Okay, so I have owned and modified a fair amount of cars in the past ( several Subaru WRX's, Honda's/Acura's, and some Chevrolet's) My 99' Civic was the fastest of them all being that it was turbo charged with near300 hp to the wheels, but then again the 2003 WRX I currently own dyno'd at 313HP to the wheels so....lol. Any way, I alway's liked Nissan and the G line (as well as the Z's) but I never thought that I would own one. When I recently was faced with the prospect of buying another car....it was between the usual's (Acura Honda Subaru, Lexus or Chevrolet) I didn't want another low end car but also didn't want an overly expensive option like a BMW. I checked out the IS 350 which was a nice ride but not something I could really tinker with. As a gear head....the G37 S was about perfect! It's essentially a Skyline with a 6 speed and room to modify, I aim to do the exhaust and intake. Probably go with an aftermarket suspension upgrade and some carbon fiber components (among a few other simple things) I have never driven this car and I am wondering if there is anything you can tell me about how to do or what not to do in regards to this platform. Again, I know very little about the VQ36 engine and the car itself so any hints or tips you can bestow upon me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and I can't wait to get into this car!!!

 

exhaust, intake, suspension, sounds like you have a solid plan.

You are getting the 6MT and haven't driven one yet? They can take some getting used to. The clutch is very on/off with a high engagement point that makes driving it smoothly difficult until you get used to it (and even then you'll still have herky jerky moments).

 

I have to +1 the above opinion of the 6mt. When I was initially shopping the G, I only wanted a manual, until I drove a ton of 6mt cars and the all shifted terribly (coming over from the super-easy Honda/Acura world). Really disappointing. That being said, I love my paddle-shift auto 37S (even though I very rarely grab the paddles ).
Anyway, yep, intake/exhaust/wheels & springs sounds about right!

 

welcome to the forums!!!!!!

 

here's a tip, don't let the squealing brakes drive you crazy :P

 

First thing that you NEED to know, there's not much that you can do to TRULY change the performance on these cars. You can do the usual exhaust, intake, etc. but you aren't going to get any crazy gains unless you go forced induction. Let's just get that out in the open because it usually takes people thousands of dollars and several mods to figure it out. One guy even started a thread to vent about only picking up like .2 on his quarter mile time LOL.

Like some of the guys said, yeah the 6MT did take a little bit of time to get used to... but I had to have it. I drove the automatic and was doing the paperwork. Then my brother convinced me to at least test drive the 6MT and after I did. I changed the paperwork and bought the 6MT. LOL.

Enjoy the car and check out the forums for good info. At this point, I don't see too much new info and people take it personal when you ask a question thats already been asked LOL.

 

being a new 2008 g37s 6mt, i'll give my experience with it...

my prior car was a 2003 vw gti 20th anniversary edition, and it was the only manual car i've ever driven. i learned in it and it was all i was used to. i drove a couple cars on vacation that were manual, but nothing more than a few days.

when my wife got a 2008 g35 in december first thing i thought when i drove it was 'wish this was stick shift'. 2 months later i decided iw anted a new car and started looking at g37s.

i ended up getting one and it definitely is going to take some getting used to. i've had it for 2 weeks now and i'm still not shifting properly all the time. but i wouldn't say it would be a deal breaker or anything at all. but it is tougher than my GTI, and my GTI had a pretty sporty clutch from what other people said who drove it.

i'm sure though w/in a month i will be just fine. i mean i'm shifting fine now, but it feels different for sure. im sure the power also has something to do with it too.

but i went in not even considering an auto, and i never even thought about changing my mind after driving it the first time. i test drove 3 of them too.

my wife wanted me to get an auto though so she could drive it, but f that! hell it's probably better that now she can't drive it!

 

^^^lol...

 

Welcome aboard!

 

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...a-feeling.html

Do ^that and all of your "jerky shifting" problems will disappear The clutch assist spring is way too strong, taking it out allows you to feel the friction point through the clutch. Your leg will be tired after the first time you drive her, but you will get used to it quickly.

Plus, it is 100% reversible.

 

Yeah like many of the people said. You will not get very good gains with bolt on's. I bet your WRX got crazy gains with just exhaust and intake huh? That has a lot to the fact that Subby's comes with a turbo. So unless you go F/I you will not get very good gains. Most people here just do the bolt on's for sound and looks.


BTW it's not cheap to buy parts for our car, as where to subby parts are pretty cheap and get good power.

 

thats great. i recently purchased my 09 S 6MT. it is in fact my first manual transmission car and im getting used to it. im glad that people like you who have driven MT's forever, still havent completely figured the clutch out yet. im no pro, but have faith. i still think its way more fun than driving my old G35 that was auto.

 

Most transmission R&D investment goes toward automatics, DCTs, and CVTs. No one cares much about manuals anymore, so they mostly suck - very few exceptions out there. The manual on the G isn't one of the good ones. It's unrefined, and the clutch is annoying. The gearbox isn't too bad in terms of feel other than the vibration of the shifter.

Even German brands have been moving away from manuals more and more, and they're trying to replace them with DCTs and fast-shifting locking automatics such as ZF trannys.

I love driving stick, but there are extremely few good choices of that available these days. Mazda makes some good ones and so does Honda/Acura, but I don't pick my cars solely based on the transmission...

 

I came from a G35 coupe (03) MT and the new G37's MT is far better and far easier to me. You'll enjoy the car!