I am in the process of purchasing a brand new Altima and I was wondering about the shifter.
You mentioned that the shifter leaves much to be desired. Is there a GOOD aftermarket shifter for the Altima, and are you planning on putting it in?
The shifter in the Altima is a little vague because it uses a cable linkage to select gears instead of a rod that is used in older Nissans. The cable doesn't have the precise feeling of a rod shifter, so it’s what we have to work with. A short shifter would probably go a long way in eliminating some of this vague feeling. One of the pains of a new car is waiting for the parts to be developed, but as soon as a short shifter for the Altima is developed you can count on us trying it out.
What else is planned for the project car? I've got most of the engine bolt-ons that are I know of based on current availability.... and love that you're dyno'ing after each mod.
Can you find/test some suspension parts? Especially a stiffer rear sway bar...
Originally posted by OhTwoAltimaSE What else is planned for the project car? I've got most of the engine bolt-ons that are I know of based on current availability.... and love that you're dyno'ing after each mod.
Can you find/test some suspension parts? Especially a stiffer rear sway bar...
Originally posted by OhTwoAltimaSE Transmission Control Unit
Harder/Quicker shifts at WOT... it should also shift right at the red line.
For the harder shifts check out http://www.levelten.com/. I'm not sure if what they have will work for the Altima but you should give them a call. Everyone I know who has gone to them has been pleased with their work. If you do proceed with the tranny work let me know and we'll do a feature in the magazine on it.
For the redline shifts I'm not sure if it will make that much of a difference. It's probably better that your auto trans shifts a little before redline so the engine gets back into the sweet torque curve of the VQ35 motor. Again to correct this we'd have to get into the ECU.
Was wondering about when you added the aftermarket spoiler. You showed a pic of someone upgrading the trunklid torsion bars. Could you expand on how this is done? Special tool? I went to my local Nissan parts department looking for answers/special tool(s) and they looked at me like I had 3 heads!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anything to get that "oh dear, you have no clue what you're doing" look off my wife's face would be a great help.
Originally posted by DaddySkier Was wondering about when you added the aftermarket spoiler. You showed a pic of someone upgrading the trunklid torsion bars. Could you expand on how this is done? Special tool?
If your going to try this one yourself I'd highly recommend that this would be a good time to pick up a Factory Service Manual (FSM) for your Altima. The FSM truly a wealth of information.
I'm sure there is a mechanic at your local Nissan dealer who has installed a spoiler on one of the new Altima's. I'd go straight to the source instead of the parts department if you need some hints from your local wrench.
I was not present for the install but if you get stuck I could talk to the Mossy mechanic who installed the spoiler local dealer.
Originally posted by OhTwoAltimaSE
BTW, on "another" board a hot topic is timing advance... has this been tried and dyno'd yet on the project car?
What method are people using to advance the timing? The only way we've considered messing around with it is with the Nissan consult test tool.
We haven't touched the timing yet since we're testing for the hp differences on parts each time we dyno. We're going to try messing around with octane booster on Friday to see if this will provide more consistent dyno runs though. Our results so far show that the first dyno pull is always the best. Then the hp and torque seem to dip about 5 hp/ft lbs of torque on each successive run. Hopefully the boosted octane will calm the overactive knock sensor down.
Yes the consult II is being used. The magic number seems to be to advance it 3 degrees before TDC. Slurppie has had it done on his car, he might be able to shed som elight.
Linear Mode
