Experience with aftermarket items

jstough · Nov 30th, 2004, 01:15 PM

I'm looking at purchasing a 2004 Max with the following items added:

Brand new STILLEN body kit and Sarona fenders. The car is equiped with an Apexi air fuel regulator SAFC2, and a power e-manage unit. The stuck air box has been replaced with an INJEN air intake. The stock exhaust has been replaced with a Greddy catback exhaust. The wheels on this car are 20" diablos with 235 45 tires. Stock springs have been replaced with eibach lowering springs, and also the brake rotors are crossdrilled front and back from "stillen".

Any thoughts or input as to how any of these would affect reliability, maintenance, etc.

Thanks,
jstough

**Matt93SE** · Nov 30th, 2004, 01:35 PM

considering it has the emanage and SAFC2 on it, I would be a bit concerned on how it was driven before you got it, as well as any possible damage with the engine.

assuming those parts are installed and tuned right, the engine may gain some power- but if they were tuned improperly, then they could have caused some engine damage from running the mix too lean or advancing the timing to the point of knock.

generally these engines are VERY tough, but I'd still be a bit concerned about them.

the intake, exhaust, and brakes are all common items to swap out and all from major brands- I don't see any issue with reliability on them, except possibly the brake rotors. crossdrilled rotors havea tendency to crack if you drive them hard fairly often or get them wet while they're hot.

With the eibach springs, I hope they swapped out the struts as well- but I'm not sure if there are any aftermarket springs available yet. If not, I would look into buying some better struts as soon as they become available. factory struts usually don't last too long with stiffer springs on them.

the wheels are fine, as long as the offset isn't nasty and causing rubbing or excessive whele bearing wear. (basically, if they fit inside the wheel wells and don't rub, they will be okay).

jstough · Nov 30th, 2004, 01:43 PM

Now that's why you post a question on a forum, such as this. Thank you so much for the informative & thorough response!

Jon

**Matt93SE** · Nov 30th, 2004, 03:11 PM

You caught me on a good day. usually I just bitch and moan and tell you to search.

honestly, you can probably toss the electronics if you don't want them or feel like messing with them... make a decent few bucks on them. (let me know if you want to sell them. I might be inclined to make you a deal.

)