Nissan 370Z wobbly at high speed
 

Hey everyone!

I just bought a 370z last week. A 2014 sports package/ touring with Nav. :hello:
Anyway so the weather was nice out so I decided to take it on some spirited runs, but two things have bothered me so far.

First, I WOT from second and immediately the much hated VDC kicks in and cuts the fun in half. Almost got rear ended for not expecting that. Also, the VDC is so aggressive it gives me under steer on long sweeping corners if I'm pushing.

Second, the scariest of the two. I noticed twice nowwhen at speeds of 100+ the Z feels really unstable. I can feel the back really fighting me. It doesn't feel like the back wants to kick out, it just feels like the back wants to push the car back and forth- with the car pointing straight. I tried thinking it might be a strong breeze and felt the same issue.

Honestly, I imagine maybe a wing would solve this issue. I've looked around this forum for someone experiencing this but I haven't found anyone. So far I'm very scared of this car at speed. This only happens at high speeds, anything below is okay.

And finally my last gripe. The clutch is kinda lazy. Like after depressing, I mean me pushing all the way to the bottom, it takes half a second to come back. Very noticeable when trying to shift through gears. But it's going away, :bowrofl:

Warm regards everyone!

Get your alignment checked. Also, remove the clutch helper spring.

i didnt know MA had speed limits in excess of 100mph

He shipped his car to Germany.

:icon17:

you should get the car checked.

also who drives with VDC on? lol

at the higher speeds the Z feels planted to me. never had it feel like what you described.

like terribleone said it could be the alignment being out of spec.

is it only at higher speeds? definitely check alignment/balance checked out.

lazy clutch... have you read about the csc issues yet and done the habitual resevoir check?

i've never had the clutch be 'lazy'... only when cold tranny do i ever fully depress or getting into first. other than that it's half way travel or so. after i took out the helper spring i am fighting (exagerating) to stop it from dumping the clutch. ok not dumping but it keep it a slower/steady engagement

it could also be as simple as low psi or even too high of a psi on the rear..

the first time VDC kicked in i was going around a corner in a residential to pick up my gf. there's a horizontal crack / cut that was made into the pavement and going a blazing 15mph into a left power cut out on me momentarily.

that day on i kept vdc off. then again vdc could save the idiots who would slam the gas in a corner and end up paul walkering your self.

ritual when getting in the Z:

sit.
foot on brake.
press start.
press vdc off.
go.

usually plugging in the ipod as well lol :tiphat:

why foot on brake?


ohhhhhhhhhh...lololtrollololl

dammit.

:rolleyes:

You beat me to it! :rofl2:

So the clutch issue is definitely going away. Or so I think. I'll definitely check air pressure tomorrow. I had a low tire pressure light today but, it was freezing cold last night too. I hope it's something simple. No more spirited runs for a while��

For guys who are pushing crazy Whp, have you had any oh **** moments? Lol And how snappy is the lose of traction.

Wobbly
 

Tire pressure or tires could very well be it. If not, something is seriously wrong. Don't be guessing. Have it checked out. These cars don't do that....even at 143 mph.
Chuck

depends on tire and psi..and driving input.

A stock Z can give you "oh $hit" moments if you're inexperienced. It's not funny either.

Depends on the tire.

Why on earth would you repeat a 100+ mph maneuver if it feels unstable? :icon14:

As mentioned ... alignment, tire wear, tire pressure, suspension could all be the culprit. Check what you can and take it somewhere if you still have problems :twocents:

i suppose it is safer to feel unstable than false sense of stability with an awd falling off a cliff..

Even if everything is in good shape, you may simply not have good enough tires for that speed. I've been over 140 MPH at ACS and the car feels very light at that speed even with RE-71Rs. I suspect it'd be frightening with lesser tires. Downforce will help greatly, though it might also induce enough drag such that it's hard to hit that speed.

VDC is extremely invasive. EcuTek's RaceRom TCS is vastly better. I typically run with it set at 60% on the track and it does not feel intrusive at all. I highly recommend it!

