350z modding roadmap...

[4RE Leather]

That Sealant bites so watch ya eyes.

It might be best you run it up to mine and l will show you.

You numpty Spurs loving Rednapp hope miricle working leather loving pilchard:)

[docwra]

First make it stop

Then make it handle

Then make it go

 

If you drive a 200SX, maybe, as they dont handle or stop very well. Doesnt work for anything though, a MkIII MR2 for instance - why would you want to do the handling and brakes first on one of them, they are perfectly good already.

 

Theres also the noise aspect that you get from exhaust, induction, decats - its a good thing but doesnt fit in any of the above categories.

 

Oh, and Abbey dont hold the fastest jap car in Europe at all, dont know where you got that one from. and the foreign language, and the bedroom cowboys, what actually are you on about?

[4RE Leather]

Must have missread the sign as its John Bradshaw.

;;

[4RE Leather]

Your right Steve. you got closer to the fish taking the bait lol

[4RE Leather]

Agreed but beware of the Bedroom Cowboys. make sure the seller knows there stuff.

And Abbey spend a great deal of time on here giving free no strings attached advice.

As do others but seldom get thanks.

What I have learnt about abbey and AMD is a lot of peeps take the cheap option and then the cars end up

at the pros to be put right.

Abbey dont hold the fastest jap car record in europe for nothing

 

I certainly agree with the Brakes being on the list but not the 1st item.

 

As the guy said in his post. Please l know nothing do not baffle me with science.

So folks ignore what he put and start throwing foreign language at him.

The guy said he has no Mechanical knowledge.

Bit like Andrew "Clown" not even owning a screwdriver!

 

I was like him last year and got bombarded to the point i wanted to jump of beachy head.

I emailed both Ben from AMD and Mark from Abbey as I know people who have used both.

I went with Mark as personal choice as he took the time and trouble to explain things in English

at times after midnight.

Also I wanted something that no one else had done at the time.

Put the GTM supercharger on a RHD Zed.

So dam obvious I am going to sing his praises especially as they make good coffee.

You name one person that has ever had a problem with Abbey that has gone back and not had it put right free of charge, and more often when it was the owners fault not Abbey.

Not sure what part of the Country this guy lives in but lets help him eh:)

 

I knew nothing about cars when I got my Zed, quite happily paid for pros to do stuff - but then tried a few things myself which I knew were reversible if I ballsed up and realised it wasn't that bad. Personally, I think if you want to mod a car, its all part of the enjoyment doing the simple things yourself...but agreed his original post said he doesnt want to.

Maybe l should refraze my bedroom cowboys to unscrupulous ebay sellers pretending to be Uk sellers but operating out of Hong kong.

Think we all get mugged when we 1st start.

[4RE Leather]

...Throttle Controller, 5 minute install. Plenum Spacer around an hour, Induction Kit around 30 minutes - and I am a complete amatuer when it comes to doing stuff like this - found it was not so bad with the instructions provided.

What about if your on a walking stick with Chronic pain syndrome lol?

[NeilMH]

Whilst I don't disagree with what others have said about stop, handle, go; this is all relative. It depends what you want to do with the car. If it's going to be exclusively for road use there is an argument that it stops and handles more than adequately for that purpose. The other issue is budget and if that's an issue there is an argument for the "gain per pound spent" approach.

 

The standard exhaust may not be the finest piece of engineering but it will take more power and makes an acceptably nice noise.

 

If you wanted to put a toe in the "performance improvement" water there is an argument that the most noticeable improvement per £ spent might well be a Plenum Spacer and UpRev re-map. A significant part of the cost of the re-map is the licence. Once you have the licence you would only have to pay for dyno time in the future if you were to add more bits at a later date.

 

If you wanted improved noise (but at a slight penalty to ultimate bhp) one could argue that a JWT Pop Charger (an air induction kit - very easy fit DIY) will give you that for a modest outlay.

 

So firstly you need to decide:

What you want to use the car for

What budget you have in, say, year 1

 

Depending on the answers, this will suggest one direction or another.

[4RE Leather]

You are oh course quite right, But it takes a special team to sing from the same hymn sheet all the time:)

[NeilMH]

You are oh course quite right, But it takes a special team to sing from the same hymn sheet all the time:)

 

First all of it helps if you decide which hymn you want to sing

[4RE Leather]

Indeed and l was blinded at 1st.

