I want some info on my new ride, somebody help me please!

[gumbysgottaQ]

Hello all! I am the proud owner of a new (to me) 97 Q45t. I traded in my 94 Sedan Deville for this car and so far I am very pleased with it's performance. However, I've been checking out different websites and reading mixed reviews about my new whip. Personally I am satisfied with my purchase (which is most important) but I wanted to know why some are calling it the "ugly step-sister", I know the wood grain isn't real wood but that's a little harsh and what does a Cima (?!) look like. And what's up with the headlights? I have condensation in one of mine and was told that I would have to replace the entire unit at a small cost of $177.00 plus labor! Then there's the stereo. Bose is known for it's clarity but bass is almost non-existent in my car. Of course I had two 12's in the back of my caddy and that could be why I have an issue with the sound system. A guy told me that I just have to live with it because Bose set it up so that I could not use any aftermarket products, is this true? Are there any websites or magazines with pictures of Q's that have been souped up? I plan on having this car for a while and I want to have one of the best out there. Please help!:help

[AZhitman]

Whew!

Well Gumby, let me be the first to welcome you to NICO. Your best bet is to take a few days off, grab a six-pack and sit and read a lot of NICO history, thread by thread, starting with the ones that sound most interesting.

The "ugly step-sister" is a figure of speech... Most of the owners here own 1st-gen Q's (90-93). They're the fastest of the Q's, and some would say the purest "sport sedan". Called the 'President' in Japan.

Several of us (myself included) own 2nd-gen (94-96) Q's - also referred to as "grilled Q's" (they have a chrome grille, duh). Somewhat more luxury, a little less power. Also called the 'President' in Japan.

Least popular (numbers-wise) are the 3rd-gen (97-01) models, called the Cima in Japan. Some like the styling, some don't. I personally think the 't' model in the green/grey mist looks KICK A$$. The least powerful of the Q's due to the decrease in displacement (4.1 from 4.5), they are also the heaviest (I think). There's still relatively good aftermarket support for these (see Stillen).

Unless you gut the system, I think you're stuck with the Bose, but I could be wrong. For parts (like your headlight housings), check with Joe at Scottsdale Infiniti Parts Dept here in AZ. Best prices for NICO members.

What a HUGE upgrade from a SDV... I know Bionic will chime in here (he's a Caddy owner).

Welcome again - Enjoy!

[PalmerWMD]

Welcome to NICO Gumby..

Let me do one correction and a couple of additions to Azhitmans good summary.

Correction:The 97-01 are the lightest generation of Q's, this goes especially for the 97's.This somewhat offsets the lower displacement.

Additions:They also have an enviable repuation for reliability and (for a luxury car at least) low maintenace costs.

Some of us 1st Gen Q owners claim some snob appeal as our cars cost a lot of $$ to keep in good shape, where as driver of the 3rd gen (97-01) claim we were just to cheap to spring for a newer model.

So there will always be some good-natured ribbing.

You have a great car!.Be sure to take some pics for our members ride section, include both your name and screename use the link on top of this page.

I also want to repeat AZ hitmans advise about reading this site a LOT over the next couple of days.When specific subject interests you there is a well working search feature on the home page.

See ya on the boards!

Fred...

[aaacomp]

You can get a Clarion Stereo,CD, Tape replacement for your Bose from Crutchflields.brakes, gears,etc http://65.218.97.18....:thumbup

[maxnix]

The Cima based Qs are indeed lighter by a couple hundred to a hundred pounds, depending which years and models one is comparing.

While many here own and are fans of the first generation (1990-1996, of which there are at least 3 subspecies), I myself have noted that the second genration Q has many updates to assure its reliability and everyday drivability performance, and has extremely high build quality.

[tkd_q45]

Gumby - Realize that when your version of the Q came out many of us were disappointed that Nissan simply took an existing other sedan (Cima, that had been around for YEARS in Japan) and called it a "NEW" Q. Also realize that Nissan was having a hard time in the mid 90s. For a while there were rumors that they were going to discontinue the Infiniti brand. They had lost a lot of money to Lexus.

I can only speak for myself but I think the styling is not as nice as the 1st/2nd Gen. Many of the parts are cheaper. Not only the fake wood interior but check out the plastic door handles! 3rd Gen Q seems more generic. I think that they tried to "soften" the Q to try and be more like a Lexus. Overall - when I first saw the 97Q my gut reaction was "damage control."

It is a nice car. My boss let me drive his. It's more quite than my 92 but it just feels cheap in comparison. - Don't mean to dis your car, it's a nice ride just not as "grand" as the original. I envy the better reliabilty! Our 1st Gens can be an expensive mistresses - though not as bad as my 92 400e MBZ - but that's another story!

