Hey, to each his own, right.

 

I understand that Im not going to make my Z a race car overnight with $1500, and I get that, but the question was simply "what would you do with $1500 to a stock car?" Most people seemed to answer it the way it was asked. Some like wheels, some like stereos, and a lot like suspension. It helped to show me forum members priorities in the order of what mods they would get. I have other hobbies and interests to pursue so dumping $5k right off the bat into a car I just got isnt practical to me at this time.

 

As most have mentioned, rims and tires if you dont have any yet, make a huge difference on the look of the car. I bought mine with some 19" stock Rays (I think from the G) so I got lucky. Then suspension would definitely be a good idea, especially if you get new rims/tires and drop.

Also the reason a lot of people are telling you to go for suspension is that if you do your research you will see that the Z doesnt exactly have the best suspension and also a large tire eating problem. With new control arms, and toe and camber kits you will be able to get the car properly aligned to be within factory spec after getting wheels and a drop. Also, in any real driving, other then straight line, suspension and wheels will matter ore than power. The Z's are pretty powerful to begin with and most people are right, N/A (as I found out after a lot of research) just won't pay off. You can spend upwards of $3k and only gain about 30-40hp, where an extra $2k and you would be able to go FI and get an extra 100hp/tq.

Depending on what you are looking for, wheels and suspension as well as stereo (stock Z radio sucks). Getting a body kit or anything like that on stock wheels just looks a little ricey, in my opinion. Other than that, its your car dude, do what you want. I would first make sure that if its an 05 and depending on mileage, you might want to look at maintenance stuff first. Such as belts, spark plugs, new oil in tranny and diff (go for Red Line), new oil (royal purple is what I like), coolant flush, brake fluid flush, and power steering flush. Plus going over all the hoses to make sure none are cracked from the weather. This route you will not be adding 'mods' but making sure your Z lasts you long enough to mod it. Just my .02

 

Pinstripes!

 

Im going to go with the general consensus here. Do some suspension and wheels. It will definitely set the look of the car off. Z's look 100 times better once you get a nice stance (whether that be stretch and poke'd or meat flush) imo. Look around the forums and you will see some nice setups and be sure to check the classifieds because there are some killer deals there too. Good luck and remember that the worst thing you can do (once again imo) is buy cheap car parts. You get what you pay for.

 

Make a realistic decision on how you are going to drive the car (daily driver, autox, drift, drag, etc. etc.) and then figure out what parts you need to get to that point. Don't waste your money on a track suspension setup if the only hard cornering you're doing is the on-ramp to the highway.

 

Post some pictures of your car and then we can go from here. It all depends on you, what you like. Ex: Body Exterior/Interior or Engine & Drivetrain?

 

http://www.elementwheels.com/proddet...hn090ax-shn010

you can get the same wheels as marques1

 

This is the only picture I have so far. Some of the things I have been thinking about are:

-window tint (VA max allowed)
-more aggressive wheel/tires when these are done
-Pop charger
-exhaust

I think ultimately I want to this thing all black (paint, wheels, windows). Not sure yet. I know $1500 wont cover all of this right away, I just want to do it in stages.
I am also going to do some research and see if theres any possibilities for track days at the VIR since its fairly close. Ive taken my ZX6R there when I had it but never looked to see if if they have anything for cars.

 

Ditch the mudflaps and then get wheels/tires.

 

put it towards what you owe on the car

 

burn up those tires really fast and have some fun with them, then that can be your excuse. you'll need tires anyway, might as well get new wheels with them

 

You may want to consider upgrading to 06+ wheels with some ichiba V2 spacers. They will run you about 600-800 bucks used.

 

^ theres a good idea. those are my favorite stock wheels, other than the 06+ 18/19 Rays but those are at least 1000. Thats the cheapest I'v seen it.

 

Well, he could have as well saved the money he used to buy the Z or bought
a cheaper Elantra. He definitely knows the difference between saving and spending. He is asking for spending ideas not saving

 

From your pic...

Definitely an S2000 antenna.

 

lol, to be fair I've had these wheels years ago when they first came out and weren't going for the same price. Also, I had bought my house around the same time at 21 years old by myself. Also, working and paying for school. So, I could have bought a baller set of wheels or could have had a house and a decent set of wheels. Anyhow, if you were any good at math you would realize that even the axis wheels plus tires would easily go over his budget of 1,500 dollars, so negative he couldn't afford the wheels. At least new that is. I would also like to add that my 350z is paid off and no one else own's my z.

 

Use the $1500 for coilovers and camber arms. Dont leave anything to be desired involving ride height. Avoid rims for now until you are absolutely sure what you want for the car and the look you are going for.

 

lol dayum

 

Snooka: read my reply