Infiniti Modifications

[rumdig 957]

About a month ago I bought a 2005 Infiniti G35 coupe. Anyone that has ever driven one or something similar (Nissan 350z/300zx) knows that the "drive" is addicting, and the drive for more power is even more addicting.

I decided to do all of the low cost performance mods (and other fixes) and keep track of them here...like anyone cares

So far

- I have bypassed the coolant that goes through the throttle body (not needed unless it gets really freaking cold, otherwise it just heats the intake air)

- I replaced the stock air intake tube with one from a 350z. It doesn't have sound baffles like the stock (about a 5 whp increase). Also, being made of plastic it serves as a better thermal insulator than all these aluminum cold air intakes thus lowering intake temps (very slightly)

- I added a torque damper to the engine. This small and cheap dampener attaches to the engine and car frame and resists engine movement (just like an additional engine mount). That tiny amount of engine movement is now effectively at the rear wheels in the form of torque (the only thing noticed with this mod is a crisper throttle response and tighter shifts)

- I painted the car chrome...heard it adds like 100 HP

- the belts were replaced (they were more cracked than HC's tanned skin)

- I am still battling the gas gauge. These cars are notorious for not knowing how much they drink. I will follow the odometer for awhile until I can stomach $250 to know how much gas I have

- These cars are also notorious for having a shitty brake system which rapidly wears out pads and causes rotor issues. Since my rotors are severely warped I ordered an aftermarket set of hardened rotors (slotted only, not drilled) with a good set of ceramic pads. I should have those installed this weekend.

...more to come

[Beez 5,091]

Maybe it's a Nissan/Infinity thing with gas gauges. The one on my Frontier is worthless and wildly inconsistent.

[ssracingn2 935]

Very cool Rum.

[Hannabis_80 328]

Yeah slotted &/or drilled rotors are more for looks than performance.   What kind of pads did you get? I always liked hawk, but I'm sure you guys get more of a selection down there.  Can you upgrade to a better caliper?

 

What about exhaust? 

 

Looks pretty sweet man.

[Dodge 7,265]

Yeah slotted &/or drilled rotors are more for looks than performance.  

Im gonna have to disagree here. It drastically reduces brake fade if you drive the car hard. It also aids keeping the brakes cool. However, for just daily driving, the performance enhancements are minimal. They will slightly decrease stopping distance.

[juve 192]

where is this infiniti? couldn't find it in legendary motorsport or SSSA.com.. is this considered supers or sports? i must have this!!

[Hannabis_80 328]

for just daily driving, the performance enhancements are minimal. They will slightly decrease stopping distance.

I don't want to hijack his thread but I disagree with that, for street use flat rotors provide more surface area which helps stop faster.

 

We're both parts guys, so we could debate back and forth for awhile.  Agree to disagree?

[rumdig 957]

Yeah slotted &/or drilled rotors are more for looks than performance. What kind of pads did you get? I always liked hawk, but I'm sure you guys get more of a selection down there. Can you upgrade to a better caliper?

What about exhaust?

Looks pretty sweet man.

Thanks man

I picked up the Akebono pads with EBC ultimax rotors. The combination should be much quieter than the stock setup. Brembo makes a pretty good set but I'm comfortable using the stock calipers.

No exhaust yet. I'd like to add a high flow CAT but am very picky about the sound note.

As for the slotted/drilled rotors. They DO significantly decrease noise and assist in heat transfer. The drilled ones have more of a tendency to crack, though.

[handcuff_charlie 801]

I have owned two 90's generation Nissan 300ZX's and currently still have a '94 300ZX twin turbo.....I know these cars inside and out. I have practically rebuilt mine from the ground up in my own garage.

Most Nissan sports cars and sporty cars exhibit the same quirks.

 

First thing, do you or can you do your own basic maintenance? Do you want to? If yes, get the factory manual....NOT the Chilton or Haynes crap from autozone (although they are better than nothing), get the Nissan/Infiniti publication.

It is invaluable. Scour ebay, craigslist, wherever, be patient, but get the genuine factory technical manual.

