Apollos2

iTrader: (16)

I see lots of people posting that have made some upgrades to their Maximas, I need a little advice. What are the best performance upgrades I can make to my 2005 SE for the money?

I was thinking about the Custom Enterprises Y-pipe, mufflers and an air intake. I would like to keep total cost under $3k.

1. What will this get me as far as hp is concerned and will it negatively affect my gas mileage?

2. How do performance upgrade in general affect the Nissan warranty.

3. Any upgrades to avoid?

Thanks

SSurfer

Heck I think they all void your warranty, dont help your gas mileage either.

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

Apollo, It depends on the route u wanna go. If you want to bolt on various items, you can do a cold air intake for abt 6-8 hp and $220 or so, underdrive pulley for $150 and maybe 5 hp, y-pipe for $200 and 10 hp, cat back for about $800 and maybe 10 hp. Horsepower is arguable though. Im sure there will be people who will say that u can only get 1-2 hp out of underdrive pulleys and 2-4 from intakes.

If u really want ponies, wait for SSR to make their supercharger, about 100 hp and $3500.

I ordered a y-pipe and should get it by Friday. It was $199 including shipping and should gain abt 10 hp or so. I have pretty good seat of pants feel, so Ill let you know how it is when I put it on. The good thing abt doing exhaust mods is that when I get my supercharger, it will only ADD TO the gains from the SC. If you put on an intake, it will have to be removed for the SC. My 2 cents.
Mark

PhxBlue

iTrader: (2)

First off I have a dislike for Custom Maxima due to issues I have had with them. My advice is to shop elsewhere. Helping your car to breath better helps alot. Get a custom intake, i.e. short ram or CAI. Upgrade your exhaust with a Cattback from Cattman or another reputable company. If you wanna spend a few more dollars headers are the way to go (are they even made for the 6th gen yet?)
www.southwestautoworks.com is a great place to shop for Maxima parts, check em out.

Apollos2

iTrader: (16)

Nice. So PHX you don't like Custom Enterprises eh? I will keep that in mind. I was interested in their Y-pipe because they said on their webpage that it would help avoid the "bees in a can" sound. I don't like that sound. But if their customer service is bad I may not consider them.

Anyone else have any experience with Custom Enterprises?

DeusExMaxima - I am very interested in wht you find out with your Y-pipe.

Bummer about the gas mileage and warranty if SSurfer is correct.

Mike33

warranty is only voided if the dealer can prove the part caused the damage. If you put some coil overs in your car and your engine goes out then your fine. Same for a cat back exhaust.

But if you put a CAI on your car and then your engine floods with water and blows next rain fall then your not going to be covered under warranty.

entirely depends on the situation but if the aftermarket part caused the damage or is the damaged peice your out of luck.

jcton20s

i have had no problems with custom enterprise, and I ordered the y-pipe and love it.

Mystery

CE has definatly improved their work and customer service since i first started dealing with them. Now i buy most of my parts from them.

Willster

I just got my Injen CAI, how can the engine flood with a CAI? Is there something I can do to keep this from happening?

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, dont drive in the rain or in puddle, hehe.

Willster

Well, sounds like this is not a good upgrade for an everyday car. I think I will pass on installing it.

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

It should have a valve to prevent water ingestion. Looks like foam mid way down the pipe

Willster

Has anyone had any problems with their CAI?

What do you do when it rains etc...

Mike33

CAI intakes are open element intakes. What this mean is that water can be sucked in along with air. Now I don't know enough about the 6th gen maxima but some cars like 7th Gen celicas have a very low intake so it's very dangerous to install them on the car... I know I've blown a an engine from it and also managed to drive fine for like 1 1/2 years with it on.

As far as a valve filter it's possible it iwll work but those things never work as well as advertised and it really needs a straight pipe for it to work right. For instance the way the intake is designed on the 7th gen celica the valve filter is useless does not do it's job.

6th Gen Maxima might be different. Honestly CAI is one of the last mods I would do and even then the idea is to move towards a supercharger or turbocharger if you really want to make power. Catback, headers, suspension is what I would upgrade first. Also a good set of tires.

Willster

I just read this on www.Ingen.com regarding CAI:

Will water enter my engine if I install a cold air intake?

No, although water can enter the engine if the filter becomes submerged in water. Rain splashes and small puddles generally do not cause hydrolock. If the filter becomes submerged in water it could cause hydrolock and cause damage to the engine. We do not recommend driving through deep puddles and or floods. Most filters lie 12-14 inches above the ground. You may add a device to prevent hydrolock but cutting the intake system for installation will void our manufacturers warranty.

*************************************

This makes me HAPPY!!

Mike33

Keywords there that you should pay attention to. Generally hydrolock is not caused by puddles of water on the ground. It does still happen though I actually flooded mine driving on the turnpike where your not going to have any deep puddles.

I haven't researched the 6th gen setup enough at this point as I've only decided to get oen in the last week or so. However a lot of it really depends on the intake setup on it. I'm not sure how high it is off the ground and you should notice they said most are 12-14. That's not all or even a large perecentage despite what they say. My intake filter was roughly 6inches above the ground.

