not trying to be sarcastic here but ... If I was in your situation I would upgrade to 05 or 06 6MT ... I have had an 03 5AT and did that switch ... by doing so you get a lot of nice upgrades, mostly the interior stuff and quite a bit faster car which would count for an engine mod . Also the 6MT is a better platform to mod anyhow, especially FI, I believe from reading around here that the 05-06 298HP REVUP motors are quite a bit stronger as well.

 

yeah i know. props to Tinman, nice bodykits backed up with some muscle. though i still wouldn't take a second look at it if it's an AT. as ive said, its my opinion only. apologies for swaying this into another AT/MT discussion.

let's get back to topic.

 

that's my vote as well, that's not a knock to tinman, but my vehicle has to weigh at least 5000 lbs or be rock crawler before I buy an AT

 

dont understand why you guys think that the MT is better than the AT. Ive driven both and ran redlight to redlight with driving both. there was really no difference. the AT won two more times than the MT did. The gears change faster in MM mode and then you have the luxury of not having to do all that crap with the clutch all the time like in downtown traffic. KEEP THE AT AND GET A VORTECH SC.

 

SC or save up for the GTR.

 

Do you have any mods yet? Aside from a S/C I woudl go with a combo of Cams, Unorthodox pulleys, plenum or plenum spacer, Intake, exhaust, headers, grounding wires, and an ECU reflash. With those you can use them for a S/C later and get a decent change in power. I think adding all those up you may still have money left over.

 

So either FI or get an MT, eh? hah. I kind of like the plan that Danno is talking about...getting lots of little mods right now that in the end will really help me if i want to go FI. The thing is that if I went FI it would def. be down the road just b/c I would want to have at least about $7-8k to get the job done right. I already have 19" wheels, 245's/275's f/r (sport, not bling). I have saved a bit of weight there and don't need to upgrade those. Body kits really don't matter to me unless it somehow reduced the weight of the car tremendously. I'm not really looking for flash here, I am looking for as much performance/handling I can have for my dollar. I feel that my HP right now is already decent....I should probably get racing experience if I ever do go with FI, lol.


So I guess my new question may be....if you had about $5k to spend on all performance mods (excluding FI) and did not care about the bling....then what would YOU do? Also, I am still looking for a tuning shop in SoCal (Orange County preferrable)...so if anyone knows about that, please let me know.

 

Fot those saying upgrade to the 06 your nuts! You could keep the 03 and have many mods that will out class a 06. If it were me I wouldnt waste my cash on a auto though. But thats just me!

 

FI

 

+1 Couldn't have said it better.


It just depends on what is important to you? Are you a speed/racing guy? Go FI or some bolt ons and some suspension mods

Are you more about looking good? Body kit and rims

Are you a hardcore audiophile? You could get a nice system, navigation, subs, components, and have some money to burn on rims.

Decide what's most important to you.

PS, It's retarted to burn 5k for the sake of an 06 and or a manual tranny. Thats my opinion anyways....

 

I wouldn't strip out your G35, as I don't think it's the best platform for a "lightweight racer" (it'll STILL weigh 3200 probably).

And since you are asking me for my opinion (and everyone elses), I'd do the following if I has 5k to burn after i've burned up money on everything else:

ONLY appearance mods: lightweight 17" forged wheels, MAYBE CF hood and trunk. Sell the 19" to some poor sap in an altima. At a premium, of course.

Brembo brake calipers and rotors (steal them off a 6MT)
I'd leave the suspension alone... maybe bigger swaybars or something
anything to strengthen your engine for FI: pistons, head, etc

That should be plenty for the budget.

That's only if you just want speed.

Actually, i'd just save up 10k and do everything at once. No point in tearing into your engine, only to have to tear into it again and again.

Oh wait, I could buy an R1. nevermind.

 

dood go s/c straight up..... why would you mess around with anything else? It sounds like you want performance.... either put that money towards F/I or dont ever plan to go f/i

 

what about the turbonator? only $65 and guaranttee 35whp

 

Once again, thanks everyone...all suggestions appreciated. So how about tuning shops...anyone know a good one in Socal (Orange County preferrable)? I figure my best bet will be to sit down with a good tuner and go over all my options. I figure I will check out both my alternatives....getting F/I with either a custom supercharger/turbo kit which would probably end up costing less than aftermarket brand name full kits...or just do a lot of internal mods and see what I can lighten.

 

SC.

yeah...tinman is the god of our AT owners