What is the best, most cost effiecient performance upgrade for the 3rd generation Maxima?? Any takers??

 

WS Y-Pipe From What I Hear... Not Bad Price Either...

 

There have been so many threads about this..consider donating and search for less thread redundancy

Anyway yea I also heard the WS Y Pipe was the best bang for the buck but I wouldn't know as I dont have one.What IS the price on a WS y pipe?

 

stroke and bore then up the compression!!!

 

Not a cost effiecient upgrade...


He means bolt on accesories....

 

WSP y-pipe and an UDP are the two big ones I think, but I don't have a UDP(yet) so i can't speak from experience for that one.

 

UDP and Fidanza Flywheel hands down.

 

I would have to go with the WSP Y-pipe as well.

 

Get the "Tornado", install it in the air intake, & you will get huge HP gains & fuel savings!!! (LOL)!!!

 

Best performance upgrade? How about a 5th gen? LOL

But seriously, I'd have to say either a Y-pipe or a CAI

 

When dealing with our boats, the best bang for the buck would be suspension mods. You can get aftermarket springs delivered to your door for less than $150. I installed a set of Ksport springs and new struts on a friends 89 GXE and he couldn't be more happy of the results.

 

ksport springs have a 2.2" drop in the front!

Did you drive/ride in it after the drop? Was it rough?

 

Yes and no. At the time of the install we didn't have much time so I didn't bother breaking out the camera or tape measure to verify before and after. It wasn't a even drop, the front drop lower than the rear but it wasn't that noticeable.

 

Yeah,they advertise a 2.2" in the front/2" rear...


I am going to ditch my sprint springs next month for some eibach's,i love how the sprints look,but the ride is just horrible..

 

I had Eibachs and Tokico's for a few years, but after moving to Florida I wanted something lower than Eibachs so I installed Sprints. The Sprints ride fine to me and it's been too long for me to give a fair comparison between Eibachs and Sprints. When I installed my Sprints I also installed Koni's at the same time so maybe that had something to do with my ride quality.

 

I also want koni's,but $600 is just too steep for me

I am thinking Eibach/tokico for me?

 

i was thinking about the tokicos and a set of k sports myself.. a friend of mine rode the tokicos and loved um... plus i want my car to ride lower ..

 

B&G makes a GREAT set of springs. They're more than ibach, less than intrax, and are progressive, so they maintain ultimate preformance. I LOVE my set and can't speak more highly of them.

 

My favorite mods:
-Light weight wheels, with sticky tires
-UDP and fidanza flywheel
-BBK (makes you feel very confident while driving)
-Poly motor mounts
-ACT clutch

I would say some suspension mods, but honestly if you upgrade suspension do ALL of it and DO it right $$$

 

Unfortunately thats still not cost efficient like the original thread asks but you pretty much listed the mods I'd do if I had a 5speed or once I convert mine when my auto goes out of warranty and is bad

 

This is the best post in this thread.

My vote is for the y-pipe. Not too expensive, easy to install (or cheap at a shop, around $50) and noticeable gains.

Best significant mods to do (in order, based on cost):

Y-pipe (~$200)
Springs and struts (~$500) Eibachs and KYBs or Tokicos
UDP (~$150 w/new belts)
Wheels and tires ($800+ new -- way more for upgrades)
Fidanza/ACT or Exedy (~$600) might as well do both at the same time

These are the proven basics, along with weight reduction anywhere you can find it.

After that, it gets more advanced:

Turbo ($$$$ and know how)
BBK (I don't have this, but it was on my list)
Other mods like suspension upgrades (Blehmco stuff, etc)
JWT ECU (~$600)
Anything Aaron does to drop into the 13s...

 

$150 for UDP and BELTS? thats the cheapest I've heard of cuz the UDP alone I've seen for 180..where did you get that price with belts?

 

The only bad thing about KYB or Tokico with even Eibachs is the fact that the valves eventually go out. They weren't designed for lowered springs but stock.

If you go that route, keep your receipt.

 

VE UDP is cheaper than VG

 

I noticed after getting WSP Y, Cat and Muffler (remus style) and the Unorthodox UDP made a HUGE increase in performace expecially at high rpms. Next I would look into wheels and suspension.

 

i want a udp for my vg but exactly how much will the udp add? my car is running awesome with advanced timing and wsp ypipe and high flow. just wanna know if the upgrade is really worth the money. thanks

 

Amen Brotha

 

Brand new ASP UDP is $125 shipped (?). Belts are around $30 from NAPA.

I actually got my UDP much cheaper used.

I have Gatorback belts, I think they were a little more than the NAPA ones.

