Finally added a few mods to wake the M45 up

Forum for Infiniti M35 and M45, and Nissan Fuga owners.
Boonies
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The M45 has been very reliable, but not as much fun as my last car, a 2002 Audi S8. This week I added the Stillen cat back exhaust...I really like the sound of the exhaust a very mellow deep throated sound that is not at all harsh. It is not any noisier in the car than stock except if you romp on it, then just a nice sound.
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I also added an R2C intake unit.
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I was traveling this last week so I gave the car to my shop to flush the transmission (~46k) and add the exhaust and intake. Nice ride home from the airport. I really can't feel the increase in performance but suspect that between the two it should be about 20 HP.


M4point5
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20hp....not a chance. Not even with a tune.

Boonies
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begs the question why bother with a tune...

Double E
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I believe the best path for improvement is an uprev?

Not sure in my case...I don't think it can be done to the Y34...

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Twizz
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Car: 2007 M35X - Stillen exhaust, Injen CAI, dropped on Espelir springs, Morimoto 3K Hid Fogs, Morimoto 6K low beams, Full interior and exterior LEDs, air horn, 35% tint all around(45% on the windshield)

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Boonies wrote:begs the question why bother with a tune...
Thinking the same thing. I have the Stillen and Injen CAI. Was thinking about getting a plenum spacer too. But if it wont add much HP, then what is the point of the tune ?

06M4.5
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exhaust, custom y-pipe and tune is a must for a M45 :biggrin:

seymore4
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Twizz wrote:
Boonies wrote:begs the question why bother with a tune...
Thinking the same thing. I have the Stillen and Injen CAI. Was thinking about getting a plenum spacer too. But if it wont add much HP, then what is the point of the tune ?
Plenum spacer would be the absolute first mod I did on an M35.. then tune since you've already got an exhaust and intake. Guarantee you notice an improvement or your money back :)

seymore4
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Double E wrote:Not sure in my case...I don't think it can be done to the Y34...
Unfortunately you are SOL when you comes to tuning... 03-04 M's use the oldschool ecu that Uprev can't tune :(

seymore4
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OP I've got the same exhaust on my 06 M45, really like it. A tune will open her up a bit, feel free to PM me with any questions about how it works.

Next up on my list... fixing the AC! lol then custom Y-pipe... been too lazy recently :/

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stm37s
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those mods are just the start brother, you will be doing more, trust me

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trayday
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Another easy mod is to PnP the upper intake manifold. I spoke to Fluid Motor Union and they said they gained about 11-13 hp on their M45 (Marilyn). I have done this on my M45 with the extra intake manifold but I have yet to put it on.

Wangtang408
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Plenum spacer would be the absolute first mod I did on an M35.. then tune since you've already got an exhaust and intake. Guarantee you notice an improvement or your money back :)[/quote]

Which plenum spacers do y'all recommend for an 06 m35

seymore4
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brand is pretty irrelevant, they're all pretty much the same. Go for a 5/16"

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svard75
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Hey the OP started this thread for the M45's with the 4.5l V8. Don't derail to the little itty bitty V6's LOL JK.

IMO a NA V8 likes to breath. To open her up a bit more you have to widen things. Wider intake (Port and Polish - You can do this yourself just buy new gaskets), Wider intake valves and exhaust valves (Again Port and Polish, 5 angle valve job, extrude hone, etc - Unless you have a flow bench you'll need to have a performance shop do this for you), Lumpier cams (If you can't source anything new you can always have yours welded and ground down to support longer duration), Headers (either source already built 4-2-1 headers if you're planning on going with a nice big set of cats and pipes or 4-1 if you're planning on leaving stock diameter exhaust, or get yours extrude honed at a performance shop), Replace the cats with high-flow cats, eliminate any secondary resonators, replace the Y pipe in favor of an H pipe and you already have the cat back exhaust. Other than that you can invest in a 100 shot dry nitrous kit and lighten the cars weight.

Boonies
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msvara, thanks for your comments and encouragement!

Don't want to seem negative, but if I were to undertake all that effort and expense for relatively modest results I might as well trade the beast in on the same vintage Audi S6 which is in the 415 hp range.

I elected to go the infiniti route for durability and economic certainty. My S8 was costing me a fortune in repair expense and with two kids in college I chose the M45.

I am still fairly happy with the purchase, just a few things that still need to be done.
1) The road noise is significant and I would like to pull the interior out to install sound deadening to help with that.
2) Tune: I have a bullydog that I am planning to try, but am open to an uprev tune. I am a little concerned about either since I have a factory warranty and really don't want to void it.

seymore4
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There honestly aren't many options for the VK45DE, and you don't even want to get into cams.. there's a guy on Infiniti Scene who is going on 2 years and 3 motors on what was supposed to be a simple cam install on his FX45.. well lets just say it didn't go as planned.

Intake, exhaust, custom Y pipe, tune, transgo and you're done... unless you want to drop $2000+ on custom headers (there are no production sets available)

Boonies- Don't even waste your time with the Bullydog... They work well enough for the Titans but thats pretty much it. Uprev is the only tuning game in town. As for the warranty, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you have the Uprev reflash cable you can reflash back to stock within about 2 minutes leaving absolutely no trace

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svard75
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Yeah uprev through seymore4!

Wangtang408
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seymore4 wrote:brand is pretty irrelevant, they're all pretty much the same. Go for a 5/16"
Based on a little research copper is for snow/cold weather, I'm in Cali so I just need the non-copper?
Also what is the difference between 1/2 & 5/16?

link below from ebay, is that what I need? $205.00 shipped!

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adrdsouza
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What is the model number of the transgo for the 2007 M45 (automatic)? I cant seem to find any info on the forums.

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Blackzilla
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+1 on the transgo I'd like to know that

Rob-bb
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trayday wrote:
Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:55 am
Another easy mod is to PnP the upper intake manifold. I spoke to Fluid Motor Union and they said they gained about 11-13 hp on their M45 (Marilyn). I have done this on my M45 with the extra intake manifold but I have yet to put it on.

Hi, I know this was a long time ago, but when you port and polish the upper intake manifold, are you talking about where the two haves of the manifold meet? Or port/polish to the ports on the head?


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