Hello all,

Thanks for stopping in. As many of you know, up until now, if you wanted a set of subframe connectors for your Max, you had to deal with Warpspeed Performance, which hasn't been very pleasant for many people. Well, after numerous delays and frustrating attempts to get SFCs from WS, one enterprising .org member has worked out a deal to get SFCs made by an eager new professional supplier of top performance parts. (You can read the entire saga in this thread: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=425928)

I am posting here to basically get the word out about these new SFCs and to get an idea of how many people would be interested in getting them. Prices have not been finalized yet, but will hopefully be similar to what other SFCs cost (roughly $200-250). Secondly, we need a volunteer in the Pennsylvania area (or someone willing to drive there) to lend their 5th gen to the shop for a couple weeks for measurement/fitting purposes. For comments, questions, updates, please check the link above. Thanks again for your attention.

 

Please count me in for a new vendor. I called Warpspeed couple weeks ago and a lady said that "Dallas still working on it" and that "the release date will be soon." That's pretty sad customer service since people have been inquiring for months.

BTW: I was talking to one of my friend who could weld about designing a SFC for my 5th gen. He will try to take some measurements underneath my car this weekend and see what could he come up with in terms of stage 1 and 2 designs. I asked him to please consider price and performance into his design. He will even consider marketing it if people are willing to buy, but that's still up in the air. I will also have the ablility to design one for the 4th and 3rd gen Maximas since I have one of each in my family.


steve...

 

what exactly is the gain of of the SFC? i'm somewhat interested, but i'm not sure what my $200+ would gain me.

 

i would be interested soon too

 

i am down for a set. can you post pricing, and the rest of the details, when everythign is finalized.

 

I'm very interested, though it's a mystery to my why they'd need a test car for a "couple weeks..." Will these SFC's be weld-on or bolt-on. I know there are bolt-on SFC's for alot of cars (including Miatas and S2000s)...

A local shop that I talked to about having some made said they could probably make them right on the car in an afternoon (a place that specializes in roll cages, etc)...Haven't managed to get in there yet though (a bit short on cash at the moment for the car)

 

Stage I = weld-on, Stage II = bolt-on. The supplier is a custom fabricator of performance parts, mostly for American muscle cars, but they are very eager to explore new markets. They have been given some photos of Warpspeed's SFCs to work from, but being perfectionists, they want to work out the best possible design for themselves. They have a lot of experience/success doing this. That's why someone needs to volunteer their car for the fittings. The sooner this happens, the sooner we can all get SFCs.

"A couple weeks" is just what was tossed around in the original thread. It might take two weeks, it might take two days. But we didn't want to run into the problem of people wanting their cars back half-way through the process. So, "a couple of weeks" was just a safe guess. Perhaps a shop could make a one-off SFC in an afternoon, but that is not the same as gearing up for mass production. These guys are talking about tooling up their shop, measuring, remeasuring, fabricating a master set, making a jig, programming tube benders, laser cutters, CNC machines, etc. Then doing a production run to double-check for precision and consistency, etc. Hope that clears up some of the mystery.

For the record (again), I'm just here to spread the word. I am not the person setting up this whole thing. If anybody has questions/comments, it would be better/faster to post in the thread I listed above. Thanks.

 

subscribing.

 

I'm aware of the "Warpspeed" model of SFC's, but this may not necessarily be the "best" solution, even though it's the only one we've ever had for the maximas.

as you can see with some of the Miata SFC's, there is a way to do this using a bolt-on application - which I think would be MUCH more marketable (read: more people would buy it) since it would not be required to weld the thing on (and off if you sell the car or decide you don't want the SFCs at a later date).

just a thought.,

here's some pics for additional ideas:

on a Miata


Cusco brace (bolt-on) on an S2000 (the blue parts)


Miata "frame rail reinforcements" and "butterfly brace" from Flyingmiata (this is completely bolt-on also). Note how this one is formed to fit OVER the frame rails (which we have on the maxima also)

 

This is part of an e-mail response from the supplier that was posted (http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...4&postcount=40).

"The main SFC shafts (Stage 1) I will only make as a weld in. Bolting them in is just hanging weight. You need to weld them in to have them do the job properly. Stage 2 X braces could easily be made to bolt in, and if someone wanted to weld them they could."

Sorry, for any confusion. My earlier comments were in reference to the new SFCs, not Warspeed's. I was in no way implying that you were not familiar with Warpspeed's SFCs or that they had the best design. Unfortunately, all the other SFCs made by this new supplier are weld-on, and so they have elected to go this route for ours as well. I too wish a bolt-on kit were available. But everyone I have talked too has nixed the idea, saying bolt-on kits are inferior. Even so, I think a bolt-on kit is still better than nothing, for people undecided or not fully committed. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

 

Weld-on kits create issues with resale of the vehicle. Also, the bolt-on versions are more expensive to produce. Could this be partially the reasoning behind the decision to only produce weld-in versions? If a high enough level of interest was generated, I would think whomever will be producing these might want to look into a bolt-in version as well.