Since you mentioned sweeping turns, I'll also note that you may be encountering the dreaded fuel starvation if it's a sweeping right hander. You don't need to be low on gas to hit it, two dots from full will do it for me.

He's thinking that (wishing) he had a 3rd pedal. :rofl2:

OP,
1st check tire pressure.

2nd tire wear. Get under the Z and have a good look at the inside of the rear tires.

3rd check your alignment. If the toe is zero to pointing out. It will feel loose in the rear. Also it will give you snap-over steer. :eek: For street (DD) you want the factory spec of being toe in. Zero toe and out is not for beginners. :driving:

I have your same model and have had it on the track well over 150. Stock suspension and good tires. Slid it around corners at 120. A real fun time. No wobbles. I have a life time balance and alignment with Firestone and use it.

are you using stock tires that are worn in the rain or cold? because i've had a few moments in those conditions and all i have are breather mods.

the o-chit moments i find is when something unexpected happens or you try something new in an unsafe environment. ie trying to drift when you've never driven a RWD car before.

for your cars sake you probably shouldn't be any spirited moments in freezing temps. regardless of tires.

but atleast you know you're falling with awd. i mean who would want to fall with just rwd or fwd?

it would make sense to have three pedals with having three legs.....


:yum:

I bought this car from the dealer. And today I checked the tire pressure and the front right was almost 50, the left front 30 and the rear two at 38. Thanks Mastria Nissan.

The car feels fine now. No more wobble, much more stable than before. Still clutch is very slow. I'll be looking into that helper spring DIY. Thanks for the input everyone.

U see, very simple

never ever trust a dealer.

you know how to solve your slow transmission problem?

get the 7AT lol :stirthepot:

also for tires I typically run mine at 32-34psi

wtf... i run mine 36 front 38 back lol maybe i should drop them :shakes head:

depends on what youre doing. highway trip and dd maybe bump em to 35ish to get good gas and wear pattern.

i like my rears around 32 to not put the tpms light on which is annoying and gets good grip when launching.

i agree. tire wear is a huge culprit...i was almost on metal bands in the rear when my back end was wobbly. new tires fixed that

35psi is the recommended pressure...I keep them around 33 +/- 1.5psi, but I do a lot of highway travel...sometimes in mexico.


and the Toe angle could be culprit...a friend of mine, has an SC FX35. After changing his tire setup and suspension to a meatier fitment, his toe angle was off and would cause the back end to slide left and right under hard acceleration and immediately after pedal release.

Agreed. Alignment is a big part of the cars set up. Anything being too far off will mess up handling and destroy tires.

Oddly my oem size rear tires (275) wore terribly on the inside edge. Switched to 305s and no alignment/suspension adjustments and it handles like a dream and the rears wear beautifully to where my 200 tread wear rated re-11s surpassed my 300 tread wear pss tires.

If you're lowered (probably so), going wider on tire tread size is a good thing.

more tread = more surface area contact w/ road = force of wheelspin distributed across, therefore less force/sq in. = less wear.

I've only got Tein S-Techs on my G, and that wore through the stock tire fittment every month or so...I recently went up +10 on tread front and rear and it's been beautiful ever since

I'm running stock height and I get very even wear on the rear tires at 32 psi. The fronts wear heavily on the outside edges...as soon as I get my SPL suspension on, I'll be running -2.5 camber up front to even the wear out.

I also have wear issues on the front on stock suspension, whether it be the set of 71r's I had or a set of S-04's. I chalk it up to the aggressive driving i do, which also is related to the two month maximum i've gotten out of the three sets of tires I've had on my Z since last April when I got it. Living close to the tail of the dragon and being friends with the locals is a bad combination for a tires life expectancy lol.

hmmm might be poor alignment.

I have stock suspension and my fronts have never shown poor wear aside from some outside shoulder scuffs from really hard cornering but that evens out. not like it wears off the outside edge from it like the insides of my rears used to.

I've checked my alignment many times personally, and I watch tire pressures relatively closely. 11 miles and 318 turns at an average speed of "50" is hard on tires. They don't have time to cool off.


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you don't have to explain the dragon to me lol I know how demanding and abusive it is on tires.

:tiphat: