Most of the exhaust (obviously headers fall into the exhaust category), plenum, CAI all effects breathing and normally translates to mid and top end. The tune will maximize your gains but will also offer you overall gains and will effect lower end power as well. The price on your tune is high Tee, you want a trained Upev tuner who knows Nissans but you should be able to get that done for around $500.00.
What should my next mod be? performance
- Thread starter teemoney
- Start date
Most of the exhaust (obviously headers fall into the exhaust category), plenum, CAI all effects breathing and normally translates to mid and top end. The tune will maximize your gains but will also offer you overall gains and will effect lower end power as well. The price on your tune is high Tee, you want a trained Upev tuner who knows Nissans but you should be able to get that done for around $500.00.
I agree with this, but seeing as we are in canada even $600 isn't unheard of. Prices vary from region to region as well, depending on the number of people capable of tuning and dyno access in the area.
Logan is absolutely correct on the fact that you want a trained and competent tuner as that will ultimately make all the difference in your end results. Make sure to ask if they are a Osiris "pro" tuner. This makes sure they have all the latest maps, and software.
I don't mean to sound rude, but search is your best friend. Typically people that know their stuff, don't waste time responding so you end up with a bunch of people with bunch of ideas. I am relatively new on IS myself, but spending time researching the forums, I have been able to get the best mods for my car, and help other new members as well.
As for the spacer where do you want the power? The 5/16 will give you power all through out the rpm range, the 1/2 will give you more power when in the higher rpms.
Exhaust for noise and show, you get more gains from highflow cats/testpipes
Headers is the best bang for your buck "only" if you are going full N/A with a CBE, HFCs and getting the car tuned later on.
After you install the spacers and CAI there really is no "least expensive mod" next. Getting more power out of these cars isn't easy, or cheap, as our engines were very well tuned to begin with. $800 for a full tune is a ridiculous price. Average charge is $600, I paid $500.
Search.. Search... the info is out there.
---------- Post added at 02:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 AM ----------
:good:Absolutely agree. One thing to note is that I did get a significant increase in torque, thanks to the breather mods and tune. Next step for me now is either coilovers or lowering springs, and since uprev has a program to specifically tune the shift kit, will install the shift kit now too! Performance aint cheap!
---------- Post added at 02:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 AM ----------
Sorry shadow I meant removing the AWD completely to reduce weight on the car. To the OP for next cheap performance mod, removal of AWD is really easy and it literally can be done in your driveway in a few hours with just hand tools. In his butt dyno he will definitely feel the missing weight and reduced parasitic drive train loss.
Yeah, I mean for cheap you can literally rip out the back seat for free and lose another 100+ lbs, but at that point you are really starting to hinder the practicality of your vehicle. So I really do not see this as an appropriate response to this question.
If someone was willing to go to those extremes lets say for a couple runs at the drag strip you can easily (within about 2 hours and with some basic skills and tools) pull about 300+ lbs out of the FX. I kinda feel like that is cheating though. My local strip does not let anyone run without a hood, but when I was at another strip literally everyone ran without a hood, cause they could easily shed 100lbs without it.
teemoney
Member
Exotich i have been reading and searching, just wanted to see what route most would take next. I don't need extra horsepower enough for me to remove my spare tire or AWD. I will look for another tuner cause i agree $800 is too high. I think after more research and thinking, i may just get a tune and be done with it. Not going to do any other power mods as our FX's are heavy and if i want a faster vehicle i should just buy one. The FX is fast enough for me as is, so a CAi, spacers and a tune should make me more then happy. I guess i will just get a gt spec stb, still deciding on coil overs or lowering springs and some nice rims. Thanks everyone for your advice, guess adding extra horsepower is not as easy and cheap as it seems. By the way i am not new to modding cars, just used to modding honda's and acuras
Get coilovers, its the biggest regret of mine with this car, between getting the springs and a new set of shocks and struts, I could have just bought a set of coils. (and I bought my springs used).
