(Commentary/Updates/Forethought in GRAY )
I really can not say enough about Racingline Performance (in Canada, 'ey!) They are a great company that offer performance and handling modifications for the third and fourth generation Altima. The Altima has never been an easy car to modify. I would know having gone through two of them. Aftermarket is very small and companies will often times monopolize that fact and charge rediculous prices on some of the parts. But Racingline offers some high quality parts at a very affordable price. Check out the new! traction rods that are now available for the 02-06 Altima. The kit will be installed on my car shortly. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to test out the beta version of these particular traction rods and have nothing but good things to say about them. But this final release is one hundred times better, so I'm excited to feel the difference these will make!
Wow, busy month! More modifications now then any other time. I've purchased some rear calipers from a base 350Z to replace my SE-Rs in the back. Only difference between the two is that the piston in the 350Z is a little beefier and instead of a solid disc it's a vented disc. Should be good for some improvement in stopping power and heat dissipation. To accompany the calipers I've also ordered some OEM discs and some Akebono Pads for all sides. Heard great things about Akebono, lets hope they live up to the hype. I've also ordered some Ichiba rear camber arms. Originally marketed for the 350Z, I recently found out that there would work for the Altima as well. The Ichiba units in particular seemed to be the best bang for the buck when it came to quality, price and longevity of the unit. Also picked up a set of front an rear adjustable end-links from Racingline Performance. They are currently sitting in a box in my garage awaiting the rest of the stuff to arrive. Now the biggest thing I have purchased in this entire bundle are KONI Yellow strut inserts. YES! THEY ARE ADJUSTABLE! Got a killer deal as well. Now all I need to do is find a set of OEM struts to hack up. Another modification unrelated to the suspension has been some Second Skin damplifier which I have applied to the rear deck to kill some of the rattles from my previous subwoofer install. Boy did it work! 100% of all rattles from the rear deck have been stopped. Amazing stuff!
Finally some updates! As you remember from my last post I had purchased an SE-R sway bar. Well it arrived and soon after was installed. This modification made a huge difference in the way the car handles. Instead of the rear-end being floaty and all over the place during hard corners it feels VERY stable. Now my only limiting factor to how well the car can actually handle are the tires. To go along with all the suspension goodies I have ordered some Racingline Sway Bar End-Links in Chromoly. These are awesome and adjustable to boot. Plan is to have the car corner weighed and balanced accordingly so I can put the end-links to good use. After years of waiting I have finally gotten into the stereo on the Altima. I have replaced the stock BOSE 6X9s w/ some 8" Kicker CVR Subwoofers and to power them I'm running a 250watt Memphis Audio amplifier. The amplifier is hidden underneath the passenger's seat if any one is wondering. ;) The system hits pretty hard compared to the stock 6X9s. I'm content with where the "system" is now and have no further upgrades planned.
Well I'm back with another update! Finally got some free time to install the LED footwell kit offered by bt2580! It looks great! Along with that he had also included some LEDS for the trunk! The kit also offers LEDs from V-LEDs for the key-ring, puddle lights, map lights and dome light. Overall VERY HAPPY! If you own a Altima and are a member on NissanClub.com make sure to look for bt2580! He will hook you up! Along with the LEDs I have also installed the new foglights (since my old ones were cracked pretty badly) and the DDM HID 4500k kit. Below is a video of the comparison between the various lights. Only problem I've seen so far is the 4500k kit is BRIGHTER then my OEM XENONS! I'm guessing after they finally break in they will fade in with the Xenons. Along with all this I have also ordered the Altima SE-R sway bar and once that arrives will be installing it. More updates to come so keep your eyes peeled!
After a short hiatus I have finally come back with a few more new modifications! But before I start I will explain my reasoning for the removal of the Technosquare ECU. Money has been tight lately with the market downturn and tough times called for me to make a VERY difficult choice. The ECU brought the car to life and I will miss that N/A power. With the ECU missing I have also removed the SSIM modified manifold since it had become a hinderance w/o the the ECU's remapped CVTC timing maps. The car still feels strong but there's an obvious lack in power as compared to before. Now it's time to move on! With some extra cash flow I have been able to purchase a lighting kit offered by a NissanClub.com member (bt2580) for the front and rear footwells along with a few LEDs for the dome-light, puddle lights, etc. Once the kit arrives I will install and take pictures! I have also purchased some new OEM fog-lights since both of mine have cracks in them. Along with those I have purchase d a 4500k 9006 HID kit from DDM Tuning. Should compliment my OEM Xenons very nicely!
