604al

I've recently upgraded from a 2002 Acura RSX Type S (FWD, manual) to a used 2010 G37X with about 34,000 km's (approx. 21,000 miles for you yanks).

One advantage of buying a used car is that you don't feel too bad upgrading parts that don't necessarily need to be changed. So after two months of owning the car and scouring this site, here's my contribution of reviews about the car and the progression of mods i've added primarily based on recommendations from this site.

Note there's no plans to track this car... my plan was to have a FUN DAILY DRIVER that didn't necessarily need to be careful around bumps or curbs.

TIRES: the stock Goodyear Eagle RSAs were down to about 20%, and heading into a winter season with potentially light snow here and there, it was time to choose a new ultra-high performance all season tire. After reading some good reviews on the General G-MAX as-03 tires and being satisfied with General's winter tire on my previous car, I gave them a try. I was hoping for a sportier responsive ride with a stiffer sidewall (one of the reasons I didn't decide on the Continental DWS, which seemed to have a general consensus of a soft sidewall)... what I ended up noticing was a MUCH SMOOTHER ride. Road noise and harshness was drastically improved, and the car was feeling much more like a luxury ride. I still felt a softer sidewall type of feeling with ALOT of lean coming into any turns... at this point I was acknowledging the fact that this car was about 1,000 pounds heavier than my last one, and wishing I upgraded to a bigger tire with a smaller sidewall (more about this later).

REAR BRAKES: The rear brakes were low according to the dealer and needed to be replaced in the next few months for $600. They were squealing during the first few minutes of driving (maybe needed to be warmed up?) and I found them to be very grabby upon the slightest brake pressure... this is something I though I would have to get used to, as I drove a friends 06 bmw 330 that had the same touchy sensitive feeling. Stop and go driving like this was very rough. As I couldn't justify $600 from the dealer, a friend mechanic pointed me in the direction of akebonos, and I settled on the Akebono Performance Pads. I noticed right away the touchiness went away, and the linear feel was much more pleasureable.

INTERIOR LED LIGHTS: through this sites recommendations I went with v-leds, while a friend went through ebay at around the same time. While both of our interiors looked great and much more appropriate than the yellow stock lighting, mine are all still going strong while a few of his leds have started flickering. Thanks forum members! I'd consider these a must upgrade.

PADDLE SHIFTERS: Coming from a manual car I sometimes missed the idea of controlling my gears, especially through turns and when needed to pass another car. Again, I have this site to thank for this upgrade, and consider this a must upgrade. I would have had NO IDEA that these could be installed, and it was both cheap and easy to do.



I thought I was done at this point for mods, as I never really intended to do any upon purchase, however a few more days of reading lead me to this:



SWAY BARS: After reading numerous reviews about this being THE bang-for-the-buck mod on these G's, I gave them a shot. Hotchkis bars were the missing link. I thought the terrible lean through turns was due to the heavy weight and the 55 series tires, but these bars practically eliminated that feeling. Confidence has skyrocketed going into turns, now I just need to find a safe place to find this cars limits.

TSB's: This was my first auto transmission car, and I just thought that the querks were something I would have to get used to. After reading about ITB12-027, I decided to head to the dealer and to check it out. Today, they applied the ITB10-075 and I think the car feels stronger on the low end with less hesitation on acceleration through turns. I was surprised they didn't add the ITB12-027, but they said they applied the latest TSB. Now, with a printout of that bulletin and info from this site, I'll try again in a few weeks, and update this post when I do.



Right now I feel the car is ALMOST perfect, but:



Next up: AFE dry filters and Mishimoto/HPS tubes. This was what I've been most torn on, and assumed I should be headed the standard upgrade path of I/H/E for this car. According to this site it seems standard bolt-ons just aren't the way to go in terms of noticeable performance gains for this car. However since a pair of OEM filters go for $50 around here in Canada with only similarly priced options as local alternatives (no Wix here), I'd figure I'd take a chance on a $100 pair of reusable ones with some potential gains... I'll update here once that comes in also.



That's it... I hope. Unless this site shows me otherwise.... oh yeah:



GROUNDING KIT: there's alot of debate around here, but since it's a cheap easy DIY with the potential for quicker AT shifting and no downsides (the draining battery issue here just doesn't seem to make logical sense to me), I'm going to give this a shot too.

SgtGoldy

iTrader: (6)

Not a fan of general tires. Go with Bridgestone RE-11's!

ashmostro

iTrader: (3)

If the new rear pads have more friction than the old fronts (being different compounds) you may want to replace those fronts with the same type of new pads too. You don't want even more brake bias on the rear than we already have.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

Awesome first post. Congrats and welcome. I have the G-Max on my beater and they aren't a bad tire but they are in no way a performance tire. They are a decent all season radial that makes compromises where all season tires must. I live in an area without real winter so I run Michelin PSS year round on my G. If you ever decide to do summer/winter tire swap these should be on your radar.

