take would be that while the ride isn't quite as refined as what you can get from other mid-size luxury sedans, this deficiency is a pretty minor issue."
Not for me. Not for my commute. Not every day and certainly not for $67,225. I love this thing as a sport sedan when the road opens up and gets all twisty, but at 6:30am in bumper-to-bumper traffic I just want to be comfortable.
The GTR has Comf, why can't this?
Although the current-generation Infiniti M is larger than its predecessors, it has a narrower track than either the Mercedes-Benz E-Class or the BMW 5 Series, and it's slimmer across the shoulders, too. The upshot is that our long-term M56 does not feel like a full-size car (as the Benz and Bimmer do), and the interior is more of a cockpit than a cabin.
Why does Infiniti make its middle-size sedan so compact?
It's not really about keeping weight down or making the car feel like a sport sedan on back road. Nope, it has more to do with making sure the Japanese-spec version of the car, the Nissan Fuga, fits into a suburban Tokyo garage like this one, which I happened to walk by last week. Clearly would have been a tighter fit with an E-Class or 5 Series.
Loading a physical disc into a slot in the dash. How quaint. And antiquated. With so many more music sources in most modern vehicles — in the case of the Infinity M56, these include good ol' AM and FM, XM satellite radio, a hard disk drive, a USB port for iPod integration (or a USB thumb drive), Bluetooth audio and an aux-in jack — why even bother with the inconvenience of clunky discs?
In the M56 (and in our Acura TSX Sport Wagon) DVD-Audio capability makes it worth going back to discs. The high-resolution, multichannel music format was pretty much DOA even when it first launched, thanks to the advent and popularity of MP3 and the iPod. But it's still supported by a handful of automakers thanks to "legacy" electronics that linger longer among automotive OEMs than in consumer electronics. (We're looking at you, in-dash cassette deck.)
As a sound-quality connoisseur, I was recently reminded of just how much DVD-Audio adds to the in-car music experience while listening to the M56's Bose Studio Surround audio system.
Compared to the thin sound of most compressed audio formats, DVD-Audio's hi-res reproduction is warm and detailed, and the format's multichannel surround capability gives the music a tangible 3D-like quality. The latter is what makes those small speakers in the top of the front seats sing.
When DVD-Audio was first introduced in the late 1990s, it was touted as the music version of DVD-Video, with better quality as well as extras such as photos and videos. But that association with a hugely popular format and those bonus features didn't save it from the dust bin of largely failed formats. And you can still get some of those features in the car, although only while sitting still. (See pictures below.)
Unless I'm sound-checking a vehicle for an audio review, I admit I rarely listen to DVD-Audio discs, preferring instead the portability and convenience of an iPod/iPhone for everyday listening. And even though I have a DVD-Audio player at home and a 5.1 surround setup, I rarely have the time to sit and listen there either.
But each time I get to listen to DVD-Audio discs in a car like the M56, I wish I did it more often. And I'm glad the format has survived. Good luck finding DVD-A discs, though.
Track list for John Hiatt's Bring the Family, with menu icons for Bio and Lyrics accessible on the M56's in-dash touch screen.
Handwritten lyrics for R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" from the band's DVD-Audio version of Automatic for the People.
Michael Stipe when he still had hair.
Although the current Infiniti M56 is based on the Japanese market's Nissan Fuga it wasn't always that way. The first generation "M", made from 2003-2004 and called the M45 at the time, was based on the Nissan Gloria, which was the sportier sibling to the Nissan Cedric. In naming its cars for the Japanese market, Nissan has a thing for personal names (Silvia, Serena, Sunny, etc.)
I came across a 2003 Infiniti M45 when I was at Carmax last week and thought that it would be a fun used luxury car to own. The 2003 M45 was a rear-wheel-drive sedan powered by a 4.5-liter V8 that made 340 horsepower. The styling is a bit polarizing and the car kind of looks like a Ford Crown Victoria, but it I like it. Carmax was asking about$14,000 for this one, but I found one for $8,000 on AutoTrader. Talk that person down to $7,000 and the M45 is a great bargain luxury car.
What do you think of the M45?
Nissan Gloria commercial with Richard Branson
Nissan Cedric commercial with high-powered lawyers
We're almost at the one-year mark with our long-term M56. I decided to hop in it last night (which might be one of the last opportunities for me). I met up with some of my colleagues and peers at a gathering of automotive journalists when the phone rang.
The name on the Bluetooth screen said Michael Magrath. Turned out he needed me to pick him up and zip him back home, since he forgot to close a window or something. I was pretty much stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Wilshire Boulevard, and the M56 was just fine. It was comfortable, quiet and the iPod integration is excellent.
