Hi all.

I've been creeping on this forum for a few months now and finally learned enough to make my first post sensible (I think)...

I purchased a brand new 2012 G37xS sedan in graphite shadow in June. I have put about 10k miles on it now and since I spend so much time in my car I want to make it a little more enjoyable.

I have already plasti dipped my emblems and trunk lip and plan to either paint or vinyl wrap my grille and all chrome trim. Also plan on having my headlights painted and my taillights smoked. Before I ramble more I'll get to my goals and questions.

My goal is to get performance out of the car while keeping it classy.

My first mod will be. Exhaust and a CAI. So, which should come first?
I'm leaning towards a Fast Intentions CBE. Are HFCs a must? I'm afraid they they may make the exhaust "Ricey". Also I never had an after market exhaust, how much louder is it in the cabin? $1,300-$1,600 on exhaust

I love the gains from the stillen G3 but afraid of the alterations I'd have to make to my baby. R2C I believe is the other popular option here... To those who have the stillen are the gains worth the cuts you had to make?

As for wheels I'm looking to purchase 19inch forgestar F14 wheels in gunmetal. Assuming I do this before the drop will I need spacers or will they be. A direct bolt on? I know they have various offsets to choose from as well as a 8.5 or a 9.0 width. Would the .5" make a noticeable difference?

Lastly for this thread does anyone have a picture of the stock 2012 g37xS wheels powder coated black? Another mod I'm considering...

A lot here, so answer what you can, thanks in advance. Happy to be modding!

 

Hey,

It seems like we both have a similar direction as to where we want to go with our sedans, I too plasti-dipped my emblems, chrome trim, and grille.. However I think this spring I'm going to paint everything instead. I'm also looking to paint my headlights, here's a DIY if you decide to try it out on your own

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

I don't think it really matter whether you choose to go with a CAI or exhaust system first, I went with the CAI first just cause it was a bit cheaper. The FI CBE is pretty popular with members on this fourm so they are definetly worth taking a look at. Generally HFC's will yield more of a power gain than a CBE, but when you pair the two together you can get some decent numbers. Search around the fourm a bit and I'm sure you'll be able to find sound clips that people have uploaded with different combinations of CBEs and HFCs.

I went with the R2C intake for the same reason you listed above, I didn't want to make irreversible alterations in the engine bay seeing as my car is still under warranty. They sound amazing, but it feels as if you lose some low end torque, but gain more later in your powerband. A member did a before and after dyno test with the R2C intakes here if you want to check it out:

https://www.myg37.com/forums/intake-...me-monday.html

One thing I would highly recomend is getting a tune once you've added your exhaust, HFCs, and CAI. The tune will help keep you A/F ratios in line, and it'll help you get more power from your bolt ons

I've been looking at a set of 19" forgestars in piano black, but I still need to do a lot of research on how to get the best looking set up for me. Awhile ago I saw a thread that had a list of people with the forgestar f14s, so if you can track that thread down you can see what offsets people used and decide if you want to use spacers or not.

Here are my stock wheels, they are plasti-dipped not powder coated, but hopefully it'll still give you an idea what it would look like





Hope this helps!

 

BKs...

You the man, exactly what I was looking for. yea I think I'm going to opt to paint EVERYTHING actually... I'm going away from the 3-7th of march and plan on giving my car to a guy who does custom work then. I'll post some pictures when I get it back but I want him to paint all my chrome as well as my head lights and VERY lightly paint my tails.

To be honest your tails are the exact shade I'm looking for, how did you do yours? Yeah i've been reading that i'll lose the low end acceleration with a CAI... not sure why, maybe I'll just do the exhaust first to see how it feels.

My Dad drive an S63 AMG and I'm kind of trying to chase the sound of his car... we'll see if I can get there lol

 

Also... a few weeks ago I found a thread of some shop in NY on here, 180 customs maybe? The thread showed pictures of just all different types of painted headlights...

Well now I cant find the link, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and can post the link to the thread itd be great.

 

Thank you sir I used to like the way the plasti-dip looked, but it definitely starts to look cheap after awhile. I'm excited to see how yours turns out, once you get it all done let us know!

I got a local shop to tint them for me, I just got it done a week ago and I'm pretty happy with them. Maybe one day down the road ill decide to paint them, who knows

Sweet deal! Best of luck trying to find that perfect sound, and with all of your other mods!

 

Oh and 180 does some sweet stuff, I really wish I lived by them cause they'd be getting my business for sure.

Here's the link to their albums:

MyG37 - 180Custom's Albums

 

If you wanna match an S63 sound you'll need to pair exhaust with HFC.

 

I just got into a 2013 G37S. I was looking at the few basic engine mods you are talking about here, as well. I was also wondering if anyone else had done the same ones? I'm really just looking at what kind of MPG gains anyone with a soft foot may have realized with a CAI, a Cat-back, and maybe an ECU tune. In many of the cars I've owned in the past (most notably a 2010 WRX), I've seen marked increases in MPG with these upgrades. I had the WRX up to about 28 MPG on my commute to work, which I mostly cruise control at 60 to 65 for about 30 miles each way. Anyone have any data on MPG gains like this for the G37?

 

Decided the Exhaust system will be first, I'm gonna buy the HFCs and Exhaust in one shot. And I will be going to see the paint guy tomorrow to talk about best options for what I want done. I will keep you all posted...

For now I'm trying to find the best exhaust. Any pointers on systems to avoid that definitely sound "Cheap"? Also, I kind of have a thing for the quad tips. No body work would be required to fit them, correct?

 

The G is pretty maxed out efficiency-wise from the factory, most of the mods will gain a few HP here & there but it takes serious coin to get big gains like you'll see w/ a high performance chip in a BMW or Audi for example. Not a lot you can do to increase MPGs, if you have an auto just keep it in D and not DS and you'll see the best MPGs. It's nice that the motor/drivetrain is set up pretty well out of the box, but a bit of a shortfall when it comes to modding for HP or MPG

 

Also before doing an intake, look at your stock set up. It is a CAI, the R2C is not. It's a short intake totally in the engine bay. Nissan actually has a fairly good intake stock, but if you want to improve that Stillen Gen 3 is a good way to go. Yes you have to cut but if I was going to do the mod I would go with it.

 

Hfc or TP's, catback, drop in some k&n filters in your stock air boxes and get an uprev tune and you'll be extremely happy!