Ant

To everybody who is saying get the biggest/fastest, remember this guy is in HK where the rules are a bit different, as per the above you get done in taxes for anything with a large engine, fuel cost is not the only consideration! I went from a manual R33 GTS25 coupe to a V35 250GT sedan. The 250GT is much more comfortable, but feels like it has a bit less overall grunt - which I think is more to do with coming from a manual to an auto trans than any actual power difference. When winding the engine out if anything I'd say the NA VQ25 is a bit more free-revving than the NA RB25. I've also driven a friends 4 door auto R34 25GT, which in terms of overall performance felt about the same as my 250GT. The 250GT is definitely slightly softer though - due to suspension setup mainly I think. Have very briefly driven an IS200, initial impressions were that compared to the 250GT it has far less usable grunt - I kept wondering where all the torques had gone... Also overall it felt less 'sharp' than the 250GT. Also felt very, very cramped inside - the 250GT interior is massive by comparison. Having said all that I haven't driven a 300 or 350GT - knowing that if I did I'd be far too tempted to buy one! So can't comment on how much better they are compared to a 250GT. As for the slushbox - one thing to keep in mind is that the 250GT only gets the 4sp auto, whereas the 300GT and 350GT (non CVT) have the 5sp. Personally I find the tiptronic function a little useless - due it only being a 4sp the difference in ratios is a bit much for my tastes. The gearbox is probably the only real issue I have with the car - a 250GT with a 5sp (or more!) auto would be my ideal at the moment (so next car is probably gonna be a V36 which has 5sp on both the 250 and 350GT...).

Looks like this to me (from japanparts.com): http://www.japanparts.com/db/partslist.php...key=083-008-020 Couldn't say for certain it is the same part but looks pretty similar...

Was wondering when this was going to happen - I think this is essentially the replacement for the M35 Stagea since this was discontinued when the Skyline went to the V36 model. Since the world seems to think that SUV > wagon guess it makes sense that Nissan would do this rather than bringing out a new Stagea. If I was after a SUV I'd grab one of these in a heartbeat - the Infiniti EX has had some pretty good reviews in the US I think.

Firstly take your mechanic out and slap them upside the head - VQ engines have timing chains and not belts... Which as you say don't need replacing. Shouldn't make a squealing noise if loose - AFAIK the symptom of an incorrectly tensioned chain is a rattling noise. Will be one of the accessory belts - while I'm not certain I'm guessing that if the belt is a little loose any moisture on the pulleys will cause it to slip. Certainly notice it on other cars on damp days. If it doesn't change when switching AC on/off then likely the alternator belt? Still haven't got my car so can't check exactly what belts go where. 12/14L per 100k - ouch! That's 350GT on a bad day consumption levels (no offence to our larger-engined brethren out there... )... Definitely get that looked at. Thinking about it though, if you are getting the error code frequently then this could be causing the increased fuel consumption as the ECU drops back to a safe map and/or gets confused. Note that the 250GT is rated in the standard Japanese economy test at 8.3L/100k - a very optimistic figure but should at least be a rough guide to what you'd expect. 350GT is 11.1L/100k. Note for the others out there - the 250GT sedan has the VQ25DD NA, direct injected engine, not the VQ25DET turbo from the M35 Stagea wagon. Pity, a turbo sedan would be a bit of a weapon...

