what's involved in advancing my timing? is it just some reprogramming or do they physically need to do something?

how much should it cost to have a dealer do this?

do they come factory at 15deg BTDC and you have them advanced to 17deg BTDC, or vice versa?

what are the benefits of doing this?

is it the same for all 5gens, whether it be 02/03, AT/MT? (i have on '03 MT)

 

you have to have the car hooked up to a consult 2 diagnostic tester which nissan uses exclusively as far as i know. from factory, it will either be at 14 or 15 btdc then it is advanced to 17. there is a way to allow the ecu to advance further but i dont think anyone has done it yet. you should notice better low end response and slightly better gas mileage with all other factors equal. its the same procedure for all 5th gen 00-03 with either transmission.

 

You could theoretically get it to 20 Deg BTDC, but you have to do a process called something like idle air learning...or something like that. I can't get the wording quite right in order to find out exactly what it's called on the search feature...