So, keeping in mind this is my first Maxima and first car I'll really be modding up in general I'd love some advice from the more seasoned members here. Based on (LOTS) of reading and two weeks of solid driving (Highway and City. Already have a thousand miles on the car in 15 days) I've decided to go with the mods below.

Eibach Spring Kit - From what everyone has said about handling (SV Premium here) and the pictures I've seen I'd like to get the ~1.5" drop and maybe later tack on 20" Wheels.

Stillen Lip Spoiler - Simply looks nice. A little expensive, probably one of the last mods I'd do. Performance before looks is my priority

Racingline Grounding Kit - Cheap, supposedly beneficial though advice is appreciated

Racingling FSTB - I know many have a Stillen but personally I prefer Racingline

XenithXenon Pure Blue Lights (Fog Lights to Maybe?) - Simply like Blue. XenithXenons seem to have a solid reputation. Should I keep white Fogs or would it be better to do white lights/blue fogs? or all blue? Advice appreciated.

K&N Typhoon or Takeda - So, both of these I've read up on. Firstly, people claim it boosts their HP ever so little and even helps with mileage at certain points. I've also read the SRI vs CAI debates. Personally I'm on the CAI side but is this a worthwhile investment? If so, any advice on which Intake? Or an alternate to the two?

Rims/Tires - I'm still looking. These are the most expensive part. I plan to go to 20"s though as I'm getting these AFTER my Eibachs I might go with 18"s depending how the stock tires look with drop.


So thats that. All in all its probably 3-4k of stuff with installation etc. I'm already scheduled for tints (20-30% all around)

Advice and commentary would be great. Also if people have advice on if theres any specific order I should go in installing these parts that'd be great to.

 

Well, you pretty much have a good plan set up. All I can say is do it as you plan. One at a time. Then take the time to appreciate it before moving to next.

 

colors: It's really personal preference. Do what you like and ignore what others say. All that you have stated will look good. I went with the 6000k (slightly bluish) heads and 3000k (yellow) fogs

If you plan to race your car, be aware that in the summer heat, the SRI will kill you off the line. I have yet to see a CAI for the 7thGens, have all been SRI.

I'm from the school of doing something different, that's why I had my stock wheels powder coated. Maybe try some G37/370Z wheels and get them PC'd to the color/design you want

 

Hey PetitFrrere thanks for the vote of confidence (Jealous of your rear sensors!)

Keith - I simply hate my stock wheels after last night now. I did some heavy accelerations on some empty stretches of road (Nothing crazy but wanted to see how it did with rapid accelerations from fully stopped). There was tons of wheel spinning and initial jerks. I never thought of using 37/370Z wheels interesting idea. Definitely will look into it.

In regards to the CAI for 7th Gens, K&N claims their Typhoon CAI fits within a 7th Gen Maxima, are they simply lying (Or ignorant?) or is this a newer version?

 

the wheels spinning on acceleration is not the wheels per se, it's the stock tires. Or maybe you are just experiencing torque and/or slick (oil) roads. But the car has enough power to break loose tires on WOT from start. Even my Civic LX can spin the tires from start

 

I had just ordered led kit for the interior bulbs, this was my most recent mod, Also im still waiting on my roof lip spoiler to arrive... Cheap and easy way to bling out the inside with the led's. I would like to purchase a intake as well but am still up in the air with with what brand i should go with. The sound of the intake is really what drives me. The HP i don't care much about becouse im not speeding often and i feel the car has enough of what im looking for.. hehe...

 

I just bought myself some interior leds from ledbulbz on Ebay. Paid today, hopefully can get them by next week. I wanted blue leds for the interiors but not sure if those fit the 7th gen. i asked him for the bllues and to sub in the whites if they didn't work .

The intake is a big debate one. It'll probably be one of the last. I'm aiming to get the Eibach system in come september. interior leds and tinting next week. October will be a toss up. Probably the FSTB or the exterior lights and grounding kit. Depends on how I feel about the handling with the Eibach.

