abnorm

Hello!

I recently acquired a 1997 Maxima GXE 5speed, which was hard to find. I was really surprised when I called my friend and found out that he's got it on his lot.
I've had the car for a week and I love it more and more with each day. I like the fact that it's a GXE model because it's lighter then SE, also the blue color looks great on it. I found the 5speed easy and fun to drive as I was very skeptical reading a lot of review comments about Maxima's long-throw clutch.
It's got 65k on it and is in almost perfect condition, except for a few scratches. Carfax also displayed a perfect car history with 1 owner.
As of now, the car is purely stock. Clear corner lights are already on the way though. All I did so far is install cold blue lights and change the chrome antenna to a rubber one from Radio Shack.
I've been reading a lot of forum threads and have a good idea on what kind of future mods I'd like to get. Thanx a lot for the inputs!

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

first thing to do is get a y pipe..

you will thank me later..

don't ask why.. don't question me.. just get it

abnorm

The Y-Pipe sounds good, but I don't know about that "bees in a can" noise that I read about. I'd like to keep my max as quiet as possible.
Thanx

redmaxpa007

iTrader: (21)

i should have got a y-pipe first...now i am slow with these momos...hmm

i look good though!!

abnorm

You mean you actually noticed a difference in performance with 17" wheels? Maybe I should go with stock 16" SE's then...

redmaxpa007

iTrader: (21)

in my case, yes... momo arrows weigh a TON.. they are like 40- 50 lbs... i plan on weighing them this weekend.. mose 17" rims weigh a lot less than mine do.. unless you have chrome..

the "bees in the can" is gone in the new y-pipe from stillen. warpspeed doesn't have that sound nor does cattman. they fix most of it..
i am planning on getting one in the next month..

cbock

bbbbbb but I gotta question you.

Seems to me I'll be running into problems when it's time for a smog check. At least here in CA. Am I right?

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

nope.. you are wrong..

as long as you keep the car warm when you go you will be fine

so drive around for about an hour..

oh about the y pipes.. all the new pipes don't have the bees.. only the warpspeed and Dan is fixing that as we speak

vmok

Have fun in your new car...

Supposingly, the pre-cats that are removed when the y-pipe is installed only helps in cold start emissions. Someone came up with this idea that by putting a catalytic converter as close as possible to the engine, it would heat up faster and light off. However, once the car hits normal operating temperature, the cleansing action is done by the regular cat. California doesn't check cold start emissions. So what you do is this, drive you car around for 15-20 minutes before bringing it in to the smog check place. Turn on your ac, put a load on the car, etc... Driving it around is best since letting it idle that same amount of time might dump a bunch of emissions into your system (cars typically need a richer mixture to idle, and lean out as they cruise). Make sure you turn off your headlights and turn your climate control to off (or ac off and fan off for manual climate control) before you drop off the car for smog. Those things can effect idle speed and load on the engine during the smog check.

My max actually passed smog with the check engine light on (BARELY). it was something like, allowable emissions 150ppm, average emission 10ppm, my reading 147ppm. Pheewww... better hurry up and change that o2 sensor!!! The guy then told me he couldn't pass my car with the MIL on, so I asked him for a screwdriver and reset the light for him.


-V

cbock

hmmmmm. Well I guess I'll have to rethink this one. Seems its the best performance mod for the $. But I had ruled it out due to what I thought was smog probs. hmmmm...