I turned off the vdc today and went out of the city to try out my coupe. The handling is quite impressive. You can take high speed corners sliding sideways without any loss of control. The balance of this car is spectacular. You can get the tail under control with confidence by gently turning into the skid while maintaining a proper line on the road at all times. The weight and balance are close to perfect. It feels so right! I can't wait for spring so I can take this to the track with summer tires on it. I finally feel at ease with the car and have grown very fond of it as I learn about it's capabilities.

You are not likely to appreciate what this car can do based on a test drive. I have driven many different cars but few have impressed me like the coupe. I am fully prepared to overlook any nit picky shortcomings because of the pleasure driving it has provided so far. This car is meant to be driven to the limits. You can tell this as soon as you put it to the test. It may not be a straight line champion but I don't think that's what the designers at Nissan concentrated on.

 

sweet, thanks for the input man
and you have those 18' snow tires on it too?!?!?!?
awesome
do you have the 6 or the auto?

 

6Mt

 

Hey telegramsam, I was wondering since you seem to be one of the few guys so far pushing your car a little harder if you have noticed the lag in throttle response like others have posted. Some seem to think its the VDC not letting the tires spin or the *** end jump out. When you were driving it the other day with VDC off was the throttle response better or is it the same whether its on or off. And do you even notice any throttle lag or not? Thanks in advance.

 

Let me tell you be very careful with VDC off. Car will definitely let you get the rear WAY out...

 

I did not consider the throttle lag to be excessive nor a problem. With VDC off, this car goes. You need to have it's revs up to perform though. The engine bogs a bit if it's under 3500 rpm. I suspect the horse power in this engine doesn't shine until around 35-4000 rpm. In 4th if you punch it when the revs are say around 3000 rpm is seems to dog it. Drop a gear and it leaps like a leopard. The power band in the coupe is narrower than in a performance 8 cylinder muscle car. Catch it's peak horsepower though and it performs above average for a V6. My experience is with the 6 speed though. The automatic may behave differently. I do know that the automatics learn driving patterns and a soft break in may contribute to under performance. I have heard from other members that if the car battery is disconnected for 12 or more hours, the automatic will drop it's memory.

Once you have your car broke in, find a lonely desolate strip of paved highway and try it out. The fun factor is right up there with this car. Run through the gears trying full throttle at different revs. Learn it's power curve. Once you get a feel for it, you will have a blast.

I have driven numerous rear wheel drive cars, this is the only one with traction control. My other cars were adequately powered. What is impressive with the coupe is how the driver has such control with the balance between power and handling being so well tuned. You can control the tail with the throttle easily and unless you are unfamiliar with a RWD, there is no reason to lose control of the car.

 

The VDC does power the car down just a little bit if it senses the tires slipping. It's not too intrusive (in my opinion), it lets you get a feel for the limit without getting in trouble. When the system is confident that it has traction, it will launch you [img]/w3timages/icons/shocked.gif[/img]. What you end up with is one of the fastest, best handling cars out there. Especially in this price range. You will love it! Basically, it will make your grandma look like she learned Mario Andretti if you ever felt inclined to toss her the keys.

I got mine in early Nov. so when I went over the 1000 mile mark, I turned off the VDC and did a celebratory burnout. Man, that was a lot of fun[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]. There is a lot of power to be had with this engine. Funny thing happened though - My "slip" (or whatever it says) light came on in the center of the dash and wouldn't turn off, and the VDC wouldn't turn back on until I turned off the car and started it again.

I urge everyone to be careful in traffic or tight spaces getting hot on the gas with the VDC off . . .You can get sideways in a hurry with no effort! I have the 5A/T and know what it does, but I imagine the 6M/T will slip in at least the first 3 gears if you drop it. These coupes are way too pretty to be smashed!

 

Thanks for the advice guys, can't wait for mine to get here.