Modifying The R35

[SlipR35]

Long time reader, first time posting. Tried searching the forums but couldn't find anything specifc on whether owners of the R35's plan on doing any mods when they get them (plenty of discussions about warranty etc). If so it would be interesting to see what equipment has been purchased / what mods are going to be carried out.

Obviously there are owners who don't want to void warranty etc but there are also those of us for whom warranty is not the be all and end all. To start the ball rolling the following equipment will be installed on my car when it arrives in June:

• 5Zigen turbo downpipes, Y pipe and Spec Tune exhaust
  
• K&N air filter
  
• HKS SSBOV kit
  
• AP Racing two piece front and rear rotors
  
• Ferodo DS1.11 brake pads
  
• TR1 Stainless Steel braided brake lines
  
• AccessPORT ECU
  
• HKS EVC 6
  
• Cobb tuning Anti sway bars
  
• Eibach spring kit
  
• AMS crank pulley
  

I've bought the car as a track car so not for daily use etc. Would be interested to see who else is going to mod their R35.

Cheers

Slip.

[Beer Baron]

if it's a track car there are a few other things you should really consider:

1. trans and engine oil cooler upgrades. the stock cooling system will get too hot after maybe 6 laps or so. if you want to run more than that in a session, you'll need to upgrade the cooling, it's a good idea anyway.

2. paddles that move with the steering wheel (MCR carbon paddle kit). it's a bit awkward (and dangerous) needing a gear mid corner and having to take your hand off the wheel to grab a gear.

3. race seat (good to save some weight over the stock seats and of course greatly improve the on-track driving. add a harness to that too.

4. cage. this one is not so neccessary if you just want to do sprints and track days, but worth thinking about. R35s are a very fast car, and very heavy too.

I would put this gear ahead of the bov kit, evc6 and the crank pulley. also think about some track wheels and tyres too.

[LSX-438]

I need to keep my car within CAMS 2D specs for NSW club based Sprints, so mods will be relatively lightweight.

1. Tyres (295 RE55's all round) on 18" Enkei 18x10's

2. Midpipe

3. Willall tranny fluid and possibly cooler

4. Harness bar + harness

5. AP front rotors and uprated pads + fluid

Unfortunately i need to run the factory tune on the circuit (2D rules).

I might try the AccessPort for the street, strip and valet mode though.

[SlipR35]

Thanks Beer Baron,

I have a new set of Recaro's for the vehicle already and am looking into the cage side of things to see who can do one. I agree with your comments re the paddles, I have the MCR ones on order from the States but am waiting to receive them.

I saw that Willall Racing do the transmission intercooler upgrade, I'll have a chat to them about the oil cooler upgrade as well and get them to do both at the same time if this can be sourced.

Cheers

Slip.

Edited April 2, 2009 by SlipR35

[Snowman]

I'm putting an E-Tag into my car. Should beep nicely every-time I'm on the Eastern

[Beer Baron]

Thanks Beer Baron,

I have a new set of Recaro's for the vehicle already and am looking into the cage side of things to see who can do one. I agree with your comments re the paddles, I have the MCR ones on order from the States but am waiting to receive them.

I saw that Willall Racing do the transmission intercooler upgrade, I'll have a chat to them about the oil cooler upgrade as well and get them to do both at the same time if this can be sourced.

Cheers

Slip.

have a look at giant's R35. he had a lovely cage built for that. i drove it at oran park gp on the weekend and it was lovely to drive. very easy to steer on the throttle and even though the chassis is pretty good to start with the cage does help, and of course adds to the safety. his has been retuned too with more boost etc and runs very nicely. the only thing you need to do is keep one eye on temps of trans and engine oil.

the biggest improver to driving feel would be:

seat and harness

wheel and moveable paddles

those things transform the way you can drive the car.

[GUN_METAL_GTR32]

I'm putting an E-Tag into my car. Should beep nicely every-time I'm on the Eastern

lol

[Blitz]

I'm putting an E-Tag into my car. Should beep nicely every-time I'm on the Eastern

Is it the carbon fibre version Snowy?

[Snowman]

Na but it is the new small mini version. I tested it out last night and it worked perfectly!

[sewid]

Na but it is the new small mini version. I tested it out last night and it worked perfectly!

