Need to scratch the itch

[lavaheadache]

Been with my 08 350z for over year and a half now. About every 6 months I've felt like I've needed to do something to it. First was a magnaflow catback. Then I slapped an eibach pro kit on her followed up by some bfg GeForce kdw's. The last few weeks I have been looking at intakes. I'm steering toward the injen long tube setup. I've always been a fan of aem intakes but I think the injen's make a bit more power. Anybody have any recommedations? I'm not interested in any k&n type filters. Not a big fan of oiled cotton gauze gumming up my maf's.

I know what some of you are thinking. Moar boost! Lol, not in the cards. I think I'll only have the car for 2-3 more years before I dump it in favor off possibly a 04ish 911 turbo/nsx/viper/f355.

edit**

They showed up. Kit is in brand new condition. Very happy. Thank you fleabay!!

Couple pics of the whip

 

[RKS]

Doesn't the Injen have the k&n type filter and the AEM is a dry filter?

 

[lavaheadache]

its a dry filter I believe

 

[lavaheadache]

I won a nearly new injen short ram intake set on fleabay for $150. Not bad since they go for $350+ new. I should have it by the 11th and on shortly thereafter.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I like the Z. Be sure to let us know how it goes after you get the intake kit installed.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Live with what you have and appreciate it for what it is.

It's a human nature to always want more and things you can't have.

If you are willing to let this go and just live with the decisions you already made you will be SO much better off (in life and financially).

As far as putting more money into the car. Remember, every dollar you put in is a dollar down the drain. If you are doing it for YOURSELF and you will be keeping the car for VERY long time, that's different.

Each modification to your car makes your car worth LESS when you go to sell it. Heck it will make it that much more harder TO sell unless you find an enthusiasts that's stupid enough to pay extra and value the things you have done. Problem is, most enthusiasts like to do these things themselves/to their own liking so having it pre done is a turn off as well. You can always part it out and sell the car stock (which is probably your best bet BUT time consuming and frustrating).

So as you can see we are now back to where I started my reply......just accept the car for what it is, enjoy the crap out of it and appreciate it.

 

[Zivic]

Each modification to your car makes your car worth LESS when you go to sell it. Heck it will make it that much more harder TO sell unless you find an enthusiasts that's stupid enough to pay extra and value the things you have done. Problem is, most enthusiasts like to do these things themselves/to their own liking so having it pre done is a turn off as well. You can always part it out and sell the car stock (which is probably your best bet BUT time consuming and frustrating).

So as you can see we are now back to where I started my reply......just accept the car for what it is, enjoy the crap out of it and appreciate it.

putting parts on the car doesn't make it worth LESS. for example a quality exhaust isn't going to bring the value down.

I am an old school 350Z owner... owned mine for over 8 yrs now LOL . if you aren't going to boost it, here are the ONLY mods I would do:
window tint
suspension/sways
Wheels and tires
catback exhaust (only for looks and sound)

any other "peformance" mods are a complete waste and won't yield any worthwhile results.... in saying that; you do have the HR motor in the '08 which does respond better than than the DE to intakes and such. Still, your gains would be minimal and without boost, you are doing little more than changing out parts for the sake of saying you did so.

save your money, buy some nice wheels and suspension... I don't consider the eibach to be very good. Hotchkis TVS is a good starting point

 

[JulesMaximus]

putting parts on the car doesn't make it worth LESS. for example a quality exhaust isn't going to bring the value down.

I am an old school 350Z owner... owned mine for over 8 yrs now LOL . if you aren't going to boost it, here are the ONLY mods I would do:
window tint
suspension/sways
Wheels and tires
catback exhaust (only for looks and sound)

any other "peformance" mods are a complete waste and won't yield any worthwhile results.... in saying that; you do have the HR motor in the '08 which does respond better than than the DE to intakes and such. Still, your gains would be minimal and without boost, you are doing little more than changing out parts for the sake of saying you did so.

save your money, buy some nice wheels and suspension... I don't consider the eibach to be very good. Hotchkis TVS is a good starting point

It certainly isn't going to increase the value. It might make the car slightly more desireable to a prospective buyer but it does not add any value.

You know what you have when you take a $30,000 car and put $10k in mods on it? You have a $30,000 car. People like to think they've increased the value of the car but that's almost never going to be the case.

You'd be better off removing the parts and selling them separately from the car.

 

[Zivic]

It certainly isn't going to increase the value. It might make the car slightly more desireable to a prospective buyer but it does not add any value.

You know what you have when you take a $30,000 car and put $10k in mods on it? You have a $30,000 car. People like to think they've increased the value of the car but that's almost never going to be the case.

You'd be better off removing the parts and selling them separately from the car.

and you highlighted my text and somehow thought it implied that I meant it increased its value?

I have a local that is selling his evo. I think he has the buying picking it up today.... for at least 10 grand over market price. he could have parted the car out and probably come out better, but that requires additional time/labor/effort. But to counter your argument that "it does not add any value" in this case the "mods" did increase the value of the car. maybe not 1:1, but then again, as soon as they are installed the parts are then considered used.
evo listing

in the OP's case, putting on a 600-800 buck exhaust isn't going to be a deal breaker or maker in selling his car. and pulling an intake or exhaust off a car is very easy and isn't even worth discussing in terms of "adding value" to the car

 

[JulesMaximus]

and you highlighted my text and somehow thought it implied that I meant it increased its value?

