I am in the market to purchase a g coupe, and have about 18,000. I know that I can find a 2008 g37 coupe with about 50k miles in this price range, but i could also easily find a 2006 g35 coupe for about 15-16k and have money left over for wheels and visual mods. What would you choose?

 

I am in the market to purchase a g coupe, and have about 18-19k. I know that I can find a 2008 g37 coupe with 50k in the price range, but would you suggest that or purchasing a 2006-07 g35 coupe and having some money left over for rims and other minor visual mods? And for g37 6mt owners, I have heard lots of complaints about the clutch feel and transmission? How is it? What do you love and hate about your g37?

 

I think the G35 looks way better than the G37 but, when I got the 37 loaner from the dealership, it drove much nicer than my G35 and had a nicer interior. You should drive them both and then decide.

 

My g35 trans rattled like a cement mixer. The engagement point is the same. Sb!tty on the g35 and 37. My g37 trans is quiet at least...both 6mt. The power is no comparison. My 06 was a slow turd compared to my g37. Oddly, it's a huge difference for such a small bump in hp/tq.

 

what are you looking for in a car?

 

Can't decide between a 2006 g35 or 08 g35 08 has lower miles but cost more the o6 has more miles but as a first time buyer I want to experience everything that comes with owning a g35 the good and the bad if that make sense where should one like myself who has zero infinit knowledge start dint want to jump straight to g37 as in I like the look of the 06 but heard the 08 has better features and is faster

 

2003-2006 sedan is the V35 chassis
2007-2008 (and newer) is the V36 chassis

V35 chassis came with the VQ35DE engine, V36 chassis uses the VQ35HR engine, when the car is restyled and rebadged to the G37 in 2009 the engine changed again to the VQ37VHR engine.

The G35 all use the RE5R05A 5 speed automatic transmission, V35 chassis 6MT uses the CD00# manual transmission (2006 would be the CD009 or CD00A), V36 chassis 6MT uses the JK41B transmission which is basically a CD009 with a different bellhousing. The VHR engine was mated to a RE7 7 speed automatic.

I'm guessing you're talking about SEDANS even though you posted in a coupe subforum since the 2008 G35 was only offered in a sedan, 2008 was the first year for the G37 coupe though.

Here's a super quick breakdown of pros and cons.

V35 sedan, DE engines tend to consume oil, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, doesn't really affect the engine though, they all did it to some degree. The engine does perform well and the only real performance mod you would 100% want to get is a 5/16 plenum spacer (aluminum one, not a cheapo plastic one). It makes a massive difference, even without a proper uprev tune.

Any engine sensors MUST be replaced with OEM Nissan or Hitachi parts, Hitachi was the OEM manufacturer so when things like MAF sensor, throttle body, cam or crank sensors fail you MUST replace them with OEM Nissan or Hitachi. These cars don't play nice with aftermarket sensors.

The rear differential bushing is prone to early failure, replace it with an aftermarket polyurethane one.

The front suspension is a multi-link performance suspension with a LOT of moving parts, it can be somewhat expensive to repair due to having 4x more parts than a typical Macpherson strut front suspension like you find on FWD daily commuters, this is a sport car after all so it's more expensive to maintain.

The interior vinyl glue sometimes causes the edges of things like door panel vinyl to peel away, just keep up on it with some type of adhesive to glue it back down, shoe glue works remarkably well since it adheres well and stays flexible.

The sunroof drains can clog, they exit at the cowl near the windshield wipers. If they clog up it drips water in the car on the carpet, I like to spray brake parts cleaner back up into the drain at the cowl and flush them with water from a hose about once per year.

There is a screen/drain in the cowl that gets plugged with leaves and dirt, pay attention to it, if it clogs up and you get a downpour all that water will be pouring on the IPDM engine bay fuse box since this front midship engine design doesn't use an ACTUAL cowl.

That's it for the V35, maintenance is key. Change the spark plugs with OEM NGK stuff, timing chain tensioner, and a water pump when it starts to weep from the side of the block. Timing chain is good for the life of the engine on all VQ engines. Keep up on differential gear oil, transmission DRAIN AND FLUSH (not powerflush, no filter to change, there's a drain plug on the tranny pan and it's about 4 quarts, use only Nissan brand tranny fluid), brake fluid, power steering fluid (just suck the reservoir out and refill it once a year), engine oil, these cars run for a very long time if maintained.

V36 chassis has the dreaded P0011 or P0021 code problem on some engines, ALL of them experience this issue to some degree but it might not always throw the code. The issue is a gallery gasket, it's located behind the timing chain, and it's a cover over an oil passageway that feeds oil pressure up to the variable cam solenoid, the gasket was faulty from the factory and it cracks and leaks oil, this lowers oil pressure, the more it cracks the more significant the drop, eventually it gets to the point where the ECM cannot properly advance the cams and it will throw that code. Since there is no oil pressure gauge like the 350Z has you won't realize this issue is happening until it finally throws the code. The repair cost is essentially getting the timing chain replaced since it's directly behind the timing chain. If you do it yourself it only costs like $250 in parts since you might as well replace the primary timing chain tensioner and water pump while you're in there.

The HR engine does not have an access panel in the timing chain cover to replace the tensioner and water pump like the DE engine does.

The HR engine is significantly more powerful than the DE engine though, it is without argue the better performing engine and aside from the gallery gasket issue (which is 100% fixed and future proofed with a good aftermarket gallery gasket like from Z1 or CZP) it has no other mechanical quirks aside from a possible stutter issue which can be fixed at the dealership with a reflash. That stutter doesn't seem to affect most of them though but it happens commonly enough that threads pop up here from time to time.

The V36 uses a steel rear subframe which is prone to rusting out in areas where they salt the roads.

The V36 interior is a little better quality than the V35 so the peeling panels isn't really an issue.

Overall both are excellent platforms and you can't go wrong with either, especially if you're looking at the later year V35 like the 2006. Personally I have a 2006 coupe because I love the body styling.

Both V35 and V36 have subframe braces under the car that are prone to rusting out, the front brace is very angular with a lot of bars, sort of like a triangle and a trapezoid had a child together. It keeps the front end rigid but as it flexes slightly the factory paint peels off of the welds which exposes metal that will rust. The rear has a large "W" shaped brace that had poor surface prep so it's paint doesn't stick and it rusts out as well. With either chassis I strongly recommend getting the car up on a lift or jackstands once per year, clean the dirt off with a bristle brush (I'm not a fan of powerwashing cars, too many computers and electronics that can get wet with pressurized water), then respray any rusty spots with Rustoleum undercarriage coating spray.

Both cars have pretty robust aftermarket support, Uprev engine tuning is available, both engines respond well to specific mods. The DE engine needs the plenum spacer, high flow cats, and better headers, a tune, and they scream. The HR engine needs true dual cold air intakes, high flow cats, and a tune and it screams as well.

The RE5R05A transmission is amazing with the TransGo shift kit installed.

Both 5AT chassis are amazing with a higher geared differential installed, there is a massive component interchange between the G35, G37, 350Z, and 370Z since the V35 and V36 share a mountain of parts. So if the car you get doesn't have factory VLSD you can just add it, with higher gears if you want more acceleration at the cost of higher freeway cruising rpm, stuff like that.

If you want to keep it bone stock and just drive they both feel good right out of the box too. But I would strongly recommend the plenum spacer if you do get the DE engine, basically it's a free 15-20whp in the middle of the powerband and only costs $200 for the spacer. Hands down best bang for the buck.