Ok so I am working on getting the best price for a new touring 350z (San Mateo Blue in case you were wondering ) and plan to take delivery in the next few weeks if we can come to a comfortable agreement. Anyway, I am sure all you long term Z owners and enthusiasts out there can come up with a list of essential first mods so have at it.

Here is my driving profile to make it a bit easier:

Daily street driver with lots of straight and curve roads to play on.
Stop and go traffic is rarely a problem where I drive.
Back roads normally. Less traffic and fewer radars.
Most trips under 100 miles one way
Some street / track racing in the future. All legal of course... well mostly
Want it fast and cool sounding.

Mustangs (Cobras and those oh so sweet sounding Super Snakes) rule in this area and I want something that will not disappoint at the local redlight or back road pickup race.

So there you go. I would have picked a Base because I want to mod it but the VDC and TDS were too nice to pass up. Of course I plan to replace the seats, install a cage (3 or 5 point with harness), the sound system, the wheels, and upgrade the brakes etc. so that is kind of wasted money I guess but hey at least I get to enjoy them while I wait to install the mods.

Of course always open to suggestions and comments. Thanks for taking the time and so glad I found this forum.

 

If you don't want to dissapoint at redlights, just throw a vortec supercharger on it. If you're on a budget, go with a single turbo such as Turbonetics or APS ST. If you're not -- you might be extreme and go GReddy, Power Enterprise, JWT, or APS TT.

If you want the better sounding and performing exhausts ... look at NISMO's exhaust, Tanabe Hyper Medallion, HKS ti-exhaust, and any Fujitsubo exhaust (who makes the exhaust for NISMO.) Others such as APEXi, RS-R, and other exhausts might be too loud for your tastes, and do tend to rasp insignificantly, but it's there.

Stay away from test pipes if you don't like a little rasp, and look into high flow catalytic converters.

Your first mods should be those compatible with turbo or supercharger. I.E. Plenum spacer, exhaust, and cats. This way the option is always open until you decide to make your final decision to be FI or NA.

 

Welcome. Get the 350Z first. We can work out the details later.

 

+1

 

FuriousZ thanks for the reply and I appreciate the info. Now I have something to look for while I wait on those damn pesky dealers to come down to my price.

 

Davidv where is the fun in that? Part of looking for a new car is working out everything you intend to do it it.

 

Whats your price? Generally if you make them an offer near invoice they will take it (sometimes less) but a $300-$600 over invoice deal is like INSTANT sale for most Nissan Dealerships selling Z's

The hardest part is finding the one you want the same day...lol 20+ calls and I finally found mine and spoke with the sales/fleet manager and made an offer over the phone.....car was ready to go when I got there

Whats your "price" and options....maybe your offer is too low?

 

SergEK I am actually right at invoice but they are playing the "we won't make anything on the deal" game. Personally I think it is more sexist (no offense) than anything else but hey I have time. Plus the funds are just sitting in the bank so it isn't like I am losing money by waiting. Might seem trivial to quibble over only $1K or so but hey it is now more about the fact I refuse to buckle. They can sell it to me at the price I want or not. They aren't the only game in town but I'm stubborn.

 

You should read some of the "totaled my Z" threads. If you don't change your thinking, you might be starting one of your own.

 

FIRST MOD should be WHEELS!!! get some nice wide wheels.. if u get the boost first and cant get traction.. whats the point?.. wheels then turbo. if not turbo...spacer, exhaust, k&N drop-in if u plan on FI. but mainly wheels!!

 

ummmm 2007 = still waiting for boost

 

Still is not a Z owner because this individual is waiting for stealership to come down on price. So said person has waiting time, in which something might come out later.

Otherwise, it's just a NISMO exhaust for a 2007 as a mod presently.

 

most of the mods aren't out for the 2007's yet, no spacer, no dual intakes, but the exhausts should fit, my HKS fit on my 07.

 

Check out Shariff's thread on breaking down the 07 motors to see what mods will still fit and what won't. My advice is wheels/suspension/maybe K&N all at the same time for starting mods. Then do a plenum spacer(if they fit the 07s), headers(only if you want to go S/C, they won't fit with the turbo kits), HFCs and an exhaust system all at the same time for the second round. Then when F/I comes out for the 07s go that route, and good luck to you, not to start your own thread about crashing and/or totalling your new Z.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. Nice to see such a friendly forum. Always open to suggestions so please feel free to keep them coming.

 

MarkZ hopefully I won't need to start my own totaled thread. Speed is nothing new so I doubt I will wrap a Z around a telephone pole / tree any more than I have wrapped any of my other cars around one. Blame good ole' daddy for teaching me to drive in an old dirt track modified back before they had those damn restrictor plates. (Now that was drifting) Thanks for the concern though.

(gee think I could have used just a few more smilies?)

 

not sure what your approach to getting the right price is but I found through experiance it's always best to go to a dealership, test drive, and when they say *lets sit down and talk numbers* Don't get caught up on their what kind of monthly payments can you affoard BS.

Just tell them this is what i will pay and that is it. When you are there, they will work with you a little more then just calling over the phone and saying, "will you give for this price."

But if you've already done that, then your dealers must suck because It didn't take me long to get a Z at invoice. My friend even got his under invoice.

anyhow, I say get an 07. Drive it and get comfortable. Then just wait until you see what kind of options come out for the 07. That's what i'm doing.

 

Because 9 out of 10 new members who post I am going to buy a 350Z are gone in 30 days.

 

First mod should be:

Nismo Stickers EVERYWHERE! LOL

 

JWT Popcharger, exhaust (as mentioned above), Tanabe Springs and Sways for back roads. All of these are relatively inexpensive (except exhaust depending on how you do it) and get you that extra sound and a slight increase in performance. The springs and sways will change the whole feeling of the car.