Any other performance mods?

[SSiso]

Alright I just wanted to say Hi, and I wanted to know what other performance mods I can do to my Coupe. I have a 2012 Altima Coupe 2.5 CVT, as far as what I have done for performance wise, I have an Injen Intake, OBX Header with Mid/Test pipe and Top Speed Pro cat back exhaust system. I think it's a bit stupid loud but I had a few of my friends tell me it sounds good, anyways what other performance mod can I do to make the car respond better. Thanks

[seldomseen]

Get the front strut tower bar, and rear sway bar, and possibly coilovers or lowering springs, and and ECU performance reflash.

[SSiso]

can you provide links to these products if possible? I'm looking for these parts and only found springs

[centralcoaster33]

The braces will help stiffen up your ride, but factory bracing is pretty good and chassis flex is part of the engineered design of your car. Unless your whipping around the autocross regularly, you won't be stressing the car beyond stock ability (meaning not much gain for the cost).

The suspension will help it hug turns better. Tien Basics can be an affordable coilover. Lowering your car a bit (1"-2") will lower your center of gravity, lowering it a lot (2"+) will go towards that 'dropped' look, but will make handling worse than stock without a decent amount of correcting the geometry (less fun to race around, more fun to cruise). Adding thicker sway bars will flatten out the body roll. An affordable sway bar option is to just replace the soft rubber bushing and end-links with stiffer urethane ones and use the stock bar.

I assume you retuned your idle and timing after putting on your intake and exhaust systems. That got you some good power (and noise). Having the computer reprogrammed can get you more power. Eventually, you'd have to go to things like cams or even internal work for more, probably not gonna be a thing since you have a CVT.

As you add power, you want to beef up suspension, tires and brakes to handle the power.

You can get good brake pads (I use stoptech, some like Hawk), steel braided brake lines and 5.1 fluid for a great value. No real way to mess this up. You can add bigger brake calipers for a higher price. If you do that, you want to try to keep a good front to rear brake bias. You can make braking worse if you do it this way, but do it wrong.

Tires and wheels. I say, if you haven't done this, then do it now. Get wider and lighter wheels. Don't get large diameter, that is looks, not performance. Get some good rubber on there, not cheap all-seasons. Pay attention to weight and to offset. Many wheels are heavier than stock and many wheels have the wrong offset. Just get 0.5" to 1" offset more towards the fender. Get 1" wider rim width. Get 1"-2" wider tires.

The Nismo Shop and Stillen have parts for your car.

So, number one should be tires and wheels. These are what stick you to the pavement. Number two should be brakes. They are affordable and a must have. Number three, whatever you like. Some other ideas are to get a nice seat and maybe a harness to hold you in place and to remove parts you don't use to make the car lighter.

[SSiso]

Ok great info, thanks as far as retuning my idle and timing I didn't do that, how should I go about doing this? Also do you recommend me getting the bully dog ft tuner or should I save up and get wheels and tires ? Thanks and god bless

[centralcoaster33]

Hmm, both sound pretty good, so plan for both with your budgeting. Here is a link to a discussion about the Bully Dog on Altimas. It's really long, but likely informative. It seems like a pretty neat device.
new-item-for-tuning-bullydog-t401362.html

After adjusting things like intake and exhaust the engine timing and idle should be adjusted. With older cars you really needed to do this to get the gains from the upgrades. Now, with such a new car, maybe the computer does quite a bit of this on it's own (relearning). But, to be sure, I'd look into the FSM. That has instruction at least for the throttle pedal and idle relearn. It will have procedure for setting timing as well. These are good things to know how to do and to make sure your car is running optimally. Here is a link to your FSM. Most of the stuff I refer to is in the EC chapter, look at pages 15-22. You can view or download the PDF on your device.
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Altima/2012%20Altima/

So, I always say tires and wheels first. You always use tires, you only sometimes use power. What good is power if it can't be delivered by the tires? Imagine a Ferrari on Prius wheels for an exaggerated point. But, I tend to forget not everyone starts with base model steelies and low resistance tires. So, tell me about your wheels. What sized wheels (rim diameter, width and offset) and what size, brand and tread condition tires do you currently have?

[seldomseen]

The aftermarket sway bar will provide instant performance improvement to your car, particular when cornering --- this is a known fact for the coupe.

Adding the aftermarket front tower bar, will provide instant straight line stabilization at high speeds --- this is also a known fact for the coupe.

The front tower brace and rear sway bar, is a no brainer combo for the coupe. When I have my car serviced at the dealership, the technicians always comment on how my coupe rides very taut.

Will your coupe handle like a GTR? Absolutely not. However, you will find that it will handle significantly better than a completely stock suspension.

[SSiso]

I have the factory wheels and tires. Which in my case are the steelies, with hub caps. Ik it's embarrassing but thank god i have tinted windows so people don't know who's driving . I was planning on going with Miros 398 flat bronze, why you might ask well my Coupe is a blueish gray "Ocean Gray" and I think it would look good with the bronze combination.

[SSiso]

If not the Miros 398 flat bronze, then I will be getting the XXR 530 matte bronze specs 18x8.75 5-100/5-114.3 offset +33. By the way would those specs ^ give me close to perfect fitment? Depending how my car looks I will be lowering it, mostly going with Megens or Truheart. Would do you guys think about this? I would greatly appreciate the feedback. God bless and thank you

[SSiso]

these are the xxr 530 matte bronze

[centralcoaster33]

That is a nice looking wheel, very big, wide and heavy. You will be adding un-sprung weight to your car. You will be increasing the contact patch area and reducing the sidewall deflection. You may or may not have fitment issues. You will have tires to buy in the future, so is this size easy to get and affordable? Please check out this cool article about upsizing, bigger isn't always better. See the charts. Big weight differences. You'll see that 17" and 18" handle about the same and have the same wheel width. Keep in mind it's a different car used for the test.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ef ... res-tested

I understand your wheels are stock, but I don't have that memorized, can you tell me the sizes please?

