In case you missed it ...

Infiniti & Red Bull Racing:

The Infiniti Luxury Automotive Brand Joins the Most Prestigious Racing Series in the World

Geneva, Switzerland - (28 Feb 2011, 00:00 a.m. GMT / 1 March 2011, 01:00 a.m. CET) - Infiniti, the global luxury automotive brand from Japan, announced today a marketing agreement with Formula One World Champions, Red Bull RacingRenault, covering the 2011 and 2012 F1 seasons. Leveraging the co-operative power of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, a unique triumvirate has been created with Red Bull Racing, focused on high-profile marketing and technical activities around Formula One.
As part of the agreement, Infiniti will have a high-profile branding presence on the racing car, drivers clothing and related team uniforms and equipment. In addition to the branding and marketing relationship, Infiniti will work with Renault to forge future technical collaboration with Red Bull Racing. The Red Bull Racing team will continue to utilise the Renault F1 engines in 2011 and 2012 that powered them to their maiden Formula One World Championships last season.
Commenting on this historic announcement for Infiniti, Andy Palmer, Senior Vice President, Infiniti said: "Over the mid-term, Infiniti will be simultaneously expanding its global presence and broadening its product range. Given these twin ambitions, it is clear that Formula One offers us an unrivalled global communications platform, complementing Infiniti's ethos of Inspired Performance. We are excited to have the opportunity to enter Formula One together with a world-class team like Red Bull Racing Renault."
Red Bull Racing's Team Principal Christian Horner, who was instrumental in pulling the agreement together, said: "Red Bull has always taken a different approach, so when the Infiniti executives outlined their innovative plan to us we were very open to working with them. Coming off the back of our 2010 Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships, we feel even more excited to be starting the 2011 season with a new and committed partner like Infiniti."
Bernard Rey, President of Renault Sport F1 further endorsed the new deal: "While Renault is rightfully very proud of our achievements within Formula One, we know the future is about collaboration. To have a talented and committed Alliance partner like Infiniti is very welcome as we set out on the current and future challenges in Formula One. So it is with great pleasure that I would like to welcome Andy Palmer and his entire team in our Formula One adventure, and I look forward to starting the 2011 season together as Alliance partners."

source: nissan-global.com

Free Roadside Assistance App for IPhone from Infiniti !!

Infiniti has teamed-up with Cross Country Automotive Services to launch a free Roadside Assistance app for iPhone, allowing vehicle owners to easily summon help for roadside support.

Available as a free download, Infiniti Roadside Assistance connects Infiniti owners to a roadside assistance agent who will immediately dispatch assistance to the vehicle’s location. Hopefully you won’t ever need this capability, but just in case you do Infiniti’s app will provide you with such information as an estimated time of arrival for the dispatched service, contact information for the service provider and a reference number for the event. Additionally, there’s a priority emergency button for urgent situations. All of the services mentioned are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Infiniti’s says that its Total Ownership Experience is about responding to individual needs and providing “comprehensive programs” like roadside assistance, service loaner cars and trip interruption to make each particular ownership experience easy and more pleasurable.

Infiniti Roadside Assistance (FREE) [iTunes link]

Buckle Up !

Our friends in The Hartford Police Department would like to remind everyone that deciding to wear a seatbelt could be the most important decision that you make today...and it's the law !!

Tire School

The tires above are the two types that are available on a 2009 G37 Coupe. The top one, a P255/45 R19 92W,  is part of the sport package, and is also standard on vehicles equipped with a manual transmission. The bottom one is a P245/45 R18, standard equipment on the automatics without the sport package. What do all the letters and numbers mean ? Well, here goes...

Most tire sizes begin with a letter or letters that identify the type of vehicle and/or type of service for which they were designed. When a tire size begins with a "P," it signifies the tire is a "P-metric" size that was designed to be fitted on vehicles that are primarily used as passenger vehicles. This includes cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and light duty pickup trucks (typically 1/4- and 1/2-ton load capacity). The use of P-metric sizes began in the late 1970s and they are the most frequently used type of tire size today.

