New guy, old FX

  • Thread starter Thread starter twinkletoes
  • Start date Start date
T

twinkletoes

Guest
Hey ya'll, I've got a 03' FX35 AWD that I've had for 11 years. 87k miles. I appreciate it more now than when I bought it. It's been stock until this spring when I had some maintenance to perform and I decided to upgrade instead of maintain. I see now that the 1st gen FX is akin to the RX7 or Supra of the 90's, as they were trend setters. I love to see various auto manufacturers, to this day, attempting to replicate the FX or aspects of it and I believe this design will stand the test of time just as the two previously mentioned cars have, therefore I believe it is worthy of what's necessary to bring it up to and beyond current performance standards of performance automobiles. My goal, ultimately, is to take this FX35 and do what's necessary to dub it FXR, or my take on a crossover/suv version of the GTR.
 
Americanguy said:
Welcome!!!
Click to expand...
Thanks. I see this site has more activity than infinitifx.org, though I was hesitant to join until I saw jumosrule posts here and I admire what he's done w/his. I wasn't planning on making an intro and I hope it didn't come out as being too bold, though this is what I'm aiming to achieve. I hope to share what I've learned and continue to learn, and in return gain some knowledge as well.
 
twinkletoes said:
My goal, ultimately, is to take this FX35 and do what's necessary to dub it FXR, or my take on a crossover/suv version of the GTR.
Click to expand...

what does that really mean, make it look like one or swap drivetrain from one, or just turbo/SC engine and put coilovers on it?
 
Good question. I'd like it to be as the srt8 is to the hellcat or the x5 m is to the m3/m5 but clearly not a factory deal. The exterior will have minor changes. Shave the handles and maybe the bumper reflectors, swap the hood latch for some low-profile hood pins w/locks or a custom fab if none can be found, loose the sunroof, change or modify the grill and swap the infiniti logo that sits below the rear window for my own design. It's sitting about 2" lower and looks good w/the wheel/tire setup on it now. I'd like to avoid a turbo or sc if possible as weight reduction is important to me and that's a fair amount of added weight close to the nose. I haven't gotten to this point yet but I'm strongly leaning towards a 4.3 stroker, water/alcohol inj. and a modest (150-200 hp) but sophisticated no2 setup bolted to a built 7 speed trans. The GTR is a fantastic car for sure, but it's a pig as is the fx. Once I'm done, I hope to be at least 200 lbs lighter that the GTR with very aggressive gearing and an equal to or slightly greater than amount of hp/tq w/the no2. I'll take it one step at a time, focusing mostly on weight, trany and drivetrain. The bodywork obviously comes last.
 
Bold plans. Hope to see something out of this.
Took eleven years to make this decision? lol
What maintenance does it need that caused you to start thinking?

& welcome!
 
Yeah, right. I paid cash for it 11 years ago. I had lost interest in cars back then, turned to homes and didn't look back until this spring.
It needed shocks/struts, and I noticed the pads were wearing thin. Just before this, I used a clay bar and waxed it and thought damn, this road rash is out of control. From 5 feet away it looks perfect, save for a couple micro-dings, but up close one tell see the age of the vehicle while looking @ the front bumper & windshield. Then the two micro-cracks in the side of the drivers seat-shit.
What to do? Deal with a laundry list of mostly minor issues or dump it and get something else. Personally, I think the FX is in the top 99.9% best looking/designed autos of anything on the road, old or new. One can make anything fast. It won't be cheap and if it were, it wouldn't be worth doing. Long story short, I can go nutz w/this thing and still get off cheaper than buying something to replace it. I cannot argue with the designer(s) of the FX and will do very little to the exterior, most likely just the sunroof for weight (have I ever opened that damn thing?) and hyper silver paint. As a side note, I love the door handles on the FX and think it may be a big mistake to shave them. I just envision the height of the doors with the short top being more pronounced without the handles breaking it all up. Now a Z, I'd beat'em off with a bat if I had to.
 
Appearance wise, there are a few things you can do with paint and such. Best thing you can do for the look is to lower that baby on some coils.
Performance? Some good wheels and tires are everything. You're going to need to change out all the brakes and not just pads if you want to go faster.
AT Drivetrain is also a concern with big power. I wish for a 6MT, but that's an undertaking, especially with your awd.
This would be my start.
 
Last edited:
Sunroof would be last on my list. Agree FX is beautiful, but it's a hog. Weight savings isn't gonna make that much of a difference, especially if you're running 100 more reliable horse . You can probably get more, but then I'm sure you're doing internals.
Might want to keep some luxury unless you decide to go full spec. Then slap on some hoosiers and get to the track
 
Last edited:
On the exterior, shaving the door handles and filling the rear bumper reflectors will clean things up a bit more, not that that's necessary and the handles look really classy. I've got time to think about that. I'll probably color match the grill to the body w/the infiniti emblem chrome. The sunroof has got to go.

Hood pins, small and low-profile, preferably flush w/the hood, w/locks is on the list for sure. I can toss the bulky hood latch assembly all together.

It's already approx. 2" lower, including tire diameter, and I'm good w/that. It is a crossover/suv (per infiniti?), station wagon (per the epa), or is it a truck (per the various chain parts stores). Whatever the hell it is, it's not a car. I like the height as it is now w/the tire diameter.

I went with the ever-unpopular 18" w/some ultra-noisy Kumho's (which are on their way out!) which brought the tire diameter down to 29" from the stock 30.6" which effectively changed my final drive to 3.9. The only other way to do that w/awd is to have some ring & pinions made which I may still do as well, depending on other factors.

Got some powerstop cross-drilled and slotted w/some aggressive pads (fiber/ceramic?). Whatever they are, they bite hard. I'll do everything in my power to resist a bbk. Conceptz had the akebonos on sale for $1,500 a couple weeks back. It was tempting and I would imagine a less than 3800 pound fx will stop much faster than the vehicle for which those brakes were intended. Autocross, yes, bbk. Occasional 1/4 mile runs and spanking the seemingly never ending bad ass cars where I live, I think I'll be fine. Frankly, I'd like to pull the abs/vdc and all that's associated with the two and toss it all in the trash. I absolutely will if I can.

Major overall weight reduction and weight reduction/relocation from the front of the FX will go a long way regarding braking, handling and acceleration. I have no intentions whatsoever about removing anything interior related, though the hatch area is going to change to make room for a couple things. Moving less weight is easier on parts as well. Having tossed both sway (stabilizer) bars, swapping the stock 18", just under 30 lb. wheels for the just under 20 lb. 18" wheels made a big difference as to how it handles. I did these things in the same week and it was a night and day difference. So far so good.

A 7 speed trany, built, is where it's at for me if it'll work, along w/aluminum or cf driveshafts. I have many unanswered questions about a 7 speed swap, but I'm working on it.
Now the srt8, that's a hog!

Damn that's a long reply. Sorry it's late, but I've been cleaning up leaves-gotta love the fall season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top