When I finally picked up Mike, we headed to his place, which was fairly close to the event. On that route through side streets, I had the opportunity to drive with a lot more purpose. And that's when the M56's main fault reminded me why I won't be mourning its departure.
It's all about the throttle response and shift harshness. You step on the pedal and there's barely a response, then whoooom! It takes off. The shifts, both up and down, were as clumsily executed as a beginner trying a manual transmission for the first time.
Mike summed it up well by saying, "it drives just fine if you're just creeping along, but with this much power, it begs to be driven harder."
Given my proclivity for hard driving, there are other $60,000 luxury sedans I'd take over the Infiniti. Of those, I think I'd opt for a Mercedes C63 AMG (probably an E-Class, too) or a Jaguar XF. Our BMW 5 Series never really won me over, either.
What would you pick in this class?
This is one of my favorite convenience features on our 2011 Infiniti M56. It isn't much, which is why I'd call it a convenience. And maybe I'm easily amused. But when the handle lights up as I approach the car in the pitch black, I still think it's cool.
Being a native Californian (in addition to being of a tropical people) I HATE the cold. Hate it. And that's why I always need the seat heater on (and wish that my desk chair was equipped with one). So you'll understand why I was disappointed by the heating skills of our 2011 Infiniti M56's seat heaters.
As you can see I turned that sucker on full blast this morning when temps dipped way down to 45 degrees (BRRRRR!) and yet I didn't even start to feel heat until 10 minutes into the commute to work. AND what the Infiniti calls full blast, I call tepid. I kept feeling the seat to make sure it was on. But nope, that was all it got.
I know those who don't like their seat heaters to get too hot will be happy but I just prefer to have the option to crank my heater to scorching.
Ah, close enough.
It's a holiday weekend. The M56 is going to roll through the 20,000-mile milestone this weekend signifying the end of its time with us.
Now you know.
If you were paying attention last week you know I predicted my missing the 20,000-mile milestone over the holiday weekend. And that's exactly what happened. The M turned over the zeros on the freeway last night and I coundn't snap the above shot until I exited.
So this is as close as I got.
Still, here's something nice that I noticed this morning...
Every morning in the winter I use the sun visor in this position on my way to work. Or perhaps I should say that I wish I could use the sun visor in this position on my way to work. Half the cars don't offer the "pull back" function available in the M, which is effective in blocking the sun. For example, check out the Juke's visor, which doesn't get the job done:
I noticed the IBA (Intelligent Brake Assist) light come on in the Infiniti last weekend as I was whipping the car around a corner. The light flashed on and then off and I noticed it out of the corner of my eye.
There are two and a half pages of the M's owner's manual dedicated to precautions on the IBA system, why it might fail to operate and what might cause the failure. It's all lawyer speak dedicated to affirming the idea that this isn't a technology you should rely on to stop the car. That, it turns out, is still up to you.
Whatever.
The light came on. Could be a dozen reasons why, none of which seem to matter since it turned off immediately.
The car is still awesome.
I was driving home on the freeway the other day while it was actually moving freely. But I couldn’t shake a woman in another Infiniti who insisted on driving right next to me. I hate when people do that. It's so dangerous. You know that they 1) don't really know how to drive, or 2) are ignorant, or 3) are distracted or 4) are all of the above.
Because she was right next to me I couldn't get a look at the back of her car to see which model she was driving but it looked like a G35 sedan circa 2005. Her instrument panel was a wash of bright amber light. Perhaps it was clouding her vision and she didn't even realize I was there. I find amber lights tiring to the eyes.
It made the panel in our 2011 Infiniti M56 looks like the gauges in a space ship by comparison.
What is your favorite gauge light color?
It's really difficult to photograph fog. This picture was taken about half past midnight on New Year's Eve. I was this year's designated driver. For days we've been having this strange misty fog blow in off the ocean after sundown. It comes rolling down my street like scary ghosts. Remember the scene in the Ten Commandments movie when the Holy Spirit strikes? It's like that. It actually comes in my front windows reaching out its spooky fingers. Yikes! I tried to record it with my video camera but like a ghost it was too shy to be photographed.
December 31 was a nice day but when we left the NYE party, the outside was like a scene from a horror movie. I couldn't get the windows of the Infiniti to clear up. I had to sit in the parking lot for a while before I could see. Luckily, I only live about a half mile from the party and didn't encounter anyone else on the road the whole way home.
Seat speakers have been around for awhile now. Remember the Fiero's perforated headrests?
But even as the sheer number of speakers in some high-end systems has grown, few automakers have gone the seat speaker route. I can understand why after driving our M56 again last night.
For one, they don't sound any better than your standard door-mounted speakers, at least from my admittedly untrained ears. Don't get me wrong, the Infiniti's system sounds great overall, it just isn't noticeably better than other similar systems.
