Sounds like your doing a bunch of research, that’ll take you far with respect to spending your money wisely. If I might chime in and add my 2 cents on the suspension end of things. I have an AWD coupe so I can appreciate your despair over limited options compared to the RWD guys, however you can still tune an awesome suspension if you play your cards right. It all depends on what you want out of your suspension and budget. If you check out the suspension forum there is a stickied thread with all the known available Coilover options for AWD (at least all I could find as of my last update to it).

I know many have gone BC and I have heard pros and cons. I decided on Fortune Auto, OEM style (although you can get a true setup) and have been very happy with it. I have the upgraded Swift springs with spring rates to my specification. I have gone off the suspension deep end as I have been replacing all my suspension components with SPL products to increase adjustability and tune the ride just how I want it, all while keeping everything within proper alignment spec. Also you will find your choice to go with Hotchkis sway bars to be money well spent.

Finally the best mod you can do to your car that you didnt yet mention is finding a good tire.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your project hopefully parts will start showing up at your door soon.

 

Two words: 1) Planning and 2) Budget.

Plan how long you're going to have this car, as best you can. Then budget how much money you want to spend based on the modifications you want to do, and arrange that budget according to your plan. Reorganize both as you go.

 

Thank you for your kind words @KidJai06 ! I went forward with Bc racing BR series and put in the order earlier today. Mainly because i hear that it can be rebuilt with similar parts (correct me if I'm wrong). It will be something to experiment and figure out i suppose. And as for wheels, I'm running stock 18" wheels with MICHELIN PILOT SPORT A/S 3+ 225 50zr18 95W on rear and HERCULES RAPTIS R-T5 225 50zr18 95W on fronts ( I bought the michelin but the hercules was put in a month or so before i bought the car). I am working on the upgrades in batches, and on this first set of mods i kept exhaust/ sway bar/ coilovers for the performance and window tint/ minor interior parts, getting a chrome delete including the grille, fixing the bumper dent and chips and adding a bumper lip for the looks/ feel upgrades. i think these will keep me more than happy for a few months to be able to save up for the next set of upgrades. Lmk know what you think !

I will try my best ! As of now, I plan to keep it as my daily without a deadline. But that's a very valuable advice to new modders ! I did see myself almost consumed by the beauty of so many mods and wanted them all !! Then i looked at my bank account and got a reality check, thankfully before ordering some stuff !!

 

Wish I had your self control. I needed a belt tensioner.... So I ended up with upper control arms in my cart...

 

LOL

Wish I had less self-control, and the hobby might be more exciting. However, I'm about 9 years into this car with modifications year over year... so all in all, it's been a good ride.

 

How many more years she got left her @Rochester ?

 

Two or three, then I'll sell it to Krak3n when it hits 50k miles.

 

An unmolested, well taken care of 6mt sedan with under 50k miles.... Talk about a true unicorn.

 

I cant really decide what is harder for me to process ... a 2011 g sedan with just 50k miles... or the fact that you say you still need 2-3 years to hit 50k miles on it !!!
I put on 2.5k miles in my 4 month ownership of the car! And I'm wfh !

 

Been working at home for 7 years now, in a small-ish city, nearing retirement, have two other cars... pandemic.

Sorry, don't mean to derail your intro thread. Here's some on-topic advice: I wouldn't prioritize getting the BBK on your car. It's an expensive upgrade, and for a daily driver, it won't mean a damn thing except looks and bragging rights. You'll get far better braking performance simply by upgrading your pads. For looks, consider getting some aftermarket wheels which don't really showcase your brakes, like an elegant 15-spoke design for example.

 

+1 on the brakes. The Xs already has slightly larger brakes than the base model (2 piston front vs 1), and with some nice pads and good rotors, they actually do a pretty damn good job.
You could skip Akebono and get the remanufactured powerstop brakes from Rockauto, many chose to take that direction: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...OUo6tyiQ%3D%3D
But lighter wheels and nice pads will give you a lot more in performance than adding heavier callipers.
If youre doing cats and headers, I would prioritize those and a tune after, and then move to the cosmetic stuff.

 

So here is the question. Lets say maybe i might get the BBK down the line. Do i stick with 18" wheels or upgrade to 19" ? I see a lot of back and forth about 18" wheels not being able to accommodate BBk's (I'd rather get somethiing that I wouldnt have to change later ). I see a lot of people going for the 19" coupe wheels and house the big brakes in, but i personally prefer 6 spoke design. Prolly some te-37 replicas or Enkei T6s. Thinking of black/ dark matte bronze colored ones

 

You have the Sport Sedan 18" wheels already, which are the identical wheels that came with the RWD Sport Package. The only difference is that your wheels are square, at 18x7.5" all around, whereas the RWD Sport Package wheels were staggered at 8.5" wide in the rear. Insofar as clearing the OEM BBK goes, it's really the big front calipers that are the problem, not the little rears. So I'm like 99.9% sure you could upgrade your brakes first, without worrying about rear wheel clearance.

But like I said, it wouldn't be high on my list. Then again, it's your list, not mine.

 

Yeah, I run 18" wheels with Akebonos no problem.

 

I havent made up my mind on the wheels and brakes yet. I think I should wait and get a feel of the coilovers and the car's ride height being tuned with the low exhaust. The offset recommendation sheet for wheels to fit big brakes confuses me a little and needs more time on researching. I dont even know for sure if i want 18s or 19s yet, but definitely will need to change the tires if i had to go for slightly wider wheels with lesser offset.

I see you run 18x9.5s with +28 offset and run tires @ 255. Mine are 18x7.5 +45 or +50 i think. I just recently put on the michelin 225's. I'm not sure if it will be a good idea to stretch the tires beyond 8" wide wheels, and that brings the next problem of te- 37 replicas dont usually come in 8" wide setups and i love the concave looks they bring. I'll have to go with the enkei T6S and that might not have enough space for bigger brakes in the +30 offset range. This whole thing feels like a puzzle when i want to keep my new tires ! 😂