Following the letter that identifies the type of vehicle and/or type of service for which the tire was designed, the three-digit numeric portion identifies the tire's "Section Width" (cross section) in millimeters. With a
P225/45 R19 92W for example, the 225 indicates this tire is 225 millimeters across from the widest point of its outer sidewall to the widest point of its inner sidewall when mounted and measured on a specified width wheel. This measurement is also referred to as the tire's section width. Because many people think of measurements in inches, the 225mm can be converted to inches by dividing the section width in millimeters by 25.4 (the number of millimeters per inch).

Typically following the three digits identifying the tire's Section Width in millimeters is a two-digit number that identifies the tire's profile or aspect ratio. In our P225/45 R19 92W for example, the 45 indicates that this tire size's sidewall height (from rim to tread) is 45% of its section width. The measurement is the tire's section height, and also referred to as the tire's series, profile or aspect ratio. The higher the number, the taller the sidewall; the lower the number, the lower the sidewall.

The R in the P225/45R19 92W size identifies that the tire has a Radial construction in which the tire's body plies "radiate" out from the imaginary center of the wheel. Radial tires are by far the most popular type of tire today representing over 98% of all tires sold.

The 19 indicates the tire and wheel diameter designed to be matched together. Tires that have a rim diameter expressed in inches (P225/45R19, as well as 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 28) are called "inch rim" sizes, are the most common type of tire size and are used on most cars, minivans, vans, sport utility vehicles and light duty light trucks.

The 92W at the end of the size represents the tire's service description. A service description identifies the tire's load index and speed rating. Service Descriptions are required on all speed rated (except for Z-speed rated) tires manufactured since 1991.

When Z-speed rated tires were first introduced, they were thought to reflect the highest tire speed rating that would ever be required, in excess of 240 km/h or 149 mph. While Z-speed rated tires are capable of speeds in excess of 149 mph, how far above 149 mph was not identified. That ultimately caused the automotive industry to add W- and Y-speed ratings to identify the tires that meet the needs of new vehicles that have extremely high top-speed capabilities. W rated tires are rated to 168 mph.

And now you know your tires. For more information, check with the experts in the Harte Infiniti Parts Department !!

Source: Tirerack.com

The Trees of Harte Infiniti

Well known to the customers and employees of Harte Infiniti are the large oval shaped trees on the north side of the dealership which split the lot and provide shade to the customer parking area outside of the service department. My informal research places them in the species Pyrus Calleryana of the family Rosaceae. They are more commonly known as the Callery Pear. They are a dicidous tree, native to eastern Asia, named for Joseph-Marie Callery, who imported samples of the tree to Europe in the 1800s. Several cultivars of Callery pear are offered commercially, including 'Aristocrat', 'Autumn Blaze', 'Bradford' (the commonly planted Bradford pear), 'Capital', 'Cleveland Select', 'New Bradford', 'Redspire', and 'Whitehouse'.



The fruits of the Callery pear are small (less than one cm in diameter), and hard (almost woody) until softened by frost, after which they are readily taken by birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. The white, five-petaled flowers are about 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.2 in) in diameter, and are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.



In summer, the foliage is dark green, very smooth, and very glossy, alternating from ovate to broad-ovate to orbicular, with a cordate to truncate base, acuminate tip, and finely serrated margins. The foliage flutters in the breeze due to the leaf base and the 2" long petiole. In autumn the leaves commonly turn brilliant colors, ranging from yellow and orange to more commonly red, pink, purple, and bronze. Sometimes, several of these fall colors may be present on an individual leaf. At the latitude of Hartford CT, the trees often remain green until mid-November, and in warm autumns, the colors are often a brilliant end to the fall color season



They are extremely resistant to disease and blight, and are more commonly damaged by windstorms than sickness. The only liability of this species is its poor branching habit, which renders the tree a sitting duck for major branch shearing at times of high winds or heavy ice load. This is caused by the numerous weak crotch angles, due to the vertical co-dominant central leaders that repeat up and down the canopy, with narrow angles of separation betwen the vertical branches, having little strength at their points of attachment to each other. Thankfully, ours seem to be just fine !


Source: http://www.hort.uconn.edu/

Big Wheels Keep On Turnin'...

In for service on Saturday, a 2008 FX45 sporting 26" low profile wheels and tires. According to the owner, no structural modifications were required to accommodate these monster rims.

Anniversary Edition 2010 G37 Convertible

The 2010 G37 Convertible, Anniversary Edition, features an extremely aggressive chrome edged front air dam, and pronounced side sill ground effects that make this head turner even more visually stunning.

