1997 Infiniti J30 - The WesBarton89 OppoLock Review/Photodump

"WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe" (wesbarton89) 10/30/2014 at 14:49 • Filed to: oppositelock revue

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Hello, everyone! Here's the newest review, of my first flame, my first car I called my own, the 1997 Infiniti J30.

This is her. All the exterior pics are of her, all the interior ones, I found online, but are identical.

The Infiniti J30 began production in 1992 for MY '93 to replace the Infiniti M30 coupe. It was built up through 1997, so mine was one from the last year produced. The J30 is a RWD sedan. This car may have been considered one of the first now semi-common four door coupes, with rounded styling. It came with the same engine used in the Nissan 300ZX, the VG30DE 3.0L V6, in this application, it produced 210hp and 193lb-ft of torque. It also had a 4 speed auto, unfortunately.

I purchased mine in June 2010, after saving up for a $1,000 down payment to the dealer. The price of the car was a reasonable $3,000, which I would pay $200 a month for, for 10 months.

( Full disclosure: Nissan/Infiniti wanted me to be a better driver so much, I was willed to own it, so when I went to the lot, I saw this car, fell in love with it, and had to buy it.)

Exterior 8.5/10

The car looked amazing. There was some minor clear coat peeling here and there, and a little bit of bumper cracking at the rear, but beyond that, the black paint was near immaculate. It has a very striking design, and it definitely stands out in design compared to other cars of the era. (with the exception of the Altima of the same time, which took a lot of design elements from this, but it didn't look near as good). Even today, there isn't much else that looks like the car. The rear lighting I think, is especially cool. It just looks good. Also, chrome door handles on all four doors, which was a nice touch, and these were heavy, solid doors, and always closed with a really nice *thunk* sound. Like I said, there were some blemishes and wear, so it loses a little bit there, but other than that, it's a winner in the exterior looks department.

Interior 8.5/10

The interior, like the exterior, was almost all black, with the exception of the real (!!!) wood trim surrounding the Bose stereo and digital climate control. Driver and passenger each had 8-way heated power leather seats, which were extremely comfy, but also extremely hot in the summer time. I wasn't a big fan of the all black wheel, so I purchased a steering wheel cover from Wal-Mart that had a wood grain and chrome look which fit much better with the style of the car, and it's pictured below. There is a bit of plastic in the interior, unfortunately, but not any different than a lot of cars at the time.

Acceleration 8.5/10

Acceleration in this car is awesome. It will get up and go. The power from the 3.0L V6 going to the rear wheels is really good. Like I said, this is the same engine that's used in the Nissan 300ZX, which was a right sporty car. Hit the gas at a stop light, and the rear wheels break loose a little bit, and you just zoom on out. It really is excellent. It's got about the same amount of power as the Millenia that I had, but since it's a smaller car, it gets going quicker, and acceleration is super smooth as well once the vehicle is reined in. It's not like a supercar, not at all, but it will get up and go. The Japanese counterpart, the Nissan Leopard J Ferie, actually could be had with a 270hp 4.1L V8. I would've loved to do a swap and see how that would have affected acceleration.

Braking 9/10

Brakes on this car were excellent. They had ventilated discs all around, and really did the job quite well. I think this may have been the best braking car I've had, and the ABS is really good as well with it. I never experienced any brake fade at all, or anything like that. Definitely a great brake setup.

Ride 8/10

The ride on the car was really smooth. Not a whole lot of body roll. It never gave any fits going down back roads, residential areas, or highways. The leather seats were a little stiff, but overall really comfortable, and I didn't slide around on them, like I have with other leather-appointed vehicles. I had it up past 110 more than once, and it drove just as well as it did going 75. You could feel some bumps but not overly so, and they were never jarring. This car had an excellent ride quality, and like the Millenia, was rather balanced. Road noise was a little bit poor, because my driver's side window motor went out, and I had to raise it by hand, and it didn't seal tightly.

Handling 8/10

This car handled quite well. It went where I wanted it to go, with no fuss, no fighting. The rear tires would occasionally brake loose in the rain, but that was more because of me than because of the car. Steering feel was quite good, super communicative, and steered and cornered really well. I took it up some mountain roads to an overlook, on a date I had not long after I got the car, and it drove with aplomb. The date didn't go that well, but the drive certainly did, and I got a big kick out of driving those roads, and when I was still single, I would take the car out just to drive, down back roads, going nowhere in particular, with the windows down (the sunroof didn't work, so I couldn't open it), sometimes it would just be me, sometimes I would take my friends, but many good times were had in that car.

Gearbox 6.5/10

It was a typical four speed. The shifter looked pretty cool, and it had some chrome and the shiftgate wasn't completely plain. It shifted better than most of the slushboxes I've encountered, with smooth, easy shifts, and little to no gear hunting. But, it does lose points for being a conventional automatic. I would've loved for this car to come with a manual, but no such option was available in any market.

Toys 6.5/10

Not a huge amount of toys in this car, but a decent amount. It had a Bose CD/Cassette/AM/FM radio, much like the Millenia did, and it sounded really good. There was also a motorized retractable antenna that was really cool. The car also had digital climate control, and it worked super well. Driver and passenger seats, as I said, were 8-way power and two-stage heated, and man, would they heat. I didn't need to use them much, but I used them enough to know they worked. The HVAC was also quite good. There was a sunroof, but it didn't work at all. I never bothered getting it fixed. There's even an analog clock in the dash. That was a feature I'd never seen before, and it was really cool. I did end up getting a little stick on digital clock for the car as well, just because it was a little quicker to read, which I still have. Power outlet worked well, so I could charge my phone. The rearview mirror had a day/night switch on it, which was cool, as most of them don't actually have a real switch, just that lever thing. So, yeah, not many toys, but some cool ones nonetheless.