 

Second thing, there is nothing wrong with your fuel gauge. It does that by design, it is not a truly linear gauge. It is designed this way to prevent the legions of tards out there from running out of gas by scaring them into thinking they are going to run out of gas early. For example, my 300ZX will get something like 100-120 miles from full to the 3/4 tank mark....the day I get 400-480 miles from an entire tank will be the day I mounted a sail on the roof and let the wind blow me down the street. It gets a reliable 300-350 per tank, the low fuel light comes on with 5 gallons left. This means I have approximately 100 miles to find a gas station depending on how I drive......I have tested this to be sure. At 85 miles with the light on i could hear the fuel pump buzzing and I decided it wasnt worht burning out a fuel pump to see if it woul dgo another 10 or 15 miles and I filled up.

 

Brakes, yes Nissan skimps on brakes unless you buy the upgraded brake packages, and even then for the money you pay for those factory upgraded brakes, you could have gotten much higher quality caliper/rotor packages from an aftermarket company. I spent money on a Wilwood Big Brake Kit since I used to take my Z to track days a lot and the nissan brakes would overheat much too quickly and fade away to nothing.

 

hannibal is partly right, MOST drilled/slotted brakes are for looks...brakes generate heat, too much heat can cause the pads to lose friction with the rotors and then you cant stop (fade/glazed), too much heat can also cause the brake fluid to boil and then you lose pressure in the brake lines and you also will not be able to stop...the pedal will just go to the floor and the poop will go from your bowels to your shorts. Bottom line, slotted/drilled stock-size rotors are purely cosmetic. Drive small drilled rotors hard and you risk cracking them into two pieces...I have seen it happen more than once. TONS of pics on the web from people who learned this lesson the hard way.

 

Therefore brakes need to dissipate heat. Factory brakes are designed to dissipate the amount of heat that is normal during sane driving on public roads. So if you have souped up the power output of the car and are going to be standing on the brakes over and over again within short time intervals (track days) then the rotors will not have enough time to cool off and the brakes eventually overheat.

 

Drilled and slotted rotors can dissipate SOME heat but it is negligible compared to increasing the "swept area" of the brakes. This is the surface area of the brake pad X the diameter of the rotor. Larger swept areas can obviously handle the same amount of braking force and will have to dissipate less heat....throw in thicker rotors and you get substantially better heat capacities.....in addition, not all pads are the same, some pads are designed to provide max friction at lower temperature ranges, others are designed for high temperature ranges the low ones suck at the track, the high ones suck driving on public roads. It is very tricky to find ones that strike the best balance. there are all kinds of trade-offs...noise, dust, durability, how harsh they are on the rotors, etc. 

 

Because I drive the shit out of my Z when I go to the track, I keep two sets of rotors and two sets of pads. One set of rotors/pads are strictly for the street and are quiet, without the high dust, and a material that will not chew away the rotors, the other set (same size) are high temperature pads that are noisy as hell when they are cold, very high friction (will eventually destroy the rotors) and create tons of dust on the wheels. Almost nobody does this, but because I drive so hard the pads I use are so aggressive that it was more of a pain in the ass to switch pads back and forth on the same rotors and have to re-bed in the pads each time than it would be to simply bed each set in on their own rotors and just swap rotors/pads the night before I go to the track.

 

Brakes are far more complicated than most people realize and it is SUPER easy to fuckup your brake performance and feel by upgrading without knowing what you are doing. Bigger does not always mean better in terms of overall performance. It is only always better in terms of heat dissipation. If you go bigger, you need to try to preserve as much as possible the total piston area of the calipers, other wise your pedal feel will change significantly and you will get into all sorts of headaches trying to restore the original feel....brake bias can also be thrown completely out of whack by going too big. 

 

The engine damper is debatable. 

 

I take the following philosophy.... Mod for a purpose.

 

If  a modification can't pass the Pepsi Challenge, meaning if I didn't know it was installed would I honestly notice anything different....then I dont get it unless it is something designed to outlast the part it is replacing or increase the longevity of a part it complements. I can say for sure you get zero performance gains at the wheels from that piece, but I would still buy it because even if it costs more than a new set of motor mounts, it will be worth not having to replace motor mounts for that much longer due to the dampener extending their life. Don't get sucked into the siren song of aftermarket marketing hype. They are very good at it. There is TONS of stuff out there that is cheap chinese bullshit with little to zero quality control in design or production with brand names that somehow have managed to fool people into thinking they are high quality or used to be high quality but decided to sacrifice quality for price and sales volume at some point in recent years.

 

The painted chrome?

There is no dispute about this fact............chrome or go home.

