@snakes1021

i never once said that i'm opposed to using aftermarket products as alternatives, but not as upgrades. i'm definitely not overly mechanically inclined, however i have installed my own headers/exhaust, intake, hids, stereos, etc before. and of course, replacing burnt out light bulbs for a fraction of what the dealer chargers.

i'm a pretty busy guy unfortunately, so occassionally i have to let the stealership work on my car -- but luckily things like oil changes at the dealership are pretty reasonable in price.

as for your comment about cars that are faster, sound better, stops better, handles better, and gets better gas mileage -- aside from faster, all of these things are subjective. and even if you make it faster, its going to be a lot less reliable. the only way to make it significantly faster is to go turbo, and by the time you get that ironed out running perfectly, you may as well have just bought a GT-R.

As for sound better? how so? an unreliable aftermarket stereo with a huge cheap looking box in your trunk? or a ricey exhaust system that sound raspy, rattles, and is embarrassing loud when the guy next to you in a 335i is pulling away silently..

handle better? again, do you mean stiffer suspension? horribly bouncey? stiffer doesnt mean it handles better. a lot of nurburgring record lap times were done with cars in comfort mode (GT-R, M5, CLK-BS)

brake better? maybe less brake fade on the race track perhaps -- but how often do you take your G35 out there? I know if i was a track guy i wouldn't have bought a G35.. i'd have a lotus or something.

gas mileage? maybe if you lean out the A:F a bit --- but there's a reason its set conservatively from the factory. For safety, and so you dont have to worry about poor quality fuel.

again, by the time you can make any improvements in these categories, you could have just purchased a g37 that accomplishes all of those things..

i'm definitely a car enthusiast.. but after years of modifying cars, i recently discovered what a waste of time and money it was. if i added up all my receipts i'd be in a brand new porsche 911 by now. just because you dont like modifying cars, doesnt mean you're not a car enthusiast. Would you like to tell me that Jeremy Clarkson is not a car enthusiast?

I'm on this board because i actually just bought a G35 yesterday and I had questions about it. Namely, i'm looking for an OEM front lip spoiler. the bottom of the bumper is pretty scraped and this will cover it nicely

 

JJ, I do agree with you. lots of cars have stuff done to them and dont look good, but that a personal preference thing, just like some people choose to wear boots and some choose tennis shoes.

but what i dont agree with is that our cars are made by NISSAN to their fullest potential. which is proven over and over again. fact remains selling cars is a money making business. the compents may be made to a higher standard but it is still the lowest bidder for that standard. if i say i want a 500 watt 10 speaker stereo and jl audio says we can do it for 1000 a unit and bose says we can do it for 800 a unit guess what lowest bidder wins. because in the end they are still gonna sell the car for 40g's and that 200 dollar cost cut after 20k units sold just made them 4 million dollars and that only 20k units

its all business

 

everyone has an opinion about how their car should look... but Nissan made it to appeal to the masses... they need the 50 year old lady to like it as much as the 28 year old male...

I can tell you in absolute honesty that I get a thumbs up just about every time I take the car out (sometimes it baffles me)... and I'm in an area with sh!tloads of cars (including Gs)... I can assure you no one thumbs up a stock G sedan.

But I dont mod the car for thumbs up... I made it look the way I feel it should have (minus the hood cowl, thats a different reason - but still similar to what I think it should be)...

So you have your reasons for staying stock and thats fine - but your comments about modded cars isnt entirely accurate (in fact most of it is off base).

 

wow, this 2003 thread still breathes life into stock.....

split- with all due respect, if you put in work on your car and at the end feel like you should've gone another route with a whole different car that's better- then you weren't on the right track to begin with. you obviously wanted the better car all along. trying to get your car on a level that it's just not on- that's trending.

