For you G35 drivers that let your machine do what it can do, notice that this car oversteers quite a bit when powering thru hot turns? I've got the '04 OEM Goodyear RS-A, and the "Sport Tuned" suspension. Tell me more than 'you gotta lay off the gas in the turns'. Do I have a better tire choice than the RS-As?

 

Please use the search function. This has been covered numerous times. But since I am a nice guy sometimes here is a brief intro to what you will find.

In the stock 215/55 size the tires suck (there are only about 3 makes)

Go to 235/50/17's and look at your choices there. You will not be dissappointed.

To truly handle this machine's off-the-line power you will need either 245 or 255 or larger tires. For that you will need larger wheels (17x8 or 17x9) for the wider rubber. Nothing short of that will prevent excessive wheelspin on takeoff.

But for curves, moving to 235/50's on the stock rims will fix all your problems.

Better Life thru Chemistry
Black on Black 03.5 Sedan 6MT - Custom Catback, Custom Intake Tube, HyperGround Kit

 

First the RSAs aren't really good tires for handling. The GSDs are better than the RSAs but you can still do better than that. Also 3Point is right, the 215/55/17 isn't the most optimal tire size. Going 235/50/17 on your stock wheels would be much better. And in a RWD vehicle you don't want to suddenly let off the gas in a hot turn. Doing so will definitely cut out your backend. What you want to do is to keep on the gas in the right amount so that you power through the turn but not oversteer.

04' G35S 6MT Ivory Pearl, Willow, Premium

 

What do you mean by oversteer?

Power oversteer is a consequence of RWD and is a desirable feature as long as it can be controlled i.e. you can vary the amount by changing the amount of throttle applied. Note you need to apply a fair amount of power (and/or a tight turn) to actually notice the effect. You would need stickier tires only If you are having the tail swing out - the extreme case of power oversteer - and not something you want to do on the street anyhow.



G35S AT / Ivory Pearl and Black

 

Yes he is talking about power oversteer, but in extreme cases even with the GS-D's (like on mountain twisties) the back end comes around just with moderate throttle and in that case, 10, 20, 30 or more milimeters of tread will help alot

Everyone please note before someone gets confused: In the G35 sedan you have a tendency to understeer and MODERATE throttle is required to bring the nose back in to the line you are driving.

The oversteer only happens when you want it, i.e. with VDC off and the wheels spinning

Better Life thru Chemistry
Black on Black 03.5 Sedan 6MT - Custom Catback, Custom Intake Tube, HyperGround Kit

 

It's correct to say the sport suspended sedan's nature is understeer. It will only oversteer with pedal imputs, brake or throttle. Now, the non sport will oversteer regardless of pedal imputs and will not stop until you cancel it's momentum by scrubbing off speed.

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

G35 6mt

 

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It's correct to say the sport suspended sedan's nature is understeer. It will only oversteer with pedal imputs, brake or throttle. Now, the non sport will oversteer regardless of pedal imputs and will not stop until you cancel it's momentum by scrubbing off speed.


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I have a non-sport (my choice) and it definitely does not oversteer. On tight on-ramps (270 degrees), one can manage the line by the amount of throttle applied and trust me, I do not have to scrub speed to control the oversteer. Scrubbing off speed - by lifting off for instance - will induce an immediate tightening of the line (an oversteer) if the car was under heavy throttle on a tight curve. Again, that is the desired behaviour; on a decreasing radius turn, one can simply lift off the throttle and the car corrects by oversteering a little.



G35S AT / Ivory Pearl and Black

 

Other opinions are certainly everyones right and are part of make internet formus great places for info, but let me explain some things, my comments on the none sport are generated from being given a non sport as a loaner twice, both for a 1 week time frame. First thing I did when I got the car was to immediately go to one of several 180 degree sweeping onramps in the town where the dealer is located. The onramps are quite wide and afford me a long time in cornering state. I didn't run the test's just once, but 6 times. I found that I was able to get on and off the freeway, changing directions each time and because of how the lights timed things at the bottom of the offramps, I had no one ahead of me, so I repeated the testing procedure over and over. I also continued to test the car throughout both stays with me, being on terra firma afforded me the chance to test in the same areas that I've already tested before. Other noticable traits are, excess weight transfer during throttle imputs and braking, much worse than the sport suspended car. The car also is underdampened on the whole, the sturts allow the suspension to get rather busy on ruff pavement and if the pavement was less than smooth while caring G loads this underdampening effected the cars ability to corner effectively. So the sports suspension isn't just about what happens at the limit of cornering adheasion, it's about all behaviors concerned with performance driving and knowing that these other behaviors exist, I found it's at the limit behavior compleatly understandable. Now I know that most all non sport purchase decisions were made outside of such driving as a major influence, with ride comfort as priority one.