Edited September 9, 2014 by handcuff_charlie

[rumdig 957]

Damn Charlie, I thought the classroom was next door

A few points:

I do own the factory manual, sometimes it sleeps with me.

The gas gauge issue is beyond your normal Nissan fuck up. Its worth noting that I'm smarter than the average fuck up, too Often times, upon starting the car, the gauge will read empty. That issue along with highly erratic readings is what I was referring about. It is likely that only one sending unit is bad; easiest to tell with both out and operate while watching gauge

On the brakes, I will just take your word for it. I'm not a seasoned track aficionado nor will I need that much braking power. Thanks for the great info, though.

And the engine damper. For a small metal tube that cost $30, surprisingly yes, I can in fact feel it being there. Not a bad product for such a small price, I've seen crappier go for more

[G37 3,445]

Looks great Rum, really cool you're tackling upgrading the car bit by bit. That's always something very exciting. 

 

If I were to purchase mine, I'd definitely consider much in the same (except I'm less of a car guy so where I'd start I have no idea). Leasing has always been much easier without the worry of long time wear and tear (but that's just for me personally).

 

The first INFINITI I got to drive was my dad's '04 G35X. It was a pretty exhilarating car. It had a very similar problem with the brakes, although strong (they certainly perform much better and last longer on my model) they definitely wore fast and were notorious for having a high squeal when applied. We never had that problem with a gas gauge, it was merely one of those meters that was slow to get to half way and then depleted quickly).

 

I believe my buddy owns your same car only an '06. He's put a good deal of work into it over the last 2-3 years and is more into a "stock" looking vehicle that has minor cosmetic enhancements with everything else being performance of some kind.

 

I guess the only two things I could recommend would be a spin off of HC's as well as don't go cheap. It's better to get fewer quality parts than to do more upgrades with cheaper ones and it might be best to tackle one specific area at a time. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to try and find an INFINITI car club either, ton to learn from people like that. When I lived in NY my buddy (same guy) with a couple other guys ran a club with about 150 people before he moved as well. Even if not just for the fun and to see what other people have done.

Edited September 9, 2014 by G37

[handcuff_charlie 801]

Damn Charlie, I thought the classroom was next door

A few points:

I do own the factory manual, sometimes it sleeps with me.

The gas gauge issue is beyond your normal Nissan fuck up. Its worth noting that I'm smarter than the average fuck up, too Often times, upon starting the car, the gauge will read empty. That issue along with highly erratic readings is what I was referring about. It is likely that only one sending unit is bad; easiest to tell with both out and operate while watching gauge

On the brakes, I will just take your word for it. I'm not a seasoned track aficionado nor will I need that much braking power. Thanks for the great info, though.

And the engine damper. For a small metal tube that cost $30, surprisingly yes, I can in fact feel it being there. Not a bad product for such a small price, I've seen crappier go for more

 

Roger a bad sending unit is one thing, I thought maybe you were new to the Nissan freefalling fuel needle from 3/4 to 1/4 tank.

 

I love chatting cars and helping people save money. Cars were what i did before I stopped earning a paycheck and used video games to fill the hobby gap.

 

So many guys I meet just throw good money after bad and end up no better off then they started and cant understand why they are chasing their tails. Brakes are one of these areas, you can get a lot more bang for your performance buck just by getting better pads and swapping to braided SS lines if you just spend your time on the street. But I meet so many people who spend so much more than that and aren't actually improving the braking performance at all, even if they think otherwise.

 

If you can lock your wheels up when you slam on the brakes, you aren't going to get anything more out of brake upgrades except heat dissipation for track use....at this point it is all about dust, noise, and cosmetics.

 

Hannibal is right about Hawk Pads. I have gotten excellent performance from mine, I cant remember if it is the HP or HP+ that gives you slightly more aggressive friction without being dust overload or noisy. I use the Hawk Blues for my rear brakes on my track brakes and they are ridiculous. The street brakes are one of those two HP or HP+....there are plenty of other brands that are great too but for the past 7 years or so I have used Wilwood/Hawk pad combos with fine results.

Edited September 9, 2014 by handcuff_charlie

[handcuff_charlie 801]

Oh and you should go to a track day sometime. you dont have to be a pro, nobody is. You just have to be humble enough to stay within your limits.

 

you will thank me later. 

