Order of modifications
 

After reading a ton of material on this forum (thanks to AK and all who have come before me for creating a great knowledge base), I have finally settled upon a list of performance modifications I want to put on my new baby. Keep in mind, this is my daily driver and I have no intentions of tracking it. Here is the list and brief reasoning of each:

- Intake: COBB Tubing and K&N drop in filters - There’s enough disagreement over the efficiency of the OEM intake v CAI setups to make me feel good about these subtle, inexpensive upgrades. Easier install, easier maintenance, 1/3 the price for great value in responsiveness and modest power gains.

- Exhaust: Berk HFC and Stillen or Berk CBE - The Berk HFC seems to be the favorite around here and I haven’t heard anything to make me not want the item - great bang for the buck and great sound. I have narrowed down the CBE to those two based on: no/little drone, great reputation (minus the Berk delays), good power, great fitting and I’ve listened to every clip I can find around here and think these sound best for what I’m looking for.

- Responsiveness: NST Pulley Kit - Splitting hairs here between NST and Stillen, but ultimately the NST won out due to offering both crank and accessory pulleys for a great overall performance impact and price. And I’m originally from Houston and who said every factor has to be logical?

So, that’s what I’m shooting for. My reasons for posting this novel (aside from it being Friday) are three fold. This is where you all come in:

1. What are your thoughts about order I should do all this stuff in? I’m somewhat price conscious and will probably look to be getting these items over the next 9 months or so. Is there a logical order I should follow here?

2. I’m always open to more opinions about these choices. Is a CAI (G3/AEM/Injen) system worth $600-$800 (I don’t have any place to install these on my own and would be paying for an install) for a guy who just wants a fun personalized car? Is the Stillen pulley really that much better than the NST setup? If you’ve got dissenting opinions, I’d love to hear them. I’m still open to (and reading about) CBE options, so if you’ve got one you love that fits some of those criteria, please bring it up.

3. This is an open invitation for vendors to pm me with prices for these items. I’m unsure about rules governing vendors around here, but I’m in the market to buy the above, so let’s start some dialog.

If you’ve made it this far into my rambling, good for you. It’s good to be here.

-kn drop in is enough for intakes, imo
-exhaust you can go F.I. Lighter and more flow. Why not go test pipes?
-Any handling mods? You should consider sways, springs or coil-overs, cambers, lighter rims, wider tires.
-any braking mods? stainless brake lines, brake fluids, brake pads
-clutch upgrade? with lightened flywheel?

Sorry, just brainstorming here

HFC's/Test pipes are the best bang for the buck mod to date, 15-20whp gains for less than $500. That should be your first mod if you're going to wait a bit to save up for the next one. Also makes the stock exhaust sound great.


Intakes are the most controversial subject on the forum, however, I love mine, combined with a tune, can pull amazing power out of the car.

Your exhaust selections are spot on, however, if you order the Berk, you might have to wait til 2018. I'm partial to Stillen :)

The Cobb AP is great, I think Bluestyle got a tune with it and pulled something like 30 ft./lbs of torque out of the car with before and after dynos to prove, insanity.

Since you dont plan on tracking, suspension mods arent necessary.

I dont know alot about the NST pulleys but I'm actually considering getting them just for the throttle response people keep gushing about.

I did the Berk HFC's, then Intakes, Exhaust, then added the AP, and to be quite honest, my car feels pretty f'in beastly now. I got the AAM canned tune for my setup and i KNOW my throttle response improved dramatically, i gained all the low end torque I lost when I added all my breathing mods and picked up some nasty mid range.

mmm for me if you want greatest bang for buck

Exhaust F.I. (If ur new to this forum F.I. is the name of a company) with test pipes... sounds great, reasonably priced. Contact Tony.

NST pulley is great choice, good reviews, good feedback.

If you dont mind the increased nvh, then light flywheel will definitely be a good choice. JWT seems to make a good one. Our stock flywheels are pretty heavy and its all rotational mass.

mmm coilovers and camber?

just my input on some reasonably priced mods. i'd personally start on first 3 first.

I did originally consider the F.I. system, but it's reputation for being quite loud ruled it out for me. I'm looking for something a little more subdued.

I was under the impression that test pipes aren't road legal in many states. I don't want any headaches with getting the thing certified.

if not test pipes, then u gotta go with the more expensive option of HFCs.

Does anyone know if the test pipes will affect the warranty?

If you have any aftermarket parts for performance on your car and something goes wrong, Nissan can void your warranty. This will leave you to pay for repairs or try to fight Nissan in court.

Unless you're content waiting until the latter part of the decade for the Berk CBE, then I'd like to suggest the Stillen. You will love it. :tiphat:

So I've heard. I'm likely not doing the exhaust for several (~ 8 maybe?) months, so hopefully by the time I get around to shopping for those parts they've figured stuff out. If not, I've heard nothing but good things about the Stillen system so I figure that's a perfectly legit plan 1b.

I'm not quite so concerned with the price of the HFCs, but rather the volume of test pipes and trouble getting them inspected/registered. Are there any issues with this?

test pipes will definitely get u in a world of trouble if ur state uses proper emission testing.