Second, they look ridiculous. Not quite aftermarket levels of lame, just "they couldn't find a better place for those" kind of stupid. Maybe they would look more appropriate in a $35K G37, but in a nearly $60 M they're just not right.
Last week a recall was announced on some 2011-2012 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles, including the 2012 Infiniti M56. The short story is that 14,718 vehicles are being recalled due to a defect that may cause a loss of engine oil.
"Some of the bolts that connect the engine oil cooler and the engine oil filter to the engine in these vehicles may have been manufactured to below specification strength," said NHTSA in its recalls summary of the problem. "The bolt may break at the oil filter attachment point and can cause an engine oil leak. If there is an engine oil leak, the engine oil pressure would drop and the engine could seize, increasing the risk of a crash."
The recall is expected to begin January 19.
Wrap-Up
When Infiniti offered us a 2011 M56 for a long-term test, we accepted on one condition — it had to be a standard model, no Sport package allowed.
We had tested Infiniti's newly redesigned flagship sedan twice before (M56 vs. Mercedes-Benz E550 and M56 vs. BMW 550i). Both Ms tested were the M56S, with the Sport package, and both rode like covered wagons. No thanks. We liked the car, but the rough ride was a deal-breaker. And a back-breaker.
Infiniti agreed and sent us a tech-laden silver M56 with no Sport package. The timing was perfect. We were just weeks away from introducing a long-term 2011 BMW 528i and 2011 Hyundai Equus to the fleet. The next 12 months and 20,000 miles offered an ideal opportunity for direct comparison of the three luxury sedans.
Power Delivery
One attribute of the 2011 Infiniti M56 that first attracted us rested beneath the hood. Its 5.6-liter V8 generates 420 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via its seven-speed automatic transmission and delivered with the wiggle of a toe.
Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh was at the helm when we strapped our M56 to the inertia dyno. Kavanagh blogged, "There's more than 350 lb-ft of torque to the wheels between 2,400 and 5,400 rpm and a peak of 377 lb-ft. For a luxury car to properly soothe, you don't want some cammy, thumping beast of an engine. Those are great for sporting vehicles but just don't cut it in a luxosedan. You do, however, want torque. Preferably down low, to help a heavy sedan of the line. This XK56VD, as it's known internally, is no slouch down low."
As with so many vehicles today, electronic throttle sensitivity created a divide within our ranks. Some priced out aftermarket throttle cables and urged Infiniti to revert to the good old days. Others found peace with the electrons. Editor Ed Hellwig explained, "No doubt, the Sport setting is worth it. I know we panned the M56 for being too sporty when it went up against the BMW in a recent comparison test. But this setting is different as it applies to the throttle and transmission settings only. Here, Infiniti got it right. The throttle is more aggressive for sure, but it's not too jumpy. It doesn't make the car twitch every time you adjust your right foot. Instead, it just feeds out its substantial power in a more urgent manner."
Features and More Features
Horsepower was not the only appeal of the 2011 Infiniti M56. Inside the cabin we optioned up the Infiniti. Our test car wore $8,500 worth of extra equipment. A 16-speaker Bose surround-sound system tickled our ears. White ash wood trim, contrast piping and quilted seat patterns pleased our eyes. And our nose welcomed creatively named ventilation system components like Forest Air, Breeze Mode, Plasmacluster purifiers and Grape Polyphenol filters. Infiniti made every attempt to create a serene atmosphere in the M.
Driver assist features added further peace of mind. "I've got the cruise set to 74 mph," began one editor, "and the car is only going 10 mph. That's because the M's Intelligent Cruise Control will slow the car to a complete stop in traffic. It's an amazing technology."
Intelligent brake assist (IBA) was another aid, which senses obstacles and applies brakes at the last minute to minimize front impacts. We found the IBA light on occasionally. Senior Editor Josh Jacquot explained, "There are two and a half pages of the owner's manual dedicated to the IBA system, why it might fail and what might cause the failure. Whatever. Could be a dozen reasons why, none of which seem to matter since it turned off immediately. The car is still awesome." Blind spot warnings, lane departure warnings and pre-crash seatbelt tensioners rounded out the list of driver aids available within the $3,000 Technology package.
Still, the M's laundry list of tech proved easy to use over our 12 months with the car. Deep dives into the owner's manual were rare and user frustration was not a factor.
Send It on a Road Trip
There was one way to isolate the 2011 Infiniti M56 and test its features, performance and ride quality on a single stage. Send it on a road trip. So in addition to adding thousands of miles to the odometer around town, we added thousands more on extended trips.
