It's been a while since I was behind the wheel of the GSR. I knew my drive to San Francisco was going to be special the second I started the engine. The idle was rough and staccato like a confused tweaker not knowing what to do. I could tell something was different about this project car and I wanted to find out what.
The engine came to life once I got on the throttle to blast up the I-5, a three hundred mile stretch of not much. The massive amounts of power allowed me to thunder past groups of slow cars and trucks with ease. So much ease that I didn't notice I was reaching speeds well in excess of the legal limit without much difficulty.
The pressure relief valve for the turbo, seeming placed under my left foot, constantly hissed and farted as I flew up the interstate. Going around town and other short trips this noise was acceptable, but in a prolonged driving situation I got a little tired of the cobra under my foot.
Right when I got over the Grapevine down into the Central Valley, the rain was coming down in buckets. I transitioned over to I-5 on-ramp and woman in a Z4 blew past my right side. She lost control directly in front of me and smashed into guardrail. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. As she spun out of control, her car flung debris and eventually came to rest on the guardrail on the opposite side. Thankfully for the sharp handling and AWD traction of our GSR, I was able to dodge BMW chunks and the horrific whirling dervish without much difficulty.
My heart was in my throat as I looked into my mirror to see she was ok and people were pulling over to assist her. Hiss and fart all you want little buddy. I'll take the noise for the massive capability any day.
Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer
waevox says:
10:07 AM, 04/15/09
I see you have the 'circulate cabin air' button lit. Was this taken some where near Harris Ranch? =)
ddark13 says:
10:11 AM, 04/15/09
yes i know, rear wheel drive on the track is great. but in REAL WORLD driving and especially in the rain, awd is faster and safer and, in my experiences, a life saver just like in the above post
rsholland says:
10:14 AM, 04/15/09
Yep. AWD for me any day of the week, :)
chavis10 says:
10:42 AM, 04/15/09
"Thankfully for the sharp handling and AWD traction of our GSR, I was able to dodge BMW chunks and the horrific whirling dervish without much difficulty. "
If you were on the brakes, AWD added nothing to the manuever.
roadburner says:
10:46 AM, 04/15/09
I think that it's ridiculous to assume that RWD caused the Z4 crash. It could also be due to driver error, worn tires, simple physics, or all of the above. I guess I've just been lucky- I've just been cheating death(driving RWD cars in the rain) for over 30 years. I didn't realize that the practice could be so lethal...
carlisimo says:
10:52 AM, 04/15/09
I think AWD would help during a swerve maneuver, especially when it's distributed by a trick system of differentials. But it's probably more significant that he wasn't going as fast the Z4 driver. Poor car.
greenpony says:
10:53 AM, 04/15/09
The woman in the Z4 for was obviously driving too fast for the conditions. This is what the Darwin Awards are for.
corollasman says:
10:57 AM, 04/15/09
Why didn't you pull over to see if she was okay? Was she not hot?
roadburner says:
10:59 AM, 04/15/09
"Poor car."
Agreed. The fool should be forced to drive an Aveo for the rest of her miserable life.
roadburner says:
11:01 AM, 04/15/09
"The woman in the Z4 for was obviously driving too fast for the conditions. This is what the Darwin Awards are for."
Unfortunately, the Z4 paid the ultimate price- instead of the driver.
altimadude00 says:
11:18 AM, 04/15/09
The dash looks pretty nice without the nav screen.
opfreakx says:
11:52 AM, 04/15/09
what does AWD have to do with steering? Unless you were gunning it.
You got lucky. Most if not all studies, find no evidence that people are able to 'street' there way out of an accident.
The biggest contribution to handling would be the tires. If theres something that should be praised is the R11's, not the car.
ddark13 says:
12:28 PM, 04/15/09
"I think that it's ridiculous to assume that RWD caused the Z4 crash. It could also be due to driver error, worn tires, simple physics, or all of the above. I guess I've just been lucky- I've just been cheating death(driving RWD cars in the rain) for over 30 years. I didn't realize that the practice could be so lethal..."
I don't think RWD is dangerous, just not as fool proof as AWD nor as fast on real roads. If you drive at a normal pace pretty much any car will be safe. However, when driving like the Z4 AWD helps a lot. In her case though, it was probably more to do with driver error than anything else.