For the cam sensor thing, have a look at this page: http://dogandlemon.com/site/japanese-vehic...aseno=RJ-0995-0 See if your V35 fits into the serial number range listed for Skylines and look if a silver sticker has been put on the vehicle type plate to indicate the work has already been done. Re smoke at high revs - my 250GT does the same thing, usually notice it when accelerating hard on a motorway on ramp. Seems to start at around 5000rpm or so, doesn't last long. For me it doesn't do it under load, just at high revs. Last time I had the car serviced by the Nissan dealer down the road I asked them to look at it, nothing unusual found though they didn't test it properly I think. Need to go back and ask them to hook it up to the Consult scan tool and then try accelerating to see what the engine is actually doing. Won't do this for another couple of weeks as car is off the road at the moment (sodding driver who looked like they were giving way then didn't...). I suspect it is just richening the mixture at high revs due to the fact that the 250GT engine has a very high compression ratio. But could equally be an O2 sensor on the way out, though my car doesn't show any error codes and economy hasn't changed at all since I bought it. What is/was your average fuel consumption (l/100km)? Note that the economy changes quite drastically depending on the driving conditions - on a long trip mine got slightly under 9L/100km, but for normal around town driving it is around 10.5L/100km and doesn't vary much. Re the belt noise - yep, get your belts changed. Keep us posted on how you get on - I'd also like to lay the smoking problem to rest...

Ahaaa, I knew this problem rang a bell. Nissan CAS problems were all over the news a while ago here - mostly to do with whether the local dealers would honour a JDM recall. Recall notice is here: http://dogandlemon.com/site/japanese-vehic...aseno=RJ-0995-0 See if your Stagea falls within the serial number range listed for the M35...

Key word here is Sedan - AFAIK only the Coupe rear seats can be put down. son of rajab knows why since the Sedan is supposed to be the family-load-hauler... Must get towbar for mine...

Given that the M35 is very similar to the V35, and the V35 is sold in the US and is OBD2 complaint then I'd be very surprised if it wasn't. Connector on a V35 is under the dash below the steering column on the drivers side - unclip a little panel and there it is (just checked it was there on my V35 250GT). Most likely in the same place in a M35 given that they share the same dash setup. Chris Rogers might know for sure where the connector is on a M35. Also might be worth talking to this guy who sells OBDII/scan tools for Nissan's (he's based in NZ): http://www.blazt.biz/ Looks like his scan tool hasn't been tested on a Stagea, but has been tested on a V35.

The engine is pretty much hand-built by a small number of technicians for these things remember, so squeezing a few extra kw out by improvements in assembly technique now they have built a few is not unlikely...

Nope - the V35 uses a very different type of CVT gearbox - they call it the 'Extroid CVT', basically uses a sliding set of angled gears to acheive the same thing as a belt. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt3.htm The rest of the Nissan range uses a belt type CVT (Murano, Maxima etc). Getting back to the original problem, these guys might be able to help: http://www.cvt.co.nz/index.htm They're pretty much the only ones in this neck of the woods that know anything about the Extroid CVT, the Nissan dealers will likely only be familiar with the belt type. Sounds like the gearbox controller is detecting something wrong with the gearbox and putting it into 'limp' mode. Not sure if there is a diagnostic mode for the controller that might allow you to work out what is wrong? When it gets into this mode does it flash anything on the dash cluster?

Cheers for that Chris, wish I had time to whip up something like that... I'm guessing you should be able to get something like that from an auto sparky who knows what they are doing. I know a good one in Pt Chev - Ron Wood auto electrical. Not sure if he has these modules, but he knows what he is doing so might be able to help. Will keep my eye open for one of these modules - shouldn't be too hard to come by these days.

Friend has something that looks similar on his car - as I understand it is used as an alarm override when for some reason you can't disarm the alarm the normal way using the remote (eg dead remote/flat battery/misbehaving alarm etc).

You need something called a power converter - attached is the Infiniti TSB that talks about it (G35 = USDM version of our V35 Skylines). Basically it is a box that contains the relays which Chris refers to. Not sure where you can get these in NZ - maybe Supercheap/Repco? As Chris notes somebody who works with Euro cars can probably help. Where did you get your towbar fitted and what did it cost? Been meaning to get one fitted to my 250GT for a while now... If you get this sorted can you post up here again - useful info for the Auckland dwellers... ITB04_020e.pdf

You sure it was the magnetic clutch for the CVT? AC compressor has a magnetic clutch? Never seen any reference to a CVT in a 300GT, everything I've read and seen says it has the 5 speed AT. What is the transmission model number (is on the model info plate along with the car and engine model numbers)?