Budget has to be the major factor.

But to echo the words of girnet.

It becomes a bug and b4 long your wallet is empty lol.

[sunshine]

Honestly if you just want a more aggressive noise and aren't really bothered what the engine bay looks like then cut the front of the airbox off in front of the panel filter.

The induction sounds amazing and you wont have spent £££ on a CAI that does absolutely nothing for power anyway.

 

Its the best mod i've done to my z and best of all it cost nothing.

[4RE Leather]

Quite a few have done that l believe!

[KyleR]

In my opinion, it's all relative to what the car will be used for and your driving style, similar to what NeilMH said. Safety is always the first thing that should be looked at, which is why as a general rule some have said do the brakes first. As mine are due to be changed, this is what I am doing, but if the discs and pad were in good condition, then I would still have £500 in my pocket for another mod.

 

If I had a choice, seeing as the Zed stops very well on stock Brembo's and handles pretty well to, i'd be getting the exhaust on first. This adds a great sound track to driving, as well as a slight external mod too as depending what you go for, can look quite a bit better than OEM. Next up would be the induction kit, again for the sound it produces and the aesthetics when the bonnet is up.

 

As the car looks great in completely stock form, most external mods can wait until later, so I would probably get my hands on some springs to drop it 30mm at the same time as 20mm and 25mm spacers. I won't be tracking the car so no need for coil overs for me. I don't think the car really looks good with one or the other, so I believe both should be done at the same time. For me this will complete everything that really needs to be done to the looks of the car. (For now)

 

So at this point the car would look and sound great, it's time for the Plenum spacer and Uprev remap. Then the car should have gained a few extra ponies from what it was running before and be much more responsive. Personally now I would think of purchasing a spoiler and front bumper or Nismo lip then when those are complete, time for the little things, like simple engine dressing such as coloured bolts, hoses and a way of wrapping the wiring loom under the bonnet to colour code it if thats what you're into or at least tidy it up a little.

 

By this stage you will well and truly have Zeditus and you'll be looking better brakes and ways of squeezing more power out of her. Mine is a daily driver and is driven as so, with the odd squirt of the throttle on a straight so I really have no need for 6, 7, 800 quid discs and £120 pads, the Black Diamond discs and pads i've bought courtesy of CS (and still yet to fit) will do me fine.

 

Also as I live in Northern Ireland and as far as I am aware, there are no Uprev dealers over here, I may never bother with the Plenum spacer as I think the exhaust and induction kit would be enough for the stock ECU to have to deal with and the Plenum spacer might just be a little to much and the car may run too lean.

 

Anyway, that is just what my rough plans are, depending on finances that should be pretty much how I go about making my Zed my own and good luck with yours.

[4RE Leather]

Good reply.

I do tend to go over the top on presentation.

It's the army Barry in me and never go anywhere without a leather refurb kit

and Meguiars polish and a whole load of microfiber cloths.

It might be an OCD trait but if you see the car I put on thenoname leather cleaning page you will see the finish that a patient DlY with some study can achieve.

But I like a nice shiny car.

Not sure that silver was the right choice due to the hardship in getting the glass finish.

But how can l have grubby leather and crap bodywork and declare myself a competent leather refurbisher lol.

[speedwell]

The "stop first,handle second,go third." mantra is the best way to achieve faster track lap times.

The order in which to do things for road driving is influenced by other factors,mainly personal preference.

[Geekboy78]

well, this has been an eye-opening thread, and thanks for all your opinions and help.

 

the decision i have come to is.... i don't need to worry about anything at the moment. i do not do laps or track days, the car is plently fast enough, stops plenty good enough, hanldes plenty well enough and sounds plenty fun enough as it is. i would like to improve all of those things, but as it seems impossible to get any noticeable change in performance without spending £500-£1000, and the other changes are around sound etc, i have to prioritise other things.

 

i will focus on making the car an even more enjoyable place to be by fixing things that are broken, mending the smaller bits that are wrong, and possibly replacing the sat nav system.

 

but until i have done some saving, i'll leave the actual mods alone i think.

 

so my roadmap will be something like this

 

1 - fix OEM CD player

2 - replace OEM satnav

3 - work on scratches and paintwork

4 - replace scuffed interior trim

 

then, after all that is done, i may look at

 

5 - replace head unit

6 - change sound with plenum spacer/exhausts/air filter

7 - uprev to remap with new bits on.