[BadQ45t]

Okay, I think I am guilty for the "step-sister" that he saw posted. Let me tell you Gumby that I own a 1997 Q45t, and frankly I really love the car and plan to drive it for a long time. The guys here for the most part love the first gens and I was always a fan of them. But for MY dollar I've never been in love with the styling of the 90-93. The reason that I called it the step sister is because of all the bashing it takes...but I don't think you should be too disapointed with what you just bought...look at some facts:

Your car is 500 lbs lighter and the engine produces more HP per liter than the first gen did (4.5/278 = 61.7hp per liter versus 4.1/266 = 84.8)Your car will have FAR fewer problems than any first gen (mine has 67k and has virtually nothing go wrong, my Dad's 92' had over 8k in repairs at the same mileage)Your car looks better IMHO (this will be very debated)Your car shipped with bigger tires and rims than first gens 15" which is too small for such a big car, again IMHO

So feel good, you'll drive it for years for sure. I think that the Bose system is okay, I wonder if your system is the same because mine has plenty of bass, in fact I turn it down a bit sometimes.

[BadQ45t]

Oh, and you'll get better gas mileage too, I get consisten 20 mhg and 23-24 on the highway. I've borrowed my Dad's car it gets 16 or 17 mixed and 20 highway....

[Chally]

All good info.Just to clear a point, the President & the Q45 had the same model code of G50, but the President had a different grill & headlights & it also came as a Long wheelbase option.

The President & the Infiniti Q45 were sold side by side in Japan until the Y33 based Cima/Q45 was released.

I have a Y31 Cima, which was made from 89-92, then the 1st V8 Cima was produced in 92, & it was only the 4.1l, but it was a VERY nice vehicle & it had the nice soft leather seats & it drove VERY well, (I had a drive of one of those as well) then Nissan decided to cut costs & Platform Share some vehicles, to the point that the only difference from the Cima & the Q45 now, is that one it RHD & the other, the Q45, is LHD.There is no longer a Q45 in Japan, but the G50 President is still being sold.

[gumbysgottaQ]

Thanks for welcoming me to the club and for all of the info. I just got back from the store and rather than a couple 6 packs, I bought a couple cases for this holiday weekend (my company recognizes Columbus Day). I plan on going through all relevant threads. You all will be happy to know that my Uncle just bought a 1999 I30 and my Dad just bought a 2000 G20. I told both of them about this site and how you guys knew everything about Infiniti's. I've never seen the inside of any other Q but I do like the 1st generation Q's body style, it's unique. But I like mine better! One thing that I noticed was that my tires look a tad small for the size of the car. I have the standard 16" rims w/ new Kumho's on them. Have any of you gone up in size on your rims? I realize 20's are to big, and to gaudy for the car in my opinion. But I was thinking maybe 17's or 18's would do the trick. What do you guys think? Also what type of oil are you guys using, natural or synthetic? If the rain stops here any time soon I'll wash the whip and post pictures for all to see.

[PalmerWMD]

Thanks for welcoming me to the club and for all of the info. I just got back from the store and rather than a couple 6 packs, I bought a couple cases for this holiday weekend (my company recognizes Columbus Day). I plan on going through all relevant threads. 1) You all will be happy to know that my Uncle just bought a 1999 I30 and my Dad just bought a 2000 G20. I told both of them about this site and how you guys knew everything about Infiniti's. I've never seen the inside of any other Q but I do like the 1st generation Q's body style, it's unique. But I like mine better! 2) One thing that I noticed was that my tires look a tad small for the size of the car. I have the standard 16" rims w/ new Kumho's on them. Have any of you gone up in size on your rims? I realize 20's are to big, and to gaudy for the car in my opinion. But I was thinking maybe 17's or 18's would do the trick. What do you guys think? 3)Also what type of oil are you guys using, natural or synthetic? If the rain stops here any time soon I'll wash the whip and post pictures for all to see.

So many questions all at once...I will marke them in my quote of your post with 1) and 2) etc .

1) Awesome!! We look forward to see them here soon.

2) That size (16) is very functional for your car, the current fashion is larger ( I have 17's on my 91), but keep in mind that larger wheel and lower profiel tires that go with them mean only very little improved handling in exchange for incrased harshness adn much more expensive tires. Fir example excepting the kumhos I really can't find any decent/semi-decent tires in my current size, 245-45 Z17's for less than $200 each.If you wanna go up there is a very nice factory 17 inch wheel which came standard on "t" models of your generation Q.Remember that the vast majority of aftermarket wheels, are of inferior quality, stranght, roundness compared to your factory rims. aftermarket.In order to get comparable quality as factory rims you woudl proabably need at least 200/300 per rim.Eithre way I would not go above 17's3) Many of us use, even swear by, full synthetic oils. I myself curently use Valvoline SynPower in the 5w-40 weight. Formerly used MOBIL1 also a very good oil.I like the 5w-40 because it's thick enough to be a non-CAFE oil in my mind, but has really good cold pour behaviour like our dohc engines need.