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

G35 6mt

 

Very true-tires help to a point.

03.5 Sedan/B. Silver/Prem/Winter/Aero/Tint/Rims
69 Chevelle Hard Top BB/4.11's/Posi

 

I thought this car understeer quite a bit.

 

Thanks for the explanation Gsedan35. What tires did you have on the non-sports? Mine has the Eagles but if the loaner had the Turanzas, that may have made a difference? My comments stem from comparing my previous rides (all front wheel drive) with the non-sports G35 so perhaps I just had/have lower expectations.

Now I want to test drive the sport suspension sedan - maybe check out the stick at the same time. How does the G35 (non-sports) compare to an I 35? I could not stand the I35 when I got that as a loaner.



G35S AT / Ivory Pearl and Black

 

I can firmly attest to oversteer in the sport suspended sedan...this morning, for instance, I was on my way in to work and had VDC off, I'm in the process of getting to know how the car feels without all the help...I had previously gotten a blip of the slip light with VDC on in this hot little curve that's a short cut to the freeway. This morning with VDC off I come into this tight left curve and I'm down shifting to 3rd, then second and I give a little throttle out...in a split second the backend breaks right and I steer right quickly to correct the locomotion...(I loved it:>)...no doubt had there been a little more throttle and a hesitation on correcting the slid and my backend would have been all off of the right shoulder drop. I must say, however, with VDC on in the same curve with virtually the same input, the car seems like it's on rails!

Personnaly I would like to see a wider stance on the next sedan. This car has a very very narrow look to it when you look at it from behind...don't get me wrong, I love my sedan as is and I know my car is a hot performer (I may be a little bias:>), but a wider stance and better, wider rubber would help a lot. I'm definitely headed for wider rubber.

G35S 6MT!! DIAM GRAPH/ GRAPH BELLS WHISTLES...DEFINETLY WORTH THE WAIT!!!

 

Your observations are pretty accurate and I'm surprised this has not been discussed more. My non sport sedan's suspension is way underdamped and not confidence inspiring. Any bumps in the corners cause the car to become very unstable, giving the sensation the car will break contact with the road. This is probably worsened by the pos turanzas. I disagree that most non sport buyers were worried about ride quality. No offense, but the "titanium" dash does not look good. The five spoke wheels look boring and are heavier. I saved the $500 for the teins (which is what we all need anyway).

 

I did some research on previous postings and also went back and re-read what C&D as well as Consumer Reports had to say.

C&D experience was exactly like gman4gman's experience - too much throttle and the tail will swing out if the VDC were off. They tested a sport suspension automatic (in the comparo). CR tested the base suspension and also commented on twitchy emergency handling - which I take to mean tendency of the tail to swing out.

Bottom Line - G35S has a tendency to step out with or without sports suspension. As commented earlier, beefier tires provide higher levels of grip to the tail will swing out at higher limits but the general tendency is the same.

Having said all of this, for a lot of us, the ability to rotate the car a little with power on (or lift throttle) oversteer is part of what makes the car that much more fun. I can and do this on tight, decrasing radius on ramps - when it starts to get a little tight, lift of lightly and the line tightens up. Lift of completely and tail will swing out, as experienced by gman.

Question on definitions : I make a distinction between a tendency to oversteer and actual stepping out of the tail. The ability to induce mild oversteer is cool - and part of why we have RWD cars. The latter - the tail swinging out - is the extreme consequence of the oversteer and is not really desirable. I recall reading that early Porche 911's used to that and the handling was always twitchy.

Also, a little perspective - if the 350Z's handling is say 100, the coupe is probably 98, sports suspension sedan at 96 and the non-sport sedan perhaps at 92. The FX35 at 90-92. The WRX is probably right there around 96-98. However, the I35 and the ES330 are probably 60 on that scale. Thoughts?



G35S AT / Ivory Pearl and Black

 

I've driven a few coupes, sedans, etc... And the main thing I've thought is that wider/sticker tires would probably be the best option. While a better coilover suspension would be nice and help body roll and everything, the car will still rotate under power very easily due to the lack of traction. If you're cornering at the limit of the car (with VDC off) it doesn't take much throttle to get the rear end to start to rotate. If you guys can hit up an auto-x you can safely test this =) Long sweepers would probalby be better though, due to the longer wheelbase the car will light them better than tight, slower speed turns.
While lift throttle oversteer on command with my G20 is very fun, nothing beats RWD power induced oversteer. =)

Justin McClanahan
Heavily Modified 95 Infiniti G20
Working on a G35 Coupe
www.InfinitiPartsUSA.com