Hey guys, new to this board, about a week ago I finally traded my beater for a more normal Daily Driver 08 G35S automatic, Nav + backup cam.
I also have a C6 Vette it's a 6 speed, has intake, exhaust, dyno tuned, short throw shifter, DBA brakes, sway bars and other crap I'm forgetting. The G35 is going to be my normal every day ride that I can show up to clients and not feel like a dick as though I'm trying too hard for attention, or half homeless in my beater truck haha.

Anyways, this is my thoughts on the car so far coming from a more performance oriented vehicle: This thing rides great! It takes road imperfections like a champ which makes it feels very planted and inspires confidence when taking turns even over rough road surface. I almost feel more confident taking turns in this compared to the Vette when its over rough roads because of how well the suspension absorbs bumps etc in the road. Build quality is excellent compared to the Vette, not a single rattle in the car. The only gripe I have is the crappy coating on the steering wheel bezel and the door handles, looks like a lot of people are experiencing the same issue of peeling paint?

The traction system is slightly more intrusive than I would like, and it sucks that I can't adjust the traction level, for example turn off traction while keeping stability on etc.. Although I know the sport comes with tuned traction system, it kills power fairly quick as soon as it starts stepping out on you, probably makes sense considering the average driver of these cars care more about safety than a slight over steer in a turn.

I went for the sport model, primarily because of the LSD as that was a big deal to me so, also the stiffer suspension feels great and still feels like a caddy compared to my vette. The build quality is MUCH better than the Vette, the seats in Sport model provide more adjustments than the Vette and more support. I don't have a reference point to what the Jurney or Base is like, so I'm only talking about my car setup. I didn't notice much difference in suspension feel between Journey and Sport during test drives, but who knows!

Paddle shifters are cool, but what really surprised me is how quick this thing down shifts! It seems it shifts as fast as I can click the peddle which is great compared to other autos I've drove. Again its no comparison to a DSG or a PDK system, but still really good for an automatic, and feels amazing not having to shift gears manually! For some reason up shifting takes much longer time and you can't go up a few gears at a time.

Speaking of gears, is it just me, or is this thing essentially a 4 speed Auto? I think a difference between 4th and 5th gear is like 300RPM. Almost makes you feel like you are missing an extra gear, but reving at 3k on the highway has its benefits, you are in a power band and can easily accelerate without the need to drop it a gear.

My future mods:
1. Tint 20%
2. Filter replacement or intakes? Is there much benefit to go CAI on these cars without a tune? or would a K&N filter be just as effective?
3. Replacement of switch/door handle
4. Replacement of the steering wheel bezel (I heard you have to take off the wheel to do this?)
5. Any other subtle mods that won't turn this thing into a ricer? haha


Overall I am very pleased with this vehicle, its fun to drive and pretty quick with great build quality. Below are some pictures of both the cars.

 

Very nice. Similar to the way our driveway used to look. My dad had an 09 Atomic Orange C6 Coupe 6MT with full headers, tune and exhaust. He loved that car but all it did was get him into trouble so he sold it in August for a new car for my mom.

Fun cars though, thats for sure.


First order of business should be get to that dealership sticker off the bumper. Looks like *** lol

 

haha, if you look closer you will see part of the E is missing from my initial attempt to take it off... that stuff is really on there! not even sure what my game plan is to get it taken off with, its def stickier than normal vinyl and leaves the glue behind when you remove the top layer.

 

^^ I've been known to ask them how much discount they are giving me for carrying *their* advertising around on *my* car.

Anyway, nice pair (no homo).

 

Welcome to the G Community, you will love this site and all the members help and advice. You can find anything and everything if you search. for your trim problem, you can easily replace the steering wheel trim by buying the trim from Phil (on the forum) for $21.50 Shipped!! There is an easy tutorial on how to do it on here somewhere, i haven't done it myself because was afraid of messing something up with the steering wheel. Also if your going to do %20 tint, if your state isnt tough with tint laws, it might be too dark if you have a black interior. Wish someone told me that when i got %35 for my car and still looks like %20, got pulled over twice in the last year. Other then that, you got a great car (well two) and hope you benefit from this forum as much as as i have.