Okay! Finally an update! The car has gone through a small suspension make-over. I've ditched the eBay ZENN springs! Even though I have nothing but good things to say about the springs I would just rather go with a more reputable brand of springs. I chose to replace them with Racingline Performance F&R Springs. The front went down about 1.9" and the rear .5". It's supposed to even out the car but also give it a firm ride. My first impressions are that the ZENNs were MUCH stiffer. Even with the AGX at their fullest it's not as bone-jarring as the ZENNs. The springs have yet to settle, but it's looking good so far. I also finally took the plunge and got a FSTB. Went with the Racingline as well. Along with that a battery tie-down from the same company.
The clutch and lightweight flywheel are on and OH MY GOD how much of a difference have they made! Below is a video of the acceleration AFTER the clutch and flywheel. Power has improved but the wheel-spin going into second has also increased. I wish I had taken a picture of the old clutch! I managed to get a look at it before the guys scrapped it and it looked bad! There was no material left on the disc and it was basically down to the bolts! I have some bad news though. A friend and I had attempted to install the 350Z intake manifold onto the Altima only to have our efforts come short. The manifold wouldn't clear the hood even after I had it modified (picture below) Along with clearance issues I also managed to snap a bolt on the lower intake manifold so it was doomed. After 5+ hours of work we had to remove the manifold with no results. Another attempt to install the manifold WILL happen again! Also pictured below are my old shifter bushings. No they are not supposed to look like that. I've replaced them with ES Shifter Bushings originally made for the 02-03 6spd Maximas. We both have the same shifter consoles so they fit like a glove, a very tight glove. But the difference they made along with the clutch was great!
A quick video of the car's acceleration BEFORE the clutch/lightweight flywheel installation.
Ever since my last run at the track I've noticed a gradual deteriation in the clutch's performance. It had gotten to the point where I could feel the acceleration of the car was suffering greatly because of how badly the clutch was slipping. Being that it's a self-adjusting clutch any ordinary person may have not noticed a difference, but I did! Along with the clutch I also purchased a lightweight aluminum flywheel. Both of these modifications along should make a substantial difference in how the Altima performs. A few more new modifications going on the car is a 3" MAF housing (If anyone is wondering this was never installed. The modification required that it be tuned since the ECU would lean out the A/F ratio w/ the decrease in intake velocity. ) and I'm going to attempt to do the very first 350Z Intake Manifold conversion on a Altima! To finish off my braking setup for drag I've purchased some extended wheel-studs, gorilla open-end lug nuts and 20MM spacers. (The wheel-studs are great since they are off a better material compared to OEM and can handle a lot more stress. Only problem is the 20MM spacers weren't enough to allow the alloys to clear my brakes. The best option would've been to go with 25-30MM spacers that have the studs pressed in. These would've allowed me the use of the stock studs and would've given enough clearance for the rims ) These are basically for my drag-radials to clear the larger SE-R brakes.
I don't have any pictures of the brakes installed but I can definitely say they make a HUGE difference. Braking distance has shortened by at least 10-12 feet from 60 miles per hour and in general the car feels a lot more stable braking from higher speeds. The only problems I have are the brake pads. They have a tendency to start fading after repeated high-speed slow downs. But then again these aren't the most performance orientated pads. (Going to be replacing with HAWK HPS pads in the near future. Seriously! Stay away from Posi-Quiet pads. They aren't quiet by any means and have a tendency to squeak at low pedal pressure. ) The only other problem are the rotors have rusted on the hub. I originally planned to paint them with some rustoleum but my laziness got the better of me. My mistake! When I replace the pads after these die out I'll make sure to paint the hubs. Another modification I managed to finish up are motor-mount inserts available from Racingline Performance. The difference between stock and these inserts is just amazing! The vibrations have increased but I've gotten used to them. In a way it connects me more with the engine so I can know almost exactly how it's running. Haha!
I'm pretty "happy" with where the car is performance wise so I thought it was time to upgrade the brakes. What's the use of all the power I have pushing the car forward when the brakes couldn't stop it fast enough? Basically on the 2002-2004 Altima's they came with 11.5" brake rotors and a single piston caliper up-front. Now on the 05-08 Maximas and 05+ Altima SE-Rs they came with 12.6" rotors w/ a little beefier caliper up front. They kept the same brakes in the back for all years. I managed to score a set of SE-R Calipers from a wrecked SE-R for a GREAT price and the upgrading began! I then purchased some rotors from R1Concepts along with some Posi-Quiet Pads and ATE Super Blue Brake fluid.