Execute a search in the search area on our home page look for an "Infiniti article" named simply "oils".It's a general discussion/idle musings about oils, espeically synthetic ones. Comparing brands as well as educating a bit about various oil issues.Keep in mind that many of those articles are threads we took with us from our old NICO site and put them in our articles section because we felt they deserved it. (not all old threads were saved in this manner we took only the better ones).So you will see the article as a question and answer exchange, like a thread, which it originally was.

Fred...

[PalmerWMD]

I also think its very cool that you guys are such an infiniti family.

Fred...

[AZhitman]

Gumby - Sounds like an awesome weekend planned!

Several of us are running 245 or 255/50/16's on either 300ZX rims or 97-01 Q rims. REALLY makes a diff in handling and ride, and fills the wheel well nicely. If I had a 97-01 Q (and could afford the $$$ tires) I would have the 17" 5-spoke touring alloys with 245/45/17's. Otherwise, i'd have my current setup (which you can see in Member's Rides).

[BadQ45t]

I have bought set of 17" rims called Primax (they are suppose to be pretty good( for my 97' but I will continue to be on the look-out for a set of stock touring rims and swap out the Primax's when I do find them. The problem is that to buy them from Infiniti is stupid (like 300-400 bucks per rim) so you need to find them from a third party and there just aren't that many of them to go around.

I totally agree with you, the 215/65 15 stock size is not where I want to be, but I had new rubber and at least wanted to get some wear out of them after I bought the car. I'm going to put 245/45 17's on around Christmas time when I mount the new rims.

[ERicincal]

I have 17 inchers on my car.. and I think they fill the wheel wells pretty well without looking too OVER done. I have 245/45/17's on my car.. and used to have 255/40/17s. ( rode a bit harsher)

the tires are Comp T/As and were on speciasl at americas tire store for only $100 bucks a piece installed.

image here

[AZhitman]

E - That thing's beautiful! Those rims look like a set of Ronal's I had - They'd be REALLY sharp in the body color IMO...

Is your Q on stock springs?

[lonallenq45]

I have 17 inchers on my car.. and I think they fill the wheel wells pretty well without looking too OVER done. I have 245/45/17's on my car.. and used to have 255/40/17s. ( rode a bit harsher)

ERicincal,

What width and offset are those 17" wheels? Looks nice!

[fxjackso]

ERicincal-

Is it AVEZ or AZEV? They look like the wheels Steve Millen had on his Q45- the brown 95-96 with nitrous, whose picture they used in ads. I spoke to Stillen and they quoted me a stratospheric price, but said that they were forged wheels, and very light weight while also super strong. Had I known I would be on my second Q after all these years I would have bitten the bullet. They look great on your Q- you made a great choice.

[ERicincal]

I wish I could help you more, but I bought the car like that. So I have no idea of the offset. They are the AZEV wheels. I must have made a typo. This brand of wheel is usually used on Ferraris. As far as the price, I believe they were about 800 bucks a wheel when they were bought new in 1994. They look really nice in person. I have a better full size photo here . The photo realy doesnt do the rim justice. Its completely flat and shiny. Just enough Bling Bling.. but not too tacky. .click here for full size

The guy I bought the car from was a car nut. He had a $180,000 custom Lorinser CL 600, and a 700 hp Porsche 911 turbo, and the reason he got rid of his Q, was becuase he replaced it with a new SMG M3. All of these cars had killer custom rims and lowered suspension. He obviously didnt care about the price. He just ordered waht he wanted, and had it all installed at the dealers. one custom thing he did was ALWAYS painted the center caps black. all of his cars. Very nice. I figured since he babied the car and did all of the work at the dealership, it should last me a while. (fingers crossed)

Im not sure about springs, the dealership said that he did the full stillen suspension, but I didnt know stillen made a suspension kit, so Im not sure. Does anyone know if they do? Also.. how would I be able to tell if it is a Stillen suspension, and when I do the conversion, will I be able to use those same springs?

Im pretty new to this board, and so far the people seem really educated and very willing to help. I belong to another board as well ( http://www.nsxprime.com) if you guys have time, check it out, they are a great bunch of people

[911/Q45]

If the upper control arms are gold and adjustable and the tension rods that run forward from the lower control arms are adjustable, then you have the full Stillen suspension.

[ERicincal]

well.. I have the Q45a, so that probably means I dont have it though.. correct? Did Stillen make springs that fit the Q? By the way. I am a completely NON technical guy.. I am just learing about cars. (30 years old and dont know much about it all.. sad!)