I have a local that is selling his evo. I think he has the buying picking it up today.... for at least 10 grand over market price. he could have parted the car out and probably come out better, but that requires additional time/labor/effort. But to counter your argument that "it does not add any value" in this case the "mods" did increase the value of the car. maybe not 1:1, but then again, as soon as they are installed the parts are then considered used.
evo listing

in the OP's case, putting on a 600-800 buck exhaust isn't going to be a deal breaker or maker in selling his car. and pulling an intake or exhaust off a car is very easy and isn't even worth discussing in terms of "adding value" to the car

I wasn't arguing with you. Just elaborating on your post.

How much does evo guy have into his car? I'd bet it's a lot more than ten grand.

 

[Throckmorton]

Sell it and buy a Corvette

 

[rh71]

I'd have a lot of difficulty going from an '08 sports car to an '04 even if it's a Porsche. Think about it - it'd be a 10+ year old car by the time you get to it. Also why I just don't feel the E46 craze. It's not like it's going to be just a track car.

 

[Vdubchaos]

putting parts on the car doesn't make it worth LESS. for example a quality exhaust isn't going to bring the value down.

The reason I said that is because to MOST normal people, modifications = automatic no buy no matter what the price

Heck, I'm a car enthusiast and would never EVER buy a pre modified car. That just takes all the fun out of it.

 

[Zivic]

I wasn't arguing with you. Just elaborating on your post.

How much does evo guy have into his car? I'd bet it's a lot more than ten grand.

no doubt more than 10.... he says he has 25k + the cost of the car, which he overpaid for, so he is in the mid to upper 40's into the car.

I could take a 70-80k mile car that I paid 16-18k for, take 10 grand and have a comparable car, so he is coming out very good in that regards. I usually value a car based on what it would take to build one similar

What I laugh about, when he told me he wanted to build the car, I told him don't. You will enjoy it less than you do now. and now he says he is selling it because it is too impractical.

 

[Zivic]

The reason I said that is because to MOST normal people, modifications = automatic no buy no matter what the price

Heck, I'm a car enthusiast and would never EVER buy a pre modified car. That just takes all the fun out of it.

certain cars I would agree with you. when I shopped my evo, it was HARD to find a clean one, mods or no mods. At first I was in the same frame of mind as you. I finally bought one that had been modded AND road raced. It came down to the receipts, maintenance, number of owners and driving the car. I had come across more stockish cars with less miles that were in much worse condition.

It is hard to generalize because one can always find exceptions. I know where you are coming from, but after having the experience I have, I won't rule out modified cars. Modified cars that have changed hands a lot of times, with questionable history then I will likely stay away. but with an intake, exhaust, and some springs, you haven't limited your market when it comes time to sell, especially if you have held onto the stock parts

 

[JulesMaximus]

no doubt more than 10.... he says he has 25k + the cost of the car, which he overpaid for, so he is in the mid to upper 40's into the car.

I could take a 70-80k mile car that I paid 16-18k for, take 10 grand and have a comparable car, so he is coming out very good in that regards. I usually value a car based on what it would take to build one similar

What I laugh about, when he told me he wanted to build the car, I told him don't. You will enjoy it less than you do now. and now he says he is selling it because it is too impractical.

Therein lies the problem. People think they want a race car daily driver but the reality is that a racing car is not a fun place to be (unless you're at the track). They are hot, noisy, uncomfortable, and they'll beat you up unless you drive on only the smoothest of roads. Most people couldn't or wouldn't put up with that on a daily basis.

 

[lavaheadache]

you guys have been busy, lol. I'm not too worried about losing a little money on the mods. If I do... Big deal, they were cheap.

Eibach's - $225

tires- I needed them regardless.

Magnaflow- $325 used

intake- $150 used

tint- free (my tinter owed me a favor, I got his Bandit sold that he couldn't sell for 2 years)

I do all my own work. Have had several sick cars and don't mind passing on a good deal to someone once I've enjoyed the snot out of them.

I sold my well built 87 Daytona Shelby Z with a super 60 setup to a friend

my Supercharged 01 GTi vr6 to some kid in NH that was very enthusiastic.

88 RX7 Turbo 2, also engine swapped and haltuned, to some guy who said he bought it for a drag car.

My Z is serving me well but eventually I will want to try something new, not anytime too soon though. I really love the way vq's sound and I'm sure once I uncork the front of the pump it will make me giggle like a school girl again.

 

[RKS]

I've spent way too much on mods for a relatively new car. Even though we keep cars for about 10 years I'm still holding on to the OEM parts to swap before any trade-in or sale.

 

[lavaheadache]

I've spent way too much on mods for a relatively new car. Even though we keep cars for about 10 years I'm still holding on to the OEM parts to swap before any trade-in or sale.

Yeah, I like to hold on to the oem parts too. I may strip the car of the aftermarket parts and sell them off to purchase parts for the new car next time

 

[lavaheadache]

bump for pics.

The intake shall go on in the next few days.


**edit.

I feel like I should just add a pic of an e46 M3 just to get more interest in my thread