PROS
1. Its not a 350z.
2. Its not rear wheel drive.
3. The rear end doesnt step out on you unexpectedly
4. My maxima is in decent condition, while the 350z I rode in earlier is presently f u c k e d up.
CONS
NONE


Moral to the story: Don't ride with people you don't know. We made it about 150ft before a turn and a couple of 360s and some decent damage to an otherwise nice car.

BE CAREFUL>>>>>>>>>>>ESPECIALLY ON THE TWISTIES!!!

for the whole story:
We come over a hill almost at redline 2nd gear(I assume 60+ mph), 350's tail fishes out to the right(NO COUNTERSTEER is helping here) , go into the curb on the left side halfway sideways, halfway backwards, spin around prolly 3 times and end up back on the road that we started on because of the slope of the grass median we went up.

my back hurts, i am out.

PEACE

sorry to hear that. I guess your handle (luckee2bhere) is very appropriate!

you are one luky **** - what i still dont understand is why people say that rwd handles better when at the same time they always talk about spinning out on turns. can someone shine some light?

throttle induced oversteer (in extreme cases, drifting) is why, also, no torque steer, and better traction

I think that with RWD, if you're a good driver and know your car, you can make it do things with the gas pedal that no FWD car could match. Its when dumbasses who should be driving Honda Civics get behind the wheel that RWD isn't such a good idea. The only reason I have a FWD car instead of my old 240SX (awesome car) is because of the snow we get here in the winter. RWD is just plain dangerous in the snow..no if's, and's, or but's. If I lived in Florida, I'd be driving an S14 240SX hands down. Sorry to hear a 350Z bit the dust...it is a crime.

Spence

amen

yeah i have had my username since 2000 actually when i totaled my GS-R in a telephone pole


**UPDATE...looks like he needs 3 new tires and one new rim...We were lucky as hell nothing major happened.

As 300Zx owner and a Maxima owner I will say hands down rear wheel drive is the best thing since sliced bread.

RWD is better in sports cars because of the way the weight transferrs under acceleration. When you step on the gas a significant amount of weight is transferred to the rear tires. That gives them better traction. In a FWD car the weight still transfers to the rear wheels, which means that the fronts won't have as good traction. That's why dragsters are always rear wheel drive.

The other factor is that the front wheels turn the car. The tires have a certain amount of traction. When you're using that traction to both power the car AND turn it, you're splitting the traction between the two. In a RWD car the tires perform separate fuctions so you'll be able to get better traction in corners.

Like others have said, there's also a place for controlled oversteer. If you've ever seen that CRAZY *** video on the history or Porsche there's that dude WORKIN this yellow Porsche around a track and you can see him kick the rear end out in some corners.

I just want to let everyone know that I do know that RWD is better at everything, but right now frankly I am scared of it.
But continue to post away about how great it is.

RWD is simply better all around, but it can bite you in the butt in certain situations. The reason this accident happened was because the driver was stupid. He's going 60+mph plus over a hill which unloaded the chassis on the way down, the rear gets a little loose, and SEE YA LATER.

Once you learn how to do controlled throttle-induced oversteer (power slide), things don't get much better.


Dave

yup thats what i told him...over a hill...no weight on the wheels+ 6000rpm(tires easily break loose)=accident

Yea they mos def make most cars FWD for safety...same reason they dial in understeer as well.

It's interesting though, when I had my Dunlop SP Sport 9000's on (bone stock except for FSTB and RSTB) I found the Max to be pretty well balanced. My college used to have this Dukes of Hazzard crazy criss cross **** in front of it and I would blast through there absoloutely maxed out (no pun intended). I found that the car would tend to break loose pretty evenly...i.e. 4 wheel drift. You could bring the rear around by getting off the gas or make the car push by hitting the gas...nice balanced handling. On Highway off ramps and stuff I always see the understeer, but in certain corners the max seems to be exceptionally well balanced.

very interesting...those are two mods that people say dont really do anything

The Maxima isn't a sports car

I didn't mean to imply that it was those two mods that did it, just pointing out that I didn't have the suspension done.

There WAS a difference in high speed cornering when I put the bars on though. Taking this particular highway interchange (128N -> RT 2 for you Massachusetts peeps) the steering response in the corner was much better and you could just feel that the mushiness had been taken out of it. I would say the mod is a necessity even if it doesn't make that dramatic a difference at lower speeds.

did this happen in athens? if so what road?

happened right by Aspen Apartments...came out of there then the first turn going towards campus is to the left and over a hill...right there....you can see the skid marks and grass all f u c k ed up if you go out there

which is your opinion.

whatever....to each is own.

***UPDATE

He had his car parked on a hill about 10 mins ago while he was looking at the damage. Ebrake gave out. He tried to hold it from rolling, he couldnt, tried to get in car to hit the brakes, couldnt, now he needs a new rear bumper.

Poor kid.

(**the car was still on, thats why it wasnt in gear)

wow, thats awful...

It's always a good idea to put your car into gear when parking on a hill, that incident would have been prevented, Im sure he'll remember from now on though. Not to be a d1ck but I think he might have been better off with an automatic 2k3 max.

Got pics? Happy April Fool's day.

ok i guess i got it now ..... rwd is better if you are a responsible driver, thanks for the insight

Now is this one of those guys who refuses to park his car in gear for fear of tranny damage if somehow it got hit, etc?

Or is this just some guy who doesn't park with his car in gear period.
(Judging from the driving technique I'd assume this answer. If so, we need to get him to sell the Z and get behind the wheel of a nice automatic fwd power-drained ride).

sorry gotta clear something up...he pulled his car out of a parking space to look at the damage, the car was still on, it rolled...

no. i dont know him that well and there isnt that much to see.

actually his dad thought it was an April Fools joke too when he called.


***THIS ***** CRAZY: I just got word of an Altima hitting a Sentra in a bad accident on the exact opposite side of the rode from our accident. It happened earlier today. All I can say is my Max is going close to that road!

I mean I figure...Nissans cars: 350z, Altima, Sentra, and Maxima-->theres only one model left, it aint goin to be my car

I'm goin from a S-14 to a Max too, pretty much got it for the snow, 240 definately handled much better than the max in stock form, i added a rsb so far and the max is alot more stable and smooth in the twisties. i like it so far, love the power of course

how are you a Maxima fanatic if you just got it??
you must be a dedicated Max owner.

my bro's got one, i've been roaming the boards for a while, im not really a newbie to begin with, imma nissan guy all the way

endus my compliments on a great short write-up!

about the guy with the 350Z. i think the car is very unlucky for him. he needs to start using his brain while driving it.

aboutt he FSTB. I installed mine yesterday. today i took the ramp to the upper level of the GWB from Henry Hudson parkway and there was very minimal body roll, unlike the guy in front of me on an old vw golf which looked like it was seeing the world at a 45 degree angle! this truly is a wonderful mod i recomend it to all who do not have it! i also noticed the sterring responce is also much quicker whether avoiding those ubiquitous NYC potholes of switching from lane to lane (using my turn signals of course) on those nice straight smooth jersey roads! God i love my max even more now!

-Vadim

i gotcha.

good to hear. i'll be getting one shortly.