I feel the front lips are over priced but maybe thats just me. I just think it should be half of what they want. ~$300 seems a bit over the top for such a small (albiet nice) visual mod.

 

definitely need to get 20s, definitely need to get a tint, and do something with the stock tail lights ... IMO the stillen lip kit may be a little pricey, but it is amazing the difference it makes (car looks lower, more aggressive, and sportier) vs lowering the car for looks which is most likely going to mean scraping your brand new car. The racingline y-pipe is also a pretty good performance mod as an alternative to a cold air intake. Best Wishes With the Max!

 

Stay away from 20" and bigger.

 

To clarify you mean 20" is too big? Whats your justification on it? Just curious. Again my car won't be dropped down till first or second week september but why the animosity against 20"s vs 18s? I agree anyhting ABOVE 20" would be absurd but 20" seems like a solid size.. I didn't think about the Y-Pipe. I'll definitely look into it

 

If you want 20" wheels, use 255/35/20 tires. This way the speedometer difference is within 3%. Any more than this and you face the risk of brake failure. Not only that, your performance and MPG is compromised.

 

. ................

 

Brake failure? I've ran plus size wheels on all my cars and never had any brake problems. As far as 20s being too big, there are actually high end 20s that are lighter than the stock 19s. 255s are taller than the stocks. 245/35/20 are the correct size to keep the same overall diameter.

 

Not everyone has guts like you man, lol. I know I dont

 

Please read my post. Anything above 3% in diameter difference may experience brake failure, poor MPG, and poor performance.

245/35/20 tire is almost the same in diameter as stock. Given you are using a lightweight 20" wheel, your speedometer is approximately 1 mph less than stock, meaning, stock wheels have greater or better revolutions per mile.

 

For the rims/tires, for better performance and mpg, stay with the 19" if that's what you have or... get a lighter weight 19" rims w/ 245/35/19 tires. With this setup, your speedometer will be around 62 mph compared to the 60 mph from the 18" (245/45/18) and 20" (245/35/20).

20" and above will not discourage the 18" and 19" on performance, fuel economy, and looks.

 

1 MPH? More like 0.2 MPH. Even tirerack recommends the 245/35/20.

 

I just rounded my numbers to the nearest hundreds. Below is a graph between the three sizes.

The 18" and 19" rims are lighter in weight compared to the 20" out of the box. Therefore, it's no brainer that the the best rim/tire setup will be the 19"... Especially if you upgrade it to a lighter weight rims such BBS, VOLK or Enkei.


Stock Tire - 245/45R18
Section Width:9.64 in245 mm
Rim Diameter:18 in457.2 mm
Rim Width Range:7.5 - 9 in
Overall Diameter:26.68 in677.67 mm
Sidewall Height:4.34 in110.23 mm
Radius:13.34 in338.83 mm
Circumference:83.81 in2128.7 mm
Revs per Mile:779.6
Actual Speed:60 mph100 km/h
Speedometer Difference: 0
Diameter Difference: 0

Tire 1 - 245/35R19
Section Width:9.64 in245 mm
Rim Diameter:19 in482.6 mm
Rim Width Range:8 - 9.5 in
Overall Diameter:25.75 in654.05 mm
Sidewall Height:3.37 in85.598 mm
Radius:12.87 in326.89 mm
Circumference:80.89 in2054.6 mm
Revs per Mile:807.7
Speedometer1:62.1 mph103. km/h
Speedometer Difference: 3.604% too fast
Diameter Difference: 3.49%

Tire 2 - 245/35R20
Section Width:9.64 in245 mm
Rim Diameter:20 in508 mm
Rim Width Range:8 - 9.5 in
Overall Diameter:26.75 in679.45 mm
Sidewall Height:3.37 in85.598 mm
Radius:13.37 in339.59 mm
Circumference:84.03 in2134.3 mm
Revs per Mile:777.5
Speedometer1:59.8 mph99.7 km/h
Speedometer Difference: 0.270% too slow
Diameter Difference: 0.27%

 

Hm, Never knew there was so much science to the wheel/rim section.

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. .