I'm glad to see that you're having so much fun with your Max. I will say though that watching your video rekindles a love I never lost for my 6MT, haha. As far as your VDC goes are you saying that it switches the VDC off on its own or the light goes out? As far as performance goes theres a ton of options but here are a couple good site for parts that we know make power..
http://racinglineperformance.com/shop/p ... ategory=11
Their high flow cats and catless y-pipe will give your car a very noticeable bump in power without a CEL. I don't know what NZ emissions standards are, if there are any, but this setup has been proven to pass tests in California.
http://www.nwpengineering.com/Phenolic_Spacers.html
Since you have a CVT I wouldn't recommend the VIAS plate.
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/customer_part.asp
Arguably the best cams for Nissans
I could go on forever but it really depends on what kind of money you want to put into the car and then decide how best to spend that money. A custom intake is just as good as any name brand and can be a lot cheaper. Just buy the best filter you can find to put on the end of it. I can't really speak about the CVT or what it can hold/put up with but depending how far you want to go tuning will have to be done. Considering that transmission is probably the weak point I would spend time researching how to go about extending its life before you do anything else.