but 3.5 + FI

If i were you, id do the 5spd swap. Yes driving 5spd can be a pain in the *** driving in rush hour, but still id take a 5spd over auto anyday. Its personal preference, id suggest driving a 5spd maxima first and seeing if you like it before you jump into a 5spd swap.

 

No question. But if you are talking 3.5 swap + FI you are talking 5-6k EASY. From what I gather, many guys are monetarily tapped out after just a 3.5 swap-in, so they have an untuned power mod with minimal gains/cost ratio...

Just look at the number of 3.5 guys making 100 horsepower over a stock 3.0...

Then compare it to the number of FI 3.0 guys making 100 horsepower over a stock 3.0

THEN look at the number of people with BOTH a 3.5 swap AND FI...

Then talk with all 3 of them.

 

how hard is it to move your left foot when in traffic? cant be much harder than the right foot to give a little gas.

I understand it can feel stressful at time thats your stuck in traffic, but there are plenty of strategies to make it a lot easier. i think people hype up 5spds and traffic waay to much.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am sure that a 5-speed is fun. However, once you factor in human error (among other things) the fun diminishes somewhat. I remember reading the thread about the guy who royally screwed up his input shaft and multiple tranny gears after a 3.5 swap (he hit a pothole or something...)

I don't know enough about how transmissions work to tell you how people on the org have ****ed up their 5-speeds. But it takes a lot more work to **** up an auto, for all the reliability that a 5-speed offers.

As for your last comment, I cannot speak to traffic conditions in any area besides the ones I have lived or worked in. Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago and D.C. have stop-and-go traffic that will make you regret having a 5-sp. It's annoying enough to have to brake and accelerate up to 15 mph or so every 45 seconds or so without adding a clutch into the equation. If you live in an area with enough congestion, I find it hard to believe that you've never had to do this. Not to turn this into an auto vs. 5-sp thread (because clutchless shifting manual transmissions pwn all)...