The interior is designed around the driver and succeeds in this regard. Luxury features abound. The interior is nicely laid out and, for the most part, offers sound ergonomics with ease of operation. It's a nice-looking interior with high-quality materials.

The instrument pod moves when adjusting the tilt of the steering column, improving visibility of the gauges for drivers of all heights. The steering wheel does not telescope, however, and, at times I was closer to it than I wanted to be after adjusting the distance properly to be able to fully depress the clutch pedal. Instruments are brightly lighted during the day for good legibility. Infiniti's trademark analog clock graces the dash. A thin panel on top of the dash houses digital readouts for compass and climate settings. Nissan's steering wheel is not a thing of beauty, but features nicely designed cruise controls and audio controls, including a power button for the audio that's convenient when you want silence right now.

The audio system is unattractive and looks downscale for this car. Ergonomically, it's a disaster, with buttons scattered around on the unit and on the surrounding silver plastic so you have to look at it and search for the button you want to press. Also, the lettering on the controls is hard to read. At least it's easy to set stations by holding one of the presets down. The optional Bose stereo ($900) sounds great with crisp bass and highs. Volume automatically adjusts for speed. The climate controls are mounted high on the center stack and are easy to use, if lacking in aesthetics.

Seats for the driver and passenger are designed differently: In the driver's seat, a center mound of high-damping urethane foam, backed by a special spring design, provides support for sporty driving. The front passenger's seat has a flatter lower cushion and is shaped to allow a more relaxed posture. The controls for the power driver's seat are located on the right side of the seat and are a bit awkward; and the manual adjustment for rake is on the left. Opt for the sedan's Premium Package, and a two-person memory function means that you won't have to use the controls as often.

The sedan's rear seats are comfortable for a 5-foot 10-inch passenger, with plenty of leg, hip, shoulder and headroom, although knee room is limited when the driver's seat is set all the way back to accommodate a 6-foot 3-inch driver. Hidden front seat rails widen foot room for back-seat passengers. With the Premium Package, rear air conditioning vents help keep them comfortable. The rear seat itself is contoured to resemble two wide bucket seats. With the Premium Package, the sedan's rear seats can be reclined.

Storage inside the car is limited. Two glove boxes are provided, but both are small, and the optional DVD navigation system ($2,000) replaces the top one. A handy storage compartment on the top of the center dash offers room for wallets and such, but the navigation system replaces that one as well, with a clever pop-up display. Center console storage is partly taken up by a power plug, handy for cell phones. Overhead are nice map lights and a sunglasses holder. Three-channel HomeLink (also part of the Premium Package) can be used to open gates, garage doors, and turn on house lights. Visor extensions help keep the sun out of your eyes. Interior door handles are easy to grab and the doors close with a nice thunk. The optional sunroof features one-touch open and close. It's not immediately obvious whether the doors are locked, something we've noticed on some other Nissans.

The sedan's trunk leads the class with 14.8 cubic feet of storage. A large pass-through in the center armrest accommodates long items.

The coupe's interior is similar to the sedan's in most ways. The coupe's front seats feel more like a bucket, more like a racing seat. At times, I had trouble getting comfortable. The coupe may not be the most comfortable car for cross country trips, though it's certainly no worse than a Corvette.

Compared with the Nissan 350Z interior, the G35 coupe is much nicer and trimmed more luxuriously. The door trim, for example, is very nice. It reminds me of the Acura NSX cabin in feel and flavor. Like the G35 sedan, the coupe offers some handy storage cubbies. The cup holder is awkwardly located too far rearward to be useful for commuting with a cappuccino. That's probably fine because the firm suspension would make it hard not to spill any.

Unlike the two-seat 350Z, the G35 is a two-plus-two. The back seat offers much more legroom and feet room than we expected, but there's a distinct lack of headroom and it's snug on the outboard side. It's best for little people. As if someone would really want to spend time back there, the center console offers a tray, a small amount of storage and cup holders. Open the passenger-side door, flip the seatback down, and the passenger seat automatically slides forward on the tracks for easier access to the rear. An additional release lever is located in the middle of the passenger seatback, making it easy for the driver or rear-seat passenger to flip the seatback forward.

While the Z is a hatchback, the G35 coupe has a proper trunk. Though slightly more than half the size of the sedan's trunk, the coupe's shallow cargo space can be expanded by folding the rear seat flat, which forms a flat cargo space even with the level of the trunk. A lip on top of the rear seatback helps keep stuff from flying forward under hard braking. The pass-through is narrow, however, to allow for the rigid chassis structure. Also, the trunk lid opening is small. Still, it works just fine for a big suitcase or something long. We're sure there must be an interior trunk release, but we could not find it.