A few videos to show the acceleration and general sound of the new modifications! Along with a picture of the new license plate trim and bumper installed! (Removed. Didn't like the thought of having my car key'd over something so small. ) The only problem I have with the new modifications is the exhaust. I didn't realize how off-center the muffler came out to be with the new cut-out. The 3.5SE bumper had two cut-outs but each were only about 4" wide. The 2.5S is about 6" wide so the muffler sits a little to the right. (Future plan is to remove the muffler entirely. Worried that it might be too raspy. ) Minor inconvenience, mostly aesthetic so I'm in no hurry to fix it. FYI: The trim is an inside joke between a friend and I. Hope you noticed the 2.5S badging as well, hahaha!! (Removed. )
It has been a VERY busy month! First off I trashed the power robbing 2.25" exhaust in favor of a SINGLE 3" exhaust system! Yes, yes, I know, the Altima has dual cut-outs on the bumper to clear the dual exhaust but I've made a trade with another Altima owner with a 2.5! The 2.5 comes with a single cut-out because from factory they came with a single exhaust. I've also changed out the AEM CAI in favor of a EBAY 3" Cold-Air Intake with a BLOX Velocity Stack and a monstrous 6" K&N Filter! To top all of this off I also installed a Technosquare Full-Spec Reflashed ECU! The ECU was tuned for the I/H/E along with a few more nifty features like moving the redline to 7100RPMs and removing the speed limiter! It also changed the CVTC timing to that of the 350Z along with flat-lined the A/F ratio at 12.8-13.2! Lets just say the car PULLS HARD! The gem to top off the new rev-limiter is the new SSIM manifold I installed with the help (he did most of the work since I was too scared to mess something up. Thanks Jasin!) It's a whole new car!!
Time flies! Onto another year of ownership. Quite a bit has changed. I've gotten a little tired of the noisy exhaust with it's crazy amounts of drone so I've replaced the tips with two 14" long Magnaflow Mufflers. I also removed the cold-air intake and replaced that for a AEM CAI in red. Below is a video of the intake and exhaust. The video of the intake was taken BEFORE the exhaust so you can hear the actual difference between the new and old exhaust. BIG difference! The new exhaust has mellowed out quite a bit but I've found that I have an exhaust leak since the resonator has been royally shredded by the car being lowered. So volume hasn't gone down as much as I wanted.
A few more pictures after a lengthy detail.
After a short hiatus I was finally able to get rims! They are 350Z 17's which are available on the 03-05 Base 350Z. For tires I went with Dunlop Direzza DZ101 at 245/40/17. With the more aggressive offset the rims line up with the body and give it a very aggressive stance. I'm really curious as to why Nissan didn't go with these rims for the Altima originally!
Another quick update: With the additional horsepower from the new modifications I finally caved and went ahead and bought a pair of drag-radials. They are NITTO 555R Drag-Radials in 245/50/16 mounted on a pair of 2.5S Steel Rims 16X6. At 25PSI these hook like a mo'fo! The car does look a little wierd with the steelies up front and alloys in the back but this is a function before form modification.
A quick update: The springs have settled. It hasn't really gotten that much lower from it's original height at installation but I have noticed that the springs have firmed up considerably. Pretty much cut 75% of all body-roll! Again, whoever is looking for a good quality lowering spring setup at a cheap price should check out ZENN Springs. Only modification I have done so far to the is a EBAY Cold-Air Intake with a AEM Dry-Flo filter.
August 2006: Finally on my second week of owning the Altima. I recieved the springs I ordered and quickly had them installed. Went to a local shop that did it for a really good price. The springs have yet to settle so the car will sit a little lower. For anyone wondering I went with ZENN Springs which are basically TEIN rip-offs. There an affordable option for those looking to drop their Altima's without forking over a lot of cash. So far all the car has done performance wise are the XS/SSAC Headers and custom single 2.5" to dual 2.25" Magnaflow exhaust.
Before I begin I would like to say good-bye to my first Altima 3.5SE. It was a ruby-red 4AT. The first car I started modifying but it was time to let it go. The level of performance I wanted it to achieve was just too much for the transmission and it was time to move on to a "better" platform. Before trading it off to the dealership I had all of the modifications that I still had left on the car (headers, exhaust) swapped over to the new car. The last remaining modifications on the car were the tinted tails and Canuck Motorsports Lowering Springs, which I regret not having the dealership install onto the new Altima as well.
