proof of $15k?

 

There are lots of BS videos out there. Have you ever ridden in or driven a GT-R? The only way that a GT-R will lose to a G/Z is if the GT-R doesn't want to waste gas and isn't really racing LOL

 

Yes I have swapped drivers and driven the GT-R instead of my G, yes we were trying to waste gas, yes we were in R mode, and yes the result was the same.

 

This is really a good point and I struggled with the same dilemma. I also know guys who build 600+whp turboed Zs and spent a boat load of money. Then sold them or parted them out as it is pretty much impossible to get your money out of them. The more you modify a car the more undriveable / unreliable it becomes. The 335i can produce a lot of power stock and is easy to modify, but you will need to upgrade stuff. I know a friend down this path Fast car... more TQ off the line but I was able to pull on him. The S cars are very impressive and very smooth and refined. BMWs are the "cheap" German cars... Audi's and Mercedes set the standard. I could definitely see an S5 in my future. I was humbled by an S4 last summer when I was NA... would like a chance to redeem myself with FI.

The problem is that you never have enough power. Whatever you have, even FI you get used to and want more. Some days my car feels slow and I think about NOS to fill in the lower RPM... then I lay down till the feeling goes away. Modding is a an addiction.

 

I guess everything is bigger in Texas LOL . We have a slightly modified GT-R in the family... nothing major, down pipes and exhaust with a Cobb tune. Too bad you are so far away... It would be fun to compare. There is not much that can beat it except other modified GT-Rs. I know the car well and have driven it through the mountains. It hooks up so well from a dig and pulls so hard thru the turns. I thought my G handled well... but this makes my car feel like a turd.

 

Yeah I don't think I can hold a candle to any of the TX2K 1200+whp GT-Rs but against stock/mildly modified GT-Rs the results have been pretty much what the videos show.

Not bad for a little family sedan and I still have a quite a few things on the bucket list before I go for more boost. Hopefully next year I can participate in TX2K.

 

Your car looks great BTW... what boost are you currently running? Our family GT-R has three maps 10, 15 and 18 PSI. Even on 15 it is very fast... on 18 it is nuts. You gotta love the gauges in the GT-R... wish that we could have a display like that.

I was really excited about the announced release of the EauRouge last year (GT-R power plant in the Infiniti sedan and coupe) but they could not get a tranny to hold the power so it was shelved. It was damn expensive anyway.

 

From my understanding a GT-R at 18psi with stock injectors, downpipes, intake, exhaust, and tune is around 530-550whp on pump gas. While the GT-R is quite fast, I don't enjoy driving them as much as I do my sedan; having a manual transmission and RWD is a much more fun to me. Maybe next year when we get track time in with the cars my perspective may change?

Carbon Signal was working on a gauge display which is fed by OBD2, I haven't kept up so I'm not sure where they are at now with it:

Last dyno we did was 560whp/525wtq @ 13psi on 93 octane. We have since added a degree of timing which is maybe 5-10whp. It's a conservative tune at the moment since I am on pump gas and the car isn't my daily anymore so when it is taken out it is driven hard.

Once I have all the funds/parts for my next 'phase' then we will switch to E85 and see how high things go.

 

The GT-R has the Alpha 7 kit so with 94 octane would be well into the 650 range to the ground at 18 PSI. 4 wheel dynos are not very common here so we have not bothered with it. It kills Z06s... went on a cruise with Exotics. The only thing that pulled on it was a highly modified 1200HP all whee drive Porche. Some of the Lambo, Lotus , Ferrari guys were pissed as their investment was 3 or 4 times that of the GT-R. I totally agree about driving pleasure. I like the 6MT and RWD. After a certain amount of HP though RWD becomes pretty sketchy, and I get nervous when the rear end breaks loose at high speed or on corners. When you lose it with RWD you lose it big time. In the mountains I felt very confident stomping on the gas in tight corners with the GT-R and rocketing out. I would not go that in my car and I have way less HP and TQ than you are putting down. Just curious... how much do you figure you have invested in your build?

 

Ah I see, the Alpha 7 is FBO with 1000cc injectors. I can see 580-600whp on pump gas for the FBO + 1000cc injectors, but I think to get that to 650whp you would need to be on E85 with new fuel pumps and the stock turbos would probably be quite maxed at that point. I have not tabulated a total of everything invested into my car, but for the TT kit, motor build, and supporting mods were around 25k+.

If you are planning 15k for a stillen build you might as well go with BP low mount twin scroll single turbo for 12-15k+ with room to go faster when you want to. Or like blnewt said wait for the FI TT kit, that would be worth the money. Imo too many stillen sc cars have popped their motors.

 

Your ride looks great... I'm sure you surprise a lot of people. Ultimately it is a very personal decision whether a build like yours is worth it and it sounds like you are happy with it. That's the only thing that matters

 

I can share some of my experiences with going from modified NA G35 car to a modified turbo G37. Lifespan of almost every single part is halfed. Clutch only lasts 35-40k miles (and this is beefed up handmade racing clutch) while NA car clutch would last 80k with some people getting as much as 120k out of it. Rear tires don't last more than a year, NA car would need a new set every 2-3 years. Injectors went out at 50k miles, NA car had no problems with injectors at way past 110k. Etc, etc. If you go FI better have a lot of extra money for spare parts. I don't know if new 3.0TT will suffer from these same issues, but aftermarket designed twin turbo VQ is built with parts from many different manufacturers and none of them are particularly long lasting. By the way, GTR owners need $2k+ for 15k mile service and that's just to replace relatively inexpensive stock brakes and tires.

 

Totally agree with just about everything. FI is a money pit, but as I said it is a personal judgment as to whether it is worth it or not. BTW... I never got more than one summer on the rears when I was NA. Maybe I had faulty tires

Yup... GT-R maintenance is high but try comparing that with exotics in the same supercar class. If you want to play you have to pay

 

Thanks! I always knew when I purchased the car that I would build it, it just took 5 years to get there! I've always enjoyed modding cars and making them 'better'. The way I see it is I've taken my 25k car and added 25k to it to have comparable power levels of an 80-100k car. Even your full bolt on, injectors, and tune (Alpha 7 package) is around 10k on top of the price of the car. The cost of going for higher power will always be relative to the base cost of the platform.

Such is the fact of modding right? Things will break when pushed above their limits. I don't think anyone who plans to double the horsepower output of a vehicle expects to have the same maintenance cost as the stock vehicle. If they do, they are dreaming. Likewise, a more expensive GT-R platform will be just that - more expensive.

I think we all mod because we have a desire to make our vehicles 'better' as opposed to 'saving money'. Maybe some are just crazier than others!