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hello, i am new to this forum but I just purchased a 2011 g37 AWD sedan I am unsure of the exact submodel but I do not think it matters too much. basically, I want to mod it and make it faster with some basic upgrades. cold air intake, exhaust, injectors possibly, etc. From everyone else's experience, I wondered what good parts to go for and what other mods are worth doing. I could obviously buy name brand everything but I do not want to spend 500 on intakes so I was wondering what other more budget-friendly options others have tried. I am looking at coil overs too but after the other performance stuff.
Go-fast mods are barely incremental for a car that has over 300 hp. Your best, most rewarding, budget-friendly mod would be to replace your sway bars with any aftermarket brand.
Go-fast mods are barely incremental for a car that has over 300 hp. Your best, most rewarding, budget-friendly mod would be to replace your sway bars with any aftermarket brand.
That, and some summer-only tires.
Ik that, but I still want to do the other stuff for fun and to make it sound better. I will be doing sport tires and sway bars eventually as well
Before doing anything to add power I recommend doing some supporting mods. The engines in these cars tend to run hot. Whether your G is your daily driver or weekend toy I highly recommend installing a thermostatic engine oil cooler and an auxiliary transmission cooler in-line with the one built into the radiator. Z1, Stillen, and Mishimoto make oil cooler kits. Stillen makes a transmission cooler kit. Building your own kit will probably be cheaper. But, this isn’t an area I would personally go cheap on.
I’d take a look at the diff bushing to see if it needs to be replaced. The stock one is fluid filled and eventually will probably leak leading to the rear diff flopping around. If you see a trail of fluid or there are visible cracks in the rubber, I’d replace it. Z1, whiteline, and a few others sell solid urethane bushing kits. New diff bushings in combo with subframe bushing collars or solid subframe bushings will help tighten up the rear end and give you marginally better acceleration off the line. It’s also one of the more cost efficient mods you can do.
Look into swapping out the open rear diff for an LSD. RWD sport models came stock with an LSD so swapping one into your AWD shouldn’t be too much of an issue. I’m not sure what the details of the swap are but I know there are several people on this forum that have done it.
Like Rochester suggested sway bars are a very good upgrade. Eibach, Hotchkis, and Z1 are probably going to be the top picks.
Most of the bolt-on power upgrades you’ll find are going to need a tune for you to see any substantial improvement. With or without a tune some mods may even decrease your engines output save for specific points in the rev range.
For cold air intakes the only one I’ve found below $500 new is the one GKTech makes. If you want the most power out of this mod, 3” intakes are going to be your best bet but are going to be more expensive and will require a tune.
Some ‘cheap’ headers and resonated test-pipes I picked up are the dc sports headers on CZP, and the beluga racing Resonated test-pipes. I have not installed either yet but both seem to be of good quality. I have read mixed reviews on how the headers sound. Test pipes usually never sound good on these cars IMO but will usually net you more power than HFC’s.
For a cat back I’m running the Ark Grip and it sounds amazing. No drone at highway speeds and isn’t super loud at low RPMs. It is on the more expensive side though. I found mine on CZP and was able to get it for several hundred less than MSRP but had to wait about 5 months on back order. Z1 also recently came out with their own cat back that is relatively inexpensive. Not sure how it sounds in person but the videos on their site make it seem like a good option.
I'd get the Sport rear sway bar really makes the handling on the awd more neutral as the awd tends to understeer a bit. The sway bar makes the car feel more planted with less body roll.
I'd go with the Ark Grip exhaust or Motordyne and some HFCs, get a CAI and tune. Have fun!
could i hold off on the thermostatric engine cooler and auxiallry transmission cooler? together it was looking like a grand and i need to wait a bit to have that much to spend unless those are the only 2 things i do right now. i think ill replace the subframe bushings cause it is cheap and i can do it myself. And for your other comment i was wondering if i would need to repalce the whole exhsuast if i want a performance gain with a tune? i know this may sound stupid but ive had many people tell me that i can leave the cats and oem headers and i can still tune it and get performace gain. i also dont want to spend too much on it if i only get 10-20 hp after the tune from the exhasut side of things. Last thing, could i open the rear diff for an LSD myself? and how much would you estimate it to be? i just wouldnt know where to start with that
I am also a g37 noob but as a general rule your cats are the most restrictive part of an exhaust system. The stock headers don't look like they are too bad compared with most vehicles stock exhaust systems and they are a royal pain to do yourself. It took me and my buddy 4 hours or so because of rusted bolts breaking and having to cut the heat shields off etc and we were using a lift. I do not know if its true for all models but on my x we also had to disconnect the steering knuckle to get clearance on the driver side. Passenger side really wasn't too bad. If your getting a tune anyway and aren't in an emissions state, I would do test pipes and a cat back if your doing it your self and not trying to spend too much. Otherwise you would need high flow cats but they will cost quite a bit more.