Check out the USA forums (g35driver.com etc) - lots of V35 (known as Infiniti G35 not Skyline) owners over there who live in areas where it snows... However I have a feeling they don't get the snow button - weird!

Silly question perhaps - I thought most (if not all?) alarms have overrides on them? As long as you have the key and can remember the generally obscure combination of buttons and actions (and recite an ancient latin text when the moon is blue etc etc... ) then you can at least get the car going until the remote is sorted out?

Another NZ V35 owner here, 250GTm (the poverty pack version!) sedan... Tidy car, nice wheels. Some clear indicators would tidy up the front? What did you do with the OEM wheels? PM me if you happen to still have them and are looking for a home for them...

The USDM G35 came in a 3.5L AWD version - Sedan only though. Also the M35 Stagea came in AWD with the turbo 2.5L (VQ25DET) and the 3.5L NA (later models). So a couple of options for donor engines/drivetrains there. However I think that the Coupe drive train is different to the Sedan so this could still be a very difficult conversion. Here's the AWD 350Z (by Jun): http://jpcnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/4wd-35...s-of-speed.html Very much a mish-mash of bits from different cars, not just a simple matter of grabbing an existing drivetrain. Top Secret did a V35 "GTR" at one point using a Coupe - I can't find a decent article on it but AFAIK it uses a VK45 4.5L V8, not sure of where they got the drivetrain from. But again heavily customised.

The lip spoilers seem to get discussed on the G35Driver.com forums every other day... Consensus seems to be that some of them don't go all the way along the boot lid so look a little odd. So I guess check the width before purchasing. There is also the 'Euro' spoiler which one of the US Infiniti dealers sells (for the sedan) - looks nice and is the right width but a little pricey and needs holes drilled to install: http://www.grubbsperformance.com/servlet/Detail?no=2976 Installation guide: http://www.6mt.net/mod-g35-euro-spoiler.php They also do one for the Coupe: http://www.grubbsperformance.com/servlet/Detail?no=2975

Or from these guys, in NZ but at least they are closer: http://www.cvt.co.nz/index.htm

Interesting.... Hope you can provide a guide for this in the future Chris, especially for those of us unfortunate enough to live on the other side of the ditch where we can't send our cars to ya... On a related note, any idea if cars without the audio controls on the wheel are still wired for them? My poverty-pack 250GTm doesn't have the audio controls, was wondering how hard it would be add them if I can get the button set for the wheel... Though the idea of rooting around near the airbag doesn't hold much appeal!

Not sure if this counts as a commonly failing part, but it seems to be a common mod: - Clear front indicator lenses for Sedan: B61F0-AL500 Again not really a failure part but if your (2001 - mid 2003 I think?) car arrives from Japan with only 1 key: - Master key blank: H0564-C9922, note that this is the key with lock/unlock button in handle, no boot release on key. So I think this only applies to the pre-facelift 2001 - mid 2003 models only with the 'doggy door' boot (the ones which have the boot open button on the boot itself)

AWD was available on the JDM 250GT-4 only - ie only the 2.5L variant and not that common. USDM G35x was the 3.5L engine with AWD, but an equivalent RHD JDM variant was not produced. But as Waz says the snow button is not related to AWD (for the RWD variants anyway)...

Every single spec sheet I've ever seen for the V35 specifies an 80L tank. Remember that the fuel light is usually pretty pessimistic, running out of fuel can do all sorts of ugly things to the fuel system so the lights are usually set to come on very early. Everyone, please quote L/km or L/100km, km per tank is meaningless as everyone has a different idea of when to fill up. My 250GT does 9L/100km on the open road and 11L/100km round town.

KP Technologies also do a unit which dips the side mirror(s) when you put it into reverse - tempted to get that and the window roll up unit... Though I should just build one myself, wouldn't be hard to do with a small micro...