Yes Dad thanks!!!!!!!!!! I am very careful and only do it on roads where there is minimal risk. I had my friend, who has a suped up wrx and has extensive autocross experience drive the same road in his car and then my car and he sees it too.

Any other ideas??

Thanks again

 

If you really believe there's something wrong with the car, and since it's an '04, it's still new and under warranty, then take it back to the dealership and have them check the alignment and the suspension to make sure nothing is broken or out of whack. You should also check to make sure the VDC is in the "On" position. Finally, check the tire pressure; its should measure 35psi COLD.

For what it's worth, the G35 generally has understeer designed into it, but it WILL oversteer when pushed beyond the limit. This is normal in a rear-wheel drive car with near 50-50 weight distribution. It's also what makes the G35 fun to drive. If your stock G35 is oversteering badly, it means you're going too fast. Back off a notch, and find the sweet spot between under and oversteer. I drove it over the weekend on L.A.'s Angeles Crest Highway (the closest thing to driver nirvana), and the car handled beautifully as I followed a guy on a crotch-rocket through the winding mountain passes.

RainMeister
'04 G35C 6MT, diamond graphite, premium, nav, aero

 

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The G35 Coupe does not understeer. FWD cars have understeer. RWD cars have oversteer. The G35C has 280hp and RWD...it is a candidate for oversteer. My accident was due to massive oversteer, and this week-end, I was merging onto a highway on-ramp in 3rd gear and the rear end swung out to the right (and I wasn't even punching it !!). The Pilot Sports are very sticky in warm weather, but exactly the opposite in the cold. For those of you who are experiencing sub-40 degree (F) weather, try not to punch it randomly and make sure to modulate your throttle very carefully through the curves...this car bites !!

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This is not entirely true - I AutoX the coupe and I have had other more skilled drivers (national AutoX 5th place for one) drive it and we all agree - G35 coupes will understeer when at the limit. It's designed that way through the camber and suspension bias. BMW M3's are the same - they understeer at the limit. It's intentional and even though it can be a pain to deal with as a enthusiast on the track (I hope you are pushing your coupe on the TRACK - doing on the street is foolhardy and will lead to disaster.)

This is a good thing for daily drivers - it makes you back off the pedal in order to decrease the slip angle on the front wheels. For the average driver, who has little clue how to react to oversteer (losing the tail), the preference to have them simply lift from throttle to correct a dangerous situation is very, very smart.

Otherwise, if the coupe was setup to oversteer at the edge of handling, you would have most drivers suddenly lifting off the throttle to try to get the tail of the car back in line - and making everything WORSE. This is due to a nasty condition called lift-throttle oversteer, whereby you LOSE grip on the rear tires because you are suddenly not putting force on them through throttle. Lift throttle oversteer can cause an already bad situation to become catastrophic - the tail will attempt to change ends with the front of the car and may well succeed!

Your problems with the Pilot Sports in cold weather are well documented - yes you can lose the tail on the coupe as well, but it was because you had summer tires on when you should have had all-season or winter tires. Summer-compound tires are intentionally hard in order to withstand high temps of hot days and high speed. They do VERY poorly in cold temps - in essence you are on four very hard (and decidedly un-grippy) hockey pucks! Winter tires have special treading and rubber compounds that maintain adhesion at lower temps.

A great article on handling and your car is in the February issue of SportsCar the official publication of the Sports Car Club of America. It explains slip angles and tire handling much better than I ever could. Check it out!

- Riff

G35C BS/GR/PREM/PERF/NAV/AERO/XM
Chicago Region SCCA
Tri-State Sports Car Council
Soon to come ... Tein Shocks w/EDFC, Stillen Sway and Big Brakes!