My experience comparing a RWD G35 to an A4 Quattro makes the G35 seem like it was driven on ice. With quattro I was able to floor the car around narrow turns in heavy rain without any drama. It was basically foolproof (i.e. less chance of an accident)
demosthenes642 says:
02:18 PM, 04/15/09
The diffs on the Evo are active both under acceleration and braking. This of course doesn't help if you're hydroplaning but the electronics will try to use the grip you have to keep the car on the desired path.
felonious says:
02:38 PM, 04/15/09
opfreakx +1. That's why I spring for PS2s - their wet handling capabilities are pretty amazing.
church123 says:
03:12 PM, 04/15/09
@ ddark13 - I agree with some of what you are saying. AWD does tend to let you get closer to the limits of the chassis a higher percentage of the time than RWD. But when the limits are reached (or breached), then AWD can get plenty hairy as well.
Your A4 vs. G35 example might be a bit skewed though. Unless you were driving an S4, the A4 Quattro had a vastly inferior power/weight ratio compared to any G35 I can think of, thus it would be much harder to overwhelm available traction even if it were 2WD. In a higher powered car like the Evo X, you might be surprised how easily traction can be breached under power application in the wet. Heck, my X can get some mild wheelspin in 1st gear corners in the dry, and I'm probably 40-50 hp down on Edmunds' GSR mod car. Crossing wet patches in a corner can make things very exciting too. Easier to recover than RWD, but not idiot proof by any means.
ddark13 says:
06:17 PM, 04/15/09
church123,
I agree, awd at the limit can get very scary. jemery clarkson talks about this in his topgear review of the lamboughini murcielago and porsche turbo. however, I think what I'm referring to is oversteer vs. understeer on public roads. Understeer is safter for the vast majority of drivers. With AWD you encounter understeer but with the case of the A4 I had, the limits were pretty high. Autocar's chris harris does a great job of elaborating on this in his review of the audi RS6.
The G35 was technically faster on dry roads but it was by no means as stable. I encountered the rear tires snapping lose even with the traction on (even with new tires). The 350z and G35 were praised by the automotive press as being excellent drifters on the track. In the rain I'd skid my way through the first two gears and on turns I don't even want to talk about it. A better driver than me would be able to handle the oversteering but, for me, it couldn't handle itself like the awd quattro did. I could drive the quattro faster in the rain than the G35 in a sunny day (I live in an area with terrible roads which upset the G35's chassis horribly).
I often wondered what it would be like to drive a S4 or Evo with massive power + awd. Perhaps in this setup you get some skidding but I'm sure the limits are higher than I'd be willing to explore in the rain and higher than that of something like a lexus is-f
roadburner says:
07:28 PM, 04/15/09
"The 350z and G35 were praised by the automotive press as being excellent drifters on the track. In the rain I'd skid my way through the first two gears and on turns I don't even want to talk about it"
Spend your money on some serious driver training. There's absolutely no reason why the combination of rain and RWD should frighten you.
stovt001 says:
10:31 PM, 04/15/09
I spent half my time learning to drive in a 1970 Olds Cutlass. RWD, V8, and no electronic nannies or other driving "aids". When I did something stupid (or fun, depending on if I meant it or not ;-) ) things went sideways. When I drove smart, it was never, ever a problem.
joefrompa says:
04:35 AM, 04/16/09
Regarding the Z4 - Thanks to Edmunds, we know how far So. CA owners take their tire life. So I'm guessing the Z4 owner had tires that wouldn't be able to handle a spritz of water from a squirt gun.
Agreed with what others have said above: AWD, at least, had nothing to do with your ability to brake and manuever in an emergency situation. Stout springs and dampers and exceptional brakes, combined with great tires.....now those will get you out of a pickle :)
stingray454 says:
08:23 AM, 04/16/09
I also agree that AWD doesn't do anything unless you're on the gas, or doing major downshifting that could potentially lock up the rear wheels on a RWD car on a slippery surface.
Stability control, on the other hand, can do a lot to help in a situation like this.
misterfusion says:
08:32 AM, 04/16/09
So it's down to me to point out that the author NEVER said that RWD contributed to the Z4 accident, only that AWD helped him avoid it in the GSR? Which is a statement that none of us are in a position to disprove.
Please reboot the conversation.
banhugh says:
04:40 PM, 04/16/09
people kill people not guns or RWD Z4s :)
banhugh says:
04:41 PM, 04/16/09
misterfusion, too late this conversation is doomed...
allthingshonda says:
05:42 PM, 04/16/09
I guess the DSC system on the BMW was turned off.
johnnyturbo says:
11:09 PM, 04/16/09
Ok people, this is going to sound a little crazy, but perhaps the dimwit in the Z4 is to blame? I don't care what you're driving, speeding in pouring rain, when both traction and visibility are poor, is just plain moronic.
Why is it that people who don't have a clue about driving properly choose performance cars? Posers!