I've been reading a few other threads regarding the 4was system on our g37 and found lots of misconceptions and bad information on it. I figured I'll share my experience and what I've gotten to know about the system in my car.

I'll begin by saying that the 4was IS noticeable and usable by 100% of the people that get it. NO its not for track use only, neither i believe it would present itself usefully at the track.

It basically works like this:

When driving at low speeds such as... making a 90 degree turn, u-turn, getting into a parking spot, etc; the back wheels turn slightly to the opposite direction of the front wheels... kinda like this

/--/

\--\

less dramatic of course.. but you get the idea. This is the reason why you'll notice the steering wheel fully locks on to each side with less turns than the non 4was g37.

One gets used to this eventually ... for it does not feel natural at the beginning. There's a slight sensation of over steering when the back wheels turn, but nothing enough time on the driver's seat cant fix. Once you get used to it, its not any less predictable than your average RWD sports car, its just different (purist probably wont agree with that).

My favorite parts of the 4WAs is the stability and control it provides at high speed maneuvering. You see, once the car gets up to highway speed... the wheel now turn differently. Kinda like this:

/--/

/--/

Again, not as much, but thats what they essentially do. This added function allows for much more compliance and feedback from the chassis and the steering wheel at high speeds.

Specially above 85mph, when switching lanes aggressively you can almost feel the whole car following the steering input instead of the front guiding the back.

Around the track, the 4was doesn't provide you with any extra grip or superior cornering abilities. Why you ask? Well, IMO even after learning the driving characteristics of the 4was and being able to accurately predict it around a few soft laps.... i believe there's no real advantage at aggressive high speed corners, if anything.. I'll say its harder to pull faster times because the 4was seems to interfere trying to keep the car behavior as civil and in controled as possible... and most times civil is not faster.

So is it worth the extra $ and the extra weight? Depends... on normal spirited driving.. i say yes.. it makes the car feel lighter (ironically) and more responsive. If you're looking to track the car... then .. well you shouldn't have bought a g37 period.


Please feel free to add anything else i might have missed. Criticisms also welcome.

 

Excellent post. Thanks for all the information. I personally am glad I did not get 4was but that's just me. It just seemed a little bit unnatural.
But thanks for taking the time to explain it so well.

 

Great information! I have 4WAS in my car and absolutely love it! Driving it and a non-4WAS car are a night and day difference. Definatley worth the extra money in my opinion.

 

Good Job! I'm glad someone finally cleared that out!

 

/--/

/--/

where did you get this info from ??

 

you can get it from nissan/infiniti. Anyway this is not the 1st car that uses this system or similar. In fact in late 90's early 2k's a few SUV's came out with the same 4 wheel drive steering (not called the same of course) to achieve better stability in the highway. i believe still some GMC trucks have it as an option.

 

Or, we can watch the Nissan video comparing Non-RAS G35 vs RAS-G35

From what I have herd, it only works at high speed... Not sure if it helps with parking because I have RAS and when I park my car and tilt my steering wheel all the way to the left or right, I don't see the rear wheels moving at all.

And from this vid can see how much more stable the car is with RAS.

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Production models with active steer\

Efini MS-9 (high and low speed)
GMC Sierra (2002) (high and low speed)
Honda Prelude (high and low speed, fully mechanical from 1987 to 1991)
Honda Accord (1991) (high and low speed, mechanical)
Infiniti G35 Sedan (option on Sport models) (2007-Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti G35 Coupe (option on Sport models) (2006-Present) (high speed only) [1]
Infiniti M35 (option on Sport models) (2006-Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti M45 (option on Sport models) (2006-Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti Q45t (1989-1994) (high speed only?)
Mazda 626 (1988) (high and low speed)
Mazda MX-6 (1989-1997) (high and low speed)
Mazda RX-7 (optional, computerized, high and low speed)
Mitsubishi Galant/Sigma (high speed only)
Mitsubishi GTO (also sold as the Mitsubishi 3000GT and the Dodge Stealth) (high speed only)
Nissan Cefiro (A31) (high speed only)
Nissan 240SX/Silvia (option on SE models) (high speed only)
Nissan 300ZX (all Twin-Turbo Z32 models) (high speed only)
Nissan Laurel (later versions) (high speed only)
Nissan Fuga/Infiniti M (high speed only)
Nissan Silvia (option on all S13 models) (high speed only)
Nissan Skyline GTS, GTS-R, GTS-X (1986) (high speed only)
Nissan Skyline GT-R (high speed only)
Renault Laguna (option on 3rd generation which was launched october 2007, standard on sport version)
Toyota Aristo (1997) (high and low speed?)
Toyota Celica (option on 5th and 6th generation, 1990-1993 ST183 and 1994-1997 ST203

.
guess its a nissan/infiniti dominated technology (but i think this data is rather old ?)

 

Great find man. as for the parking comment you made. I don't know if the g35 also applied the RAS at low speed. Something to look into i guess.

 

The only thing I don't like about the RAS is that when customizing a G37, after lowering one, at least Stillen has made the statement that they will not be coming out with camber correction for a RAS unit due to being too difficult, and something seems to be different in the trunk, JL audio says the G35 stealth sub box they make is not for the w/RAS

 

From the post posted earlier, it looks like all the Infinitis equipped with RAS are (high speed only).

 

^ sounds about right ot me vince

i love my 4was and will never track this car even if its fully blown.

 

its over 25 mph

 

Looked like the guy driving the non active steer car was intentionally being ham-fisted to over-exagerate its oversteering.....

At any rate, i didn't want the 4ws simply because of the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid.....

 

I doubt it. They were going the same speed and they tried to keep the test as accurate as possible.

Plus the video was taken from here.
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECH...WAS/index.html


* edit: ^ from that site, it says the following: "This system helps impove stability and response at high speed and helps reduce driver's steering workload at low speed"

So I guess it helps with Parking too.. Nice