elessar

If you can demonstrate torque steer in my dad's ES, you can have it! That thing is tuned like the car in that old Bill Cosby bit: "......What? Ohhhh.... you wanna go FAST.... ok!"

FiveLiterCheater

Yeah, the ES has 240 on paper, but that feels like a SNAIL no matter how far down your foot is for some reason.

F23A4

I could not deomonstrate TS on neither the TL nor the ES330 after having driven both. Compared with my old 02 Maxima, both are dead on the lowend.

elessar

Really? Man... the first thing I noticed in my TL was the torque steer! I was coming from an Audi A4 w/"quattro" AWD, and only a 190HP V6. I guess I used to gun it a bit while making the right-hand turn out of my old apartment complex and merging into traffic. First time I tried that in the TL I was like "Whoa!!! WTF...?" Before the A4 I had a 150HP Nissan Altima, so I had never driven a FWD car with > 200 HP before. I now know what not to do, but I'm pretty sure I can reproduce it on demand.

Edit: Funny you should mention the Maxima. While my dad was car-shopping for the ES, he also drove the Maxima, and he hit the TS the exact same way I did with the TL, except it was turning right out of the dealership. That was when I really started pushing him towards the ES.

JediMindTricks

i agree that it depends on what he's looking for.

personally, i'm not a big fan of the previous generation ES. the interior is fine, and the ride is what you expect, but the car looks like a bug with the bulging head lights.

the current one is truly an improvement.

F23A4

I have spent much drive time in the 3.2TL/Type S/TL/my 07 AV6, having owned an 02 Maxima, driven the I35 and Altima SE-R. The J32/J30 cannot generate the lowend torque of the VQ35DE. (I routinely -- and many times, unintentionally -- smoked my Maxima's tires under partial throttle...forget WOT.)

So, when early 04 TL owners complained about TS I after taking my first two test drives. TS is why my the best stock time in my old Maxima was only a 14.7sec ET.

Take an 02+ Maxima, Infiniti I35 or Altima 3.5SE/SL/SE-R for a spin and you will see what torque steer really is.