V35 Gt-8 Opinions Please

[dd4321]

Hi all,

After being a proud owner of R33 for years, I am now thinking to upgrade to something more practical. I have V35 Sedan in my mind now as they seems pretty good from the look as well as the engine point of view. Few questions I have for those who has first hand experience with V35:

- Why the sedan is much cheaper than the Coupe? If the difference is only a few grands, I probably understand. But looking at j-spec website, there are massive difference in price. This is also one of the reason why I am thinking to get the sedan, besides being more practical than the coupe (albeit Coupe 10x sexier)

- How does the 8 speed CVT perform compared to manual? I have some experience driving Honda Jazz with 7 speed CVT and I love it! But this is probably because Jazz is not designed to be sporty. My question here is, would the CVT transmission take away the 'sportiness' of the V35 or in fact enhance the experience?

- Why the 8 speed CVT only available in the Sedan. The Coupe I believe gets normal ordinary auto box. Is this part of the answer to the above question, ie, CVT takes away the sportiness of the car?

- I can see on the paper that power-wise, V35 sedan seems quite quick, in fact probably one of the quickest in the sport sedan segment (in the price bracket). How does the sedan drive in the real world?

- I think overall V35 is a very good car, both in sedan and coupe form. Why is it so rare? Is it because compliance has only been granted recently?

- How much is the cost of compliance in Sydney?

Thanks a lot guys for your input

DD

[gts4diehard]

Hi, I had a brief drive of a V35 350 GT8 in NZ at christmas and I had to say not having driven a cvt car before that it felt strange to me.

I am used to cars that have a gear that is really punchy but the v35 just felt linear which sort of disguised how quickly you were really accelerating. It got upto a 100kms/hr quickly and handled quite well, even when the back wheels were skipping across bumps(the slip indicator was flashing on the dash as well) at 100kms hr around a tight corner. The steering wasn't as tight as what I was used to in my R32, and actually felt slightly more vague than the 380 hire car I had at the time. Car is very nice, lots of luggage space if you need it and is quite roomy inside. This particular one was quite highly specced, 6 disc min disc, 8 disc cd player, dvd player and in dash screen. The rear seats were also adjustable for angle - which is quite cool.

A good sized car with 200kw and rear wheel drive - there isn't really anything else that competes at the price.

[dd4321]

Hi, I had a brief drive of a V35 350 GT8 in NZ at christmas and I had to say not having driven a cvt car before that it felt strange to me.

I am used to cars that have a gear that is really punchy but the v35 just felt linear which sort of disguised how quickly you were really accelerating. It got upto a 100kms/hr quickly and handled quite well, even when the back wheels were skipping across bumps(the slip indicator was flashing on the dash as well) at 100kms hr around a tight corner. The steering wasn't as tight as what I was used to in my R32, and actually felt slightly more vague than the 380 hire car I had at the time. Car is very nice, lots of luggage space if you need it and is quite roomy inside. This particular one was quite highly specced, 6 disc min disc, 8 disc cd player, dvd player and in dash screen. The rear seats were also adjustable for angle - which is quite cool.

A good sized car with 200kw and rear wheel drive - there isn't really anything else that competes at the price.

Thanks for the input. I take your point that CVT could actually disguise the performance of the car as it will keep accelerating without ever changing gear. Did you try the manual mode though? I should at least mimic the impression that you are changing gear, ie, jerkiness when changing between gears

[Wink]

The sedan is cheaper simply because it is cheaper to start off with (when buying new from the dealer - around 10,000JPY difference). The coupe also has more HP than the sedan.

Apart from that I don't really know why - same as BMW 3 series coupes are more expensive than their sedan siblings even though the engine is the same.

It is rare because it is fairly expensive and most people would instead either get a used Euro if they wanted luxury or if they wanted performance car, something like a GTR. Compliance has been available for over a year now, yet I still hardly see any around.

[GTRgeoff]

The CVT8 is actually the most expensive of the V35 series in the sedan, but due to the styling is not as popular. Sedans range from 2.5-3.8M Yen and the coupe 3.5-3.7M Yen.