I'd use tire size calculators to determine the change in speedometer. I'd look at how much wider than stock you're looking at and where it will be centered. It doesn't look like you've picked a tire size or type yet. Tires are where you're money will be going after you get the wheels. On the low end, like Kumho Ecsta's, it's maybe an $80-$100 difference for four 18" tires instead of four 17" tires.

My first ticket ever was for tint! Haha, good times. Tint on drivers and passengers windows is illegal in CA, so I'm a bit jealous you get to do that.

[SSiso]

The specs that I will go with will be 18x8.75 5/114.3 offset +33 . You mention I will be adding "extra weight" I did research and each wheel weights close to 21 pounds, now I don't know much about wheels but 21 pounds doesn't sound heavy at all. As for tires i will be going with the Toyos Proxes 4 Plus 245/40/18 will this tire fit? Or what tire size will I need to go with?

[centralcoaster33]

It appears the tires will be more squared and less trapezoidal in cross section. I find each of those XXR tires to be weighed at 23.1 lbs. The larger tire will also weigh more than the smaller tire, the one you listed I find at about 25.5 lbs, though I actually didn't find the type and size combination you have listed at Tire Rack. You can compare the weight of the combined wheel and tire for your current setup (I don't know what that is, take your wheel off and weigh it) and your desired setup (about 48.6 lbs). You can calculate that into a ratio or percentage to have it make more sense. Tire rack tends to have approximate weight for tires, so you can look into that data there.

This is a tire and wheel calculator I've found. It lets you measure your wheel well rim and suspension and you put those numbers in to check for fitment clearances. Even without adding your own measurements, it makes nice pictures using the known sizes of your wheels and tires.
http://www.wheel-size.com/calc/?wheel1= ... 18X7.5ET45

I found this other article about sizing wheels. It reminds me that tires get harder as they get wider and that tire pressure is an important adjustment to consider as well.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/ho ... 2/4281033/

I did find some specs on Altima wheels from the factory. These cars have pretty big wheels compared to my 240sx. I didn't realize that, so your numbers seemed huge to me. Again it's all relative, that is why I asked you to please tell me the size you currently have, so I could speak relative to your situation.

Opinion (also subject to change) - For your car, these tires and wheels seem lumbering and cumbersome, but not as much as I was thinking last week. The factory size for the 3.5 seems pretty good to me and I'd tweak those numbers if it were my car.

Also, note your center bore and get the appropriate adapters. Stock is 66.1mm and those XXRs are 73.1mm. I have a similar thing with my wheels and have aluminum rings to fill that gap.

I would make a little chart and put your stock setup in there and the new setup and a few things to compare like cost, weight, size, contact patch (if you can figure that out). Then you can weigh the pros and cons of changing your setup. It's just an idea. You don't have to think about it that much. You can just put some wheels on. I'm pretty sure the stuff you suggested will fit and won't break your car or wallet. If you use that calculator and add some of your car's specific measurements, you can be more confident in the fitment/ clearance.

[SSiso]

Thanks so much for this info, i greatly appreciate it. Also you mentioned the center bore of the XXR 530 18x8.75 offset +33, which hubcentric rings do I go with? Do I even need them, if so should I go aluminum or plastic? Could you let me know the size if possible? Thanks so much again

[centralcoaster33]

Hi SSiso, you want to double check that bore diameter to verify, but I think I got it right. You can contact the wheel manufacturer. For the rings, I recommend aluminum. Plastic supposedly works and they're maybe nylon or ABS or something, but wheels are heat sinks for the brakes and rotors... so some hard driving can make all those parts really hot and that has resulted in melting the rings onto the hubs for some people. I get into my brakes pretty hard on the mountains, so I went with aluminum and I bought these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... lsrc=aw.ds

So, when they came in, the fitment was super close, but a hare off... like half a mm maybe? They fit onto the hub snug, but wouldn't wedge into the wheel bore. What I did was simply use a hacksaw and cut each ring once, making essentially a C instead of an O. Just one cut, the width of the hacksaw blade. That allowed the ring to close a hair and it all fit like perfection.

Per my research, yes, you need and want them. There's plenty of discussion about centering lug nuts and hub mating and what-not. I came to the conclusion it would be dumb to go without them... and the price was right.

[centralcoaster33]

So, if you get these. It would be interesting to weigh your OEM wheel and tire and share that here for others. I'm certainly curious. Also, a little eye candy can't hurt a thread. Posting a before and after picture would be appreciated. Just a thought!

[SSiso]

I will definitely post a before and after pic centralcoaster33. I will be researching a little bit more about the center bore of the wheel and which hubcentric rings is right for me. If you want, I can post a before and after of my exhaust aswell? Just so I can help anyone who is debating wether or not they should get the Top Speed Pro 1 cat back exhaust system and the OBX Header and Mid/Test pipe combo.

[centralcoaster33]

Pictures? Wheels? Saving up $$ ?

[OneFlyFatGuy]

Alright I just wanted to say Hi, and I wanted to know what other performance mods I can do to my Coupe. I have a 2012 Altima Coupe 2.5 CVT, as far as what I have done for performance wise, I have an Injen Intake, OBX Header with Mid/Test pipe and Top Speed Pro cat back exhaust system. I think it's a bit stupid loud but I had a few of my friends tell me it sounds good, anyways what other performance mod can I do to make the car respond better. Thanks

How much did the header install cost you? Wanted to get it done to my 3.5 but read on here it was like a $1000+ job because they'd have to pull the motor. Also any noticeable gains? Also read the gains were minimal but I really wanna do it lol.