BrianV

iTrader: (9)

Here's my signature file, but after every mod I have written a brief explanation of how decent the mods really is. Yeah I'm bored and I figured some people might get a kick out of it:

July 2001 Maxima of the Month
1997 Nissan Maxima SE 5Spd - Sage Mist Green - 5Spd: Leather, Dual Power Seats, Climate Control, Bose, Moonroof
Mods: Stillen 5 Piece Aero Kit (Added incredible enhancements to the looks. A lot more people ask what kind of car I drive. I get several more compliments on the car.) / 5Zigen GT8 17" Rims (Again adds enhancements to the looks. Didn't suffer any loss in ride quality, but did see increase in grip ) / Nitto NT555 ZR-W 235/45/17 Tires (Nice tire. At firs I didn't want them, but I'm real happy with them. They're ultra quiet and ultra smooth for a low profile. Grip is decent) / Suspension Techniques Modified Springs (Uncut: Great stock like ride, terrible lowering height. Cut good ride, little firmer, little bouncy, awesome looks, well worth it) / Tokico Blues (CRAP after 10k miles. I've been holding out for the AGX for a year. I hate the Tokico's they cannot dampen my springs. I bounce on those little hillybumps, and they're pretty soft too) / Stillen Front Strut Tower Bar (Pretty much all for looks, the car did track a little better for at the limit cornering) / Stillen Rear Sway Bar (WOH! First time I installed this baby I lost the rear end on the first left turn I made. I was shocked, then got used to it. I put it back more for added safety, less oversteer. When I cut the springs and dropped the car, this mod seemed to lose a lot of it's effect. Now it's all the way up and I can't get it to oversteer, but still helps to keep the car almost neutral.) / Greddy Catback Exhaust (On a bone stock car it is quite quiet and very smooth at WOT, but when added with intake and y-pipe the thing is LOUD. It's pleasantly loud, but it drones pretty bad at 1900-2800 RPM, quite annoying when you're just trying to cruise. Power gains were minimal, rev'd faster up top.) / Cattman Y-Pipe (Motherload of power with this baby. Cool sounding, deepens the engine sound and gives it a grunt. There's this cool hiss too that resembles a turbocharger. Makes car a lot louder, but quite a bit faster) / Random Tech 2.5" Straight Through Cat Converter (Minimal horsepower gains, car revs faster in the mid range, and a little faster up top. Helped to reduce that drone by about 50%. Worth it just to decrease that drone) / PR Cold Air Intake Adapter (Cold Air Intake was cool, but sucked at making power past 5,000 RPM) / Stillen ShortRam Intake with Velocity Stack (Great at making power up-top compared to CAI. This mod is needed to yield gains on pretty much any other performance mod. I prefer Stillen over the CAI) / Stillen Carbon Fiber Dash (Adds nice, sporty, clean look to interior. Not flashy, but very nice. Looks better than my friend's C230 Kompressor Sport's Carbon Fiber Kit from factory. Passengers always are amazed with it) / Clear'd Amber Out of Taillights (Makes the rear of the car look much sportier and a lot cleaner) / Courtesy Front Clear Corners (Makes front look sportier and cleanier) / SS Brake Lines (Brake pedal feels more consistent, much firmer feel, not mushy like stock) / Porterfield Pads (Incredible increase in braking. The Maxima stops SOO fast with these things. Every once in a while I slam on brakes in a controlled environment and demonstrate to passengers the stopping power) / Cut Shift Handle (Enchanced interior looks, and shortened throw a little bit) / Autolite Titanium Spark Plugs (Better than old NGK's, but I ordered some new NGK's anyways) / B&M Carbon Fiber Shift **** (Matches Carbon Fiber Kit, feels pretty good too) / Razo Carbon Fiber Pedals (Helps to heal-toe and double clutch. Looks cool and matches carbon fiber kit, but no one really ever sees them. Really does help with the double clutching) / JL 12W3 12" (Bumps real hard, but crap under my car rattles like crazy) / Kenwood 650 Watt Amp (More than enough power for the speaker) / Redline MTF (Shifting is smoother and cleaner. Easier to get into first gear while rolling) / Mobil 1 5w30 every 2500 miles (Nice oil) / Wax every 3 months (Keeps the glossy finish)
180 FWHP [Before Cat] (Outside 90F, one small worthless fan) / 14.7 @ 94 [Before Cat] (Pomona 01/2001 - Cool/Overcast day)

I'm going to run again with the Cat in. Last time I ran at that crappy track I ran a 15.2 (I know weak, but it's a weak track). Anyways, Cheston might use my car to test out the GForce ECU 96 swap in 97, so we can get real 1/4 mile differences. We're going to run one run stock ecu simple dump from 1500, then one with the GForce simple dump from 1500. Then I'm going to start slipping and feathering to see how much better I can get the times. But with the 1500 RPM ones it will be consistent runs. Expecting to get some decent gains from it. Keep posted for the results.

metallic97gxe

iTrader: (3)

to have indept about the MOTM car....................cool!!!!!!

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

SMX

Very Very Nice!!! Some day I 'll get there.

95Max

BrianV,

You mentioned that the uncut ST Springs "Great stock like ride, terrible lowering height" What is terrible ride height and uncut how did they perform vs stock.

theblue

very informative! good job

BrianV

iTrader: (9)

Uncut they didn't even lower the car. May 1/2" lowering at the max. Performance was a little better than stock, but no where near Eibach performance. Cut they outperform the old Eibachs I had on here.