Just a thought.

 

why would you have to be "fully commited" to get stag1 sfc? is it that much extra weight, that you may wish to take them off? or does it affect the car's geometry a lot?

 

SFCs will not affect your geometry or clearance. The weight will probably be around 30 lbs., but from what I understand, the difference they make is night and day. You will get the ride and handling feel of top European sedans. Who would want to go back after that?

I think it's just human nature. Permanent alterations will always make some people hesitate and scare others away. Tattoos for example. I certainly don't think anyone would want to take off their SFC once they put it on. The only exception I can think of was mentioned above: resale. If you sell your car, you can't exactly take off the SFCs and put them on another car or sell them separately. This was one of my initial concerns. I don't want any ignorant buyers lowballing me, or worse, mistaking the SFCs for frame repair work. When the time comes, I probably just won't mention them to non-enthusiast buyers. I'm sure once they take a ride in the car, they will be sold anyway. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, which won't be for a while.

Anyway, I don't know if cost was a consideration for choosing weld-on over bolt-on. I doubt it, but I'm not going to sit around all day long second-guessing guys who design these things for a living (and are very successful at it).

 

right on, i was thinking the same thing. anyway, let me know when these become availible. i would def want to buy stage1 or 2!

 

By the way, if anyone was curious/suspicious about why no name/contact info for the supplier has been given out, it is to prevent a million people and their uncles from calling and ruining the deal by saying something moronic or asking them a bunch of irrelevant questions. That cuts down on the cross-talk and potential for miscommunications. I didn't come up with that rule, but I think it's a good idea and will respect it nonetheless.

 

I would be interested in too. But the only thing is getting them to hawaii.

 

How much benifit would get get on a drop max with strut bars already. Would there be a big difference?

 

I would say SFCs are even more important on your setup. Why? Because with the drop and strut bars, you now have much stiffer components connected to a stock chassis. This is going to transfer more road forces to your chassis that were once absorbed by your original suspension.

Maybe not the best analogy, but say you bounce one of those big inflatable beach ***** off the side of your house. What happens? Nothing happens because the ball (i.e. your stock suspension) absorbs all the forces and you don't leave dents on the siding (i.e. your car's chassis). Now say you replace that ball with something stiffer, say a basketball (i.e. your new suspension). Now what happens? You start leaving dents in your siding (i.e. bending your chassis). That wouldn't have happened if you strengthed your chassis (i.e. add SFCs) prior to changing to the suspension. If that confuses you, just ignore me. Maybe someone else can explain it better.

 

For all the hits this thread is getting, no one can volunteer their car?! If I had a second car, I would have volunteered my Max in a hearbeat. Getting a rental is out of my budget. No one else on this forum can spare their Max for a couple weeks?

 

IF i lived mainland i would, unless they like fly to hawaii, lol. is the anything temp out there or i can make so i can stiffen my chasis until these are made?

Also anyone know of a skid plate to protect the front of the engine from bumbs rubs and rocks.?

 

Unfortunatley, I put 500 miles a week on the car, and can't be without it since I work in a different state from where I live

 

I'm at 1k per week. Unless someone wants to pay for my rental...

 

Did you ever talk to the guys at Piper Motorsports, ask to speak with Mitch Piper. He can fabricate anything and his shop is most impressive....

 

Haven't had a chance as of yet.....busy installing floors....

 

I already have structural foam in certain areas in my car along sides, and frame, which started to help, but true SFCs...yum yum.

 

I was thinking about the structural foam myself a while back, but couldn't find a place that was willing to do it.....what are your thoughts on the effects?

 

Ahh wow, wish I had a second car too (since I'm in PA) and I've really wanted SFCs on mine... should at least count me in for buying them after the fact (I suppose I could drive over to the shop to have them installed there after they've started production?)

 

so the life of sfcs hangs in precious balance, and depends if the shop can find a donor car? wow... i wish i was in pa, i would give them my car for a while.

 

If I had a second car I would give them my car, but i unfortunatly dont. I fit was a day or 2 over a weekend, i could make due for a set of SFC's, but i cant do weeks.

 

Where in PA is the shop? I could probably spare a car for a week

 

It's a few miles NE of Harrisburg. I was told they definitely need the car for two weeks. Maybe we can figure out some alternative mode of transportation for you during the second week. I'd be willing to chip in a few bills to get you a rental if that's what it takes. I just can't afford to be paying for a whole two weeks rental by myself. For the record, has you car been in any kind of accident that would have twisted the frame out of spec?

Latest news is that a 4th gen is going in next week to be fitted.

 

Driveways down and up no more body creak, felt more responsive over bumpy turns, how it skips over bumps in rear.

More bump force transmitted to my seat, felt tighter in sharp turns, flow better.

frame rails have foam along with portions of B pillar and in trunk in the gaps and far ends of where latch is, c pillar in trunk in corner crevices

 

Bump, any updates?

 

I'm curious. I live in King of Prussia, PA and can hitch a ride to work from my girlfriend for a week....