 

that should keep me going for a while. in between, i am going to get better and better at washing the car so it looks even more amazing...

[4RE Leather]

PSML and well done.

Are you seeking health treatment after all the infighting during this thread.

Were not really like this you know.

Opps i just got Pm's saying thet we were lol

You enjoy yourself as what the heck do we know.

P:)

[coldel]

[Geekboy78]

PSML and well done.

Are you seeking health treatment after all the infighting during this thread.

Were not really like this you know.

Opps i just got Pm's saying thet we were lol

You enjoy yourself as what the heck do we know.

P:)

if you think that counts as infighting... on a web forum... wow....

 

trust me, i have been to much worse places than this! lol

 

you lot are all very sensible and pretty polite.... and if you are not, then it must be in a techy/engineering way that i do not understand!

 

as for what you know, between you, you know pretty much everything. tonnes.

 

being on here has been a massive help - given me confidence to try things for the first time (fixed my boot), shown me that the small niggles on my car are small niggles on everyone's cars (weird hissing noise in the back, skipping left channel on the CD player) and given me brilliant solutions to help...(i've even been shown how to clean a car... tried it twice and am getting better. still takes me 4-5 hours though!)

 

i'm very, very grateful.... for example, fixing my boot, fixing my stereo and NOT be spending money on getting my car chipped as it will not work has already saved me a few hundred pounds - which can all go in the 'new tyres' fund i am sure i will need...

 

thanks chaps and chap-esses.

[4RE Leather]

I presume you are talking about ferrari chat and piston heads.

They have been known to have gun fights at dawn over some triffling affair.

Let me know if you want help with the leather:)

P:)

[NeilMH]

well, this has been an eye-opening thread, and thanks for all your opinions and help.

 

the decision i have come to is.... i don't need to worry about anything at the moment. i do not do laps or track days, the car is plently fast enough, stops plenty good enough, hanldes plenty well enough and sounds plenty fun enough as it is. i would like to improve all of those things, but as it seems impossible to get any noticeable change in performance without spending £500-£1000, and the other changes are around sound etc, i have to prioritise other things.

 

i will focus on making the car an even more enjoyable place to be by fixing things that are broken, mending the smaller bits that are wrong, and possibly replacing the sat nav system.

 

but until i have done some saving, i'll leave the actual mods alone i think.

 

so my roadmap will be something like this

 

1 - fix OEM CD player

2 - replace OEM satnav

3 - work on scratches and paintwork

4 - replace scuffed interior trim

 

then, after all that is done, i may look at

 

5 - replace head unit

6 - change sound with plenum spacer/exhausts/air filter

7 - uprev to remap with new bits on.

 

that should keep me going for a while. in between, i am going to get better and better at washing the car so it looks even more amazing...

 

Nice one. It's easy to get drawn in. You have established the priorities that matter to you and that is the most important thing. Good luck with it all.

[coldel]

As much as you want to have a roadmap - its the little detours you have to look out for.

 

I only wanted a few asthetic modes such as tidying up the interior etc, but then saw a deal I could refuse on a set of Volks, followed by an exhaust and so it goes on

[Geekboy78]

As much as you want to have a roadmap - its the little detours you have to look out for.

 

I only wanted a few asthetic modes such as tidying up the interior etc, but then saw a deal I could refuse on a set of Volks, followed by an exhaust and so it goes on

it is easy - and i have flitted between lots of things already - but i am a pretty sensible guy.

 

for me it is all about value - if i was able to hugely change the performance of the car for a reasonable price, i would. as i can't then that becomes a lot, lot less valuable to me.

 

if i can fix my stereo for nothing, that is incredible value. if i can replace the satnav without too much hassle then, again, that is great value, as is touching up the paintwork myself, trying to refresh the interior handles etc.... i will be diy-ing many of these things until i am out of my (constantly growing) technical comfort zone...

 

again - this place is invaluable with guides. whatever i want to do, someone will already have done.

 

i always remember what my grandad used to say - price is one thing, value is everything.

[mrt]

Great responses.

 

This site and it's members are truly first class when it comes to Zed advice.

 

 

[Ekona]

NECROPOST IS NECRO