Sedan has 2 major exhaust restrictions vs coupe having 1 (if you don't count headers). Cats and the bottleneck diameter reduction where the pipe enters the muffler. Sedans were made to be quieter than the coupe.
I went for exhaust and intake mods off the bat as well, but when I got sway bars, especially my car being an X, I kicked myself for a week thinking I was so stupid for not doing that as the first mod.
You can cut way more off your lap time with suspension mods vs power mods on this platform. I am saying this in a literal and figurative way. Make the car feel great to drive, then enhance it with a bit more power and sound. When looking at the value of $/performance on this platform, handling gives you so much more.
I found that despite the front suspension being wishbone vs mcpherson, on the X, a strut tower bar helps reduce understeer a bit more than expected.
If you're not looking to spend much on the exhaust get the Speed Cultures Studio exhaust. You have to piece the kit together, but you can get a good sounding exhaust for $4-500
thanks everyone, definetly learning a lot right now. what order should i do the handling mods? i was thinking the aluminum subframe bushings casue their cheap. but would i be better off saving for coilovers or sway bar? anyone have any input here? thanks
I wouldn't do bushings too early unless they're blown. Sway bars will be the biggest bang for buck, after your first few hard turns you'll be grinning. May need end links depending what state yours are in. I added rears right away to help adjust for better clearance. Coilovers or springs would also require additional mods like rear camber arms and toe bolts and front toe bolts and upper control arms in order to be able to align the car after lowering it. You can lower the center of gravity for better handling, but the lower you go, the more adjustability you'll require.
I went with swift springs and while I wish I went with coilovers, for an X which sits higher than the rwd models, it's a great balanced drop, and ride quality is still decent.
could i hold off on the thermostatric engine cooler and auxiallry transmission cooler? together it was looking like a grand and i need to wait a bit to have that much to spend unless those are the only 2 things i do right now. i think ill replace the subframe bushings cause it is cheap and i can do it myself. And for your other comment i was wondering if i would need to repalce the whole exhsuast if i want a performance gain with a tune? i know this may sound stupid but ive had many people tell me that i can leave the cats and oem headers and i can still tune it and get performace gain. i also dont want to spend too much on it if i only get 10-20 hp after the tune from the exhasut side of things. Last thing, could i open the rear diff for an LSD myself? and how much would you estimate it to be? i just wouldnt know where to start with that
You can hold off on the coolers. For the sake of reliability I would get at least the trans cooler before you get tuned. Not sure about the AWD but the trans on the RWD tends to be a weak link when trying to make power, specifically the torque converter. Some people can run full bolt-ons no problem on a stock trans, but is definitely something to build out if you ever want to go forced induction.
If and when you do the subframe/diff bushing definitely get the removal tool that z1 sells or make your own.
for your exhaust I would get test pipes or high flow cats and a cat back before getting tuned.
For the diff I’m not sure but I think the housings for the LSD and open diff are slightly different but enough to where it would prevent you from doing the swap. I would find a used LSD from a G or Z on ebay for $300 and swap your current pumpkin for it. You will most likely need to modify the flange on either the diff or the driveshaft.
Yeah if you want a Vlsd, you can use the one from the S sedan, requires swapping the flange that connects to the driveshaft. But since you're AWD, you will also need a front diff from a g35x since it has the same gear ratio as the Vlsd from the S.
thanks for all the adive ive learned alot since i bought the car, i bought some short ram intakes but im gonna return them becasue i feel there kinda pointless. i think im decding to go with handling mods and cosmetic just becasue i dont have the money for performance. im working on installing a rear sway bar, would a front be bennificial or not as much? i also plan on replacing the mufflers with someting a little louder. hopefully this will make it sound nice without breaking the bank. thanks everyone for all the help but i think its gonna be a more practical daily fun car so the coolers and all that complicated stuff is gonna have to wait. just gonna keep the car maintaned and do fun little things here and there. Any one know if its worth flushing the trans and diffs? dealership said i should car has 80k miles and i dont think its been done before. One more kinda lame question. How often do you guys change your oil on these cars? im goign to be using full sythetic and i heard 7500 for these but the general rule is 5k i believe. thanks again and sorry for the poor questions.
03-15-2023, 12:13 PM
