Yet Another New G35 Owner

[Ptone]

After being in family sedan purgatory I have finally found a way to get into a sports sedan again. I found a 04 G35 sedan on the lot at the local Nissan dealer that was just off of a lease. There was only 26k miles on it and the price was well below book. I picked it up and haven't had any regrets since; the car is perfect for my highway commute. I have a few newbie questions:

1. The reason why I was in a family sedan was my 99 SHO’s engine self destructed at 70k. The timing gear separated from the camshaft and since the DOCH V8 was an interface engine, the values destroyed the psitons and block. This is actually a common problem with those engines so there were no replacements available. I know the Nissan VQ engine is bulletproof and the G35 in is very well rated but are there any issues I should look out for in these cars? I’m sure there is nothing as bad as the SHO but this car is going to have to last me 200k miles so I want to be sure I'm aware of any potential problems.

2. The 2004 has 20 less horsepower than the 2005 with the auto transmission. What did Nissan do to make the change? Is it a different program or chip that I can get my hands on or are there hardware changes to the engine?

3. The car was missing the manual but I can download on for 2005, is the service schedule and specifications the same when it comes to the fluids and other maintenance?

4. I’m finding a lot of good information on mods on this board but is there any “must do” mod for this car that everyone does?

When the G35's came out they went on my wish list and even though I've had it for a few weeks right I still can't believe there's one in my garage. I have never driven a sedan that has both the power and handling that this one does.

Preston

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, Preston!

You bought a great car, and the VQ is damn near bulletproof. There's a reason it's been on the "10 best Engines" list for 10 years.

As long as you keep up with the recommended maintenance, there's not a lot of glaring issues with these cars.

As far as "must do" mods: Buy a Z-tube (it's the intake tube for the 350Z), you can get it from one of our OEM sponsors... it's a 5-minute swap, adds a few horsies and sounds cool as hell.

http://www.nicoclub.com/addirectory.shtml

The Motordyne Engineering plenum spacer is a good mod too, very stealthy. Combined with the Z-tube, you'll be VERY close to +20 hp.

[Ptone]

Thanks for the good information, these Mods look like something I can do. I found the info for the spacers on-line but do you know the OEM part number of the Z-Tube? I didn't have any luck looking at the part sites yesterday.

[joe603]

...do you know the OEM part number of the Z-Tube? I didn't have any luck looking at the part sites yesterday.

here's one for ya:

http://www.mynismo.com/products/?id=2575

[Ptone]

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.