i know that some kits are wind tested. are the stillen kits tested? do i have to have the whole 4 piece or can i just have the front lip??

 

you may have just the front lip if you want, items are sold seperately. with proper installation you wouldnt have to worry about the wind at any speed, if thats what you are asking.

 

agree with slammed on do a good job. the stillen lip was leaps and bounds better in quality than sarona. but the sides and rear were fiberglass pieces so i suppose its to be expected.

 

What aftermarket body kit is put in a wind tunnel? I don't even think veilside or c-west does that.

 

I forget the name of the company, but i saw a "wind-tested" body kit for the RSX and the whole kit was over $4,000.

 

I have also wondered abou this. I have seen aftermarket spliters for Cobras that are designed to actually help keep the car glued to the ground. I would love a kit like this for the max. I think it would be incredible if a company had the ***** to develope a full CF kit that created a negative pressure under the car incorporating a spliter type front lip and undercar CF paneling to smooth airflow and build pressure. I've been saying this for a while and would seriosly consider a kit like this. I can't stand the idea of spending $1K just for looks.

 

yea i saw that too.

keep dreaming, nobody is going to make a kit like that for the maxima. the demand isn't there. where the hell are you gonna go with that extra downforce anyway? our car can't go faster than 140. and if you think a thousand bucks is a lot to pay for looks, IF some company did develop a kit like what you're talking about for the max, it would cost at least $5000.

 

But Maximas with just the front lip look goofy when looking at them from the side.

 

i think all cars look goofy with just a front lip viewed from the side

 

What the hel! are you talking about. Do you ever drive your max? It is clear to me that you have never taken a slight highway curve at 120+ MPH. A turn that is barely noticeable at 70 becomes white knuckle at 120+ especially on the Sh!tty roads here in Wisconsin. I hope this situation is improved once I get my struts on but there is always room for improvement in a Max's agility. Your and my Max can't go past 140 but there are several which can. It also appears that you don't read what others post. I stated that I wouldn't pay $1000 just for looks. I understand that demand isn't present and it would be much more than $1000. In the next couple years, if a product like this came out, I might be able to gather up the extra cash to buy it. I would be more concerned with how the kit performed than how it looked. A good performing part looks good as a result of its praticality. For example: I don't think my SSR's look very good at all. But when you add in that they are 8" wide and weigh 14Ibs they quickly gain my liking. You also seem to think that I don't like spending money on my Max. I have spent $7000 on mods so far and am about to order $1200 worth of custom Carbeau seats. This $7K figure is of course excluding the $1500 for paint, $2K for misc maintenance and repair and the 3g's a year for insurance. That adds up to $12K and I'm a d@mn junior in highschool. And don't go saying that its all my mommy's or daddy's money. Bullsh!t...every dollar except the actual car, which was gifted to me, has been earned by me. Didn't mean to go on an ego trip but I had to defend myself.

On a different note, I would concure that Max's w/ only front lips don't look very good. If I was building a showcar I would choose the M-Bumper with Sarona sides and rear.

 

If you're taking highway turns at 120mph you need to sell your maxima.

 

Why? Trust me once the max is lowered and with bigger wheels and nice tires it can definantly hold is own thru curves..

 

Probably the same reason people ***** about streetracing...

 

How exaclty is the front lip secured onto the max?

 

Mostly very strong, double-sided 3M tape. However, I believe some people usually use additional things to secure it, right?

 

yea like 2 bolts on the side to the fenders.....

 

i put mine in w/ 4 bolts and nylon threaded nuts. forget double sided tape, too much of a pain in the a$$, and messy. I had just the lip on for about a month, then i took it off b/c i felt something was missing. some peoples like it though

 

Thankyou phatmax95. I also plan on doing some hotlapping sessions this year. Last year my track season consited of 3 (at speed) parade laps. This year I hope to get in over 100.

 

Yeah I bet he has stock suspension. When I drive a stock max it cannot handle at all with all that body roll..

 

You don't know too much about me so I'd stop making assumptions. People ***** about street racing, so whats the difference between that and going 120+mph around a turn on the highway? It's just unsafe.

 

Now what in the hell are you doing taking curves at 120mph on public roads? No matter what kind of suspension you have on your Maxima or Ferrari, 120mph speeds on public roads is just plain retarded. Race tracks are cared for and kept in perfect condition plus you won't kill anyone that didn't have the choice to be on the road with you.

According to my power to weight ratio and HP curve, my car's topspeed is approximately 148-150mph. But that doesn't mean I'm going to go that fast nor do I believe I have the skill to drive at 120mph+.