Audio 9/10

Audio quality was generally excellent in this car. Everything worked as it should, though any CD would start skipping after the first 10 tracks or so, and I never could get it to quit, but as I mainly played music through my phone, it wasn't a super huge deal. Sound through the Bose speakers was clear, bass, treble, and mid-range were all good. Definitely no audio complaints here.

Value 7.5/10

I think this car was an excellent value. It drove well, most of the time, except when it rained. Every time the car got really wet, the CEL came on, and I developed a bit of a miss and a smoky tailpipe, as well as a serious loss in gas mileage. Spark plugs didn't fix the issue. I did put some fuel injector cleaner in it, which seemed to fix it for the time, but it got wrecked two days later, so I never knew if it was permanent. Beyond that though, and the broken window motor and sunroof, the car was beyond excellent. It performed admirably, never gave me any other fits, and never left me truly stranded. I owned it for not quite six months, and next weekend will be 4 years since it got totaled. I still miss the car, and I would still buy another one if I got the chance.

Overall 80/100

A quite good score here. The car was mostly dependable, with few issues. I was overall very happy with the car, and loved the way it drove. This, along with my Millenia, are the best cars I've had. I would so hoon one all the time. Space was a little cramped, but that's because of the roofline more than anything. I rarely, if ever, sat in the backseat, so it wasn't an issue to me.

Engine: 3.0L VG30DE V6

Output: 210hp @ 6,400rpm/192 lb-ft of torque @ 4800rpm

Transmission: 4-speed automatic

0-60 time: Approx. 8.8s

Top speed: 120+, reported in some cases up to 150.

Curb weight: 3,580lbs

Seating: 5

MPG: 18 city/23 hwy

And some pictures of the wreck, where I lost control on the highway coming back from Baltimore. I was doing about 70 or so, and spun out, slamming into the concrete median barrier, and slid into the guardrail at high speed as well. There were no serious injuries. Luckily, I had full coverage, and my insurance payout was enough to satisfy my deductible, pay off the car, the small medical bills, and still leave me with $1,000 for a down payment on another vehicle, reviewed here:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Not much in the way of saving that car...

505Turbeaux > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/30/2014 at 14:58

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I saw one of these last night. I used to love them, but havent seen one that wasnt running around ragged in a while. This one had some TP on the rear deck for some reason

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > 505Turbeaux 10/30/2014 at 15:05

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They're very uncommon, I have noticed. Besides mine, I can count the ones I've seen in the wild on one hand. They can be had for fairly cheap as well. Glad you got a pic of one. Drive one I'd you ever get the chance. And it has toilet paper because it's the shit.

RazoE > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/30/2014 at 15:15

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I always hated the booty on these. The rest was great. It was a "essentially" a 4-door 300zx.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > RazoE 10/30/2014 at 15:25

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That's what I've heard And I know a lot of people did dislike the rears on the car, but I do like it. It's different, quirky, and it stands out. I've never driven a 300ZX, but I imagine they would drive similar, and I'd love to get my hands on one. One of my old coworkers had a 300ZX in all black, and it was super nice. They're sharp cars.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/30/2014 at 16:34

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My mom got one of these around 1999 or 2000, right after we moved out to the county outside of the suburbs. She had to get something to replaced her 81 Supra that scraped its oil pan and cats on the garage entry everytime she pulled into her spot. It's a shame, either of those cars could have been mine; or my grandparents Jeep XJ that was older than me and brought me home from the hospital in 85; or my dad's solid axle toyota pickup. Alas, divorce and 9/11 ruined all of that. I ended up with a former sheriff's deputy 97 Ford F-150 V6. That ole girl lasted 5 years and got totaled when a helicopter pilot t-boned me with his Wrangler.

ranwhenparked > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/30/2014 at 17:35

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These were very well made cars at the time, quality materials and just generally very solid feeling. They were generally pretty good value too, since Nissan seemed to have some trouble selling them.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > ranwhenparked 10/30/2014 at 17:56

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Yeah, they are a good value. Yes, they are heavy, but very solid, and very high quality materials overall. They're definitely a great value. I've seen a few under $1500 actually.

quarterlifecrisis > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/31/2014 at 08:47

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I always dug these cars. Not much in the way of power by today's standards, but that's to be expected.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > quarterlifecrisis 10/31/2014 at 11:29

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pretty true, but it was still decently powerful in its day. 150mph in a v6 in a car first manufactured in '93 is nothing to sneeze at.

quarterlifecrisis > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 10/31/2014 at 11:35

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Like I said, today's standards. We're in the middle of an era of cars making reasonably obscene amounts of power, given what their powerplants are. But 20 years ago, that was right in line with, or better than anything else on the market.

Admittedly, I'm skeptical of one actually going that fast. The power figure doesn't seem like enough to get that much metal going down the road. The close to 9 second 0-60 does seem accurate, certainly not a torque monster.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > quarterlifecrisis 10/31/2014 at 13:06

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Yeah, I agree. 150 may not be possible. I think the highest I ever had mine was 130-ish. That was fast enough.