Honestly you need to think about what you want to do as far as performance goes. The CAI is one of the last things I would ever do on the car because it is the number one aftermarket item next to supercharging, turbocharging, or nitrous to void your warranty.

A stiff sport suspenssion, tires, exhaust, and headers would be much better spent at this point in time. You can have all the power in the world but if you can't put it to the ground then it's not doign anything. The tires and suspension will help put the power to the ground which will basically give you more power.

CanadianMoFo

Yeah I'm not really all that worried about mine. I thought about getting one of those bypass valve thingys from AEM. But the install would be difficult. I just plan on not driving through any small rivers when the CAI is on my car.

Mike33

I'd really recommend getting the bypass valve you'll be sorry later if anything does happen. It's a pit of a pain to put on but your better safe then sorry. Have to take a look at the piping layout on the 6th gen but being a sedan the piping should be a good deal straighter and the valve should work pretty well.

queenzkid

ptuning.com has a splash guard that fits right over the filter. It's only a half circle that covers the filter, but you only have one area that water can penetrate. This area is towards the front-center of the undercarriage. The CAI is behind the driver-side tire, so you would have to point the splash guard toward the middle of the engine. this should prevent the splashes from the puddles... But not floods and waterfalls, wherever you are driving.

Willster

I did purchase the heat shield... It seems to be close to what you are describing above.

Here is a pic:

akaxmrxhammer

i'm against cai because i've seen a lot of people who sucked up water with their cai and flooded their engine. you say california never rains, but past couple of weeks it's been pouring and the streets were flooded. i drove through many puddles and flooded streets and was thanking god that i didn't get a cai.

Mike33

I'm not completely against the CAI it just doesn't make sense for that to be the first mod on any car especially one like the Maxima that has a pretty good factory intake system. Why a CAI the most dangerous mod next to turbo/supercharger is put on your car first when you can do other mods that would give you more power and be much safer has me clueless.

But to each their own.

F23A4

Cliffnote on th CAI: Dont use your Maxima as a boat. I've had an Iceman CAI on my 99 Accord for 5 years and NEVER had a problem. I just purchased an Injen for my 5.5G Maxima and dont anticpate any problems. (But if you are that concerned then go with a filter like Ractive's Heat Shield Filter.)

In general, just use good judgment (subjective?) and you shouldnt have any issues.

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

I bought a CAI for my 04 Spec V and I LOVED the way it performed. Im waiting for the SSC Supercharger, so buying a CAI for my max doesnt make sense, but I would buy one if I wasnt going to get the S/C.

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

By the way, I think "Performance upgrades" should include brake and suspension upgrades to handle the extra power. A rear sway bar should be mandatory (if there is one available- rumor has it that Stillen's does not fit) and an upper strut brace shouldbe in there. Eibach Pro is a good choice for lowering springs. ALthough the stock sturts are probably fine, the KYB/Koni conversion is a good choice if u have extra dough. Brakes should be boosted too. Stillen has some nice choices ranging from about $900 for two piston calipers, to about $2,500 for floating rotos and 4 piston calipers (AP Racing brand).

bigcozz

just like everything else you have to be carefull and you also should consider a HAI if you dont want to worry about your engine getting hydrolocked.

JiuJitsuThug

iTrader: (1)

"A rear sway bar should be mandatory (if there is one available- rumor has it that Stillen's does not fit"

Not true - the Stillen Rear Sway bar fit perfectly on my 04 Max and have been lvogin it for over a year.

As for not using the Max as a boat - LOL! Gotta get to work dude, rain or shine - can't call in sick cause I have a CAI. Just go with a Berk or Stillen Intake and you'll have no worries of hydrolock... Besides my Dyno numbers with the Stillen were just as high as the ones Injen posted on their website

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

The rear bar allegedly does not fit the 05 though. I have heard that even though Stillen says it does not fit the 05, I heard somewhere from someone on here that the 05 suspension is identical to the 04 and that the 05 RSB should fit. Any guinea pigs wanna find out?

Apollos2

iTrader: (16)

Thanks Dues. But brake updgrades? My 05 seems to have great stopping power. Are you just talking about some drilled rotors, is that enough?

Lowering springs- The new Maxima's seem pretty low already, do lowering it further help?

Sway bar - I could see that, stability is always nice. How much does a sway bar generally run?

Tek-Niq

iTrader: (3)

www.stillen.com has an 04 year for 159

Mike33

It's not so much the lower springs. Maxima's particularly the SL are luxury cars with luxury tuned suspension. What this means is that the suspenion is real soft which means the power isn't getting to the ground as efficently as it would with stiff sport tuned suspension. not so much the lowering but the stiffness of the suspension that helps put the power to the ground.

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

The Maxima doesnt seem low to me. There is a thread regarding GAP in the fenderwell. I think the Eibach is good from what I hear because the ride is supposed to be good, but the front drops more than the rear, which is already pretty low, so that the gaps are even and the rims look more tucked in. I still believe there is NO REAR SWAY BAR for a 2005 Maxima, because Stillen says the 04 sway bar does not fit the 05. I guess I miss teh handling of my Spec V. I also miss the firmness of my Brembos on the aforementioned Spec V. I think an upgrade to 4 piston calipers would be good.