Happy Birthday John !!

Happy Birthday to Mr. John Finelli, General Sales Manager of Harte Infiniti !! Mr Finelli has been with Harte Infiniti since Mr. George Harte opened the dealership in April 1990. He is a multiple award winner with Infiniti, and has spent more time in and around Infinitis than literally almost anyone else on the planet. You can see John at 150 Weston Street almost any day of the year, and we're proud he chose to spend his birthday with us !!

Know Your Infinitis.

Two Infiniti M35X sedans, same color, one model year apart. Anybody name the years ?

The Infiniti 2011 M35h is here !

The remarkable 2012 Infiniti M35h hybrid has arrived at Harte Infiniti. This will be an extremely limited production vehicle with only 948 scheduled to be delivered to all dealers, nationwide. Hybrids have become almost commonplace within the last decade, but one look at this car reaffirms the fact that Infiniti likes to do things differently. First off, this is clearly a sport sedan hybrid, with a total combined horsepower rating of 360hp, developed by a 3.5 liter V6 and a 50 KW electric motor. It is rated 0-60 at a quick 5.1 seconds. This kind of performance is achieved while posting a fuel efficiency rating of 27city/32highway. I think that deserves a "wow!". Also, get this...the vehicle is designed so that it can run up to 1.2 miles on pure electrical power at speeds up to 62 mph. Now that's one heck of a hybrid ! If you have an interest in state of the art technology ( and who doesn't ?) swing by Harte Infiniti and check out this car while it's still here.

Know Your Infinitis.

Behind the wheel of the Infiniti M35X. What was the last year that this vehicle featured Infiniti's signature amber colored gauges ?...2007 !!

Nice Drive !

On Monday, May 16th, at The Country Club of Waterbury, golfers in The Chase Collegiate School Golf Invitational had the opportunity to take home a two year lease on a 2012 M37X for a hole in one on the 12th hole. The Harte family would like to thank Nora Kenney of the Chase Parent's association and Club Professional Tom Gleeton for their assistance in coordinating this event. Unfortunately, nobody won the car, but you can take one home regardless of your score by visiting Harte Infiniti !

Saturday Afternoon in Service...

Seth Levine of Middletown Massage Therapy would like to offer all HarteInfinitiLive followers a complimentary additional half hour of massage services when one hour is purchased !! Just mention
that you saw it on Harte Infiniti Live !!
    Middletown Massage Therapy is located at 107 Coe Avenue, Middletown, CT (860) 322 0809
or email middletownmassagetherapy@gmail.com


Annie Powell, President and CEO of The World Skin Project, would like to remind everyone that May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. The goals of THe World Skin Project are:

• To promote skin cancer awareness with a focus on education for massage therapists, massage therapy students and other body-work professionals including educators and academic directors.
• To encourage detection of skin cancers in their earliest and most curable stages.
• To discourage tanning bed usage and unprotected exposure to harmful UVA/UVB sunlight rays.
• To improve skin cancer care and after-care by offering body-workers education and training programs.
• To stimulate similar educational programs abroad.
• To provide discounted and free sunscreen products to individuals with financial difficulties.
• To encourage all body-workers to advise clients and patients on the dangers of skin cancer

for more information visit http://www.theworldskinproject.org/

Saturday, May 14th, Harte Infiniti Service sponsored our Customer Appreciation Lunch buffet, catered by Salute Restaurant of Hartford, and featuring complimentary massages by Middletown Massage and The World Skin Project. Check with your service advisor for next month's date and other upcoming events !!

Something about that car !!

Harte Infiniti Customer Mr. Frank Hunte talks about seeing his new G37 Coupe IPL for the first time.

One from the archives...

Many of you may remember Harte Infiniti's previous sign. This shot was taken the day after Christmas at sunset, in December of 2003.

New Furniture for the Service Department !

As part of our remodeling, the Harte Infiniti Service Department received their new furniture for our
customer waiting area. In addition to coffee and doughnuts, flat screen TV, and complimentary Ipads, our service customers now can relax or work at new tables, or on comfortable leather chairs. Compliments to our Account Executive, Debbie Papallo, from W.B. Mason Co. in Hamden CT, for an excellent job of delivery and set up !