Just like clock work, high schoolers always bring this up. Live it up because once you have to pay for your living expenses, you won't be able to throw every penny in your car.

By looking at your homepage, I don't see $7k in real performance mods. I do see a lot of money in lighting and stereo stuff though.




Dave

 

Thank you Dave B.

 

The fact that you will absolutely, positively, never see a body kit that makes downforce for a 4th gen Max.

Why, as a matter of fact I do! (Especially to the grocery store )

I'm glad it's clear to you, especially since there would be some way for you to know. The truth is I have not done that in a Maxima. I have a chip that limits my speed to 117 mph. So 115, yes, "120+", no.

White knuckle!?!? Holy **** man you're living on the edge. If you can do
"120+" the roads are not ****ty. Us New Yorkers have to worry about keeping our cars away from the great white sharks that swim around in our potholes. And the simple truth is, while we all love our Maximas very much, and it's fun to mod them and make them a little faster, or handle a little better, even a body kit that provides downforce just will not make any of our front engine, fwd family sedans handle like sports cars.


I'm sure it will be, especially since you put lowering springs on your car with stock struts. And you say <i>I</i> don't read what people post.


That's for sure. Could it be because it's a front engine, FWD sedan, and not a sports car?

Talk about white knuckle!


Why does it appear this way? Why would I reply to your thread if I didn't read it? Especially with an intelligent explanation of why there will never be a body kit that provides additional downforce for the Fourth Generation Nissan Maxima!


And yet you spent $1500 on paint. Maybe it was Performance Paint (TM)?

So then why did you start this thread? Or was it I who helped you understand?

That's great.

Because you are super performance oriented Maxima enthusiast man. In all seriousness though, I like the look of those rims. How much did you get em for?

You also seem to think that you know a lot about how I drive, and what I think. Odd. I have a half-sister who lives in Wisconsin. Maybe there's some sort of telepathy chain thing going on here.

$1200 dollars worth eh? While it's nice to have some racing seats in your front engine, FWD family sedan, I don't see how you think this is reasonable and $1000 for a body kit is too much.


I could care less what you spent on your car. Save that talk for your accountant.


Whoa calm down. I didn't go saying anything. You're getting a little out of hand buddy.

Defend yourself from what?



And finally, on your cardomain site, you have:

Engine Bay
-Stainless Radiator Hose
-Stainless Vacuum Lines
-Body Color Fuse Boxes
-Red Shaved Plug Cover
-Red Intake Manifold
-Red Battery Tray
-Red Wire Loom
-Red Header Heat Shield
-Polished Battery Tie Down

Exterior
-Body Color Mirrors
-Shaved Trunk Keyhole and Emblems
-DC Clears
-20% Tint
-Red Grill Glow
-Trenz Grill
-Sylvania Headlights
-Gen I Altezza's
-APC Fogs
-White LED Running Lights
-Hyperwhite Clearance Lights
-Hyperwhite Turn Signals
-Hyperwhite Reverse Lights
-Removed Front Liscense Plate
-Red LED Small Tail Bulbs
-Red LED Liscense Plate Bulbs

Interior
-Red Glow(Seven rods of various length)
-Red 3A Pedals
-Red LED Courtesy Lights
-Red LED Gauge Lights
-Red LED Shifter Light
-Red LED Glovebox Light
-Red Ignition Light
-Red Map Light


My math sucks but I think all that stuff adds up to $1000, and is just for looks.

Goodnight folks!

 

I would agree that it was very stupid to do springs without struts. Although, the ride really wasn't that bad and I could hold my own on tight turns. My AGX's will be going on Sat.

Yes it is most definitely performance paint. It has a Teflon addative that smooths air flow. Its used on racing sailboats. I joking of course but seriously, you don't think a good looking car is necessary before the commencement of modding.

I didn't start it dumb@ss. LOL, JK. No really I didn't start it. What did you help me understand. I understand the concept of demand needed for r&d.

I know your joking. I admit that I am not very performance oriented. My goal for the Max; improving it as a whole. If I was hardcore preformance set I would not have a very nice car anymore. It would be very fast but would be loud as hel!, not carry any passengers and not have any music. About the rims. I got 'em for $1600 from tirerack with the Kumho's.

LMAO

I knew you were gone fire back at this. First let me explain what seats I'm getting. They are the Corbeau Legacy's. They are by no means hardcore, in fact I think of it as a slight step up in the body holding capabilities of a seat but... Now, there are four reasons I'm getting these seats. 1. Mildly increased high speed and cornering comfort. 2. My drivers side seat is extremely worn. 3. I'm having it custom made in tan w/ brown insert and red stitching so it will greatly improve my interior. 4. The pair will be 20-30Ibs lighter than the stockers.

