Joy rides such as this sport coupe dash from Alabama to Michigan are hard-earned. To qualify, Automobile Magazine editors suffer endless hours in crowded airliners harassed by surly flight attendants. While jetting coast to coast in pursuit of grist for the editorial mill, frustration swells like the national debt, because the America best suited to car fun--lonely roads through lush forests, sprawling deserts, and beguiling mountain passes--lies less than six miles below cruising altitude.
To vent some of our air-travel anxiety, managing editor Amy Skogstrom and I exploited the road warrior's award option by bailing out of the aluminum tube to test drive an Infiniti G37S and a BMW 335i coupe--the long way home--on the finest back roads no money can buy.
Infiniti picked the original fight five years ago, when the first-generation G35 coupe was born with its sights fixed on BMW's roundel. Back then, what amounted to a Nissan 350Z with a back seat topped the then-current 3-series, but the margin of victory was as thin as the tire tread left after those two squared off for their road ruckus.
The rematch we've arranged pits an all-new 3-series against a comprehensively re-tuned G37.... Read full article