General Grim

I own a 2013 G37 Sedan Journey non-sport and I finally have some extra money to spend on my car. I was first thinking of upgrading my G's appearance by putting on a sport front bumper, sport rims, and brake calipers. I did some window shopping and estimated that the cost for all three would be around $3,000 and that perfectly fits my budget. However, I just spoke to a fellow G owner and he advised me to spend my money on performance upgrades instead. He told me upgrade the exhaust system, lightweight rims (16 inch rims instead of 18), and maybe an intake. He said that my G is the lightest model, and it is better to take advantage of that and make the car lighter as it is and perform better. I am unsure if what he is saying is true but he told me an exhaust system can add 10hp and reduce the weight of the car by 50 pounds if you include the lightweight rims. I was doing some thinking last night and even though I love the Sport model look, it is better to upgrade the performance and it would probably cost less. Let me know what you guys think.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Subjectively, the sport sedan bumper is a better design, and suits the car more than the non-sport. However, it's just a bumper.

A 16" wheel will look pretty ridiculous on a G37. Since you're sensitive to appearance considerations, don't do it.

The BBK upgrade will always look great, assuming you have wheels that showcase the brakes. However, as a daily driver you won't really be able to appreciate the big brakes.

An aftermarket air intake kit is mostly a noise machine, unless you've got full exhaust bolts-ons and a tune. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

You could easily spend over $1500 on a quality exhaust, and it will be loud. Unless that's your thing, consider a pair of high-flow cats instead. It will deepen the tone, increase the noise only a little bit, and offer a noticeable increase in power. However... you're in California, so I'm guessing that's a problem.

Anyway, my suggestions: high-flow cats, maybe with an axle-back, maybe not. Aftermarket 18" or 19" wheels with a design that doesn't expose the brakes, like a 15-spoke. High performance summer tires. And aftermarket swaybars. The sways are non-negotiable, must have items. Lastly, Tein makes an inexpensive set of coilovers; while you can't adjust the damping the ride is pretty similar to the OEM sport shocks, and it's height adjustable.

qmantran

I agree with him. I would go for performance. For $3k I would do this.

3.692 v-lsd final drive differential - $250
exhaust - $1,300
Admin intakes - $650
Admin tune - $850

your car right now probably makes 270whp stock. With the 3 I listed you'll be 305+whp.

Than you can add front + rear sway bars, lightweight wheels & good tires for handling. Lighter wheels can make the car feel light, faster and brake better with good tires

MerakiAutoworks

iTrader: (1)

Performance!

-Josh

General Grim

After giving it a whole lot thought, I am leaning more toward performance upgrades. 16 inch rims would not be too appealing but if it will help reduce the weight of the car and increase performance then I am all for it. I read somewhere that smaller rims / tires such as 16s would accelerate better than 18's (something about rolling resistance is less). I also did some research on Admin performance and I read from a user that tuning a naturally aspirated car is a waste of money and mostly a gimmick. Anyone want to shed some light on that claim? And for an exhaust I was thinking of going Stillen. I read a lot of good things about the company and hopefully one day I can put their super charger on my G. Looking forward for more advice and thoughts!

General Grim

Also I forgot to ask. Is there a specific website I don't know about where I can purchase a Sport bumper for a more affordable price. The lowest price I could come up with was around $500 with shipping. I would also spend $100 for paint and another $100 for installation. Rochester is right when he said the Sport bumper looks much better than the regular Journey.

Slowg37x

maybe check out Rockauto https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...per+cover,1344 they have it for a lower price. I will probably order from here when I convert to the sport bumper.

General Grim

Rockauto.com is not an option for me. Apparently they are unable to ship their products to California.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

I'm no engineer, but pretty sure "rolling resistance" isn't high on the list of things to care about. Moreover, the consideration relates to tread width & tire pressure, not the diameter of your wheels. And if you put 16" wheels on that sedan, you're going to have really tall sidewalls, which will probably make your handling all squishy. Again, not an engineer, but still... IDK where you're going with this.

Plus, I guarantee 16" wheels will look really, really awkward on your car.

Swaybars, HFCs, and maybe some lightweight 18" wheels. The Enkie RFP1 are super lightweight and reasonably priced, might want to consider those.


With typical I/E boltons, a good tune can net 15 hp on these cars, give or take. That's not a gimmick. And it's reasonable, but perspective is everything, and I could see how someone who gains 30 hp tuning their boosted drivetrain would think otherwise.

Stillen is consistent and fair quality. There are better exhausts, however.

qmantran

Stillen supercharger kit seems to be a hit or miss. Lots of people mention of blown motors after install. You really want to do more research before diving into it.

As far as tuning a n/a motor goes, do yourself a favor and look up admin tuning on youtube and check out his videos. I don't believe it's a waste of money at all.

xpunx

Are the bumpers for all the sedan models interchangeable?

General Grim

I will take your word for it. I am currently looking into some Enkie rims. For some reason, I like the look of those Duck feet rims on the Sport Model. I forgot to ask. Have you guys modded your cars? and if you did, is the performance gains really noticeable and worth the money?

General Grim

I believe so. I did some research and read a lot of members did the swapped pretty easily. The thing is you need at least 18 inch rims and sport side skirts/seals to go with the Sport front bumper. I thought there was only the sport bumper but apparently the side skirt for S models are different.

FreightTrain

iTrader: (2)

Personally I'd go for aesthetic improvements first. Initially, I feel like we all bought our cars because of the comfort features it offers. Just keep that attitude in mind and modify your car so it's unique, comfortable, and performance-oriented when possible. I'd look towards wheels first, they completely change the look of these cars. From grocery-getter to slick-rick for only a couple thousand. If you shop around, you can probably find a set that you really like, and will save a few lbs where it counts too. Next I'd look towards suspension. Aftermarket wheels look great on G's, but the wheel gap needs to be eliminated. There's a few suspension setups that claim to be better than stock, fortune 500 comes to mind, that are worth shelling out the extra $ for. For $3k or so, you can set yourself up with better than stock handling, a great looking car, and 20-120lbs lighter. Then I'd look into whatever performance mods you're comfortable with, and most importantly a tune afterwards. If you buy quality parts initially, you'll recoup most of your money if you ever decide to go back to stock/sell your g. I feel like you have to like the way your car looks before you should put money into performance. Unless you're going FI, no matter how much you spend, you'll still have a quick car that will constantly get beat in races lol.

There's tons of cheaper aesthetic mods you can look into as well. Radio *****, new shifter, steering wheel, lighting, sound, vinyl wherever, etc. If you touch it daily, you'll appreciate it more that you did it better. You start doing a few small things and the bigger mods will really pull it all together. Everyone has their own opinion, but I feel like if you're chasing power, there really isn't an end and you'll quickly realize the VQ platform isn't the most sensible way to go. It's best to enjoy the G for what it is, a luxury sports car with a basically bullet-proof engine. Make it ride smooth as glass, style it to your liking, stay on top of maintenance, and eventually give it to your kid because it'll still be in the family 250k+ miles later, not costing you **** for the past 5+ years.

Also, I actually prefer the non-sport bumper with a lip over the sport bumper. The conversion can be a bit costly for a piece you'd have to love to notice/justify the price. All just my .02 though. Do what you think will make you happier with your purchase.

AARONHL

what ever u do please dont rice it out
Very easy to do that when you dont know what direction to go in
Its your car and your money, looks at pictures and decide what u wanna do