I want to first thank all of you sedan guys for the impressive wealth of information that can be found in this forum.

I finally made my first real mods to my 2004 GF sedan and wanted to submit my first impressions. I installed a 1/2" Motordyne plenum spacer, Z-tube and K&N filter a short while ago. The combination of the 3 adds a nice note to the exhaust, it is a little louder in general and sounds deeper. At the very high end of the RPM range the sound is much louder but it still sounds good. I need to run a few full tanks of gas through to be sure but I think that I might be getting slightly better mileage as well. It is certainly not any worse and I would guess that I am giving it a little more gas then I was before the mods.

My impression of each part individually:

Motordyne spacer:
The quality of the product is great. I can not remember the last time I ordered something with 18 washers and 18 bolts of 3 different sizes and actually received every one of them, and in the correct assortment, amazing. The instructions were very good and while I am not real great in the engine bay I was comfortable with what I was doing and was not worried about destroying my car. The hardest part of the entire assembly was removing the coolant lines from the back rear of the upper plenum. There is only 1 sentence about this in the instructions and it would be much appreciated if Motordyne would add a few hints into their instructions about the best way to remove these very hard to get at hoses. To be fair I should mention that I did this all myself and it would have been easier if there was another set of hands available. In the end I think that Motordyne has a great product and if the instructions were good enough for me to get this done then I am sure others will have no problems at all.

Z-tube:
Not much to say about this other then to mention it is very simple to install. Using the search function I was able to find numerous posts about the installation procedure and had pictures to guide me the whole way. It is really nice to see a high quality picture to confirm that you have everything installed correctly.

K&N filter:
Not much to say, it fit and I was in need of a new filter. I believe that I have heard that the oil on the filter has been suspected of causing problems with the mass air flow sensor but I have not had a problem yet and will update my post if I do.

Like I said I did this myself and it took me about 3 hours to get it all done. I think that total cost was less than $400 and in the end I think it was worth the effort and expense for the result.


I do have one question for the suspension / tire experts out there. I currently have the standard 17" wheels on my sedan which has the sports suspension. I want to drop the car a little but do not want to end up replacing tires every 6 months or having to buy a camber kit. What springs could I use to accomplish this? Also, I would like to move up to 19 or 20" wheels in the near future and am wondering if doing so would cause me any trouble, presuming that I dropped the car a little now.

 

Pics!

 

Not much to show but I will put some up soon. Engine bay only or the car as well? It is just a stock sedan.

 

BTW, I am up here in MN as well. Do you run all season tires or do you have 2 sets? If you have 2 sets do you have 2 sets of wheels or do you remount twice a year?

 

Congrats on installing all those mods by yourself, and thanks for sharing your thoughts about them. I also recently installed the MD plenum spacer, the 5/16" size. You're right about the coolant hoses, they were extremely difficult to remove. I used pliers to aid in the removal after I lost practically all of my arm strength. In the end of all this, the difference in sound and exhaust note is very appealing which I'm sure you've already found out.

As for the springs, I currently have Eibach Pro-kit springs which is a 1.1" drop front and rear. The first alignment after the spring install showed a 1.0-1.5 deg negative camber on the front and rear (more so on the rear). I COULD install an aftermarket camber kit (which I have sitting in my room now) but since I don't put a lot of miles on the car I should be able to get away OK without needing to install a camber kit. You can find more info about various springs available for the G35 by checking out the FAQ thread stickied at the top of our forum.

 

yeah i have the eibach pro-kit for sale right now, so you should really get them.

 

Congrats on the install of everything. You have started off on the right foot. Now keep goin!!! lol

For springs... as lexusk8 said, eibach prokit is a good set of springs that will give you a subtle yet noticble drop. Some have gotten away without a camber kit, some have not. It all depends on the car being that ever car is different. However, If you are looking for something that is more reliable and don't have to to worry about camber.. look into the tein H techs (not s techs.. H), also the 350z springs in the front and g35 coupe springs in the back. The Tein H techs will give you a little less drop than the eibach so I think it's what you are looking for. However, I heard they are pretty bouncy on turns and such. The 350z/coupe drop is popular with the sedans. It gives it a nice "looking" even drop. It is just a matter of what you are willing to spend.

Eibach new are 250 (you can find cheaper)
Tein H techs are about 160ish (again you can find cheaper)
Z/Coupe drop you can find on here in the market place for under 100 bucks

My suggestion is if you got the dough, go with coilovers! Tein basics are great. Can find them aorund here for 600... you get the whole kit and you can lower as you please and get that look you are going for. Plus it replaces the stock shocks so it gives you a whole kit.

Hope this helped and be sure to search around here for other opinions/comments on the different drops out there

 

In the future, consider an Amsoil dry filter. Cheaper than a K&N and it has no oil, so no risk of MAF damage.

 

Great 1st mods. +1 on the 350z fronts and coupe rear springs.

Keep an eye out on those plenum bolts, I've re-torqued mine 2x already now after 1 year of installing the spacer.

MAF sensor can be cleaned CAREFULLy with CRC MAF cleaner.

 

Awesome, but i get lazy to read, pictures next time please

 

Pix!

 

Im going to be getting Coupe 19s on summer tires, then running winters on my stock 17s.

BTW check out the minnesota section. We have a couple meets comming up and we would be MORE than happy to have you join us

 

I think that I will wind up with a similar arrangement. There is just no way to get around having a good set of winter tires when you have RWD in MN. Our roads have gotten so bad that I just know that the more money I spend on wheels and tires the more likely it is that a pothole will take one of them out.

I saw some info about the May 10 meet and plan on attending if I can. It will be nice to see what others have done to their Gs. I fear that this exposure could have a negative impact on my finances.

I will post some pics in about a week; I am going to be without PC access until next weekend.

 

Yeah, I had to resort to pliers as well and lost some skin in the process. In hindsight I think that the best method would be lift the upper plenum and then put something sturdy and very clean in the place where the spacer would go. That way you would be able to maximize the amount of working room as well as have a firm support for the upper plenum.

The one other thing that I forgot to mention was that there was a bracket on the back of the plenum assembly that held some sort of a coolant sensor and after the spacer was installed the hoses would not reach and I had to bend the bracket. It was no trouble but it made me a little nervous, I figured that I could always bend it back.

 

Thank you all for the suspension suggestions. I think on May 10 I will see what everyone has and how they like theirs and then make a decision. From the sound of it I think I will probably go with the Z/coupe springs so that camber kits are not needed.