Not happy with the G35's handling
 

I like the G35's power. Its good. I am not happy with the handling. The tires dont feel stable, it feels heavy the car in general doesnt feel tossable. The G35 is nowhere in the same league as my EVO and sometimes feels more like a Camry than anything else.

What can I do to make the G35 feel better. Its not a heavy car really, its RWD...yet I am not happy with it overall.

Am I too used to the rawness of the EVO? Is the G35 tuned for the middle age driver? Most other G35 drivers I see are kind old. Its disappointing. :icon43:

Good tires, some good struts or coilovers, sway bars, strut and tie bars, and tie rod and tie rod ends. The G can handle very good, but it won't ever feel like a Honda, EVO, or STi.

Ill have to agree with Don. I have an 05 Sedan, used to have the 04 Coupe and it was night and day with the handling. I thought it "leaned" to much on turns. First thing I did was upgrade the springs to Teins and it stiffened up the ride completely making the handling much more better and lowered its center of gravity. Im pretty content with the Sedan now with just the springs. I know it wont be an EVO or STi (not without serious mods) but I didnt buy my G to be like and Evo/STi either! :biggthumpup:

The best thing to do so that you will feel comfortable is look into a good aftermarket suspension (JIC, CUSCO, TEIN, TANABE), upgrade your sways, and get some strut bars for the upper front, upper/lower rear. You will notice a big difference one everything is installed and tuned to your liking.

I'm much happier since I put in revised 350Z springs shocks and struts. Ride height looks perfect for me too.

Probably piece together the above mentioned stuff here and there.

i've driven my buddies STi and all i have to say is you really cant compare awd to rwd. with AWD you have all the confidence in the world (mentally and physically(car)) to jump in the turn and mash the pedal. But with rwd you kind of have to be more conservative than awd just because you kno in the back of your head it can slip out :eek3: Be safe and just learn the limits...:driving:

:bowrofl: WTF? are you serious? Who exactly sold you this car? Whoever it was must have scammed you bad.

Of course the Evo and the G35 aren't in the same league. Just because they both have four doors you lump them together in the same category? hahaha thats genius.

Isn't it obvious? You don't even have to sit in the car. Just looking at both cars you can tell that both cars are intended for a different purpose. I mean the G has the plush leather seats, automatic everything, the Bose sound system, etc. etc etc. The Evo on the other hand is billed as a rally car with Recaro seats, that huge gaudy spoiler, vented hood, FMIC, etc. etc etc.

To answer your question/concerns, of course the stock tires suck, they suck on any car not just the G35. Yes, if you are looking for more performance you should buy new/better tires.

You should know this already, as you have a "modded MR", but as Dofu said, you should look to aftermarket parts to improve the handling performance.

Hope this helps!

...By the way I can't seem to figure out why my Toyota Tercel doesn't handle like my modded Lotus Elise. Toyota sucks! :flame:

lower it and youll be satisfied

The words "good suspension" should never be used to describe Teins, ever.

I personally went with JIC for my G since I wanted to keep a smoother ride, but I wanted a suspension that I can take to the tracks too. And with my current set-up, the car turns almost as good as my old Civic hatch with full suspension and lots of chassis upgrades.

With that said, if you want handling, a drop should not be what you're looking for. Yes, technically, lowering your car will lower your car's center of gravity, therefore reducing weight transfer while cornering. But realistically, do you really think the inch or two is going to help that much? In some cases, dropping your car will actually hinder the suspension's performance more than it helps. Those stiffer spring rates aren't going to do your street car any good either. You're better off with the added traction from a good set of struts than the lower ride height from a set of lowering springs. If you really care about weight transfer, then get sway bars. And if you do drop your car, do it for looks, not because you think it'll help you corner better.

BTW, keep in mind that when you are looking for handling, you want your chassis to be as stiff as possible, and your suspension should be as soft as you can get away with. Too soft is not good, but too stiff is not good either. And that's one reason why I don't like Tein's struts.

+1

Learning how to drive your car helps too.

The G35 is a great handling car. But you cannot compare it to an EVO or STi.

If you believe it feels like a Camry, then im not really sure if you have driven a Camry :confused2:

Just get a set of coilovers + Sway bars and the different should make you happy.

.

Well do you have the non-sport version?

You could try some Hotchkis sway bars but I dunno. They are a company that also specializes in American cars. :D

Like bert039 pointed out, there's no comparision in handling between a G35 (sedan or coupe) and an EVO. The EVO comes with damn near race-spec rubber, a very stiff suspension, and an insanely quick steering ratio. The G sedan on the otherhand comes with a slightly sporty suspension (if it has the Sport package), crappy and narrow OEM wheels and tires, and steering ratio that isn't remotely as quick as the EVOs, but still quicker than most cars on the road.

First thing to remember is lean does not mean worse handling. Watch BMWs get thrown through the turns and you'll just how hard those thing lean and they're regarded as some of the best handling cars in the world. Secondly, tires mean absolutely everything.

If you want your G to be more confidence inspiring and handle noticeabily better for a minimal increase in cost, do the following:

1) Staggered 17/7.5 and 17/8 coupe rims ($350)
2) Ultra high performance summer rubber ($800)
3) 350Z springs (1" drop). The Z springs are ideal because they're linear, not progressive like Tein, Eibach, etc. Linear is the way to go for ultimate performance. ($60)
4) 350Z struts if your car didn't come with the Sport package (stiffer springs and struts) ($100)
5) Sway bars ($250)

This setup will give you the most bang for the buck without compromising ride quality and introducing nasty alignment problems.

That's a very good list. There are a lot of stuffs on your list that are sold as "used" here at g35driver.com or my350z.com for very good price. I recently bought a set of z springs/shocks for 150.00 from a guy at my350z.com (dealer cost for those would be around 1000).

+1 what DaveB said. I can NOT imagine any other car benefit as much from suspension mods as this car. I mean the setup that i have on my car is just literally day and night difference. The most important thing is to learn the limits of the car when u do suspension mods. I drove this car on stock suspension for a year and I would almost go into two wheels when taking a corner. A lot of my friends who drive GTIs and s2ks were telling me, how do u have the balls to drive like this. After knowing the complete limit of my car i went to suspension mods and some nice wide tires, NO BS I can keep up with s2ks and M3s. I know most of it is just driver confidence but i have had M3 owners sit in my car and they were shocked how much grip this car had.

This is one of the reasons I am keeping the car because I have driven EVOs STIs and 335s and non of them "feel" right to me. I am NOT confident at all with AWD car for some reason.

FUUUK, I wanna drive my car now!