Hey guys, I have noticed a trend in all the FWD vehicles I have driven in the past and I was wondering if you guys could explain why this would be. That trend would be how harshly they drive. When I started driving it was on my moms mercedes. After driing the mercedes for a couple years I got my first car, a camry, and I noticed how much more it "crashed" over bumps. It was a loud crash that resonated through the cabin where as the mercedes would hit a bump and you'de feel it just as much in your butt but there would never be a crash it would be much more subdued. When I got my I35 I figured it would ride better but in reality it crashes even harder, harder than any car I've been in and my buddy has a factory five race car. Its always the front end that crashes too, when it hits the bump it feels like the tires are inflated to 40+ psi. My girlfriend has a 94 max and it rides smoother but also crashes over bumps. Once my mom traded in her benz for a G35 I figured the ride would be harsher because I am figuring that car is the most stiffly sprung car we have ever owned when in reality it rides as comfortably as the benz did with much better handling. But the thing is that it doesnt crash around at all and rides MUCH better than my car.
Also in a RWD car you can have your foot on the accelerator while going over a bump and it wont make the bump any worse where as if you go over a bump in a FWD car while even slightly accelerating it increases the severity of the crash by sometimes 300-500%. Sometimes it really feels like the car is going to break if you hit a deep bump while on the gass.

BTW I have a 02 I35 with sport package

Anyway let me know what you think.. I cant see any reason my car would ride harder than my buddies factory five kit car

Thanks

 

Probably because of the weight distribution. I think the G35 has a is fairly close to being 50/50 weighted, so there is a lot less weight on the front of the car. More mass at the front means a greater inertia to resist movement, so that might explain that "crash" you are feeling. On top of that the better tuned suspension probably helps too amongst other factors.

 

Plus the fact that your drivetrain is all going to the front wheels you will feel it more... (you don't have u-joints, etc to dampen the feeling over bumps while accelerating, also don't forget about torque steer)

 

it is ALL about frame stiffness. RWD cars (particularly European ones) have much stiffer frames than a Maxima, Camry, etc. The "crash" over bumps is a result of the typical japanese construction of *most* cars:

- flexy frame with stiff springs and soft struts.

as opposed to European cars (particularly BMW), which are:

- stiff frame with soft springs and stiff struts.

The ride quality has little or nothing to do with the car being front wheel drive vs. rear wheel drive....it just so happens that most RWD sedans have stiffer frames (and are typically higher end, so have better suspension setups in the first place)

Frame stiffness issue = the main reason alot of maxima owners are interested in SFCs...


If you really want "crash" try driving my Triumph GT6 (RWD)....bone-jarring.

 

well thats kinda where I was going with things. I dont know if you remember Irish but I'm the one who would already have custom SFCs installed on my car if the recent engine trouble hadent come up. Thus because of the engine trouble I will have to wait till I get the car back. Anyway I think there are other major factors involved which are being left out.

From what I hear mustang convertibles dont exactly have the stiffest chassis (almost deff less stiff than ours) and a few years back my family rented one for a week and we never felt a bump, no crash nothing and a V6 mustang probably has similar spring stiffness to our cars.

 

a rental mustang probably had 16" wheels with "touring" tires for a comfy ride, as most rentals do...unlike the high-performance, low-profile tires most of us use on the maxima.

I mean, the ride with my snow tires on 17" wheels if FAR better than the ride with my 18's and Proxes....


yeah, I know you were talking about the SFCs....was wondering why you were "baiting" people

 

I wanted people to come up with their own conclusions instead of influencing their answers by mentioning SFCs. Wheel size is a factor but I wouldent think it would make that much of a difference. I was planning on trying to find lightweight 18s to replace the stock rims but now I may look for 17s and give up some bling bling. Right now I am riding on stock blowtenzas, hopefully the proxes wont be any worse.

Btw I am sure you Triumph has donuts for wheels so rim size cant be that huge of a factor.

Soft tires are deff found on rentals but from my understanding blowtenzas are basically what you'de find on a rental.

 

I suspect that the main reason high end RWD cars have better ride is the suspension geometry. It is possible that RWD chassis design allows to build suspension so that the car will have higher roll/squat/dive resistance. If that's the case, stiff spring and shocks are simply not necessary for good handling. After all, the reason sports (or sport inspired) cars have stiff suspension is to minimize body roll and to prevent bottoming out. If that could be done by different means there's no point of making suspension stiff.
Add a bit stiffer chassis to it and you got a recipe for a comfortable good handling vehicle.

A few months ago I was given a chance to drive a new 330i real hard. The car seemed to be softer than Maxima and at the same time handled better. That's exactly when I came up with this idea.

BTW: sciff5, you got a PM

 

I wouldn't call them "donuts"
14x6" rims with 185-width tires (don't recall profile ratio offhand)

the car was designed for LeMans racing, not cruising potholed New York City

 

Ohh yeah sorry about that. I cant remember exactly where the crumple zones were on the frame rails but if the 02 max is the exact same as my 02
I35 than they should be very easy to spot if you jack the car up. If I remember correcty it looked like if you broke the leangth of the frame rail up into thirds and drew a line than that would be where the crumple zone would be (I think there were 2 per frame rail) if my memory serves me well. If I could I would just jack my car up and take a pic of the crumple zones so I could give you an exact answer but now I'm back at college and wont be around my car again till summer.

 

got it, thanks anyways, at least I know where to look for them.

BTW: forgot to post the links to the references for my previous post:

http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=196222

http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?i...lcenter0ng.jpg

 

Sweet ride Irish...You do the resto work yourself or is it still mint from the factory??? If you did the work do you have a link to the progress from start to finish?

 

Because the Benz is way more advanced than a Maxima

 

from some reason our 5th gen suspension and also the 4th gen suspension sucks so bad. Its a rear beam so that already changes it from almost any other car.

Nissan just gets so cheap with the suspension its just horrible. Even with my "soft stock" suspension on my 2k2 the ride is horrible. No handling, a lot of body role, and you feel potholes on the road. On the 2k1 with my lowered suspension, its very good through the flat road turns, but once you hit some potholes its all over, the ride just sucks on both of them.

Thats why you pay extra 15k for a car when you go German for example, you pay for what you get for even though the G35 for example did very very well when compared to the 330 for example. I guess Nissan finally decided to pay more for their engineers to make better cars. The 2k2+ altima even rides better than the 4th and 5th gen with its stock suspension

 

No wonder. Stock 4th gens look like 4x4's. And the stock springs are ultra mushy.

 

I rode in a M3 before and that thing was harsh as hell. I do believe rims/tires size have alot to do with ride quality. I've also driven a 323i and it was soft riding, but it didn't handle all that well. Most BMW with the sports package handle well cause they don't just throw big wheels and low profile tires on a car and call it a sports package. They use springs that lower the ride/stiffer/and the RWD is a plus. Like everyone said, with all the front mass over the front wheel what do you expect. As far as the rear beam goes it's just fine in my opinon.....