well heres the deal. i can afford a lot of mods at this point, but dont want to blow my whole wad. anyways, here are some of the "cheaper mods" that i was looking at. the car is a 02 se six spd. the plugs need changing anyway, so thats a given, but here are the things i was looking at. im going to afganistan in feb, so with that money the mods will stay the same.......some may differ.

before deployment:

1 - denso plugs
2 - nismo radiator cap
3 - technosquare ecu
4 - cattman y pipe

or

1 - all the above
2 - cattman headers
3 - hi-flow cat
4 - forced induction of some sort

basicly, should i save my money for a bit and just wait? i am in northern NY with harsh winters..........so the paint job i want will wait. but the power mods CAN wait. im thinking of saving for now and waiting till im home again, it will be in storage for a year, then modding the ol girl. what do you guys think? by the way....it already has an intake, exhaust and rims.........performancewise.

ps - just need opinions. i pretty much figured that i would leave it alone since im leaving for a year. but i wanna make sure im not nuts.

here is the car, incase any other visible mods are needed. i have progress springs.....just waiting to put them on.



jim

 

Pink =

Add in that EMU/SAFC or something to control A/F. Kinetix IM or someyhing to cure high rpm death.

F/I is a whooole new deal...Stay N/A.

EDIT** 6th gen brakes ....

 

Headers first (y-pipes on the 3.5L don't do much). Then get an SAFCII controller to make sure you get the most out of your headers (tuning with SAFCII is good for another ~10HP).

Go for a sound system, too.

I wouldn't waste my money on a radiator cap or an ECU. Actually, I don't even think TS makes an ECU for 5th gens. (Edit: I stand corrected)

And since I'm not the biggest body kit or FI fan, I can't advise you to buy/do either. :P

Good mention on the brakes, nmexMax.

 

Holy misinformation Wendesday ...

 

I thought the TS ECU was a good idea for the 3.5 as a upgrade for performance? Why not SAFCII and the TS both,or is that not poss.?

 

how about the red-haired stepchildren of maxima.org:

SUSPENSION AND BRAKES

..and I don't mean just "a drop"

I mean:
adjustable struts (illuminas, etc)
stage 2 lower tie bar
RSB. FSTB
SFCs
poly bushings in FSB, LCAs, motor mounts, rear suspension
brake upgrades (full BBK, 6th gen rotors/calipers, or maybe just good pads...SS lines)

the maxima has decent power to start with, but the handling sucks. Upgrade the handling to the best possible, then worry about more power IMO...

btw, be sure to say Hi to Soonerfan in Afghanistan...you guys can start the Maxima.org "Central Asia Region" forum....

 

I made the edit, bish!

 

sound system is done. i might actually change amps, but trust me, im fine there.

the rad cap is high pressure.....it might be better, it might not. but im thinkin it cant hurt, so worth the 40-50 bucks?

i wanna keep it all motor and pass the 300hp mark. but whats there out to help?

y-pipe
headers
tb
intake manifold?

who knows!?!?!?!

im thinking i can hit 300hp at the crank with simple crap and then add FI and go to over 400hp.

jim

 

If you're gonna go turbo, then don't bother with headers, because then you'll have to replace em with the turbo manifold and all that other good stuff anyways.... just save the money for what you'll need then. They don't necessarily build on top of each other. The IM probably might help, but check with the guys in the FI forum for more info because I'm mostly turbo-illiterate on the Max.

But if by FI you mean nitrous, then you could build a good all motor Max and then install a nitrous kit as well, that's another option.

 

Btw, I'd also say to seriously consider Irish44J's suggestion as well... no point building a fast car that can't take corners well....

 

Good luck in Afganistan! I have not been but been to Iraq.

 

when and where are you going?
im going to northern afghanistan in dec for 6 months

i'll have plenty of potential mod money when i get home

 

I went to Iraq for 8 month. Came back and bought my maxima. Good money but dont want to go back. It a **** hole over there.

 

Good luck, I got back last spring after 7 months. Was not that bad in the winter months.

 

Mods are so Save your money.

 

I can help take away one option, there is no supercharger or turbo kit for the 3.5L yet. I been trying to find one for about 2 years now with no luck. I been to several shops around here trying to get one custom built. There all tell me their not enough room to do right. As far as I know there is only 2 or 3 guys around with a turbo 02+ and I don't think either of them works the way it surposed to.

 

FYI, the SSR turbo kit on Hnda Etr's car is running pretty well right now I believe.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=378986