Finally Arrived - G-35 Coupe with mods versus Dodge Ram 2500

[Jacko3]

This evening, I was upset by other unrelated events, and so i decided to take my G out for a spin to help me feel better. As always flogging the G always takes care of any negative emotions creeping up to me. So, out of the blues comes a brand new Dodge RAM---I think it was either a 2500 or 3500 stock model V-8--it was really large but without the 4-wheels behind its axle. Anyway, whatever model it was, this guy was following me behind so fast, so that I eventually decided to give him a taste of my G at beyond 4500. He kept up, and so i continued to raise my RPM until I noticed he could not keep up anymore.

So, we both get to the next traffic light about 2 miles away. I thought it was over, and there he was on the next lane, with a full quater mile ahead of both us to the next light. He didn't rev his engine, but I knew intuitively that this guy was itching to spank me this evening. He wanted to teach the little G a lesson of his life----and I felt so small next to this truck. My whole manhood and over 1.5 years of carefully modding my car, was on the line. It was now or never. All the cars behind us seemed to know that something was about to happen. They knew this truck would spank me and that I had no chance---I was the underdog.

Finally, as my heart raced in anticipation, the light turned green, and his reaction time was as good or exactly as mine. His truck had so much torque that it literally stood still for about 1 - 2 seconds burning rubber as its wheels spinned without ceasing, while my car was well on its way. The Dode RAM engine---probably a Hemi engine in it, was screaming while its wheels spinned. By the time he gained traction, inspite of all the power it had, I was two car lengths ahead of him. It wasn't even close. All I was eagerly praying for was for my car to reach 4500 RPM as quickly as possible so that my testpipe and Royal Purple engine oil can takeover and finish the Dodge RAM for good. I had salvaged the reputation of the G at last with a V-8. This was my first time seeing a street truck literally burn so much rubber in attempts to take off with massive power.

This moment will remain in my heart and mind for years to come. The other day, i told you guys that a Corvette had a hard time outrunning me, which he surprisingly did not achieve.

I am 200% pleased with the setup of my car. I have no doubt that my G will keep up or spank many lightly modified V-6 and even some stock V-8s.

My G is a 2007 G-35 coupe 6MT with 5/16 Spacer, Motordyne Mrevv, JWT Popcharger with z-tube, Strupp test pipes, Stillen cat-back exhaust, Royal Purple engine oil, Nitrogen filled Toyo Proxes T1R tires (245 x 35 x 19 front, and 275 x 35 x 19 in the rear), Chevron gas (93 Octane), and a slightly adjusted OEM clutch for shorter distance and travel during shifting. Of course, all my driving is done with VDC OFF. And my tires Toyo tires have 16,000 miles on them--excellent tires.

Moral of story: Too much torque without appropriate tires and good handling, can be a huge disadvantage.


Modified by Jacko3 at 4:45 AM 12/8/2008

[Mur21]

Nice.....hp and tq are important but if you not smart in how to use it then whats the point. Same thing happened to me when I was driving a v6 94 camry, I was against a v8 camaro.

[Jacko3]

Thats right! I am serious, he stood still for about 1 - 2 seconds with all his rear wheels spinning profusely---other drivers as far as I eventually saw on my rear view mirror, didn't even move when all this was going on because I also felt they were amazed and probably inspired at the power coming from that Dodge RAM truck.

[infinitgkid]

Good lord... that story in general had me hooked...

I was at the edge of my seat, with my heart racing!That post was pretty epic...

Good stuff

[johnparkyourcar]

some bro in a raised tundra was talking crap to me i was suprised at how easy it was... i drive 5at and i didnt even have to put it in tiptronic and turn off vdc... i assumed the v8 in it would have smoked me...

[Jacko3]

Yep! I have also gone at it with a modified Ford F-150 truck. He was a good driver who took off before me but surprisingly, these trucks run out of air at the mid to top end. He took off before me but I came by and passed him and he was surprised. All the torque in the F-150 is on the low end, while my G was just beginning to build power at the mid to top end.

[Jacko3]

Yep, it was epic. Trust me, when you are beside a big truck burning rubber, it can be a little scary especially with their large V-8 engines revving. It makes the G feel small and puny.

