hey guys.. yea i'm a newbie here, but i've been reading posts almost all day everyday since i got my g35x two months ago

anyways, i had a couple of questions since this is my first AWD car and i'm hoping some of you can shed some light on this for me.... OK, so I've had the car for two months (i absolutely love it.. duh) but there are sometimes i don't feel too safe in the car, let me explain. I'm coming from an '04 Mitsu Galant so this is a major, major upgrade lol i'm a real good driver and know how far i can push my cars but now with this AWD car, i feel like i may be pushing it too far because my expectations are wayyyy too high.. for example, a friend of mine has a '01 A4 and when riding shotgun you really feel him pushing the car around corners with no problem - the tires are silent. but i know i've heard somewhere about the distribution of power to the front and back and how not all AWD cars are the same and it can be 20/80, 50/50, etc... my question is how/what is the distribution on the g35X?? I feel like i'm driving a RWD car ALL the times and the front wheels kick in "occassionally" if they feel like it or if the car senses that they need to kick in - and at that point it's usually too late because i've already semi-lost control (perhaps that's just the VCD kicking in - please correct me if that is the case)

OK, now here is a short (ok, long) story as to why i feel this way... I live in New York (Staten Island to be specific) and believe me, SI is no autobahn... nobody should be driving over 35 on any of those streets, but you'll find people driving like they have only one day left to live... anywas, so i'm exiting an expressway and making the left under the overpass like i ALWAYS do to get to my friends house... well in my galant i would NEVER make the first light after the overpass where i need to make another left to drive parrallel to the expressway. so when i was in my galant i would get to the light just as it turned red... now in my G35 i ALWAYS make this light but the problem is, i'm making it at about 40 or so and then i have to make that left (don't worry, i have the left turn signal while the oncoming traffic has a red), now remember, this road is running parrallel to the expressway so it's a service road with three lanes.. i whip the left and the car screeeeeeeches and i cut the corner like a hair away from the curb and turned just enough so that its not like i was trying to drift or anything and sure enough after completing the turn in the middle lane like i wanted to, the car's back swung out to the right lane and this is where the VCD must've kicked in because the entire car just basically drove itself into the right lane........ fine, turn completed.. but my point is if there was a car parked in the right lane?? or even worse, if that right lane wasn't there and perhaps there was a building or a pole?? i know you guys are just gonna say "well don't drive 40 mph into left turns" and YES i know you're right, but lets just say i want to be able to make left turns quicker than my galant - just how much can i push my g??

I read in a previous post that the AWD is only engaged up to 30 mph, then after that it's RWD.. I was told on my test drive that it's only RWD when the car sense "normal, dry driving conditions on a flat surface during acceleration" but if that's the case, then does the AWD kick in when you're in trouble, or is the AWD just not all that i've expected it to be and instead it's the VCD that is "kicking in" when i'm in trouble??

 

A couple of answers:

First, as was previously noted, the x acts like a RWD most of the time (in fact, I was unaware that it acted AWD until 30, not sure that's correct). The FWD kicks in when it senses a loss of traction. So that said, most of the time your x is going to act like a high-horsepower RWD car - and yes, you can get it out of shape (especially since the x has smaller tires than the s, for example).

If you suddenly felt the car kick in hard in a corner, you could have felt VDC come on, which is very effective in straightening it out - or could have been the AWD, or both. I would guess it was VDC though if you felt a significant change.

In my s, in 50+ mph curves, getting on the throttle hard can bring out the back end. It doesn't feel particularly unstable while doing this, but sure enough there's traction loss. So I guess the point is, understand you're driving a car that reacts to throttle (either stepping on it, or trailing throttle), and go into high speed corners smoothly to keep the car balanced. Once you straighten out, stand on it

 

I dont know where 30mph came from, I always thought it was something like 12mph - just enough to get you going from a stop.

 

thanks g35now - it's prob the VCD kicking in.. thank god i leave it on!

and i wouldn't be surprised if it's 12 mph, it sure as hell feels that way... i read 30 mph from the other thread about AWD where someone was looking to disable the AWD for the summer months... if you ask me, disabling it wouldn't really make much of a difference!! lol thanks again for the info guys

 

I'm pretty sure that all the ATESSA documentation that was dug up from Nissan said 12mph.

But this is how rumors start though... somebody will say 30, then by next year it's gospel.

 

You are talking about when the snow mode button is engaged. You will have 50/50 traction front and back if the button is engaged but only up to 12 mph or 20km/h. After that speed it reverts back to the standard AWD mode and provides extra traction where and when required at any speed. The snow mode is only functional up to 12mph.

Weegie as to taking corners at speed, you will have much better handling if you run a good performance tire instead of the crappy stock All Seasons. I got rid of my stock all seasons before they had 200 miles on them.

 

You cant compare this car to your friends Audi. I just got rid of an 01 S4 and it handled 1,000,000 times better than my new G35x does.
I actually like being in my G more but handling wise Audi wins. <-***That is completely my opinion. I dont want to start an Audi vs. Infiniti thread...LOL***

 

don't worry, i won't start an infiniti vs audi argument lol my friend would be better at that since he knows audis like the back of his hand - but i certainly wouldn't doubt that S4 handled better lol

the audi may beat the G in handling, but the G won me over in many other departments and one of them was the interior... everytime someone gets in my G, they don't really compliment it too much from the outside.. they'll say "oh wow, this is a good looking car" or "wow, what a nice color - it's so different and unique" (I got the lakeshore slate btw) but once they sit in the car, they ALL say "WOW, this really IS a nice car... holy sh*t!!" lol

 

Here is a really good article from NISSAN on how their AWD system works in the G... http://www.nissannews.com/infiniti/2.../awdtech.shtml

And imho Infiniti/Nissan owns Audi in the face.

 

haha

great info, thanks! now i can finally understand my car... it's like we were speaking two different languages...

 

I agree weegie, the interior of the G35 is very beautiful.