The Bad Bits

[iamhe77]

Yes it does. If you want to flog the guts out of ANY vehicle, it has to be built to suit your bent.

I drive pretty hard on occasions. But there is a big (mental) difference between a hard (on) and a flog.

Actually, I didn't flog the guts out of my M35.

My 9.3km/L fuel average over 40,000kms before my turbo let go can attest to that.

Before I bought it? Who knows.

I do find it odd (and somewhat upsetting) that more and more M35 turbos are shedding their ceramic exhaust wheel...

[andy65b]

Stupid $50, PCV valve can stuff up the running of a car so much and stupid Nissan mechanics tell you that there is nothing wrong when the car idles at 800rpm instead of 650rpm as the sticker under the bonnet specifies.

Thank god for a helpful dealer and another forum member who had a similar problem who helped me work it out.

[66yostagea]

Which is more reliable: C34 or M35? RB or V?

[lachlanw]

I must respond

The brakes are as-per C34 Laurel Sedan, but I agree that with the wagon platform, they should be bigger.

The Series 1 has an oil cooler (adjacent the filter), doesn't the series 2 have the same setup?

And, The S1 trans cooler is a bit piss-weak, but I'm sure it's fine in Japan

yeah it has that oil to water cooler . the gt-t has a factory oil to air cooler in front of the radiator for the engine (being the same motor but in a higher state of tune from the factory in the stagea ). i want one . mine has no trans cooler . ( manual )

and yeah the stagea is pretty good on the whole just some details need addressing

[pixel8r]

Which is more reliable: C34 or M35? RB or V?

Too general a question to answer fairly. The M35 runs higher boost so more likely to blow a turbo (since the turbo uses the same or similar materials and seems to carry the same limitations). Some people claim their M35 runs as high as 15psi without modifications...something weird going on there.

Other than that the VQ engine is probably a better designed engine than the RB (I really dont know but its won more awards for what its worth). As for reliability, based on personal experience, having owned a C34 s2 for 2 years and now a M35 for nearly 1 year:

* The C34 had wrecked rear suspension when I bought it (fixed under dealer stat warranty), and the turbo died on it, plus cracked exhaust manifold. As yet I've not heard of M35's having the cracked exhaust manifold problem - that seems to be a RB thing.

* After nearly 1 year the M35 has no mechanical problems at all. It did have a dirty throttle body but any turbo car would be the same. Once cleaned it ran beautifully.

They also fixed the passenger mirror rust spot on the M35, pretty much every C34 has that one. We're splitting hairs here though.

Everyone's experiences are different which makes it very difficult to compare reliability. The M35 seems to have issues with the turbo & boost, and the C34 has issues with the exhaust manifold cracking, and the turbo isn't exactly its strong point either.

As for the BAD bits:

C34 (s2): Auto takes too long to shift gears (makes tiptronic useless). Shift kit made it PERFECT though. Should've had more power out of the factory, and 17" wheels.

M35: Auto takes far too long to shift gears...it masks the power delivery potential of the awesome VQ25DET. Wife wont let me buy shift kit (yeah I know thats not the stagea's fault)...

[66yostagea]

Has the 35 got the same inadequate rear wiper. Way too small?

[iamhe77]

Has the 35 got the same inadequate rear wiper. Way too small?

unfortunately, yes.

[BigDirtyJase]

Bad bits for me

- stanadrd front strut bar gets in the way of a service, also all the extra pipes for emissions just makes a pain

- could have used better material for the rear seat levers in the tailgate section (one of mine were already broken when i got it and CBF replacing it)

- drivers seat position (is it me or is the driver seat sit higher than the passenger seat (no matter what I still hit the roof anyways - joys of being 194cm tall)

- triptronic shift lag (yes it can be cured with a shift kit) - but I don't think Nissan were thinking about people race shifting their Stagea's

- lack of a dimmer switch

and my major gripe

Climate control lights blowing out - fine, they can be replaced - but there are a nightmare to find especailly the ones for the buttons (beacasuse they are very small - does anyone know where to get them)

[nickcorr]

Has the 35 got the same inadequate rear wiper. Way too small?

Dunno can't see out the back window over the child seat....

[180fan]

Bad bits for me

and my major gripe

Climate control lights blowing out - fine, they can be replaced - but there are a nightmare to find especailly the ones for the buttons (beacasuse they are very small - does anyone know where to get them)

Would also like to know where to get them lol, 2 of mine are out.

[kidafa]

Climate control lights blowing out - fine, they can be replaced - but there are a nightmare to find especailly the ones for the buttons (beacasuse they are very small - does anyone know where to get them)

Theirs a Navara- very popular dash globe (can get them from repco) that is around the same size that you buy and pull apart for the globe and wire it into the stock holder. Its easy as literally like a one minute job.

Informed chefstagea of this the other day and he did his 260 on the weekend Im unsure of the part number but I think if we are lucky he will still have the receipt.

The globe is same sort of size as stock and base of it is white.

[BensDR30]

The globes aren't cheap genuine, but they are available.

I posted the details of the parts/prices back in '05 sometime...

[M I K E]

+1 for the auto being slow to shift in stock form

+1 for designing rb's in such a way that makes doing the simplest service so painful with the cross over pipe etc

[Stinky Rooster]

i cant fkn believe no one has mentioned the farking reversing alarm that is only audible inside the car! Made me want to headbut the dash everytime i heard it

[dirtyRS4]

i cant fkn believe no one has mentioned the farking reversing alarm that is only audible inside the car! Made me want to headbut the dash everytime i heard it

I second that. The japs and their chimes!

What is the best way to get rid of it?

Also, WTF with the hydraulic hand brake?

[pyro-ns]

hahahaha, why do you hate it so much? i personally love it! it could be a little quieter, but it's great! i've even kept it in my s13

the "keys in the ignition" chime i could do without though....

[BensDR30]

Also, WTF with the hydraulic hand brake?

Who's got a hydraulic hand brake?

Not the Stagea - that's a drum-in-hub setup.

[dirtyRS4]

Yeah,

Pedal footbrake thingy.

For series 1s & 2s auto and tiptronic.

F@#rkn hate it!

[iamhe77]

Yeah,

Pedal footbrake thingy.

For series 1s & 2s auto and tiptronic.

F@#rkn hate it!

That is one of the (many) things I love.

I HATE hitting my elbow on a hand brake lever.

[zei20l]

i think its gonna get annoying when i do my manual conversion