FUEL Auto Expo and first mods
 

Heyyyy Everyone,

I got my new Z roadster in august and I just wanted to start a discussion on some of the Mods that are recommended by the experts here. I would like to start off small and work my way up, if that makes sense.

Also check out the FUEL Auto Expo, it is far out but will be fun.

Hey,

Did you come on the Thanks Giving cruise with us?

I think I remember seeing your car.

As for mods, what is your end goal?

Hey Boomer, Yes i remember the car as well.
Yes what Mods?

Mmhmm!

If I remember correctly he was wearing a blue shirt.

Hey, yeah that was me. Good memmory.

I am really open to some suggestions, externally I would like to keep the mods simple and subtle, enough to personalize it. I would like to also start thinking about some performance mods, just want to start out small and work my way up.

Pretty much an open book right now.

Heres my 5cents on it:

Starting Small:
- Window Tint ( if you don't have some already auto-links.ca is probably best place to get it done in toronto)
- front license plate relocation bracket ( it will clean up the front bumper alot)
- shifter knob ( good ones for the auto are hard to find, i got a seet Razo one that you just press down to engade the button, instead of having an obvious button on it somewhere)
- custom emblems ( look at the Z store they have some good ones, or perhaps look into some Plasti Dip, and get them sprayed a different color. PM me if you need some of that stuff i have a guy that can get you some very cheap)
- maybe look into swaping out the radio for one of those touch screen multimedia devices

Personalization Mods
- get aftermarket wheels and tires ( getyourwheels.com has really good prices and they mount and balance them for you $100 flat rate shipping to canada)
- look into getting some custom work done to the headlights ( look at ONEighty NYC and the services they provide, you can do it yourself too)
- get lowering springs, the stock height of the Z is really not doing the car any good.
- body kit/ exterior panel modification (one thing with the Z is that there isn't much variety of aero kits for it. Most people tend to gravitate towards the Amuse. Which does look good, but in my opion it has been overdone. I am not sure how most of the front lips will fit on your bumper if at all, so maybe look into getting an aftermarket front bumper. Keep in mind that painting it doesn't come very cheap.)


Essential Performance Mods
- OIL COOLER (thats the one that alot of people neglect in the begining, ask anyone on the forum, you need one if you like pushing the car, especially in the summer days. A 19 row is more then enough unless you go for forced induction)
- coilovers( if you don't feel like wasting money and time with springs, just pull the trigger on some aftermarket suspension, regardless of bran it will definitely improve the responsiveness of the car, i personally have Tein, but there a many other brands that can possibly fit your needs better. KWs are popular, BC and HSD are also descent and on the cheaper side, or you can go for some air suspension and have the car slammed)
- Exhaust ( if you want to improve the sound and performance of the car thats where the biggest bottle neck is. THe catalyc converters in particular. Get some HFCs, i recommend Berk Technologies, but there are other alternatives too. Also for esthetics and some weight reduction get an aftermarket cat back exhaust, there are plenty to choose from depending on your preference of drone vs. rasp, ground clearance, true dual vs. Y pipes and so on.)
- Intakes ( if you dont feel like dealing with cutting plastic and relocating things go for a short ram intake. They just drop in place of the stock ones. For a bit better power gains go for cold air intakes. )

Future mods to work up to:
- Forced induction ( if you decide to go that way there is plenty of choices to go with as well. WIth an automatic you are a bit limited since some kits won't fit around our transmission, i you have to worry about the torque converter potentially not being able to handle the power. EIther way if you go that way there is no point in getting intakes and you should consider what type of oil cooler you are getting as well.)

So ye there is a lot of options for modifying the Z, making it your own and unique is kind of hard, since alot of the choice are actually not so good. My advice is decide on what you want to achive with the car, maybe do some photoshoping to get a better idea of what it would look like. Once you have that, then acquiring the parts is just a matter of doing research on where to buy them. Oh and if you are new to buying car parts, trust me when i say its cheaper to buy them from teh USA and pay the shipping and brokerage fees then to buy them at a store locally.

:iagree:

Well that was easy.

That's what usually happens.

But really set a goal. Do you want to go Performance as in Track, AutoX, Drag or make it pretty?

If you have unlimited money you can do both, but usually it's one or the other in a sense.

When you know what you want, it'll be easier to go backwards. And will save you time and money.

research EVERYTHING before you buy anything. the guys above are entirely right in saying you should have a goal.
most of the directions you go are mutually exclusive.
if you track, you wont look good
if you want to look good, it will be bad for tracking.

its like with clothes, you can wear a suit but it will look wierd if you're also wear running shoes. If you just get things without understanding what its for you'll end up like a guy with dress shoes on, cargo pants and a tuxedo jacket. people who know anything about cars will laugh at you behind your back. that said, stance is a fad and will go away. performance is forever ;)

couple tips:
- Test pipes/HFCs are a very inexpensive way to make your car feel much better. iirc its the most restrictive part of our exhausts
- dont buy intakes. its a complete waste of money unless you've bought a turbocharger/supercharger.
- its hard to make any serious performance gains with our engines without going forced induction (which will cost you $6k+ minimum without tuning)
- drop the car. if you're on a budget, get springs. but i made that mistake, and i highly recommend coilovers asap. changes the entire driving dynamic of the car. on a related note, get swaybars. its an often overlooked upgrade because its not visible at all but suspension is one of the most important parts of a car. you bought the car to go fast around twisties right? this will make it do that safer and faster :D
- rims make or break the look of the car. there are primarily two types of rims. BIG AND HEAVY which look really good but make your performance worse... and SMALL AND LIGHT which makes your performance better but generally doesnt look as good. of course im kinda generalizing as what looks good is a personal thing. There are rims that are big and light, but expect to pay around 4k+ for a set (if not much much more)

oh and another thing, this is a big boys game. you gotta pay to play.
if you want cool ****, its going to cost you (unless you're a forum/ebay/kijiji/craigslist troll like me lol)

good luck man, hope this helped :)

I agree with Ire and others. but you can always have a car that looks good and is still fun, just not the fastest on track.

Get in on this one too:
http://www.the370z.com/exterior-inte...ml#post2589410

To all the Guys above :iagree:
Great Information & Recomendations on the Mods , Timing etc.
I have a base 40th Anniversaty model, which i love, my first mods will be Exhaust, Wheel Spacers, and lowering of the Car.
Ire, good info on Coilovers. I was considering Springs, but may pay the additional funds on these instead.

Thanks everyone for the responses , a lot of great information here. This will help out a lot.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Awesome! Can't wait to see it in the spring!

Those are usually what people start out with.... Then the Mod Bug is gonna get ya right after that!

Be warned... be warned.. LOLOLOL

if you are getting coilovers i recommend you give Scot at Can Alignment a call to install and align/setup the car the way you want it. He is out near milton somewhere. But that gives you an excuse to give he car a nice test drive back to toronto. WHen i went to get my Tein's installed i actually drove out east to Couburg to pickup a modded A pillar from GaleForce. And the car ran like a dream. One thing that i noticed he does that alot of other places tend to omit is he aligns the car with you behind the driver seat( aka takes your weigth into consideration) he also charges reasonable prices.

Great info, I'll get in touch with him once winter is over. Thanks :tup:

http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...ml#post2271110

Also, if you are interested in more info, search for my Proven Power Dyno thread for lots and lots of details, comparison graphs, commentary, etc.