Bird’s Eye Camera from Infiniti

Posted by pikesan on Oct 22, 2007 in How-To & Tech | 0 comments

Written by Craig Pike

Once in a while, some new car technology comes by that’s worth knowing about. The first time I saw that “Around View Monitor” or AVM in the 2008 Infiniti EX35, I was blown away. Before I go much farther, here’s where Infiniti started, with their Infiniti-marquee concept sketch:

The car’s well designed on the outside, but I’m writing about what’s inside. In a natural progression, parking safety or near car “visualization” has moved from rear sonar to front & rear sonar to back-up camera. From their, we make the giant leap to AVM or Bird’s Eye camera as I’ve been calling it. Check out this video:

How’d they do that? The EX35’s got 4 cameras now, mounted as show in front, rear and each side view mirror.

The end result is a computer enhanced, 360 degree view around the car as if looking from above. It makes parallel parking a breeze and you’ll never have to worry about backing over something unseen from the driver’s seat. I think with a view like this, my wife might not park too close to my hot rod in the garage! You also get the guide lines that show you where straight is and where you’re going when backing.

Without forgetting the most important thing to My Ride is Me readers, what about THE ENGINE! Well, it’s good news! With some tuning changes, the EX35 has the VQ35 3.5L V6 that’s been a Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 12 years in a row and also powers the G35 Sedan, M35 and the 350Z among others… That means, like all of the cars Infiniti makes, it rips! I’m driving a 2008 G37 Coupe right now with Nissan’s new VVEL technology (Variable Valve Event and Lift). That’ll have to be another blog though.

The 2007 New York Auto Show in March marked the EX35 world premier, then it was shown again at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, so the EX35 should be on sale in December.

What do you think?