 

Nice taste in cars, looks like that Vette would be a blast to drive.
As far as good mods, I'd recommend aftermarket swaybars like Hotchkis and a set of coilovers.
Welcome to the site and have fun w/ your dynamic duo

 

Have the same model as yours except it's a 6MT. Glad you are loving the G and welcome to the family. As far as performance, it's really up to you. There is a very detailed, impressive writeup on here as far as air filters is concerned. It was done using a very methodical approach and garnered some good data. Many folks here have done some aftermarket suspension work and Hotckiss is used by many here. There are also some good recommendations for exhaust kits as well. Once again, welcome home.

 

Nice! I was going to do the opposite and shoot for a C6 Z06 here in a few years out of school. Remember, the automatic sport model does not have the limited slip, so that's probably why you feel it slip so easy. I had an 03 G sedan (auto) before this and it felt so nerfed. As far as I know, it's only the 6MT models with the VLSD. I can definitely tell, too. With it turning sub 40 degrees here and I'm still on the summer tires, I break loose quite easily, but that LSD allows me to keep my foot in it a bit and straightens me out.

 

The cars compliment each other nicely!! welcome also!!! and our right about the 5spd auto's,, Infiniti could have made the 5th gear ratio a liitle taller, and still done alright with cruising, and maybe not even needed that 7spd auto...

 

Nice G, sports is definitely the way to go.

Since you have the vette for fun, auto isn't bad for a DD.

From the 2008 spec sheet, the G35 Journey with sports pack does have VLSD. The sports pack basically makes it into a G35S with auto transmission. In the G35x with sports pack, the VLSD is missing though (so does the bigger brakes).

even for 6MT, the top gear cruising rpm on freeway is a little high for me. I kinda wished the 6th is a little taller to lower the crusing rpm for better mpg.

5th gear in 5-sp auto: 0.839
6th gear in 6MT: 0.794
7th gear in 7-sp auto: 0.77

the G37's 7 sp auto kept the rpm lower and pretty much require you to down shift for passing. Now that's a "overdrive".

Also, what I wished for is the brakes from G37S ...

 

love that vette!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, and thank you for putting my mind at ease... haha I was almost kicking myself when I thought that the G35S Auto doesn't come with LSD. Glad you cleared that up! The G37S brakes are nice indeed! Its too bad I couldn't find a SINGLE ONE around here that wasn't brand new that was auto and sport, so I opted for sport G35 over journey G37... Not sure if that was a smart move or not either lol.

I'll look into the suspension mods, I know this car won't see an exhaust, so It will come down to intake/suspension mods. I haven't researched too much into this, but what about the Transmission tune? My buddy had an 06 GTO and he had his transmission computer flashed... turned the car into a beast, shifted much harder and quicker, just with that one mod, is that something people do on the G?

 

Thanks for the tip, cops around here are dicks, but I figure I have a light interior so it shouldn't make me look like I'm riding dirty. The vette has 20% but comes with 5% from the factory and I am surprised I have never been harassed about my tint on it yet. My buddy also has a C6 with 5% all around and 60% windshield and its a white colored car... So you would think that's almost an automatic classifications for a drug dealer but he has never been pulled over for that either.

 

2 very nice pix. any plans for the G as for performance goes

 

Thanks! I am limited with the options that I can do, I guess I don't want to make the car into something that its not, so I won't do test pipes or an exhaust even though I know that yields the best gains (my luck ill pick the one that sounds like a civic with a hole in the muffler and then going to have to deal with my friends calling me Paul Walker haha), so I am mostly just limited to either an intake or some filters (mostly for the sound) I'd love to get a tune to add a little more oomph to the transmission, but I am not sure if that sort of thing is done on these cars? Also it seems like everyone is recommending the sway bars (which made a huge diff on the vette) so that will be my next mod after I fix my damn brakes....

Any recommendations for the brake pads? I am thinking about going with the Hawk Ceramic, I have the Hawk HPS on the Vette and they are great, but really dusty, so I am thinking I'll give the Ceramic ones a try. I know there is plenty of research out here on both of these but just seeing what you guys think?