[Dodge 7,265]

I don't want to hijack his thread but I disagree with that, for street use flat rotors provide more surface area which helps stop faster.

 

We're both parts guys, so we could debate back and forth for awhile.  Agree to disagree?

 

 

I have owned two 90's generation Nissan 300ZX's and currently still have a '94 300ZX twin turbo.....I know these cars inside and out. I have practically rebuilt mine from the ground up in my own garage.

Most Nissan sports cars and sporty cars exhibit the same quirks.

 

First thing, do you or can you do your own basic maintenance? Do you want to? If yes, get the factory manual....NOT the Chilton or Haynes crap from autozone (although they are better than nothing), get the Nissan/Infiniti publication.

It is invaluable. Scour ebay, craigslist, wherever, be patient, but get the genuine factory technical manual.

 

Second thing, there is nothing wrong with your fuel gauge. It does that by design, it is not a truly linear gauge. It is designed this way to prevent the legions of tards out there from running out of gas by scaring them into thinking they are going to run out of gas early. For example, my 300ZX will get something like 100-120 miles from full to the 3/4 tank mark....the day I get 400-480 miles from an entire tank will be the day I mounted a sail on the roof and let the wind blow me down the street. It gets a reliable 300-350 per tank, the low fuel light comes on with 5 gallons left. This means I have approximately 100 miles to find a gas station depending on how I drive......I have tested this to be sure. At 85 miles with the light on i could hear the fuel pump buzzing and I decided it wasnt worht burning out a fuel pump to see if it woul dgo another 10 or 15 miles and I filled up.

 

Brakes, yes Nissan skimps on brakes unless you buy the upgraded brake packages, and even then for the money you pay for those factory upgraded brakes, you could have gotten much higher quality caliper/rotor packages from an aftermarket company. I spent money on a Wilwood Big Brake Kit since I used to take my Z to track days a lot and the nissan brakes would overheat much too quickly and fade away to nothing.

 

hannibal is partly right, MOST drilled/slotted brakes are for looks...brakes generate heat, too much heat can cause the pads to lose friction with the rotors and then you cant stop (fade/glazed), too much heat can also cause the brake fluid to boil and then you lose pressure in the brake lines and you also will not be able to stop...the pedal will just go to the floor and the poop will go from your bowels to your shorts. Bottom line, slotted/drilled stock-size rotors are purely cosmetic. Drive small drilled rotors hard and you risk cracking them into two pieces...I have seen it happen more than once. TONS of pics on the web from people who learned this lesson the hard way.

 

Therefore brakes need to dissipate heat. Factory brakes are designed to dissipate the amount of heat that is normal during sane driving on public roads. So if you have souped up the power output of the car and are going to be standing on the brakes over and over again within short time intervals (track days) then the rotors will not have enough time to cool off and the brakes eventually overheat.

 

Drilled and slotted rotors can dissipate SOME heat but it is negligible compared to increasing the "swept area" of the brakes. This is the surface area of the brake pad X the diameter of the rotor. Larger swept areas can obviously handle the same amount of braking force and will have to dissipate less heat....throw in thicker rotors and you get substantially better heat capacities.....in addition, not all pads are the same, some pads are designed to provide max friction at lower temperature ranges, others are designed for high temperature ranges the low ones suck at the track, the high ones suck driving on public roads. It is very tricky to find ones that strike the best balance. there are all kinds of trade-offs...noise, dust, durability, how harsh they are on the rotors, etc. 

 

Because I drive the shit out of my Z when I go to the track, I keep two sets of rotors and two sets of pads. One set of rotors/pads are strictly for the street and are quiet, without the high dust, and a material that will not chew away the rotors, the other set (same size) are high temperature pads that are noisy as hell when they are cold, very high friction (will eventually destroy the rotors) and create tons of dust on the wheels. Almost nobody does this, but because I drive so hard the pads I use are so aggressive that it was more of a pain in the ass to switch pads back and forth on the same rotors and have to re-bed in the pads each time than it would be to simply bed each set in on their own rotors and just swap rotors/pads the night before I go to the track.

 

Brakes are far more complicated than most people realize and it is SUPER easy to fuckup your brake performance and feel by upgrading without knowing what you are doing. Bigger does not always mean better in terms of overall performance. It is only always better in terms of heat dissipation. If you go bigger, you need to try to preserve as much as possible the total piston area of the calipers, other wise your pedal feel will change significantly and you will get into all sorts of headaches trying to restore the original feel....brake bias can also be thrown completely out of whack by going too big. 