Very good. You can copy and paste. That stuff adds up to more than what you said. I didn't say that I was a hardcore track racer. I try to balance my spending in every area. The exterior and interior sections are the areas I've spent the least comming in at $894.60 and $256.93 respectively. I like having a nice car, so that means that I don't like suffering things like unrelability(boosted), or no interior which creates unbearable road noise and looks terrible anyway you slice it.

 

I agree with the points Dave B and max**** have made so far.
Broaner says he is doing 120 mph in his Max. Then a little further down he says he is a junior in high school. Now, I appreciate the fact that he is working for the money to mod his Max, which shows a level of maturity not seen enough nowadays. However, what is a junior in high school doing 120 mph for? I have never met a junior in high school with enough experience to safely handle a car at triple digits. Most veteran drivers don't have the necessary skills to cope with any emergency at those speeds. I've worked too many accidents where young or inexperienced drivers couldn't control the car because of a lack of experience and/or judgement. And accidents at speeds even close to that have catastrophic consequences.
Keep the speed at the track.
I've had my Max to 123 mph on flat interstate (legally, too) and had absolutely no problems with any form of aerodynamics. I've been to 140 + in my Police Interceptor with no problems. I seriously don't think an "aerodynamic" front lip is going to improve high speed control very much in our cars.
Not trying to belittle anyone, just wanted to bring up the safety aspect of driving again. Pulling bodies out of mangled cars sucks.
Just my thoughts.

Dave

 

What's the Cd for Max?

 

I totally agree with Dave Holmes. Unfortunetly at that age one believes they are invincible and the greatest driver (myself included at the time). Of course there is nothing one can say to 16-17 year olds to dissuade them. Enjoy the fact you are driving a Maxima....b/c if you keep taking corners at 120+ regularly on public roads you definetely will not be in any position to be inquiring about wind-tested stillen lips...

 

Okay guys. I don't do this on a regular basis. Its like a twice a year thing. And is done in the summer(Warm tires/roads = better traction) at 2AM(no other people to hurt). Once I did it escorted by police. My mom and I were coming back from relatives(2 Hours away) and my mom was paged by the hospital. She called and they said there was an emergency cardiac arrest on the way and she was on call that night. The hospital called the cops and they escorted us the last 1/2 hr. at about 100MPH. I was so happy. Going fast legally was awesome.

Dave Holmes, are you a cop? What do police interceptors top out at? How did you do 123 Legally? Just curious.

 

Former cop.
'99 Interceptor speedos (calibrated at factory) go to 140; I've had it buried.
For 123 legally, I was a cop at the time. However, departments frown upon using privately owned vehicles for business. But, by law, it's legal. Note that speedo indicated 123. Since Maxima speedos aren't certified calibrated, there may be error. And I was running 225/55/16's at the time, which are 1.7% off (at 100 mph speed indicated, you're actually going 101.7 mph).

Purpose of my post was to just remind everyone to play it safe. ja1997max brought up the valid point about some people thinking they are invincible, and are a better driver than they really are (I thought I was the best driver at 18. Now I've matured and been trained in high speed driving, I know better. I never take anything for granted behind the wheel). Unfortunately, some people don't outgrow this invincible attitude until too late. I don't want to read about any members here becoming a statistic.

Dave

 

Thanks for the info Dave. How do you know the %difference? What is it for 235/45/17? Another question; Why did you only bring it to 123 in the Max? Sorry, I just can't resist but I did 138 in my AUTO last night. Thats unadjusted but I was just so happy when I saw it on the speedo. What do ya think it is adjusted.

 

broaner22,
There are tire calculators on various sites that will give you the error percentage when going to a tire size other than stock (stock size on my SE were 215/55/16). Check out this link for a calculator (I got the link in the stickies of the tire forum here): http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html The 235/45/17's would be 0.1% faster than speedo indication if your car was stock with 215/55/16's.
The reason I only went 123 was because the Dodge pickup I was behind wasn't going faster..... Not like I wanted to pass him (that would defeat the purpose of being behind him. I didn't want to lose him).
Aren't '95 GLE's speed-limited to 118 or so? Someone else may know.
I still say entering triple digits unnecessarily, and without proper training and equipment, is foolish. The possibility of survival for you, your passengers, or anyone you hit is inversely proportional to your speed. Air bags and seatbelts don't work very well when the entire front end (bumper, engine, etc...) is in the car with you.
Speed belongs at the track. If you can't "resist" the temptation , you need to rethink owning a car. On a public road, it's not just your life you're gambling with. But this all gets back to some people thinking they are invincible or "it won't happen to me." Reality is that the odds increase even faster than your speedo climbs. Hey, my .38 Airweight holds 5 shots. If I only put in one round, spin the cylinder, do I want to take the chance? 4 out of 5 times it won't go off. But how lucky am I? I don't like those odds...

