blacktop

I just purchased an 03 SE-R Spec-V, and I was wondering what should be the first mods I should do with a $500 budget. Completely stock right now.

 

chimmike

save it.

seriously. The only thing worth getting for $500 is a header. however you need an intake and exhaust system to complement it.

I'd save until you get about a grand on the side. Then you'll be happy

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2003 Redline 350z Enthusiast 6MT Turbonetics Powered

Vspec04

Performance Wise: well most people start with engine breathing mods. unrestricting air flow frees up some horsies and are usually the way to go. A DECENT pair of headers will run you $300+ unless you check the "for sale" section and get some used of another board member. Other than that you can start with a Cold Air intake, approx $200, depending on who you go with. But if you search or even just browse the board, look at peoples signatures and youll see the most common mods.. Intake, Exhaust, Headers, that's what most people start out with. Which Companies to choose, whole other story.. There are other thing such as motor mounts, short shifter kits, Sway bars, pullies,... etc, that also give you some performance edge.

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2004 Molten Silver SE-R Spec V l AEM CAI l DC Sports Racing header l

Blank

get better tires and or lighterweight stronger rims
goodluck with the spec!

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Conner

Check out this post:
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=77731
Place Racing is apparently liquidating their stock on cold air intakes and you can get one for $129. This is a great deal on a quality intake.
Take the balance and get a Hotshot header. You can order it straight from Hotshot (www.hotshot.com) for $346. That gets you to $475. Do yourself a favor and drop $30-40 on Energy Suspension or PTI motor mount inserts as well.
Then, just as everyone said, start saving up for a cat-back exhaust. The nicer ones are upwards of $600 but you could get one from VRS or something custom made for more like $400.
Your car will really drive differently with these mods.

 

Flying Vv

lowering springs, sway bars, and then save for better tires.

the spec-v IMO is a road-race/ Auto-x car. put it to good use and it will treat you well. The spec-v was not meant for drag racing, or high speed in any aspect

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blacktop

"Do yourself a favor and drop $30-40 on Energy Suspension or PTI motor mount inserts as well."




Where can I purchase those Energy Suspension motor mounts from.

Conner

I got mine here (part #7-1112):
http://www.suspension.com/nissancars.htm
for $35 plus shipping.
Here's a good article on the install:
http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/july04/specv/
I also used this, which has a good step-by-step about four posts down:
http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/show...+mount+inserts
Make sure you have (1) a breaker bar to (carefully) get the crossmember bolts off and (2) a torque wrench because you don't want to over-torque the bolts on the crossmember or motor mounts. The installation is pretty straightforward.
In general, Nissan Performance's project Spec-V (all of their projects, really) is a good resource.

Harris

A decent pair? Since when did the Sentra come with more than four cylinders?

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Zac

Motor Mount Inserts are a must as said. Energy Suspension has their own Ebay store and sells them for 35 bucks with Buy It Now. You will be very satisfied and installation is rather easy. If the vibration is too much, they are easily removable. Switch the current tranny fluid to the Redline MT-90 mix as well. Between these 2, you will lose a lot of wheel hop and shift much smoother.

If you like good feeling brakes, get stainless steel lines, a nice set of front pads and Motul racing brake fluid (dot 3 or 4, NOT 5). Your brakes will provide so much more feedback and just an upgraded front pad makes a huge difference.

If you like performance, as said the most effecient way to go is the I/H/E. You can always start with a good catback as it will sound nice and add a few horsepower. The biggest horsepower mod on the QR is a header. The other big two are cams and a SAFC2...these you dont want to do unless you already have the I/H/E taken care of so they should be put on the back burner for now.

If you like handling, you have a long list of options. A good start is the NISMO lower tie bar. Upgrading to stickier tyres will of course yield the highest noticable results of course. The choice of most people who drive their Spec hard is the Falken Azenis. I have the Yokohama AVS ES100 and other than treadwear, I am very satisfied.



Now this is where some members may or may not agree. If you do not have a warranty, remove the balancer shaft. The car will vibrate slightly more but just ganking the balancer shaft will NOT turn the car into a gigantic dildo. If you have a warranty, doing this can and generally will kill any warranty. You will get about 8 WHP out of this and the JWT kit is about 90 bucks and 2 hours of labor. The difference this mod makes is very noticable. The only thing that can go wrong is if during the removal, a human mistake is made...this is why you only want to do this yourself if you are competent for an operation as such, otherwise you may want to get someone to do it for you.

Performance options are:
-Crank pulley-car does seem to rev quicker but the gains are not huge
-Cold air intake-noticable in sound difference and better gas mileage
-Header-different sound, not always better and a noticable difference in horsepower and torque. A 4-2-1 design gives low and mid range power, a 4-1 gives top end power.
-Catback exhaust-will make a nice difference in sound. Greddy Evo2 and especially Stromung sound the best.
-Balancer shaft removal-will make your car hold about a quart of oil more and will not really impact sound. Power wise, you will feel it.
-Camshafts-you will really feel this in terms of top end power...8-10 WHP with the JWT Billet cams
-SAFC2-controls and air fuel mixture. This requires dyno tuning and will need to be changed each time you get a new mod. Doing this before you are done with other mods IMO is silly, but you can see 8-10 WHP gain from good tuning.
-Short shifter-you'll feel a difference
-Grounding kit-car will idle smoother and these arent too expensive from smaller companies who make them
-Downpipe-if your header doesnt have one, this will eliminate the last stock part controlling air flow. It will add a few horsepower but without a cat, it is gonna smell bad, not pass emissions and generally sound pretty poor as well.
-Hondata heat shield intake gasket-I havent heard anyone say too much in terms of differences it supposedly keeps air cooler hence unlocking power.
-Spark plug change-our cars come with platinums stock...I changed mine to NGK Irridium IX and the car seemed to start easier and idle smoother. Copper and irridium seem to work the same in terms of performance, platinum is not as good.
-Nitrous Oxide-I am sure you know what this is.
-Free mods-throttle body bypass (IMO pretty senseless); removing the stock airbox silencers (will make a difference); disconecting muffler (I dont reccomend )

Hope this helps.

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