I ordered the 4WAS with a three month wait. But my old car ('97 VWPassat VR6) died and had put thousands into it in the past two years. So had to settle for inventory Sport 6MT and couldn't find a single 4WAS in the US last June/July.

Love my non-4WAS 6MT but still regret not having it.

My G is pretty darn fluid and responsive as is and has gotten me elegantly and safely out of plenty of tight high speed spots--just one tonight in fact.

Get the 4WAS option if you can wait for a special order.

 

Thats like comparing your Bose system on that old ZX to the Bose system on the new G......new technology...advancement..? Did you watch the video from the Nissan website? It looks like to me it does make a difference.

 

There is no question that it makes a difference. There was a Best Motoring comparison with 4WAS on and off. The slalom time with 4WAS was almost a second better and beat the other cars in the comparison. With 4WAS off (not sure if they used a different car or not), the G35 was in the middle of the pack vs 335i, IS350, and SpecB.

I was sold on 4WAS, but didn't want to wait to get it.

 

It's either something that you want or don't want. I didn't even blink at it. If you're on the fence about it, chances are you don't need it. Every car I've ever driven has done just fine on the road without 4WAS, so...you could look at it that way.

 

my 3000GT has 4 wheel steering....

 

Earliest cars I remember with 4 wheel steering option were like an '88 Prelude as well as an '88 Mazda 626 sedan. I believe the Honda version was mechanical while the 626 worked through electronics.

 

for anyone who says it doesnt make a difference, and isnt worth it...think of it like this...drive your car in a straight line and slightly move your steering wheel a little bit to either the left or right , and see if your car is still going straight. Now imagine that on the rear wheels turning opposite of the way your turning the steering wheel....do you think it will make a difference? I do

IMO its worth the extra 1500.

 

I'll check around, but I don't think those cars had ACTIVE 4 wheel steering. think of it on the G35 as Variable steer by wire on the G35, even the two front wheels are controlled by piston actuators. It's an amazing piece of technology.

It gives you better control of the car, gives you better feeling of the road, if your into performance then the decision is simple, you get it. it's a performance upgrade. If you happy with the journey performance, then don't get it.

 

Sorry to bring a dead thread back, but was the 4WAS option for common on cars? I'm searching for a G now, its and hard enough finding the right colors/options as is.

 

I think the 4 wheel steering is nice but not really needed. When all the major magazines review the G35, none of them reviewed the 4was model, they all got the non 4was models. If I was Infiniti, I would be sending the best model out to each magazine for review.

 

It's not NEEDED but man, drive one with and one without back to back. You'll take the 4WAS car every time. Ride quality is improved, handling is improved, turn radius improved, it's win / win / win, imo.

 

It isnt 4WAS on the 1st gen coupe; its RAS (rear active steer).

It's a relatively rare option... about 1 in 90 coupes have it, and most people that have it don't know that they have it.

If you look under the car, you can see the hardware that steers the rear wheels.

 

I'm considerring a G35 when I come back to Canada... any more opinions from those who have tried the active steering? If it's really great if will also force me to get nav (that's the way it's packaged).

It sounds like a cool system, but early reports were that it came with a firmer suspension. Is that true?

 

The Top Motoring video that Shane put up, mentioned that from 10-40kmh its unnoticeable 40-80kmh noticeable and >80kmh same amount of steering control hassles are needed with and without. One pro driver mentioned that the 4was had different amounts of unpredictability depending on the speed which he didn't like. I guess in summary it helps out a lot in the 40-80kmh range.

 

The system is fantasic. worth every penny. I wasn't too sure of what it did until I recieved a loaner for 3 days without it... and there is a significant different. First off, the entire car handles differently, it feels much more connected to the road. 4WAS also gives you a far greater level of precision at higher speeds. just want the vide and you will see how it smooths out the drive... and it really does do that in every day driving.

At low speeds it contributes a great deal more then people think. because it takes a lot less to turn the wheel. i.e. when pulling into your driveway you only have to turn the wheel about 2/3rds the amount.

Overall I highly recommend this package... it's technology that is worth every penny. Keep in mind that this is the only production vehicle with 4WAS. not Audi, BMW, MB, Lexus, etc.. come wiht full 4 wheel active steering.. they all only have 2 wheel AS.

Those that didn't get the package probably have little to say about it, or they will say it's a waste of money.. but that's strictly because they don't have it and have never used it for an extended period of time... it is an improvement and there's a reason that variable steering and active steer are only found in high performance and high priced vehicles...

Having owned a sport, and have driven 3 differnt loaners, 2 X's and 1 Journey.. I can tell you that the base X/Journey is nothing like a fully loaded car... it's performance is no where near that of a sport. they don't feel as stable, controlled & solid. The G35 was designed to be loaded.

and to answer your other question NO, the 4WAS does not have ANY different suspension. I'd posted the details back a while on other 4WAS threads. but to give you the short story... it was originally planned three levels of suspension. regular, sport, sport+4WAS. at the very very last second (like October 2006 the month it was being released to production) they decided to go with only 2 suspensions. so what they did was keep the regular. then go with a tighter tuned sport suspension... it's basically tuned to be 1/2 way between the sport & 4WAS.. and that's all there is.