When people say the g35 understeers, they mean?

 

Understeer is when the front wheels are carving a larger arc than the rear wheels. This is often described as "push" or "pushing" - as the front end feels like it is plowing off of a corner.

Further acceleration only compounds the push, as weight shifts back to the rear drive wheels off of the front turning wheels, leading to a further lessening of the car's ability to turn in.

Understeer can be remedied by slight modulation in throttle to transfer weight forward to the front wheels, aiding their traction and ability to carve the turn.

Many cars are designed to have a tendency to understeer. If the driver gets uncomfortable and "lifts" off the gas, that will cause the front end to tighten the curve - a relatively safer, and more predictable condition.



"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a *****, but only enough blood to run one at a time."

 

Precisely. As you're entering a turn, the front end will "feel" as if it wants to continue in a straight direction. It is more noticable on sweeping, or gradual turns. As you reduce your speed in the turn, at one point, the front end will finally "stick" and match up with the rear end. Then you gradually accelerate out of the turn.
Oversteer would be the opposite. The rear end of the car wants to always come around, and would feel as if you are going to spin out in a turn.

2003-G35C-5AT Laser Red/Black/Prem/XM/Tint/Chrome 17's/Black Badged

 

And...

"push" and "tight" are somtimes used in reference to understeer

"loose" is sometimes used for oversteer.



'03.5 Silver / Willow Coupe, 6MT, Prem, Nav, Aero Package and Kit

 

Ducati,
How about with FWD? Would the reverse occur? That is, acceleration gives more bite into the turn (more oversteer/less understeer)?
Thanks for a very erudite explanation on the RWD understeer. You certainly have a very good understanding of these automotive issues as well as an uncommon ability to explain them to the masses. Is this a specialty of yours or just a hobby?

 

Handling limitations are not necessarily dependent on the type of drive system of a car, be it FWD, RWD, or AWD, but rather a compilation of variables, one of which is the drive-system. Weight distribution, steering geometry, wheel camber and wheelbase also play major roles.

As Duc explained, lots of cars are designed to reach their handling limit with oversteer, since it is far easier to recover from than losing the rear end.


Black/Willow 03.5 6MT, Premium, Navi, Aero, SAT
350Z Nismo CAI

 

"As Duc explained, lots of cars are designed to reach their handling limit with oversteer, since it is far easier to recover from than losing the rear end."

A simple typo; you mean understeer, not oversteer.

 

The 350Z's and G35's stock suspension tuning is quite good (except in sedan non sport trim), with very high limits, but when you summon the courage to reach those limits, the handling balance is biased strongly toward understeer or push. To the driver, this means the car's front end no longer wants to steer your intended path, hence the term understeer. It wants to go straight ahead, all the while the rear end is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. The VQ35DE's massive torque, of course, makes up for this somewhat, allowing the driver to break the rear tires loose at will. But, after the initial thrill, you will find yourselve yearning for better balance. On a twisty road, you want the car to rotate naturally and predictably in a corner. Oversteer should come only if requested, and then should arrive smoothly and progressively. In stock trim, oversteer has to be provoked, but it arrives with a bang. Unless you intend to upgrade to a clutch type limited slip, be very carefull at trying to balance this chassis with the throttle.The stock viscous diff responds to a difference in wheel speeds, relying on the slipping plates to heat the fluid and tighten, which means it must react to wheelspin after it begins. This is the fundamental difference between a clutch-type and a viscous limited slip. A clutch type LSD responds to torque, so it reacts before the inside tire has a chance to spin. That bit of spinning is the achllies heal to the hole equation. Open diff cars will always behave the same, in fact with the addition of the Cusco sway bar's and before I did my OEM VLS (viscous limited slip) swap, I was able to steer the car around corners with ease using the throttle to kill off what little understeer I had left, nothing touchy about it. Now with the VLS added, things aren't quite so easy, wish I would have paid a bit more for the Nismo LSD.

One thing to add to this whole thing. The balance of the automotive press would agree with me in saying that these cars understeer too much out of the box. When shopping for aftermarket suspension parts, do yourself a favor. Many of these parts are actually tuned to promote understeer, buyer beware. Swaybars should be used to FINE tune a already balance setup, they are not ment to correct poor choices in spring or coilover choice. Of course the aforementioned is directly related to how far you entend to push and enjoy your car, and then some people just don't care, that's ok, some people only care about ride comfort, but I do care.

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

G35 6mt

 

I always find myself experiencing understeer. My last car was FWD (acura) and i always had no problem with it or experience like this car. I like to push my cars limit in handling just to familiarize it but almost everytime this cars starts to understeers i get pretty scared. I have yet to really push it pas the limits or to the limit.

I think its all because this is my first RWD and i've onlyhad this car for maybe 4months or a little more.

Can someone elaborate more on handling in a understeer event? What can i do to prevent the fishtail?

 

Yep, sorry, good call donp. If most cars broke with oversteer, we'd see a lot of pileups on freeway cloverleaves. =)

My typo.


Black/Willow 03.5 6MT, Premium, Navi, Aero, SAT
350Z Nismo CAI

 

I have a 04 coupe with 5AT standard wheels. The car handles sharp corners very well. It is very stable on high speed straight aways (120mph); however, on long curves when I reach between 60 mph and 100 mph I can feel the back end coming out. (SCARY!!!!!!) Can you guys please advise on what to do to correct the problem. I was thinking that either I need to replace the stupid goodyear FSA tires or I have an alignment problem. Am I way off base???

Thanks a million

 

I have a 04 coupe with 5AT standard wheels. The car handles sharp corners very well. It is very stable on high speed straight aways (120mph); however, on long curves when I reach between 60 mph and 100 mph I can feel the back end coming out. (SCARY!!!!!!) Can you guys please advise on what to do to correct the problem. I was thinking that either I need to replace the stupid goodyear FSA tires or I have an alignment problem. Am I way off base???

Thanks a million

 

>>When people say the g35 understeers, they mean?
<<

A famous racer once explained the difference between understeer and oversteer as a choice between which end of the car you wanted to hit the wall with first.

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

 

hahaha thats a good qoute.

i would consider the tires to be a problem. Tires are the most important part of ur car so good ruber can make a big difference. but there are lot of things that could be causing ur oversteer.



<a href="mailto:Carlos3186@hotmail....otmail.com</a>

 

>>on long curves when I reach between 60 mph and 100 mph I can feel the back end coming out. (SCARY!!!!!!) Can you guys please advise on what to do to correct the problem.<<

Trying to explore the handling limits of your car on a public road at 100mph is asking for trouble. The G35 already has a very high performance threshold, but that doesn't mean you can't make it crash; it just means that when you crash, you'll be going much faster than in your average Camry. Before blaming the equipment, you need to consider your own skill levels. Even if you feel you're experienced, take the car to a proper closed circuit if you want to explore the limits of adhesion. You might also consider enrolling in a driving course at Bondurant or Jim Russel. Until then, take it easy out there.

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