I am very happy with the suspension mods and they are very noticeable, but I think "bang for the buck" is easily the Y-pipe. IMO, this should be the first mod you do, after making sure all maintenance is taken care of. It also helped my mpg. My car gets better mpg modded than it did stock.

The suspension is really only a big issue if you are an aggressive driver or plan on driving really hard. The stock suspension is actually decent for a sedan. The Y-pipe helps in everyday driving.

 

the best hp increase i got was my cold air intake but that requires alot of rearranging. I had to move my battery to the other side and remove my cruise control unit. Then you have to reroute the wiring which takes a while.

 

I paid $50 used when I bought my first one and that was shipped with belts my current one was $75 brand new without belts bought from a private party though.

 

Anyone selling a VG UDP by anychance? If so let me know!!!

 

Whats BBK?

 

The great BB King of course, every Max runs better with a little blues pumpin' through the speakers

 

Big Brake kit

 

my next upgrade will be a Y-pipe

 

Bolt ons, free port work, and lots of weight reduction will get anybody in the 13s for CHEAP.

But the single best Go-Fast mod for the VE is definitely the WSP Ypipe! It's good for over 3 tenths in the 1/4 mile. The stock Ypipe has such a huge restriction! See for yourself:



I think this photo was courtesy of Chris91SE. And the bottom Ypipe is a Cattman, which has a tighter radius bend. The WSP is a slightly better design. But you get the point.

The next best cost efficient mod is the ASP UDP. It's good for 2 tenths in the 1/4 mile and costs $110 plus $30 for belts. Summit Racing has it for cheap. It's a little tricky finding the correct part. The part number when I ordered it from Summit was "ASP339800". That should help some people!

After thos two mods, the next best most cost efficient upgrades would be an exhaust cutout, DIY intake and exhaust port work, and phenolic intake spacers. They are all cheap and offer awesome power gains!

Oh and there's no beating the added power of weight reduction!

 

I see that most people recommend a y-pipe, but how much would replacing the rest of the exhaust help (cat, muffler, etc.)? Efficient cost-wise or no?

 

Guys,

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I can't post new threads yet...

Just wondering if anyone has measured the gains of a Y-pipe on the VG? I know I am probably just being too sceptical, but I purchased a FSTB a few years back after reading several people raved about them, and I was very disappointed when I found no noticeable improvement.
Also, I currently have a 2.25" cat back system, which I find a bit 'drony' at times. Does the Y-Pipe increase exhaust drone or noise, and if it does, is there any manufacturer that is quieter than others without sacrificing too much performance?

Sorry about all the questions, but I am in Australia, and will need to import a Y-pipe, which isn't particularly cheap to do.

Thanks.
Greg.

 

dude its not a big notice in feeling with the fstb it requires alot more then juz that single mod to feel a big difference as for the exhaust droning its prolly ciz you might have tooken out the cat which will tend to make ur car drone but im not sure as you didnt state if you had the cat removed also there will not be too much of a difference from the wsp y pipe and the cattman y pipe.and if your having a droning problem maybe you should have a resonator installed in ur 2.25 exhaust system to help with that problem as stock maximas have a resonator in the exhaust system. also you should look into getting an after market cat like since ur using a 2.25 inch exhaust u should find one dat would fit that size like getting one from the non turbo 300zx and having it welded in the line of the exhaust system.

 

The rest of the exhaust won't help performance much. It will mainly just make you louder. If you do a high performance cat and catback exhaust with straight thru muffler, you might be looking at gaining 5 HP for all that money spent. But if you do Ypipe and leave the rest of the exhaust stock, you will gain over 10hp and still have a quiet muffler!

You might hear a slightly deeper tone come from the stock muffler with the WSP Ypipe, but it won't be any louder.

sonicii, the gains of the VG Ypipe are about the same as the VE Ypipe. Both have the same restriction and both yield over a 10hp increase in power. It's definitely a good purchase! Get one!

And the FSTB doesn't help a lot. Most people won't notice the increase in handling with that mod alone. I don't know how you were hearing that from, but it's not suppose to give a huge gain. It's just one more thing you can do to help chasis stiffness. And it's CHEAP (<$20 from eBay), that's why most people have one.

If you already have a loud muffler, the WSP Ypipe might make it a slightly deeper tone. It should get slightly louder too. As for that drone, that's just come with the territory of having that freakin loud exhaust. The only way to help that nasty ricey sound is to get a better muffler or add resonators in the Bpipe to help tone it down a bit. Also, having a stock catalytic converter helps get rid of the drone since it acts as a resonator/muffler too.