i would love to say yes, but the answer is no. this was my first car, and i have no doubt that had I not been as old as i was when i bought it that i would have wrapped this car around a light pole by now. its not overly powerful, but has too much for a first timer. proper maintenance is not cheap either.

 

I dont know about the G because I myself am on the market to get one and still searching. But ive owned a 2001 mustang GT 5speed the day I turned 16. Which is pretty much the same horsepower but alot worse handling. I never got into a wreck or had any problems what so ever and friends always tell me I drive fast and fun. It all depends on the driver.

 

Get the cheapest reliable car you can find as a first car. You're going to do idiotic things by accident that you didn't know were idiotic at the time, and be kicking yourself in the a$$ if you did it to a nice and expensive car. Take your lumps and make your mistakes on a lower-end car that is cheaper to fix and maintain, plus hopefully gets better fuel economy. I don't know where you live, but driving a RWD car with decent power in the rain and snow is just going to complicate things for you and increase your risk of crashing. Plus you'll be paying a lot of money for insurance to drive an expensive car like a G35 at your age with no prior driving experience.

 

Everything that Partyman66 states is true- especially with doing idiotic things by accident
[Like drifting around a decently banked curve on the interstate during a snowstorm]
But owning this car is really about the money. Full coverage insurance is going to be evil on that car. Gas costs will be high. Proper maintenance is decently expensive on the car.
-There are safer cars, there are cheaper cars. Whatever car you get enjoy it responsibly.
-Don't be afraid of making mistakes, just be ready to learn from them. And remember: the brake pedal is in the middle.

 

Is there truely such a thing as a "beginner" car? I have friends who can't even drive Civics.


My first car was a 1990 5.0 Mustang that ran 12's. I drove this thing in the snow, at 17 years old, on wide-*** performance summer tires. I remember driving this thing to HS one snowy morning completely sideways in 2nd gear just creeping along trying not to crash. This car had no ABS, no traction control and just gobs and gobs of torque. I survived just fine.

Nowadays, every car seems ot have ABS or traction control or some other granny-monitoring system.

With that said, would i buy my 16-year old kid a G35? prob not. #1 reason is probably car insurance. IF he wants a car when he turns 16...he's paying for it himself. That includes the $3000-4000/year insurance bill.

 

Paycheck to paycheck already?

The g is a slob for fuel, a **** for maintenance and upkeep... I'd be looking another direction- I don't care if you have driven the pope around and are the best driver on the planet.

 

First car? Depending on your life situation most first car purchases you want something super reliable and cheap to maintain, etc. Don't go for a g35, buy a civic or something along those lines.

 

I started my kids with older cars like a Saturn and a Hyundai. Sure enough, they had scrapes, rashes, and accidents. When they graduated from high school they got a brand new Yaris. Now that they have figured out how to drive well I would trust them in a nicer car. I would have been sick if I bought them nice cars at 16 and seen those cars get beat up from inexperience.

 

Get it if you really like it or you might regret it later on. YOLO

 

This qualifies perfectly as a youthful idiotic thing that you probably didn't know was idiotic at the time, or didn't know enough to realize how dangerous it was and plan ahead by buying winter tires.

 

^ oh so true

 

Wow, you guys kill me. My first cars was a 396 Chevelle with a 4 speed. At least a G has traction control and airbags.

 

Traction control won't do squat when an inexperienced driver turns it off.

 

There are a lot of cars that would be way worse. However I wouldn't advise it. I thought I was a great, careful, calm driver when I was 16. I wrecked a 95 dakota v6 5speed because I put myself in a situation where I broke traction and didn't have the experience to recover from the slide. That was in something with no power really. I know I would have wrecked a G way back then if I had one (would have been brand spanking new at the time too). I ended up with a vehicle with about 3 or 4 times the power of that truck after that but by that point I had learned respect for it, the hard way. Point is a lot of people wreck cars at 16 and 17 and very few don't at least have minor fender benders. Get something that is cheap, reliable and easy to repair. You can still make it nice and something to be proud of. I can't speak for you but I think if you are questioning if you should get it, you probably should pass on it.

 

I think it depends more on the maturity of the driver than anything else. You just have to respect the car, and spending effort to really learn how to drive is useful too. The g35 has enough torque to get you in trouble, and the relatively heavy weight and whatever it is (wheelbase, suspension geometry) makes it super uncomfortable (at least to me) when the rear starts to come out as opposed to say an s2000. It's definitely not a "fling-able" car.

Yeah, but thinking on myself and all of my friends in high school, there were so many accidents. So I wouldn't reach and get the most expensive and nicest car you can. It would be prudent to drive a cheaper car for a year or two.

In terms of a g35, I would say if you never turn your traction control off on the street, you'd probably do okay (at least in the dry). Even now the rear sometimes suprises me in the wet, especially off-camber.

That being said, it's probably not as bad as some of those american v-8's with live rear axles. And also, there are plenty of people in their 20-30's that way overestimate their driving abilities too and destroy their cars/lives. It more depends on the mindset of the driver. If you want to push the car to the limits, I would suggest taking it a track event with instructors and learning how to drive properly.

If you want a manual rwd car and want to learn how to drive a rwd car, then it's not too bad of an option for a daily driver. It is decently nice to drive and decently reliable. You just have to understand that driving cars isn't mindless, and that if you are stupid and immature, then it can also be incredibly dangerous, no matter what car you drive.

PS. I don't really see much of a reason for turning off the traction control ever unless you're on the track. The better you get with your steering inputs and throttle control, the less obtrusive it becomes. Think of it as a training device. Like when you come out of a corner, if you slam on the gas, the traction control will just cut your throttle. but if you press it to just the right level, it won't do anything and you can get slight power over. It also similarly lets you have post-apex understeer as long as you have the throttle applied.

PPS If you REALLY want to learn how to drive. you might want to start reading some books on driving and learning about managing weight shift and the traction circle and all that jazz.