i just purchased a 95 maxima and am anxious to do mod's on it. i want to know if people actually see and feel results of their modifications. the reason why i am confused is not because i dont understand how they work but i keep hearing different views on stuff like that. for example, my previous car was a nissan stanza so i was in a stanza club. when one guy put exhaust on his car he said he noticed a pretty big difference(and thats only 138 horse engine stock), where as people put on exhaust on their car and say it didn't do anything except change the sound. same with intake, p-chip and other fairly cheap mods.

so would i feel a difference by doing mods such as exhuast, intake, p-chip, etc (nothing major like cams or turbos)

and also would i possibly see results? i'm more conconcerened with 0-60 than the quarter mile

 

The mods that will be the most noticeable are Y-pipe (for power), and new suspension and a rear sway bar (for handling). Intake and exhaust will mostly add noise, and maybe 5-10 hp total.

 

ungrading the exhaust system with things like a b-pipe, muffler, high flow cat, AND a y-pipe will give you some noticable gains all together. of all of those, individually, the y-pipe is the only one you could feel if it were by itself. the gains from the others individually are pretty small.

lots of people simply change the muffler on their car. that will more or less just give you a different sound. not much HP to be gained with just a muffler.

you'd be able to tell a slight difference with an intake.

not sure about a chip. that probably varies from car to car.

 

save up and do all the mods at the same time and you should notice a difference. Do them individually and you probably won't - except for the y-pipe.

I don't know if you consider that variable intake people have been using a major mod, but it gives great results and costs less than the cost of all those other mods combined (top brand mods anyway like greddy etc. Correct me if I'm wrong guys).

You might get better results buying bigger mods instead of nickel-and-dime-ing it with the small, less expensive mods that will end up costing you nearly as much but won't give you half the power. I'm not sure about pricing for a 95, but on my 3rd gen the ECU upgrade was $500, greddy exhaust was ~500, y-pipe, RT cat, CAI or Popcharger, UDP and any other bolt ons it's >= $1700+ labor. And with all the bolt ons (except UDP) my car still wasn't ANYWHERE near as fast as I would have liked or expected for that much money.

But if you like the fun of modding itself more than the performance gains from it, go for it :-)

 

Most mods you will WANT to feel the difference, so you pay more attention. For instance, when I put my Stillen Intake on my car, I felt like I was going faster. The only difference was an increase in throttle response, not acutal HP. I think it only gives like 5 hp that's usable. If you want to FEEL the difference, def. go with a Y Pipe, B Pipe, and an Injen or a Hybrid Intake. They make the most gains... Unless you go the Supercharger/Turbo route. That will get your 0 to 60 down. (If you can get traction! )

 

Just the incredible sound of a CAI was justification enough for me. An extra 5 or so hp is pure gravy.

 

it is a nice sound

 

frankencar midpipe produces an awesome sound at WOT

 

custom mid-pipes > all

Intake/Y-Pipe combo would be the best bang for your buck....and if you dont have a 5spd already, then a conversion

 

I definitely noticed when I upgraded my suspension with H&R springs, KYB AGX struts/shocks and a FSTB. They were all added at the same time so there was a significant improvement in handling, especially on high speed on and off ramps. I just wish I would have inlcuded a rear sway bar to complete the package.

 

Didn't anybody mention MEVI? You'll feel that up top.

 

suspension ugrades, aka preformance springs and struts will yeild the biggest "difference" you can feel. Next would probably be a intake/ypipe combo...

 

The problem with all of this is that you may become aclimated to the mods you install and then you feel like you need to do more. For example, after I installed a STS, I felt like the throws were SO short. However, I have grown used to it and the throws don't feel as short as they used to feel. To remind me that I have a STS, I drove my friend's Tib. It felt like I was shifting a truck

 

so does anyone have any numbers for example? like .1 or so seconds off their quarter mile for a certain mod?

 

This question might be better answered in the 1/4 and 1/8 mile racing forum

 

put a turbo on, i swear you'll feel that mod!

as far as mods though, ypipe you will probably feel- suspension is nice... but adding the 2-3hp mods, um prolly won't give you too much of a kick in the pants

 

I still drool over that installation. I just cant wait until the summer!