Hello, I am thrilled to be able to say I just bought an 03 Black Touring model 6 speed with burnt orange leather. I'm loving the combo and receiving love from others at stops! It came with aftermarket 18" 9-spokers in what I would consider a kinda weak 225/245 width f/r, and pretty far from the fenders so I must attain spacers (and poss roll fenders) before down the long road I upgrade rims to my taste.
I'm first off deciding between the Greddy Race Sport and their new Revolution Sport exhaust systems (prob the latter), I do like the angled tip arrangement Greddys have, along with sound. Also deciding between Weapon-R Cold Ram 2, and Injen cold air intakes, not sure yet, any votes will be considered on either of those first upgrades!
Have done and will continue doing a lot of searches and topic reading on here, gotta love chatrooms for hobbies!
Being a car audio nut, the Bose I couldn't get out fast enough replaced with a Sony DVD and backup cam, and I have a 12" Sundown woofer system which fit the car PERFECTLY in JL's Power Wedge box. (oriented upside-down)
Future plans besides rims come tax return time are a body kit most likely from Ebay...
Thanks for taking a moment to view my rant, I'm just excited! Pics once I clean it!

 

Welcome and congratulations!

 

Welcome..

 

Congrats! I've just completed my research, and purchase on the exhaust systems. For me it came down to Greddy & Injen cat back. I'm also now doing my research on the intake. Best of luck! Enjoy!

 

Welcome and congrats...

The tire size is what comes stock, and intakes are well known to not improve much of anything... Pop charger or 06 air box are usually the go too for intake mods, 03 only needs one intake 07-08 get the duel...

Check out the top 100 questions as its most helpful for someone New to the car, and the venders on here are a good source for aftermarket parts. Ive used Z1 and Z speed performance and would recommend both.

Im in for pics

 

I remembered I have the original Craigs List photos of the car, and if this upload works they are here:

 

Welcome and congratz.

 

Welcome!

As far as exhaust and intake go (as well as all bolt ons ) you might want to stop at exhaust as its the only really worthwhile mod imo and that's just for sound. Bolt ons don't do much for the Z so maybe save some money unless you're gonna get a tune and aren't expecting much for numbers.

If I was you, I would drive the car as is for a while and really learn it before you make changes. I'd start with sway bars as they are a hugely noticeable mod.

And before all that, if you took out a loan, pay that off before all. I had a 5 year loan But wised up at 34 months and paid it off.

Good luck!

 

Thank you much for the advice! I wasn't going to touch the suspension as it drives perfectly imo, at least I'm happy with it for what I'm gonna use it for (weekend cruises through windy New England roads) I just love the steering feel and the sport oriented handling in stock form, I'm not a race car driver... I was, however, an ATV lifelong professional racer and mechanic, and figured that like ATVs, a stock engine can only benefit from breathing better, plus I like the GReddy exhaust note, so that's all I'm planning for engine mods with a new intake.
The car was bought with cash so that's all set, I just really wanna personalize it with a body kit I have my eyes on, and like I said, the stereo was the first thing I upgraded, wheels in the future.
Your advice was welcomed, and did not fall on deaf ears!

 

Looking good!

 

The sway bars aren't REALLY part of the suspension (obviously they are, I know that's contradictory) that mess with the geometry of the suspension like lowering Springs would. All they do is make it feel like a go kart.

What kit do you have in mind? I did all visual mods first besides exhaust and I wish I would have put the money into track days or suspension and drive train(I have a base model with VLSD dropped in)

 

I like the way you put that "go cart" haha, I'm definitely going to look into the sway bars, do you have a part # you recommend?

The body kit I want is comprised of these components (I wasn't crazy about many of the put together packages so I will do it A La Carte...) Copyrights to NRG and Duraflex for the pics..

 

Congrats and Welcome! Love the black and orange.

 

I have Hotchkis sway bars and love them. But there's many brands. I have read there are fitment issues with Duraflex, but have no first hand experience. Paint matching is a headache on my white Z so keep that in mind

 

I've installed body kits on a few different cars I've owned and I'll tell you what, there's none that install without quite a bit of massaging, I've gotten pretty good at it.. as far as the color matching, you're right that's usually the toughest part if you can't simply order the paint code used from the OEM, but my black non-metal flake is pretty basic and universal. I plan on adding a small spoiler on the deck and leaving that wet carbon looking for a lil contrast, and will install black background headlights (clear lense) while I have the bumper off as mine are weathered even though freshly cleaned.
BTW, yours is the Pikes Peak WHite correct? That's my favorite color Z! You have a lot of rim color options that really set it off as you know I'm sure!

 

That's the only way to do it I just did the same thing, sounds like we both had a really good Xmas!!

 

My question to you sir is, how the heck ya decide which to drive on a cruising day out of a Z4, M3, and 350Z hahaha... I get it how to pick a Z4 if it's sunny and if it's the only roofless... but otherwise ....?

 

LOL the Z4 is the wife's "mostly" The 350 is for trackdays. I took the M a few times and I want something a little more dedicated ( I don't want a roll cage in the M) Plus I really just want as many cars as I can pack in.



I'm pretty packed

 

That's a hell of a drool-worthy sight! The E46 is in my "of all time" list! Love the lift and the fact that two bays didn't stop you from thinking of doing that... in the past I thought of an MX-5 for cup days at Lime Rock as a track only, what you picked is an option I like even more haha 33% more power anyways, wider track...

 

I'm gonna purchase a race prepped Miata for my son next year once he is old enough to get out of karts and start club racing I thought about one for myself but I think the 350 will be more fun and I find it more appealing to look at in the garage