[Sentientbydesign]

I took on a Dodge Ram with a Hemi. The driver thought she was tough **** with her hemi. She cut me off and annoyed me through traffic until we got to a stop light. I was going to turn left, but changed lanes and waited next to her. I got distracted and wasn't in 1st, so I had a 2 second disadvantage but still managed to catch up and pass her by 60 mph.

I wasn't impressed.

[Jacko3]

Hey Nate:

I am impressed because that sucker Dodge Ram has almost 350 horsepower under the hood. I guess the G's weight to power ratio is better than that of the Dodge Ram.

[Sentientbydesign]

Jacko,

I'm not sure what year Ram it was. I'm sure it had the Hemi because of the driver's attitude and the huge "hemi" logo on the side of the truck.

This happened earlier this year, so I assume it was an 06/07, but I'm not sure. Has there been a significant power change in the past couple of years?

Also, I think my lightweight flywheel is what's causing my G to put down some much more peak HP than most other Gs. Do you have any plans on dynoing your G in the near future? I'm SUPER curious to see your TQ and HP curves.

[1njen]

that story brought tears to my eyes.

[suby01]

This moment will remain in my heart and mind for years to come. The other day, i told you guys that a Corvette had a hard time outrunning me, which he surprisingly did not achieve.

Modified by Jacko3 at 4:45 AM 12/8/2008

a G with bolt ons beat a corvette?? good story however.

[Jacko3]

Nate:

I am planning to dyno the thing. I have called around and I am told it will cost about $100 for three runs. Yes, i think it was an 06/07. It was brand new and black. I am so glad I salvaged the G's reputation when it mattered.

[Jacko3]

No, I never beat a vette. I kept up with the vette. I have gone at it with a vette and at the top end, they literally take off and smoke a G. But on the bottom end, they seem to perform just as good as a G until they start laying down the horspepower on the top end and then they are gone. If I witnessed this numerour times.

[Jacko3]

Don't cry 7 tears my son, its going to be alright. Just smile and wave.
Modified by Jacko3 at 1:26 PM 12/8/2008

[suby01]

my friends own various years of vettes. even low end they smoke tires or go literally sideways past the G. not saying that you didnt keep up . but ya idn. next time get a vid.

[Jacko3]

I agree that they smoke tires on low end and go side to side as i have witnessed this before, but none have gone past me on the low end, until they hit the higher RPM ranges. Sorry, no vids for now . Don't have a clue how to operate 21st century time machine (vids)--I don't even have a cell phone.

Check this article out to see why a G-37 and a G-35 could technically take on the vette on the low end---Power to weight ratio and volumetric efficiency.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com...earch
Modified by Jacko3 at 1:28 PM 12/8/2008

[4drmadness]

damn your thread felt like its happening in front of my eyes lol. it made me feel better. i was rooting for you as well.

[C-Kwik]

I'm not sure how much was actually on the line to begin with considering a stock G35 could probably beat out most trucks. Perhaps you should seek out a F150 Lightning or an SRT-10 Ram. THAT would be a challenge.

[Jacko3]

C-Kwik:

I think this challenge is enough . I wanna save my clutch for another day.

[Cali 2 Balti G]

Hey OP-no offense butA dodge ram weighs almost twice as much as a G - hemi or not - so I'm with the others in seeing your win as a hollow victory -

I have a Quad Cab Dodge Ram in my driveway. My truck is not for racing - it is for hauling. IT will however will kill my G in a race - in the snow or loaded down with a ton or more of materials from home depot.


Modified by Cali 2 Balti G at 2:54 PM 12/8/2008

[Beancooker]

Jacko, That Dodge weighs in at over 7k lbs, and almost 8k if it was a diesel, not to mention the Dodge isn't geared like a sports car. You should have smoked him, easily.

I don't have a video of Dieselman's Dodge anymore. When we were in Phoenix for NOPI 2007, he had his Cummins powered Ram out there. He was running really low 13's and had they sprayed VHT on the starting like, he would have been into the 12's. That truck would eat our G's alive.

[Jacko3]

Yep, that picture shows the type of Dodge Ram I met last night. Ya know, nothing feels as good as a kill, especially with a car with more power than my car. Don't take this joy away from me, I beg you, please. It does feel good to kill a giant every once in a while in a G.

