Auto News 5

It's all about derivatives these days. If they're not decimating your 401(k), they're invading your neighborhood car dealership. Although its similarity doesn't come across as well in photographs, the 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe is a dead ringer for the Infiniti G37 coupe. In fact, it might as well be badged the Designer Imposter Infiniti G37.

Crossovers aren't anything new - take a look at a 1997 Subaru Forester if you don't believe us. These days, nearly every brand has a crossover or two in its lineup.

First impressions are very important, and where Automobile Magazine and the Infiniti G37 coupe are concerned, those first impressions were full of admiration. After power-sliding around a Nissan test track in Arizona during our first meeting with the G37 and blasting down back roads all the way from Tennessee to Michigan two months later, we declared Infiniti's sexy new sport coupe to be a near-equal to its chief rival, the BMW 335i coupe. That's among the highest praise we can give.

I got into the Infiniti G37S sedan expecting the vague, unnatural clutch-to-throttle relationship we'd complained about in our Four Seasons G37S coupe, but I was shocked to find no such issue. Clutch take-up felt much lower and had a much clearer engagement point than I remember from the coupe. Did Infiniti address the issue for the 2009 model year? (A brand spokesperson says no.) Was our coupe a "Monday car"? Has my recollection of that car simply been exaggerated by hearing so many other staff members whine about it? I suspect the answer is a combination of all these factors, but I nevertheless came away liking the G37 more than I remembered.