And kudos to you sir for joining the forum to learn, lurking, searching, and reading first, then making your own informed decisions about your mods without asking asinine redundant questions that have been asked and answered a thousand times already. That is truly rare and very much appreciated.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Couldn't have said it better, welcome to the site, great wrap up of your mods and experience

604al

You guys and your year-round summers. I get a little jealous during winter time, but when I drive 30 minutes to a local mountain right after work to snowboard, all is forgotten.

I will get dedicated winter and summer setups in a few years, but moreso for the benefit of a full winter setup. A big determining factor for the summer tire would definitely be treadwear ratings, and so the Bridgestone RE-11's wouldn't be an option. The Michelin Pilot PSS's are near the top of the list.

Is it crucial to replace the front and backs at the same time? My mechanic said I have about 65% of pad life left in the front, and if my new brakes make the car less "grabby" during light pressure, I assume the rear pads have less bite than the OEM.

Thanks! Moving up to a more mature car resulted in a more mature car forum. I noticed this especially with the grounding kit threads, well mostly. Loving the site so far.

ashmostro

iTrader: (3)

It's not crucial to replace at the same time. It's important to have either the same compound front and rear, or a stronger compound in front. That was the only reason for my concern.

Good job with your mods!

AllentownG37

Exactly. Your first post was refreshing, thanks for sharing your experiences. Let us know how the air filters & tubes work out. I'm actually thinking of doing almost the exact same thing for one of my next upgrades (lookin' at the HPS tubes). Congratulations and welcome to the forums!

InfiniteSmoke

Welcome! Glad to see someone used the search feature and took time to research.

I must ask tho.. WHERE THE PICS AT?! Haha jk. But this mountain you say of, must be nice scenery. I was in Canada for a week. Snow is nice, but when it starts to dry roads are disgusting.. :/

604al

Thanks for the warm invite guys, but I didn't bother with pics as it looks stock.... just the way I like it. And here's a quick update:

Grounding wire kit:
I mostly followed the DIY here, but moved two points originally located on the engine block to positions on each throttle body as per Black Betty's instructions. After a few days of driving, I *think* the shifting on my 7at is crisper. It feels that way, as if shifts are quicker and smoother, both in D and DS.

Note that I'm also getting used to using the shift paddles more smoothly also. For sporty driving I'm finding moving UP gears there's never an issue, but when downshifting manually, not bothering with going all the way down to 2nd for any purpose and just letting the car do that itself is much smoother.

Follow up on the sway bars:
I'm really noticing the stiffened car on rough roads now, but it's still DEFINITELY WORTH IT as it feels sublime through turns still... like the car lost alot of weight, more tossable.

Finally, the AFE filters and Mishimoto tubes are going in next week and so I'll update then again.

More perusing has me interested in debadging everything but Mt Fuji on the rear... ah this site is really getting to me...

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Yep, that'll clean it up nicely FTW! You're on a nice path with what you've done and have planned, keep it up!

Chi-City-G

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to the forum officially!

Lets see some pics!

G37-Pearl

this thread is truly good cuz i am planning to mod my car by similar stuff like yours 604al

Sway bars F&R
Brakes
AFE filters and Mishimoto tubes
tist pipes
ipl front bomber & skirts

wish you good luck sir

fairladyz34

iTrader: (4)

the HPS tubes and AFE filters are pretty good without going into a full replacement system. quick and easy to install and work

604al

Here's another follow up:

AFe dry air filters: like many have already mentioned here, the fit is very snug... to me that's more reassuring. The build feels sturdy and looks top notch on these also. No butt dyno or sound difference, but the fact that they are reusable is my main reason for purchasing them.

Mishimoto tubes: Came nicely packaged, but I don't think they came with the right clamps, as one is much smaller than the other 3. I suppose I'll have to reuse one of the stocks. To me already this makes me question the company's quality control, and doubt I would buy another product from them again if they can't even get this right. Review to come after install... I expect I'll have to trim to fit.

TSB's: I already had ITB10-075 installed a few weeks ago, hoped to get ITB12-027 today. Armed with instructions from a thread here and the TSB itself, the service guy "attempted" to look it up and said ITB10-075 is the latest, saying 027 was probably a US code and is the same as 075, likely changing in number to apply to newer years. Oh well on this one, at least I tried and will leave it be for now.

While I was at the dealer I had them look at two other things that some have had luck getting covered under warranty:

Chipping trim near the audio controls on the steering wheel: my wear is very minor, and I was quickly denied saying it's a wear and tear area.

Leather bottom side bolster on the driver's seat: the cushion on my left bottom bolster was squashed from getting in and out of the car... I assumed they'd say it was another wear and tear item, however, they agreed to replace it! SUCCESS! I have an appointment with them in two weeks to get this done, and will be provided an EX35 to roll around in for the day.



So aside from the mishimoto tube install and leather fix, I'm done modding for now.

Big thanks to the site again, and am hoping nothing else brought up here catches my eye,

other than the VMR V710's... and then that's it. For sure.