I personally know people near 40 still modding cars. it's something some people never get enough of...that's not trending. that's love many quality aftermarket pieces are treasured and rare as sht- therefore they retain their value for the most part. no way they cheapen the G. maybe you guys are referring to crappy aftermarket jobs some people do, but to generalize it under all aftermarket does is cheapen the G is unfair because there is at least one mod job you'll see and appreciate.

honestly, no make/model of any car will come out of the factory perfect for every one.
most mods enhance a drivers enjoyment of his or her investment.
if you want the "factory" to dictate what you think is right for your car by all means proceed.

oh and the $300 intake...anybody who knows why they are doing what they're doing already knows about heat soak and loss of performance for those pipes. usually it's to keep a polished theme under the hood.

 

^^
Very well said. It's no problem if he doesn't like it anymore, tastes change. I'm growing out of modding myself, I think I'm going to sell my HKS exhaust!

But most of his points were extremely off-base and presumptive, some were downright factually wrong. I would've expected some more perspective from somebody that's older and supposedly been around the block when it comes to modding.

 

stock = boring

 

^ because Gold Emblems are cool... lol

 

What?^

 

bold blue > this brings up a couple points... when I bought my car initially it was for entirely different reasons (reasons that changed less than a month after purchase)... so initially modding was performance oriented to get the car where it would be had I gone a different route with purchase...

originally planned to keep for 6 years then get something else - which brings up the other point... for me, the car gets a little boring after five or six years; but I drive a company vehicle daily so it didnt make sense to buy a new car... I thought about it and determined its cheaper and makes more sense (since I drive something else daily) to change the look of the G to the way I think it should be and enjoy a "new" version of the car.

... so yes, there are many reasons people have for modding (aside from the obvious addiction)... and many Gs have been very tastefully modded that I would not classify as "rice".

 

Well it depends on the person who is putting the non infiniti parts in their cars.I dont think there is any harm in putting.I have also changed my wheels of my car with non infiniti parts.Its looking nice on my car.

Car LED Tail Lights

 

^ wait a few months for those LEDs to start burning out one by one and then tell us how frustrated you are.

the comments about the car never being perfect for everyone from the factory is a good argument. the g35 is definitely not perfect for me, but by the time i change all the things i'd want different, i'd end up spending more than a porsche 911, which is closer to perfect for me. also, after doing all the body kits and stuff - they never fit like factory, always end up cracking, and even though they looked cool in pictures, chances are when you're done the car is going to look a lot cheaper than it did when you started.

 

a good argument......? First off this isnt a debate class, its a car forum.

Everytime you open your mouth you sound more stupid than the last reply you made. You commented about you being older than most of the people on this board... ya thats for sure. The older generation has a hard time accepting other peoples' views because theyre narrowminded. Take for instance my parents, they will never understand why I put all this money into vehicles. They never will. Ill modify every vehicle in some way that I own, I just hate having something that looks like everyone elses.

People buy cars they can afford(and sometimes cant) and then go from there with it. If everyone could afford a supercar Im sure we'd all be driving one. And if that were the case, Id still mod the f*ck out of it, and so would 75% of the guys/gals on here.

This forum is full of people who want their car to stand out from the rest

If youre counting pennies everytime you do something to your car, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place, Ive spent unbelievable amounts on all my vehicles, never did I ever keep receipts or tally up how much I spent, youre in the wrong hobby if you do that.

Bottom line..... almost all of us on this forum modify our cars, so coming on here ranting about how much of a waste it is becuz of your past blunders and bad luck isnt gonna deter the rest of us.

 

the tail lights are LED from the factory......

 

^ i thought jonny85 put in some sort of aftermarket LED tails.

it wasnt really bad luck in the past, only poor choices. snakes1021, are you not embarrassed when a stock g37 can beat you so quietly and effortless while your hi-power exhaust is just screaming away? and then when you let off its just droning like crazy on the highway?

eventually you'll out-grow it and realize how much more money you'd have if you didnt buy all these parts.

its not that i'm counting my pennies with my car purchases, but i do realize that i could have just put all of my modding money into a bank account and bought a much nicer car in a few years.

 

there are a lot of G35's here that are faster than stock G37's, and i don't mean FI cars either