Kavanagh wrote, "This past weekend was my first time in the big sedan, and the car in this guise is far more convincing than in full-kill Sport trim. I came away from my time with the Sport thinking it was trying too hard…too much trying to convince you that it's a real sport sedan. It wasn't honest. When the M56 is dialed back a notch as it is with this long-termer, it's a terrific car. It has the compliance you want but still enough substance in the damping and steering to convey a premium vibe. Shades of sportiness without all the pretense. It's honest."
We universally agreed with this assessment of the ride quality and its superiority over the sportier M56S. Yet its refinement was still not up to the levels of the comparable BMW and Mercedes-Benz sedans we've referenced. Was this a bad thing? Certainly not. This M56 seemed to want performance accolades first and luxury second.
Interior Reflections
After 20,000 miles we knew the M56 inside and out. As one editor said, "Infiniti really designed this interior nicely. There is a cohesive flow between leather pieces, wood accents and switchgear that is not only attractive, but ergonomically thoughtful. The controls are simple and right where they need to be."
We agreed the layout was tastefully done, but some felt the use of chrome was one glaring mistake on Infiniti's part. "Chrome doesn't belong in interiors," one rant started. "Especially on surfaces as close to the driver as the face of the steering wheel. On certain stretches of road it is absolutely blinding and hits me right in the eyes."
For other editors the brightwork was easy on the eyes and gave the M56 a rich ambience.
Beyond its design elements, the 2011 Infiniti M56 interior satisfied all other needs of practicality. All seating positions were comfortable, though some felt the driver seat did not adjust low enough. Rear passengers had adequate leg- and headroom. And the trunk cargo area was immense. If we had a request for the next-gen M56, it would be for a folding rear seatback. The cargo pass-through isn't always enough.
Maintenance and Warranty Repairs
Our M56 held steady on the maintenance front. Santa Monica Infiniti, within 2 miles of our office, addressed all service needs. We also had a history of decent service quality, so there was no reason to look elsewhere. Service at 7,500 and 15,000 miles was straightforward and averaged $80 for basic upkeep. But there was more.
Between routine services we encountered some issues. At 11,000 miles a stone struck the windshield and grew quickly from star to crack, requiring replacement. Aftermarket glass was unavailable, so we paid $1,300 for a new windshield. Along the way the dealer also performed a navigation software update and replaced a faulty Bluetooth microphone, both under warranty. At 12,000 miles our M56 spawned the trunk monkey.
Senior Editor Josh Jacquot recounted, "So I jumped in the M56 for my early commute this morning, threw it in reverse and was immediately alerted to the presence of a trunk monkey." Essentially, the rear sunshade failed. Any attempt to retract it was met with an obnoxious jackhammering from the rear seat shelf. Keep in mind that every time the car shifts to reverse it automatically retracts the shade for safety reasons. So the noise was frequent and it was loud. We saw the dealer promptly for the warranty repair, though we had to wait a day for parts.
12 Months Behind Us
We spent 12 months and 20,000 miles with the 2011 Infiniti M56. And we loved it. And we were glad we didn't order the Sport package. Without it our long-term M56 rode considerably better, yet it remained a true sport sedan. No, it isn't perfect, but its wonderful interior and 420-hp V8 make it easy to forgive some of its shortcomings.
Amenities also left an impression on us. We appreciated the long list of optional comfort features in the M56. The driver assist technologies were impressive and the sedan's in-cabin electronics were easy to use.
When it was time to retire the M56 from service, Edmunds' TMV® Calculator valued the sedan at $50,036. This figure is based on a private-party sale. It is also equivalent to 26 percent depreciation from the original MSRP. Under similar circumstances our long-term BMW 528i depreciated 22 percent.
We spent minimal time and money to keep the 2011 Infiniti M56 on the road. Routine service was affordable. The windshield replacement was not; however, it was also not the car's fault. Overall, it was a positive ownership experience. We will miss having the M56 around.
| Total Body Repair Costs: | None |
| Total Routine Maintenance Costs: | $171.65 (over 12 months) |
| Additional Maintenance Costs: | $1,300.64 |
| Warranty Repairs: | Replace rear sunshade, replace Bluetooth microphone, update navigation software |
| Non-Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Scheduled Dealer Visits: | 2 |
| Unscheduled Dealer Visits: | 2 |
| Days Out of Service: | 4 |
| Breakdowns Stranding Driver: | None |
| Best Fuel Economy: | 26.4 mpg |
| Worst Fuel Economy: | 10.8 mpg |
| Average Fuel Economy: | 18.8 mpg |
| True Market Value at service end: | $50,036 (private-party sale) |
| Depreciation: | $17,189 (or 26% of original MSRP) |
| Final Odometer Reading: | 20,371 miles |
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.