WHEELS

By The Car Chick

The $64, 000 Question: 2013 Infiniti M37

My first New Year’s resolution is to not fall in love with $64,000 cars. Or, if I do fall in love with a $64,000 car, make sure it’s one where exciting engine performance is matched by equally impressive handling. I guess my money’s safe this go-round, as that match was not made in auto heaven with the 2013 M37 AWD from Infiniti.

Sigh. And it’s such a good-looking car, too.

It’s too bad that over-steering is re­quired with this beauty, a handling flaw that cancels out so much of the pleasure offered by the smooth, steadily power­ful acceleration of the mighty 3.7-li­ter, 330 horsepower, V-6 engine. You can also get, if you like to feed your need for speed, an M56 model with its 420-horsepower 5.6-liter V8. The 7-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters effortlessly moves you into cruising speed with the 330 hors­es I had at my disposal, offering pro­pulsion to spare in case it was suddenly needed on the highway. So, if you spend all your time on the beltway, maybe this car is for you. If you have to take an off-ramp into the real world, though, you might prefer a car which allows you ful­ly precise handling.

The problem with this mid-size perfor­mance luxury sedans is that there’s all the power a hot-rodder would want, but it’s unevenly matched with the relaxed per­formance a more…shall we say…settled (OK, older and richer)…driver might prefer. An older, richer driver who is hap­py with 20 or so miles per gallon and es­pecially enjoys the long list of luxurious, sophisticated extras that come with the model.

This is the third year Infiniti is stick­ing with the current general design of the M37, but one significant change is the new availability of a “sport package” with all-wheel drive. My test car had the package, which boasts a Drive Mode Selector with four categories. I really wanted to try out the “snow mode,” but didn’t get the chance in flake-less De­cember. (Thank you, global warming.) But I did use and enjoy the beefed up brakes and the slightly stiff suspension of the sport package, which somewhat eased the feeling that the handling was duller than I like.

My car was packed with optional packages for technology, one for sport touring, one for regular sport, and a pre­mium package for many extra touches of luxury and the latest advances in commu­nications, safety, and entertainment. The exterior is easy on the eyes with aerody­namic lines punctuated by a high deck in the back and a slightly stretched and low hood to tell the world this car and its driver are going places. Fast. It’s roomy inside, with a retro styling one would not expect from the outside. Japanese Ash wood trim wraps around the front seats in old-fashioned swoops, and an analog clock (which seems all the rage with the 2013s) is set at dead center.

But I think I’ll hang on to my cash for now on this one. You should give it a try, though, if you’re not as hung up on pre­cise performance control as I am.

A Fuel for Love: 2013 Lexus GS 450h Sedan

It’s a Lexus. Remember that. L-E-X-U-S. I stress that because we’re going to start out by talking about good fuel econ­omy, rather than luxury and style and all things Lexusian. The car gods at Lexus have given us a completely new GS 450h for twenty-oh-one-three. And while it has everything you’d expect a Lexus to have, this classy hybrid purrs along with an EPA-rated 31 mpg because of upgrading with both the gas engine and the electric motor. They tell me it’s not as powerful as last year’s model (which I never drove), but it seemed pretty vigorous when my pe­tite and graceful foot hit the pedal. Power AND economy. Who knew?

The re-design gives us a new look out­side, inside, and in all the mechanical places you don’t usually see if you’re the kind of person who can afford the $71,407 price tag my little beauty came with. You may not see where those me­chanical and electronic places do their jobs, but you’ll like their work when the 3.5-liter gasoline V6 and two electric motors send you gliding briskly along. The new continuously variable automat­ic transmission (CVT) processes 338 horsepower, and Lexus promises the four door sedan I drove will hit 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. I didn’t get the chance to test that, but I can report this car does move along very nicely.

You’ll enjoy driving while surrounded by enough silky leather and plush wood to outfit a 1970s bachelor pad. (Which I have only heard about from my elders.) You know what to expect from Lexus, so I won’t spend your reading time going over all that. But I’d like to mention the Eco, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus set­tings you can pick for your driving con­venience. You get to enjoy the ride while the car thinks about how the suspension and steering are performing, how it’s re­acting to your pressure on the pedal, and it even manages stability control. It’s al­most like having two cars in one. Drive the kid to school in the morning in re­sponsible-parent Eco Mode, but roar home with Sport Plus. Very cool. Thank you Lexus.

Anybody have a spare winning lottery ticket I could have?

Reality Check: 2013 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD

Surprise! I’m not going to get all snarky now about this economical Mazda ($30,415 for the loaded model I drove, but you can start at just under $21 K). It doesn’t have quite the power for smooth, rapid ac­celeration I prefer, but this 2013 re-make of a model which has had troubles in the past is a decent value for the money.

With a stylishly athletic look, and han­dling that’s sharper and more responsive than might be expected, the CX-5 is al­most a star in its class. I say “almost” be­cause while Mazda gets the big things mostly right, some of the smaller, every­day driving things are a bit disappoint­ing. Having a top-notch sound system is important to me. This one maybe Edison could love. The communications/naviga­tion systems lag disappointingly behind what other cars offer now in ease of op­eration and performance.

But as a family vehicle, this compact SUV is roomy enough for five and yet still easy to park or handle in cramped city conditions. The four-wheel drive of the Grand Touring model can come in handy, too. (It’s available with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.) You can’t expect surging power, as the 2.0-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine only coughs up 155 horsepower, but the trade-off for that is an EPA rating of 29 mpg. Upgrades on that engine aren’t available yet, I’m told, but let’s hope they’re coming.

The CX-5 comes equipped with some nice mechanical and safety features that are at least reminiscent of more expen­sive cars, and many of them are standard. The top-of-the-line Grand Touring model I spent time with is outfitted rather nicely. Maybe with the money I would save (with no offers on that lottery ticket yet), I could have a kicking audio system installed…