moved back towards the rear of the engine bay which in turn improves the weight distribution. The G35 was Motor Trends Car of the Year for 2003 and has been well received by both the media and customers as a viable alternative to other luxury cars. The G35 was also nominated for the North American Car of the Year award that year and was on the Car and Driver Ten Best list for 2003 and 2004. Sporting the ubiquitous VQ35DE engine, the Infiniti G35 uses a front-midship engine, rear-wheel drive layout (all-wheel drive is available for the G35x sedan) to achieve a 52% front/48% rear weight distribution. Both body styles are available with either a 5-speed automatic (JATCO RE5R05A) Tiptronic or 6-speed manual transmission, although the automatic is the only transmission available for the AWD sedan. The earliest (calendar year 2002) crop of North American G35s were all sedans, sold in two trim levels, Base and Leather. Base models had cloth seat upholstery and 16" wheels, while Leather models had leather seat upholstery (of dubious durability) and 17" six spoke wheels. Leather trimline cars could also have an optional Premium package that included a Bose sound system; stand-alone options such as Xenon High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights, moonroof, and an Aero package with 5-spoke wheels were offered as well. The most prominent visual cue of these early G35 sedans is the presence of a separate vertical panel on the rear face of the decklid which housed the electric decklid release switch, and which supported small, closely spaced "INFINITI" lettering. This panel was immediately dubbed the "doggy door" on enthusiast forums. A less obvious but mechanically significant feature of early G35 sedans was the use of an engine-driven viscous clutch fan for engine cooling. The first "refresh" of the G35 sedan (Nov/Dec 2002) saw the engine-driven cooling fan replaced by all-electric fans, and decklids changed to the smooth style with larger and more widely spaced "INFINITI" lettering. The decklid release button moved to the finisher panel below the left rear taillight assembly. Common problems encountered with early G35s include the brake wear issue referenced below (very well-addressed by Infiniti with a 3yr/36,000mi no questions asked brake wear warranty); failure of the integrated HVAC/audio control circuitry; failure of the clear coat (a widespread Nissan problem in the early 2000s); poor durability of the perforated leather seating surfaces; and repeated bushing failures in