Dave

 

to that...

 

From Dave Holmes: "Reality is that the odds increase even faster than your speedo climbs."

Man, talk about quote-worthy material. It almost brought a tear to my eye, haha. But it seriously struck me as something out of a movie.

I, too, must confess to blatant unnecessary speeding. Fortunately, I rarely have to use a highway to get places, and the most I've gone in my Max was in the range of 118-125 (didn't bother staring at the speedo, I was too busy watching the road, and having my eyes dart around for white Malibus, Impalas, Caprices and Crown Vics.) My only justification for going so fast was a looooooong stretch of straightaway, not a car in sight for another 1/4 mile or so, and an urge to see how quickly that needle could jump, but I let off the right foot once I hit that range. I also went 117 in a '92 Mitsubishi Galant on a damp highway stretch in the past. The car seemed barely fit for 60 MPH on DRY roads, so the latter was especially dumb. Perhaps it was just an adrenaline rush. Then again, there's no use for adrenaline if you're pushing up daisies. *shrugs*. It's kind of funny--I often find myself in positions that every teenager usually comes across in life at one time or another (i.e. having a need for speed), and I think of myself as fairly mature given my age, but sometimes when I get in these positions, I find myself saying "Eh, screw it, might as well live a cliché while I still can." Hooray for the joys of adolescence.

Broaner: How on earth can you pay $12k as a junior in high school for a car? Where did you get all that money in the first place? Did you do a bunch of manual labor (i.e. yardwork) when you were younger for other people? Honestly, out of all of my peers in high school that I know (that AREN'T "hired" by their parents to do grunt office work for ridiculous amounts of money,) I have the highest paying job (I average around $10/hr), but I can't even IMAGINE being able to pay for $12k on my Maxima, even by the time of graduation. Have you ever heard of these nifty little things called savings accounts? I love my car and car modification as a whole to death, but I'm so paranoid about the future that I refuse to spend any more than $2,000 on my car. Granted that I AM a lucky little **** and have insurance, gas, and routine maintenance covered by my parents, 2 g's to spend on a car aside from those aspects is a highly significant amount. I just don't believe that spending $12,000 (which is almost 2x what your car is worth anyway) is warranted in ANY situation unless one is completely sure of their financial future. Excuse the rant; I'm jealous of people who have nice, heavily modded cars and still have plenty sitting in the banks. :P

 

Dave Holmes, GXE's are the limited ones. Thanks for that link. Its bookmarked now. I have a -.6% correction so I was still going just over 137 assuming the speedo said I was doing exactly 138.

GraniteMaxSE, you nailed it on the head man. When I was a kid I lived in Atlanta and did yardwork. The suburb I lived in had a lot of money and I usually got $35-40 per lawn. I moved to Madison when I was 13 and had $2K in the bank. I bought a 19 ft Sailboat with that and sold it last year to. So I had $2K from the sale of the boat and another $1.5K I made in those two years to spend when I first got my liscense. Correction, I have the highest paying high school job. Last summer I was a sailing instructor and got $14/hr cash. The rest of the money comes from methods I can not disclose for fear of the ex-cop arresting me. JK. I do grunt office work for my mom during the school year but I only get $8/hr(I'm still grateful). About the value of the car, I don't care what its worth cause its paid off. So when the VQ blows I'll build a beastly N/A motor. I won't have to worry about buying a car until a year or two after college. I will buy something new so I can have the same type of experience with that vehicle. If anyone cares it will be a 350Z or its modern equivilant.

 

Ok in the end who cares. Just stay safe. broaner, don't make it a habit. Just be proud and call it a day. For example, on one local high school graduation night there was a car slammed into the brick sign in front of our neighbourhood. What a way to spend your graduation night. Didn't see the drivers and passengers but there was a couple ambulances that had just left.

LEMAR

 

my gxe doesnt have a rev limit, ive been well beyond 118. ive been up to like 130 before i got scared. girl was in middle of an emergency delivery and i had to get to the hospital no matter what to be with her

 

Yes, GXE's are the only limited ones but not even all of those are. Who knows what years were limited or was it just random(doubt it). Why did Nissan think that the GXE is less capable of high speed. Were the stock tires not rated for the estimated top speed? If anything I would assume that people with SE's would be tempted to push the envelope and therefore limit them. A top speed of 118 is pathetic IMO.