 

The engine damper is debatable. 

 

I take the following philosophy.... Mod for a purpose.

 

If  a modification can't pass the Pepsi Challenge, meaning if I didn't know it was installed would I honestly notice anything different....then I dont get it unless it is something designed to outlast the part it is replacing or increase the longevity of a part it complements. I can say for sure you get zero performance gains at the wheels from that piece, but I would still buy it because even if it costs more than a new set of motor mounts, it will be worth not having to replace motor mounts for that much longer due to the dampener extending their life. Don't get sucked into the siren song of aftermarket marketing hype. They are very good at it. There is TONS of stuff out there that is cheap chinese bullshit with little to zero quality control in design or production with brand names that somehow have managed to fool people into thinking they are high quality or used to be high quality but decided to sacrifice quality for price and sales volume at some point in recent years.

 

The painted chrome?

There is no dispute about this fact............chrome or go home.

I will agree that any increase or deficiency in performance is marginal when rotors are all that is changed. And the appearance is far more impressive than the actual performance enhancement. But it does help, some. 

 

@ Rum - Good looking car for Jap Crap 

 

In all seriousness, Nissan is one of the cooler Japanese Manufacturers out there. They've done a good job at staying true to Japanese Performance when their car comes across the pond. And, it looks like you got a nice one. My only complaint with the NEW Nissan, is no more RB26. How sad. 

[rumdig 957]

I prefer Daewoo but couldn't find one

[rumdig 957]

Oh and you should go to a track day sometime. you dont have to be a pro, nobody is. You just have to be humble enough to stay within your limits.

you will thank me later.

I really have no idea whether my area has a track that is suitable. We have one drag way and a few dirt tracks, nothing really for the public. I could make my own track, dukes of hazard style

As for a local club; there very well may only be 10 of those in my area. I have joined multiple forums dedicated to the car, much valuable info was found there.

The next mod will be the addition of a motordyne plenum spacer. By adding a spacer between the two intake plenum halves you overcome an engine design flaw ; not enough air to the front two cylinders. This one change should net around 12+ hp throughout the rpm range

[pondo 14]

I +1 the hawk brake pads. I've used them for track days in both a Subaru WRX and a Corvette Z06 (c6). I bought cross drilled rotors for one of my previous cars, 3000gt VR4, to help stop brake fade due to the car weighing nearly 4000 lbs and to look like a boss. I cracked both rotors (powerstop). Never had issues with the slotted. 

 

I've considered picking up an older 350z and slap on a turbo kit for kicks...just sounds fun!

[rumdig 957]

Sweet deal. I'm not too sure that I gave the hawk brand a fair shake. If these go to shit then I know where else to look.

@pondo...want to slap a turbo on my ride? Just for kicks?

[alchemist3321 169]

Sweet.

 

I have had 3 G35's......'02, '05, '07. A blast to drive and still one of my favorite exhaust sounds when you start it up. I had a step father that went nuts with his and was magazine quality that he used to take to car shows. He did just about everything possible and it was wicked.

[rumdig 957]

Sweet.

I have had 3 G35's......'02, '05, '07. A blast to drive and still one of my favorite exhaust sounds when you start it up. I had a step father that went nuts with his and was magazine quality that he used to take to car shows. He did just about everything possible and it was wicked.

Nice!

This is my first, took my virginity and everything reminds me of a Audi TT that I owned briefly. Weird power band for no turbo

[alchemist3321 169]

Had a TT, as well. Didn't seem similar to me, but the TT was manual and the G was automatic.

 

The power band on the G is legit. That step father put on a pop charger that made it unreal as soon as you touched the gas.

 

My only complaint with the G was the body roll which I always eliminated with the Eibach set up. The only thing that sucked was the '02 (so I assume similar years) needed a camber set and adjustment as well that the other two cars didn't need.

 

Top to bottom probably still the best value of any auto when you consider price to production. I often think about doing a project car and always wanted to do more with this car.

[rumdig 957]

My rotors were just sitting there, waiting for me, looking, making faces and everything. I just had to put them on.

The new rotors eliminated all of my high speed shake as well as the brake shudder. This pic was after the first bedding cycle