EaSY queStIon:

[50Mustang]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1993 nissan maxima that has 80k on it. I have had has this car for 5 months now, and I must say, just like the 5.0 mustangs this car deff lives up to its reputation!

Ok, well being that I am a "FORD" guy I don't have all the info on nissan cars so I know you guys can help me.

Story short, I would like to know all the basic aftermarket ways to upgrade my nissan for better gas mileage and overall efficiency.

So far this is what I do know of, 1. Royal Purple oil and trans fluid, K&N air filter, NGK spark plugs and after market exhaust.

Ok so did I miss anything?

[jltibbs]

Welcome to NICO!

You could actually find an intake system instead of the K&N, that might be a little better. MinisterOfDoom should a little more info as well.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Royal Purple and NGK plugs are a great start. In fact, if you're not already running NGK plugs, I'd make that the first item on the list. I'd recommend Platinums. Plug wires are another thing to consider.

Is your car a GXE or SE? In 93 they had different motors.Like tibbs said, it might be worth your while to look into an aftermarket intake. Do your research, though: the stock airbox is already pretty good (not too convoluted and draws air from a pretty cool spot) and a lot of aftermarket intakes provide gains in one area only in exchange for losses in another.

If your car is a GXE, it's worth looking into a fresh distributor cap. SE doesn't have a distributor.

A GXE running well should net high 20s and even low 30s mpg on the highway and high teens to mid-20s in town. I managed 31mpg with stock intake, non-K&N stock-replacement filter, and a conservative cat-back on the last highway-only run in my GXE, and I wasn't driving like a granny. These cars LOVE the highway.

SE should be pretty comparable...maybe a bit higher through town and a bit lower on the highway.

[D-Maxima]

this might seem silly but Im not sure which model 3rd gen my max is? GXE SE?? i thought it might be different because Im in Australia so different market to US. Is it on the engine plate or anything? Its engine is VG30e and built late 92?

i always just thought it was the Ti luxury model...

[MinisterofDOOM]

Trim designations might be different there.Here, GXE has the VG30e, SE has the VE30DE.GXE is the luxury model, SE the sport model.

Your car actually looks like a North American SE, since it has non-body-colored mirrors and lower trim and darker tail lights. So the trim levels are different in more than just name.

[Chris92SE]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1993 nissan maxima that has 80k on it. I have had has this car for 5 months now, and I must say, just like the 5.0 mustangs this car deff lives up to its reputation!

Ok, well being that I am a "FORD" guy I don't have all the info on nissan cars so I know you guys can help me.

Story short, I would like to know all the basic aftermarket ways to upgrade my nissan for better gas mileage and overall efficiency.

So far this is what I do know of, 1. Royal Purple oil and trans fluid, K&N air filter, NGK spark plugs and after market exhaust.

Ok so did I miss anything?

Probably the best "bang for the buck" bolt-on modification you can do for either the VG30E or the VE30DE engine is install a performance aftermarket Y-pipe.

It increases hp, which leads to better mpg.

They cost about $200 and if you worked on a Mustang in the past, you should be able to install it yourself. It's just a handful of bolts and a couple of gaskets. If you current Y-pipe is rusted on, most muffler shops only charge like $50 to install.

I did mine myself in a couple of hours, but I know a guy with a lift, which makes the job a lot easier.

The most common seller is:

http://www.warpspeedperformance.com

Personally, I have a y-pipe, intake, GReddy cat-back, underdrive pulley and an aluminum flywheel in my Maxima.

Up until last year, I could get 30 mpg on the freeway. This past fall, my retarded state (Oregon) mandated all gas be 10 percent ethanol, so my mpg has dropped by about 3-4 mpg.