Base and mods or nismo?

Jayhovah

Get the Base+Sport and do the basic boltons Test pipes (or HFC), Catback, long tube intakes, tune. Those mods will cost you in the neighbordhood of $2500 if you buy new quality stuff (though if you are willing to shop used or buy some cheaper chinese parts you can save quite a bit). Then you can spend the other $9-10k on suspension, aero, and wheels and have a really sweet ride.

If you wanted to go the FI route and feel good about reliability too, $12k probably is not enough unless you are skilled enough to do all the work yourself and even then it's pushing it a little. It can be done, though (I did).

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2013 Gun Metallic Sport - Gamma V3 Twin Turbogized
DIY Gamma V3 TT Install * Jayhovah's Gamma V3 TT Install Pic'Z and Vid'Z * DIY: Washer Reservoir for the Boosted