Which route to go?

[spanishricer]

Well, I'm at a crossroads of sorts. I've been in the planning stages of my turbo upgrade for the past month, and came to the conclusion that it's going to be expensive

Car in question is a '95 240sx w/S14 SR, moderately modded.

The plan was to go with a GT3071r coupled to either a Full Race or Peakboost manifold/downpipe combo. A Greddy intake manifold and either some HKS or Tomei cams will also be thrown into the mix. Tuning will be done with an HKS F-Con Vpro. Add in all the usual upgrades (injectors, wastegate, lines, fittings, tuning, etc...) and I'm looking at about $7k worth of work. Goal is a minimum of 400whp.

But that also leaves me with a rather mundane looking Zenki. After all that work, all I'll probably be able to afford is a new front bumper and some kouki tails. I'd like to go much further with the exterior. Thoughts that have danced around in my head include a vented carbon hood, Bomex front bumper, keeping the kouki sides and match them up with the Cwest rear apron. Entire car will be sprayed Diamond Graphite Metallic (G35 factory color) and a big wheel upgrade. Then I'll be limited to a small turbo upgrade, injectors, and a nice rom tune.

So what are your thoughts on this?

400+whp stock body Zenki? Or thorough exterior mods, while settling for around 300whp?

Please...discuss

[spanishricer]

Sorry, forgot to mention the whole reason behind this poll. I'll be returning to pharmacy school full time next spring and probably won't be working much at all. So I'd like to get my car to where I'm happy with it before then. Because after school starts...nothing matters but finishing as fast as humanly possible.

[1991S13]

I said focus on the turbo and don't do a lot of exterior mods. Maybe it's just personal preference, but after I finished up all my body work I wished I would have spent it on making the car faster instead of looking better. You will probably come along more Zenkis with body kits and crazy paint than ones with 400+hp.

It probably makes it more fun to have a semi-stock looking car that is putting down 400hp too. It would be more satisfying for me to put a fast car with a crazy body kit and paint to shame in a plain looking car.

[drifter_for_life06]

personally i could care less about the show

build the power

hell if i had those turbo plans id let a few hamemrs take action to my doors, youll be fast and have the ultimate sleeper look.....or the ultiamte BAD drifter look

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

do the outside as well as the power. 300 hp aint nothing to scoff at.........

[HashiriyaS14]

do the outside as well as the power. 300 hp aint nothing to scoff at.........

I know it sounds rice-ish, but you're already making quite a bit of power, and it's nice to have a balanced car.

Even more importantly, a 400hp SR can have a lot that goes wrong with it...when you're in school, and you can't blow cash on it, do you want to be running that aggressively tuned an engine? What if something blows up?

[st33f]

hey man.... I say get a GT2871R and injectors and a afc...

then do body

youll make 375 with that turbo and some 660 with a bunch of headroom

then later go back and do headwork cams etc.

the gt2817R bolts up to stock lines and all... just get a better o2 housing.

[whiterps13]

with my car, i try to keep it as balanced as possible. what are you planning on doing to the suspension, interior, and other aspects of the car?

[TheOne]

i'd say up the performance rather than the looks, keep it stock lookin for that sleeper style......as for the engine bein unreliable, you can always do 300hp for those normal days and 400 for the weekend, then it shouldn't be so unreliable.

[HashiriyaS14]

i'd say up the performance rather than the looks, keep it stock lookin for that sleeper style......as for the engine bein unreliable, you can always do 300hp for those normal days and 400 for the weekend, then it shouldn't be so unreliable.

Great. Because blowing up a car on Saturday is just way better than blowing up a car on a Tuesday

[USsil80]

just think which would be more fun to drive.. but i agree with the gt2871 idea with some body mods..then you will have the best of both worlds

[spanishricer]

with my car, i try to keep it as balanced as possible. what are you planning on doing to the suspension, interior, and other aspects of the car?

Well I didn't mention the interior or suspension because those areas are pretty much done. I placed my order a couple weeks back for some KTS coilovers from SPL. Also will be purchasing tie rods, tension rods, ruca's and rear toe arms from them when the coilovers come in.

Interior was the first thing I worked on. Figured if you have to spend 2 hours a day in your car, might as well be a damn comfortable 2 hours. Picked up some leather S15 seats, S15 steering wheel, carbon dash kit, JDM Z32 shift knob, bunch of leather goodies from Redline accessories. I'm happy with it

And I'm not too worried about the reliability of my car. The motor has been nothing but perfect (thanks Phase2) and the shop doing all my work has done nothing but impress me. Plus, the FCon Vpro is supposed to be a tuning miracle worker

[comablack783]

Id do the turbo and cheap(not sure how cheap they are compared to the stuff u were thinking about) exterior mods, for instance id update it to a 98 front/lights with 98 side skirts, and the 98 Factory Front Lip. that front lip makes all the difference, the car looks like a freakin r34 - flares. IMO the 98 with the lip color matched is the best lookig 240 nissan ever came out with. Id paint it all in liquid metal (i think thats what nissan calls that dark silver on the 350z) with maybe some G35 wheels. i think they are 19", but they look perfect on that car.

[sensibleS13driver]

I agree with st33f, go for mid 300's and get small exterior mods such as 97-8 sideskirts yum, a front lip or maybe a nice bumper plus the coilovers on the way, and you should be set for a while. BTW i love your seats, and the rest of teh car.