I'll be getting on for the wife until the V36 comes out in a CVT8 Coupe.

[Frank350GT]

I get a Auto Coupe and one of my mate get a 350GT-8 sedan. We often drive each other's car.

Compare with Coupe, The feeling of Sedan is total different.

Weak point

---The driving postion is much higher as it is a sedan

---Steeling wheel is lighter and lack of road feeling.

----No idear about engine as the transmission do lots of affect on engine curve.

----CVT make the sounds like a GOlF trolley instead of a sports sedan.

-----The SUB installed on rear panel make the bass a bit noisy(coupe get 2 6X9)

-----Not the frameless windows as the past skyline Sedan got.

-----single exhaust lack of sport look

Good Point:

------Front Seat Back adjustment is also Electrical(Coupe is manual)

------rear seat back is adjustment(that really make high way cruise comfortable)

------Head light is a little bit different.

------a bigger boot.

------rear seat middle hand rest can be pull down, and access to the boot, incase that all 4 seats been occupied, you still can put your over sized fishing equipment in the boot.

------Rear seat got individual air condition

------OFTEN $7K-10K cheaper than coupe.

Last week my mate dirve it to 170Km/h, he said it is still feel smoth.

Over all it is a good car, good engine good box. good building quality.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Frank350GT

[GTRgeoff]

That is some really great stuff Frank, thanks. I'm happy wit the 4 door as I'll still have the 26/30 powered 25t and the GTR.

[Frank350GT]

Answer your questions:

- Why the sedan is much cheaper than the Coupe? If the difference is only a few grands, I probably understand. But looking at j-spec website, there are massive difference in price. This is also one of the reason why I am thinking to get the sedan, besides being more practical than the coupe (albeit Coupe 10x sexier)

I THINGK THAT BECAUSE THE STYLE AND DEMAND&SUPPLY???

- How does the 8 speed CVT perform compared to manual? I have some experience driving Honda Jazz with 7 speed CVT and I love it! But this is probably because Jazz is not designed to be sporty. My question here is, would the CVT transmission take away the 'sportiness' of the V35 or in fact enhance the experience?

YES, IN THE HARD ACCELERATE, THE METAL BELT IN THE CVT WILL FLIP, CAUSE LOST OF ON WHEEL POWER. THAT IS WHY TOP SPORT USE DSG STYLE BOX INSTEAD OF CVT

- Why the 8 speed CVT only available in the Sedan. The Coupe I believe gets normal ordinary auto box. Is this part of the answer to the above question, ie, CVT takes away the sportiness of the car?

SAME AS LAST QUESTION.

- I can see on the paper that power-wise, V35 sedan seems quite quick, in fact probably one of the quickest in the sport sedan segment (in the price bracket). How does the sedan drive in the real world?

MORE LIKE A LUCURY SEDAN WITH TAUGH SUSPENSION

- I think overall V35 is a very good car, both in sedan and coupe form. Why is it so rare? Is it because compliance has only been granted recently?

JUST ABLE TO COMPLIANCE SINCE 2006, 40K FOR COUPE IS A LITTLE BIT OVER PRICE, 30K SEDAN DOES NOT CATCH THE POINT AS LOTS OF OTHER CHOISE(THE SAME RULE APPLY TO TOYOTA CHASER)

- How much is the cost of compliance in Sydney?

AROUND 3500-4000

[dd4321]

Thanks guys for the input. Hopefully I can now make educated decision

[Big Rizza]

FYI you could get the 6-speed in the sedan as a special order option:

Edited February 28, 2007 by Big Rizza

[Frank350GT]

FYI you could get the 6-speed in the sedan as a special order option:

Yeah, I saw this adv when I start seaching? that realy make my heart beat faster

It get everything i want:

Face lift model

Means : better looking tail light

every good and expence Rays Wheels as standard

Sunroof.

6MT.

OMG, it goes so fast.