I am new to this kind of thing and need a little help. I just got a 97 Maxima SE and am wondering what mods I should do to it first. I just want to make it a little bit quicker, I dont want to get into the Supercharger and stuff like that quite yet. Any fairly cheap mods that anyone could recommend? Oh one more thing, my Maxima has 85K miles on it and the 1-2 shift is a little hard sometimes. The car runs great though, very smooth and powerful for all stock. Anyway just wondering what the best thing to help the shifting go a little smoother would be. Its an automatic by the way. Thanks for the help in advance.

1997 Super Black Maxima SE
Mods, None yet.
Already beat a 1999 Honda Civic EX though both cars are all stock. I dont know if VTECH counts for the Honda.

 

By the way all 85K miles are highway miles. Some old guy had it before me and took really good care of it. Just waitin for someone to help me out. Thanks

 

FSTB(Front Strut Tower Bar),Any cone intake filter,Shifting Don's Valve Body Upgrade(requires sending him your transmission)car down for a while,cheap mods huh look here all of my are CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://members.cardomain.com/williamg

 

start with intake and move from there as with your transmission i have a 97 Se as well and had the same problem eventually i had to get a new solenoid and new transmission control, which nissan put a bulletin out about, but it still shifts a little hard, but i was told that's typical for a maxima

 

Just get an intake and Y Pipe if you just want to go a little quicker. Cost you $400 or so for both, best bang for the buck. Before you do Don's VB upgrade, check the condition of your tranny first. The roughness may just mean that you need a transmission flush. Do you have any maintenence records on the car? BTW, Don's VB upgrade requires no downtime, he sends you the VB, you install it, and then send him your old one.

Some advice though, don't go too cheap. If you do, and you end up modding your car more in the future, you'll end up replacing most of the original parts you bought, and it's wasted money. If you want something done, save up and do it right. Stuff I've upgraded and replaced includes wheels went to 17"s and then 19"s, intake, dash kit, springs, most of my stereo, etc. And I'm about to replace my stillen lip spoiler w/ a totally new bodykit. I'm also contemplating going w/ the Stillen big brake upgrade to replace the 300ZX conversion. If I had just done this stuff in the beginning, then I would have saved a whole lot of money. Live and learn I guess.

 

Yeah IM not going to go out and just get cheap stuff that id end up replacing. What is solenoid and transmission control. Sorry i told you I was new to this kind of thing. I was going to get the Front Strut Tower bar because I buddy of mine recomended it and ive heard a lot of good things about it. How big of a difference does it make. Can you feel it right away. What filter should I get? How much louder does it make the car. I dont really like them loud, so the quieter the better. I know thats the opposite of what most people want but oh well. Oh I want to get rims but dont know what to go with. Also someone told me to be careful because they will make the Spedometer and Odometer off. Sorry about the dumb questions I just love my Maxima and want to Sup it up a little. Thanks for all the help.

 

Hey metallic97gxe I like your rims, what are they and how much did they cost you? ALso what all as to be done when getting new rims and wheels. I would appreciate any help on the questions in the above post and this one. You have already been very helpful, for those that answered. Thanks

 

I would not worry about noise level. If you want to put mods on your max, especially for performance, you will have to make that sacrifice. I am fairly new to this also, but once I started putting on mods I got hooked. I have a JWT pop charger and a Greddy Catback exhaust system and it sounds great. It is not terribly loud but it does sound very aggressive. Most of the time you dont notice that it is there. the FSTB does help a lot. I noticed a big difference in handling in big sweeping turns. Hope this helps.

btw my 1-2 is hard to, I have a 98. It gets better as it warms up, Just baby it until the engine reaches normal op. temp.

 

brake pads, brake pads, brake pads. Toss in a semi-metallic pad and it'll be a night/day difference from stock.

Next up, intake. Then rear sway bar. Then front strut tower brace. After that, Y Pipe & full catback. After that, springs/shocks. After that... the list goes on and on...