Oh, i just found out this evening that i may have smoked this guy without even getting to 7,000 RPM. This evening I decided to check things out again and I just realized that since I added test pipes to my car, I haven't even been approaching the 7,000 RPM for a while because it is so loud and there is so much torque and horsepower already, beyond 4500 rpm, before it reaches 7,000RPM---a lot of work to keep pushing down that pedal already.


Modified by Jacko3 at 7:20 PM 12/8/2008

[Sentientbydesign]

But it was a big slow giant Jacko. Wasn't one of our first debates on NICO about you "killing" a slow mercedes?

[Jacko3]

The mercedes benz was slow because it was heavy.

[Sentientbydesign]

I think the mercedes also only had 200hp

Time to do some reading Jacko!

[Jacko3]

Nate:

Ya know, it just feels good to make a guy in a Merc think about wanting to buy a G when I have his behind handed out to him.

[C-Kwik]

Yep, that picture shows the type of Dodge Ram I met last night. Ya know, nothing feels as good as a kill, especially with a car with more power than my car. Don't take this joy away from me, I beg you, please. It does feel good to kill a giant every once in a while in a G.

Power isn't everything. Your thread about power to weight ratio emphasizes this. Seems rather contradictary to highlight power-to-weight in a thread, then ignore it completely in another. But I'll tell you what. Your G has at least 3 times the power of my bike. Its relatively low in power compared to the "R" series sportbikes out today. I guarantee it will put you to shame though. Especially if all you are comparing is HP.

[Jacko3]

Power isn't everything. Your thread about power to weight ratio emphasizes this. Seems rather contradictary to highlight power-to-weight in a thread, then ignore it completely in another. But I'll tell you what. Your G has at least 3 times the power of my bike. Its relatively low in power compared to the "R" series sportbikes out today. I guarantee it will put you to shame though. Especially if all you are comparing is HP.

Can't remember everything as we age, can we? And by the way these are just casual discussions and forgetfulness can and will occur. I also said the Merc was heavy.

Anwho, I routinely go at it with the super bikes on my secret track and the guys i go with are damn good riders in my estimation. On the curves and twisties, the G does keep up. But on the straight way, those bikes are so fast that I have had some of them pass me on just the rear wheel. But as always, the G is a relatively balanced ride on curves and twisties and it does keep up with those bikes as much as you might rever those bikes, on those twisties especially when they slow down to adjust the the bike to the right angle and position, as they go through the curves.

I don't know what type of bike you have, but the ones I have gone with are no slouches either (I don't know these bikes by name). And i can tell you from first hand experience that the g-35 is not the best drag car but on a twisty and curvy road, till date, no other car has even come close to me, even a Dodge SRT-8. The bikes you mention, only gain the advantage once the road straightens out and they are really never that far ahead by enough margin to give me a decisive lead, and then the next curve and twisty is aroung the corner and i gain all that lead back. My secret track only gives them enough straightway to make enough distance and then the curves show up again, and ai make up for it.

The only thing missing in my secret track is vertically undulating roads or steep angled inclines. Besides that, its a flat plane with numerous curves to satisfy an amateurs desire for speed combined with handling. On the secret track, its all about handling and braking---learning to tap the brakes precisely and precise steering. Even then, it can be hair-raising sometimes as ai do feel i am loosing control in rare cases.

My experience so far is that the OEM sway bars of the G-35 is is slightly soft on curves at much higher speeds and it needs to stiffened. So, next year, i am buying Stillen Swar Bars that have multiple settings on them---soft and hard to stiffen the suspension a little bit. Next in line after that wil be braces. I will wait until my warranty is up to add exhuast manifold--my dealership warned me about not adding it yet. The OEm brakes are good but they fade realtively very quickly. But they are sufficient for now, for my purposes. And after about 3 laps, I take the car to the highway for f ew miles, and drive normally so that the brakes can cool. These are just my experience.


Modified by Jacko3 at 4:17 PM 12/9/2008

[Sentientbydesign]

Problem is, we have to have a "adjustment factor" for Jacko's opinion. If he thinks the Hemi Ram and Mercedes were fast "worthy" opponents, who knows about any of the other things he talks about?

I think an s2000 would kick our G's butt in curves, so would a our "little cousin" the 350Z and let's not forget all of the AWD vehicles.

I love my G and it has potential, it's just a jack of all trades and master of none