I had a discussion about springs vs coilovers with a lot of people. Some are 100% for coilovers, some are against them. Two credible sources that are against coils are the famous MOD GURU on IS Handy Andy and my tuner. My tuner was against me adding coils to the FX for a daily driver. According to him adding coils causes your ride to become more stiff. The car will handle great on the track and up and down through steep hills, but once you get in town you will feel every single bump. That can be very annoying if you do a lot of city driving. That's the nature of the beast with coilovers, you trade comfort and noise for handling and performance.
Handy Andy suggested that he only bought the coilovers, because of a group buy, but wishes he had saved his previous lowering springs and he has hardly ever had to adjust the dampening on his coilovers once he put them on. Maybe he can chime in some more.
Then there are others who swear by coilovers.
Handy Andy suggested that he only bought the coilovers, because of a group buy, but wishes he had saved his previous lowering springs and he has hardly ever had to adjust the dampening on his coilovers once he put them on. Maybe he can chime in some more.
Then there are others who swear by coilovers.
teemoney
Member
hmmmmm, you are making me think now Exotiich. What i would really like to do but don't want to spend that much is bags. My friend that has bags on his FX says it drives incredibly comfortable. See i don't go to the track, my FX is for city driving (and hwy's of course). Sounds like springs might be for me but i do prefer a lower drop. Viperi did you speak with APH. Well they may be experienced but it doesn't sound like they can do much for our FX
i personally haven't but i follow a car club " nextmod" and they got some crazy cars that only aph touches. There was another shop in toronto that people had good reviews. look in the g35, g37, 350z forums. This was a while ago that ive read about them. They even had a group buy for tunes couple years ago.
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
It all depends on what you use your vehicle for. im not a fan of coils due to the fact i like to tow light and not having t deal wth adjusting heights for sumer and winter. this spring imma go oem again. since i happy with they way it handles and looks / functions
Coilovers are adjustable that's why they 're so attractive, baseline starts with correct tires, then correct spring rates on the C/O's. I had H&R's and loved the ride over OE, then I tried BC's, loved the build quality, not the ride, changed out my spring rates and tried different tires.....night and day, literally. Better than stock, better than H&R. BMW firm, compliant but comfortable. It's a formula that is vehicle specific. At one time I almost tossed my C/O's, now I couldn't be happier. I drive aggressively at times, I transport family and people from all walks of life, I expect my DD to be civilized. We're lucky to have the CO option on the FX if you intend to keep the car not doing CO's the first time (and doing them right) means most likely you will be doing them later.
Coilovers aren't any different than a spring/shock combo except they're adjustable. Lowering your car will change it's ride characteristics and handling no matter how you do it. The question is do you want the ability to fine tune your ride or just accept the ride height and shock damping that comes with just springs and/or shocks? I had H&R's before and they were great. But the ride height wasn't where I wanted it and I thought it was too soft. So I got coilovers and couldn't be happier. I've even upgraded the springs to the max rates because that's my preference. Some people may hate the ride in my car, but it works for me. You could get coilovers and ride around at stock height all the time and it would still be a performance increase. The stock FX setup is underdamped in back. Look at how many complaints there are from people wondering why the rear end "twists" over bumps while turning. Coilovers fix most of that problem. I would say the only downside with coilovers is that they might need to be rebuilt before OEM. I've only had mine for 15K mi. or so, but I doubt they'll go 60K+ like OEM simply because they're aftermarket dampers.
teemoney
Member
Viperi, i spoke with a Brian at APH. He says the price is $800 cause it's AWD and a first time tuning fee. I have to get a Osiris licence or something like that which is $300 alone. If i do do a tune, he suggested i wait until i get a exhaust as that's where a lot of the gain comes from
I was quoted $600 for AWD Dyno and tune, including the Osiris license. $800 is a bit too much IMO. Usually it's around $500 including everything.