I remember when the G35 came out in March 2002 that NISMO mods were rumored to arrive in the fall of 2002, then it became winter 2003 and now spring 2003. Anyone want to take bets that spring rolls around and we STILL won't have an easy way to acquire NISMO parts and accessories without having to order from overseas?

This evening I drove a spectacular 350Z, put together the way a limited-edition Z SHOULD have come from Nissan to begin with. For the NISMO kit, S-Tune suspension w/sways, VOLK wheels, Brembos, better seats and the 300+ HP via ECU we should have received in the first place, I would have paid upwards of $45K to own one of 500, limited-edition NISMO tuned 350Zs.

TRD has been here for years, Mazdaspeed has arrived via the Protegè and will do more with the RX-8 shortly and even Honda is jumping in with tuning options (suspension only ) for the RSX-S.

What's the holdup, Nissan? A lot of us are waiting for you to establish a North American NISMO presence so we can save the airfreight cost, but don't expect us to wait around forever! Other vendors are working faster than you and delivering superior products at the same cost while you figure out what's going on.

 

Dayuuum !

You drove a Nismo Tuned Z? How were the suspension and engine performance? Any porpoising? How was the acceleration?

 

I met with NISMO USA at SEMA 2001 and again last summer in their offices in Gardena, CA. NISMO USA will not be like NISMO Japan. The marketing strategy is to offer US made accessories at dealerships much like the scant offerings at Honda dealerships such as bodykits, shift *****, emblems, etc. Some suspension and CARB legal exhaust mods will most likely be offered also. NISMO USA is apprehensive of the liabilities involved with the performance market for the everyday owner. Much of NISMO Japan's parts have been available to private racing teams for several years from Nissan Motorsports here in the US...most for the sentra from what i understand.

I believe much of their delays are due to the rather disappointing performance in their time in the IRL resulting in them redirecting their efforts to that IRL development league which is slated to be rolled out.

I'm not holding my breath for a lot of NISMO high end performance parts...and expect more support for the altima than the Z.

 

The article in Sport Z implied that some of the parts are still under development (probably the ECU). I can wait a couple more months if necessary.

 

If someone can confirm that NISMO is actual coming out with an ECU upgrade, that would be great.. Truefully, I don't care who come out with ECU upgrade, as long as it show true gain... maybe a piggy back computer that we can tune fuel maps with..

With all these CAI and Cat-Back exhaust, it would be great if we can tune them to the max potential..

JWT? STILLEN? anyone?

 

My description is akin to the R-Tune, but the car I drove was actually skidazzle's. I was definitely thinking R-Tune when I mentioned the seats and ECU upgrade. Michael's car is SICK, just f**King SICK. I just wish there would have been an option to get a car built like his from the factory so that the economies of scale would come into play and make the NISMO kit, suspension/sways and nicer wheels more affordable for both Nissan and the consumer.

If we were really smart we'd be trying to organize group buys on the TEIN Flex Dampers w/EDFC instead of diffusers, kits and wheels. I'd concentrate on the suspension before making any cosmetic enhancements. The difference is night and day and the TEIN kit is far superior to the non-adjustable S-Tune kit IMO.

 

Amen Victor!
I am sick and tired of waiting. I, like many others ordered my Z ONE YEAR AGO! I have been driving it for 5 months and am waiting on any concrete news from Nismo. I'm not going to spend anything on any true aftermarket performance upgrades untill we hear something. They would be fools to pre-sell these Zs to the true enthusiats who would potentially be the same market who would further spend money on aftermarket performance upgrades and not deliver. Nismo we are waiting (with money to burn)...

It sounds as though they have to step up the plate since other Manufacturer/Tuner outfits like Comptech & Mazdaspeed are already rolling products out!

 

That's what I am talking about. TEIN suspension group buys. How sweet is that?? I would definately participate.

 

What I want to know is, does the Tein kit kill the porpoise?

Please do tell. Did you drive it on concrete?

I really don't want to spend a couple of grand on a suspension, but just might if it was as cool as it seems. If it could convert from a smooth GT type feel to sports feel with a push of a button, I'm close to there.

 

NISMO engineers must be a bunch of moonlighting software engineers...

Have patience brother Brad. NISMO has had a presence stateside for a while, however, it wasn't as "hardcore" as it should be. I don't think they're going to make the same mistake seeing how they missed out on the 300 aftermarket.

Michael.

 

Droid,

Have you driven a Nismo S-Tune car before? Was there any porpoising for both the S-Tune vs the Tein?

 

No, I drove it on my lawn.

I put about five to seven miles on it through varying road conditions on some fairly twisty stretches of pavement. The stupid bounce that my car has is gone. Michael drive my car immediately afterwards on the same route and we couldn't believe the difference. Night and day.

Here's something I've written to another thread discussing the porpoising issue.

 

No. The simple fact that you can adjust the dampening on the TEIN kit inside the car while moving was enough for me. IIRC, the S-Tune kit is neither ride-height adjustable (TEINS are) nor dampening adjustable. You get what you get. For the same money (minus the EDFC controller) I don't see this as being a very hard decision. I'm completely sold on the TEINs.

 

Smart ***

I meant vs smooth asphault or curvy backroads.

Thanks, though. It sounds sweet.

 

Both actually. Shitty, curvy, country backroads with asphalt patches and a glassy-smooth new construction road.

 

Right now, the three mods I would like are the following:

Track ready brakes = Stoptech most likely
ECU = ?????
Suspension = Tein w/Nismo sways (I really like the adjustability, since I drive on about 10 miles of crappy concrete highway per day, and the porpoise is really starting to get to me. Also, I like that you can stay with the stock ride height, which is important to me because of my driveway and neighborhood streets. Where did skidazzle install the EDFC adjustment switch? I see an open switch next to the VDC button, which seems like a perfect spot. Or maybe where the seat heaters would go.)

 

that wont work. the EDFC control unit is 1/4 din like a greddy turbo timer or profec-b boost controller. i put it in the center console.

m

 

I recently read 2 posts (on another site) that nismo aftermarket parts were to be sold and installed by the US dealers starting in May 2003. Both posts agreed that these would also be warranteed by Nissan.

If this is true we should see some sort of price relief. The 2 posters both happened to be dealers and were both confident and convincing in their posts.

I would appreciate any additional info and will update the board on anything I learn on this topic.

 

Especially as hot as the market is for "Fast and the Furious" style. They are been handed a perfect marketing oportunity, and they have a hot car to go with it, actually several.

Yet, this AM at the dealer, the salesman does NOT KNOW what NISMO is... and they will carry the catalog and install parts in May???

Dealers should SPONSOR Z cars, clubs, bring them over, gather the crowd at THEIR place to showcase their cars. Even if they don't sale more Z, they WILL sell more Altimas, etc... The have a perfect "hook" to bring the young crowd over.

 

Well, when the car debuted in 2001, they said both the coupe and convertible would be out at the same time, along with the Nismo rollout in the US. Not holding my breath.