I'm curious to know if anybody else in a G35, particularly the sedan, has experienced any faintly unstable handling or body motions when driving at highway speeds on windy days. Just today in Houston it was pretty windy and as I'm driving along the highway between 70 and 80 mph I was being slightly pushed around (not a few times but pretty much constantly during my trip) by the strong winds. I don't know if it's the design of the car in which it can't handle strong winds or cross winds too well. I know that non-windy days it's perfectly stable and like a hot knife through butter but not windy days. Or, if it's the "not too well calibrated" sport suspension. I think that if it is the suspension then it can't withstand or resist the pushing effect wind has. Well it sucked reallllllllll bad. Other cars (econo, midsize, trucks, suv's!!!) were easilyyyy cutting through the wind and I pretty much couldnt see any of those cars sway or "be pushed" slightly in anyway compared to what I felt in my car. They were hitting 80+.

 

we've been having gusts in excess of 50+ around here in socal... I haven't had much issues driving in the winds. front/back/side wind... of course in any car you'll feel it tug... but nothing bad. much better than my previous cars on windy days.

 

Yup, I understand that any car would feel the tug as I have but it's quite a bit worse in this car than other cars I've driven for some odd reason. I just don't know what it is. All other cars around me wether it be small size, midsize, truck, or suv were perfectly fine adn were able to go much faster. My car felt a bit scary and that it would slightly try and take random directions (slightly, not incredibly) other than straight so I couldn't push it any further.

 

We had a really windy day here in Dallas, with gusts to 35 mph and steady winds between 15 and 25 mph. I drove about 50 mostly highway miles between 60 and 85 mph and the car was reasonably stable, no more or less so than in any other car I've driven. Even in some pretty vicious crosswinds it kept to its lane with minimal adjustments.

You remembered to take off that 6' x 8' ad banner mounted to your roof, didn't you?

 

I have owned at least 12 cars and 4x4s and our G35x is one of the more stable vehicles that we have owned. No problems here.

 

Jake:

Curious as to whether or not you have the aero package? (don't know what effect that might have, but maybe??).

I drove my car through driving a driving rain and windstorm when it had 1,700 miles on it, at 94 MPH ( max cruise control speed, travelling between Winnemucca, Nevada and Boise, Idaho) last May, and it was amazingly stable, in my opinion. Then again, it could just be my longtime experience driving 100 MPH+ flatbottom V-drive boats that makes it seem so mellow (if you ever want to experience something that changes directions abruptly, suddenly, and often, try a flatbottom at speed "look, there's the shore - look, there's the river - look, there's the shore again") .

Have heard this complaint about the G35 Sedan on other posts, too - seems to be the crosswinds that affect the car the most - anybody else have input for Jake ??

 

Yup, I figure it could be crosswind. I've noticed this effect on a 2004 Toyota Corolla also. I don't have the aero package but I do have the sport suspension. Just to let you guys know but I do also believe this car is stable at highway speeds. I was also curious as to what the wind speed was but have yet to check the news or weather sites. btw, i was also driving on highway 290 towards college station. Driving around below 65mph that car felt fine but 70+ was getting a bit scary. I'm not saying the car wanted to jump around but if i were to imagine, the car was "slightly" or swaying left to right from the gusts of winds. Man, this is actually hard to explain. I know there is a comfort level of when the car is moving a bit from gusts of wind but the winds i experienced seemed to push my car more than my or i would believe any other persons comfort level. I think i want to know if there are any other people who have experienced this in their G and just not me. If there were a solution that would be much nicer, but oh well right. thx guys though for trying to reason with me.

 

What tires do you have? This car IS very suseptible to side winds, I've experienced it a lot myself. But good tires make a big difference. Much more stable.

 

I've also tried to take that into consideration but I've noticed this phenomenon even on my stock gs-d tires. I'm currently on mehhh 235/45/17 Kumho Ecsta 711.

 

We have some pretty bad wind here in NM, and a high speed limit on the rural Interstates, I have not noticed any difficulty in handling with my G35, it is much better on a windy day than anything I had before. Sorry this isn't a solution!

 

We had strong winds here in Austin today, but the car didn't seem so bad as to concern me. I wonder if it's the fact that you're not USED to driving in strong winds?

I've travelled a lot, and driven in lots of different locations... the G35 doesn't seem particularly stable OR unstable to any certain degree.

Also, if you're sure it's your car - look at the tires and look at the possibility your alignment is off - these could have more effect than the actual winds.

 

We've had some pretty serious wind in Kansas City lately with the past three days being very windy. On Wednesday we were getting sustained 25mph winds and 45mph gusts. Anytime you get a sustained wind of over 15mph, any car is going to be pushed around on the road. The reason you don't notice other drivers dealing with the wind is because the steering correction isn't clear to the eye. It's the lateral movement you feel in the seat that makes it seem worse than it really is. From the outside, you'd be hard pressed to tell that someone was correcting their path due to wind....unless it's a semi. When you see semis moving around, the drivers are getting quite a ride, believe me.

I find my G to be quite stable in strong cross winds, but it gets pushed around just like any other car I've owned. The quick steering at highway speed can make the steering corrections feel a bit jolty though.

 

Yes DaveB, I know exactly what you're talking about not being able to "see" other cars like that. I tried to take that into consideration as I typed, but sorry for not mentioning that myself. I wasn't confident enough to take my car higher than 75 because of the slight swaying. You guys I believe it's 99% SIDE winds just like doogie stated. It was exactly that feel and kidn of push on the car which was not a good feeling. I know you guys might think I'm nuts but there is definitely a certain amount of sway in any car that I know I will be ok with. However, what I experienced was quite bad. I got pretty mad my car too. It was reallyyy annoying.

What was also annoying was that there was a black HEMI V8 Dodge Magnum that was next to me and it was doing the same speed as I. Sadly for me but his car was NOT as susceptible to side winds as much as my car was. He had 2 other passengers and was able to zoom up past 85+. boooo. I wanted to follow suit since pretty much every other car was going that speed but the swaying thing kept me from it.

 

Completely normal. You had a heavy mainly-sustained cross/head wind (25-30 mph gusts from NNW)pushing your front passenger tire/car over towards the concrete hwy divide. I had these winds going west on I-10W (just south of where you were)on brand new avon tech 500 summer tires--car needed much corrective steering. This is the only day that I have been in this type of sustained high winds--but seemed normal--as Dave B mentioned--you can't really tell if someone corrects--unless the driver gets caught off guard and the car travels a second b4 correction is made. Your car is fine
http://www.weather.com/outlook/drivi...=0&when=040105

 

The winds get pretty bad driving back and forth between CA and AZ. When I do it with my truck (2004 GMC sierra 2500HD crew cab diesel 4x4 with 8" lift) pulling my 29' boat its super sketchy. Its a walk in the park with my g35 sedan.

About the hemi truck begin more stable...some say it will do so because it has more weight so the same amount of wind wont have as great of an effect as opposed to a geo metro. But I dissagree, I think bigger vehicles feel it more because there is more surface area for the wind to push on. My truck weighs roughly 9,500 lbs and the boat with the trailer and a full load of fuel is around 10,500...if we round it to an even 20K LBS, thats a lot of weight to be pushing around, yet at the same time a lot of surface area for the wind to push on.