Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:54 pm

It's often overlooked, but tires are one of the best upgrades you can buy as they're literally the only thing connecting you to the road. But the exact kind of tires you'll want to buy depends on your goals for the car, and the climate you live in. Is this your daily driver? And what climate do you live in?

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:05 pm

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:54 pm

It's often overlooked, but tires are one of the best upgrades you can buy as they're literally the only thing connecting you to the road. But the exact kind of tires you'll want to buy depends on your goals for the car, and the climate you live in. Is this your daily driver? And what climate do you live in?

Yeah, this is my daily driver, and I live in California

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:05 pm

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:54 pm

It's often overlooked, but tires are one of the best upgrades you can buy as they're literally the only thing connecting you to the road. But the exact kind of tires you'll want to buy depends on your goals for the car, and the climate you live in. Is this your daily driver? And what climate do you live in?

Yeah, this is my daily driver, and I live in California

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:25 pm

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:05 pm

Yeah, this is my daily driver, and I live in California

That rules out most high flow cat's from being an upgrade
Going to an X pipe instead of a factory Y pipe for exhaust will give you a couple more horsepower, but any other exhaust work won't really do much when you are constrained by the CARB legal cats.
You could get a front tower strut bar and some new, bigger SPL end links for front and rear which would stiffen the body up and give you better corner handling. Unless your taking turns hard this doesn't really matter much though.

Other than that, an UpRev tune would probably gain you 10-15 HP and make things just a little more responsive. But there just isn't much you can do without going into major work territory or not being in California.

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:49 pm

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:05 pm

Yeah, this is my daily driver, and I live in California

If you only want 1 set of wheels and tires, just go with all-seasons, especially if you plan on driving anywhere that gets below something like 40 degrees! But, if you don't mind the price tag, consider having a summer set of wheels/tires and a "rest of the year" set of wheels/tires. Then you can make use of the softer compound found in summer tires which will increase traction on the road!

Also I've heard of some people running summer tires year round because they live in very warm climates (for example: Texas). I can't vouch for that, but I'm sure depending on the climate that could also work

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 3:31 pm

Yes I believe Soul Function is the only one for the M35, and it is the one I have had in my car.

If you are going to get a tune in California I believe Church Automotive and Specialty-Z are the two top places outside of Jim Wolf Tech. But JWT doesn't really do stuff for people unless they are putting in engine parts made by them.

You can grab this off Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Wicked-Flow-Exhaust-Cros ... B082FC2BXX
And take it to just about any decent exhaust shop and tell them you want to replace the Y pipe section with the X pipe. They can probably cut part of your Y-pipe so you keep the existing bolt flanges and then adapt the pieces into the x pipe. Going out of the X-pipe, they would probably end up cutting the front of your midpipes off to adapt it's stock single tube into a dual pipe off the new X. Sorry if thats kinda confusing, it is hard to describe but the exhaust shop will know it all and do it well. I'm just trying to give you an idea of what would be done to your stock exhaust. You may want to get 2 of these if you want to be able to more easily take off your exhaust by keeping it in smaller sections: www.amazon.com/EVIL-ENERGY-Steel-Flange ... 01NH09ERG/ That would be done at the exit of the X-pipe and going into the mid pipe. Stock setup has a flange there that you unbolt, but the shop would probably cut that section out as I said, so if you want to be able to unbolt there in the middle still then a V-band clamp would let you do that.
To do the X-pipe exhaust it would probably be $150 or less for the work and materials when you bring the X pipe. It would be best to do that before you go get a tune.



edit: actually the stock piping diameter might be 2.25" and not 2.5". I really cant remember. You might want to have the exhaust shop check first. If it is 2.25 then you would probably want these instead:
www.amazon.com/TOTALFLOW-TF-SS2424-Stai ... B07BK2RGFT
www.amazon.com/EVIL-ENERGY-Stainless-Ex ... 07D5V348W/

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:25 pm

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:05 pm

Yeah, this is my daily driver, and I live in California

That rules out most high flow cat's from being an upgrade
Going to an X pipe instead of a factory Y pipe for exhaust will give you a couple more horsepower, but any other exhaust work won't really do much when you are constrained by the CARB legal cats.
You could get a front tower strut bar and some new, bigger SPL end links for front and rear which would stiffen the body up and give you better corner handling. Unless your taking turns hard this doesn't really matter much though.

Other than that, an UpRev tune would probably gain you 10-15 HP and make things just a little more responsive. But there just isn't much you can do without going into major work territory or not being in California.

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 3:40 pm

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:49 pm

If you only want 1 set of wheels and tires, just go with all-seasons, especially if you plan on driving anywhere that gets below something like 40 degrees! But, if you don't mind the price tag, consider having a summer set of wheels/tires and a "rest of the year" set of wheels/tires. Then you can make use of the softer compound found in summer tires which will increase traction on the road!

Also I've heard of some people running summer tires year round because they live in very warm climates (for example: Texas). I can't vouch for that, but I'm sure depending on the climate that could also work

Sounds good, is there a specific wheel or tire company you recommend?

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:06 pm

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 3:40 pm

Sounds good, is there a specific wheel or tire company you recommend?

Wheel choice is all about personal preference so I'd recommend looking around Fitment Industries' online store (I don't work there, I just like their selection) which you can find here: https://www.fitmentindustries.com . They have a boat load of different wheels to choose from and have a gallery where other people with your same car have uploaded the wheels they bought. So you can see how things would look on your car. Pretty wide pricing range too; with wheels that are only a couple hundred bucks all the way up to 10k lol. Don't buy the 10 grand wheels. Or do, it's your money!

For tires I've gone with Bridgestone Potenzas in the past and have been happy with them. They weirdly have some bad reviews online but I haven't experienced any tread life issues with mine so take that with a grain of salt. That's just my opinion though. I'd like to try some Toyo's at some point too. I hear they're pretty good.

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:23 pm

Is there and SPL end links that you can recommend?

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:12 am

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:23 pm

Is there and SPL end links that you can recommend?

These are the ones I have used:
https://www.z1motorsports.com/suspensio ... -5097.html
https://www.z1motorsports.com/suspensio ... -6599.html
From others hear it seems the stock end links fail quite often when you have lowering springs, but with these heavy duty ones they have worked great for 2-3 years now for me with no issues and the adjustment allows you to have a shop get all pre-load out of the sway bar which helps street use cornering. Or, you can specifically load it so right-hand turns are easier since those are sharper and the body rolls more into them. My car was running for a while about 2" lower than stock with these end links, more of a drop than typical lowering springs even do.

Speaking of lowering springs, that is another thing you can do to increase handling if you wanted to. I am preferential to full coilovers, but many people here like the Eibach springs.
What I would say is that if you ever get an inspection coming back that says your struts or shocks have started leaking and will need replacement soon (could happen soon with a 2007 model) then just get coil overs then. The price of them is cheaper than new stock shocks and struts, and I have had bad experience on my car with KYB aftermarket replacement shocks and struts. But if you are in good shape there and dont need to replace them, springs are fine to get.

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:30 pm

Squanto wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:06 pm

Wheel choice is all about personal preference so I'd recommend looking around Fitment Industries' online store (I don't work there, I just like their selection) which you can find here: https://www.fitmentindustries.com . They have a boat load of different wheels to choose from and have a gallery where other people with your same car have uploaded the wheels they bought. So you can see how things would look on your car. Pretty wide pricing range too; with wheels that are only a couple hundred bucks all the way up to 10k lol. Don't buy the 10 grand wheels. Or do, it's your money!

For tires I've gone with Bridgestone Potenzas in the past and have been happy with them. They weirdly have some bad reviews online but I haven't experienced any tread life issues with mine so take that with a grain of salt. That's just my opinion though. I'd like to try some Toyo's at some point too. I hear they're pretty good.

I currently have Toyo proxes 4 plus run flats and they’ve been doing me good, but thanks, I’ll definitely give them a look

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:05 pm

Are the Megan racing coil overs for the M35 any gold to your knowledge? And I’ve seen there is a Universal air kit for the M35, have you heard anything on that either?

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:18 pm

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:05 pm

Are the Megan racing coil overs for the M35 any gold to your knowledge? And I’ve seen there is a Universal air kit for the M35, have you heard anything on that either?

Im not sure about any of the air kits.

The Megan coilovers are no longer good for this car. I was told by a reputable coilover vendor when I had purchased my BC coilovers that the newer Megan series that fits our cars is cheaper than the competition because it uses a lower grade valve in them that is not as consistent and doesn't last as long.
I like my BC ones, but the springs it comes with are a little stiffer than stock springs. The damping can be set really low so that bumps feel similar to stock, but no matter how soft you go it will always have a bit stiffer and more pronounced feel when you hit a bump in the road. You can buy custom springs that are softer than the ones that come with the BC coilovers, and this would get you back to the stock feel, or you can go with stiffer springs on any of the coilover brands and it will help your cornering. Generally, the stiffer the spring and shock damping the better you will be able to take turns at speed. This is another reason coilovers can be nice, you can set the damping way down for street use and turn them up 15-20 clicks for track use. The BC coilovers have adjustments that can be routed inside the rear trunk and in the engine bay that let you make adjustments without taking the whole coilover off the car. This is the reason I chose BC for myself.

JoserMac wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:13 pm

Can you recommend any good exhausts? Any you’ve heard are good and or bad?