It's the new lightened e-tag? I heard it was good for an extra second at the Nurburgring.

[sewid]

Long time reader, first time posting. Tried searching the forums but couldn't find anything specifc on whether owners of the R35's plan on doing any mods when they get them (plenty of discussions about warranty etc). If so it would be interesting to see what equipment has been purchased / what mods are going to be carried out.

Obviously there are owners who don't want to void warranty etc but there are also those of us for whom warranty is not the be all and end all. To start the ball rolling the following equipment will be installed on my car when it arrives in June:

• 5Zigen turbo downpipes, Y pipe and Spec Tune exhaust
  
• K&N air filter
  
• HKS SSBOV kit
  
• AP Racing two piece front and rear rotors
  
• Ferodo DS1.11 brake pads
  
• TR1 Stainless Steel braided brake lines
  
• AccessPORT ECU
  
• HKS EVC 6
  
• Cobb tuning Anti sway bars
  
• Eibach spring kit
  
• AMS crank pulley
  

I've bought the car as a track car so not for daily use etc. Would be interested to see who else is going to mod their R35.

Cheers

Slip.

First mods should be a Y-Pipe and the Cobb ECU and probably a boost controller because even with the latest maps some people complain about issues with Cobb's boost control. The next best value for money mod is the wastegate actuators swap.

Your Australian spec GT-R will have stiffened brake lines anyway, not sure brake lines are needed. Brake pads and some aftermarket slotted rotors for is all you need for the brakes.

BOVs? Why would you bother... Unless you're already buying the GT570 kit which comes with them there's no reason to go out and buy these on purpose.

With the seriesII suspension, spring kits aren't really doing anything for you unless you just want to lower it and already standard ride height is low. They weren't designed with the series II suspension in mind. See what comes out over the next few months in terms of springs but probably not worth doing.

Crank pulley? I wouldn't.

K&N Filters? Probably fine to replace the stock ones after the run in period with these but dont expect any gains.

[Majanal]

Might be the wrong place to ask, and forgive me for asking a question that has probably already been covered, but does anyone know if the R35 can be switched to rear wheel drive only easily?

I was sure that it was said somewhere before but bugger me if I can find it.???

Cheers.

[Snowman]

Well anyone interested in getting a Cobb should know we can now do a custom tune for them

The base tunes with the units are only designed for 96RON fuel so they'll work ok but could be improved. But we got the full Cobb Pro tuning software during the week.

Like others have said I reckon a Cobb + Midpipe is about where you'd want to be at if you are keen on modding your R35 as the most sensible place to start.

Oh - and rotors/pads. That way you can put your stock ones back on before you go back to Nissan in "new" condition and not be flogged with a $10K replacement.

[sewid]

Might be the wrong place to ask, and forgive me for asking a question that has probably already been covered, but does anyone know if the R35 can be switched to rear wheel drive only easily?

I was sure that it was said somewhere before but bugger me if I can find it.???

Cheers.

You drop the return driveshaft from the transfer case.

It's not a simple fuse pull.

[Snowman]

The Supercar Club guys came around with their new Gunmetal JDM GT-R tonight care of Beer Baron and we did a quick Cobb treatment on it to get rid of the speed limitter before it goes to Phillip Island tomorrow. Good little toy those Cobbs.

We also had a Willall Midpipe which we put on tonight and as a free pulg to Martin here it was a beautiful fit, made a HUGE improvement to external noise but internally (at least with the windows up) there was bugger all marked difference in noise and had no noticable drone on either the freeway or around the normal streets. The only real time you could hear the difference from behind the wheel was on the big down-shifts as then you could really hear the bark. Although driving with the windows down you can definitely hear it.

But thumbs up for a great mod to get. Easy to install (took 15mins on my gargage floor) and for the $$$ I can see no reason why you'd get a more expensive Jap one. And its definitely a major improvent over the stock system.

[LSX-438]

Well anyone interested in getting a Cobb should know we can now do a custom tune for them

The base tunes with the units are only designed for 96RON fuel so they'll work ok but could be improved. But we got the full Cobb Pro tuning software during the week.

Like others have said I reckon a Cobb + Midpipe is about where you'd want to be at if you are keen on modding your R35 as the most sensible place to start.

Oh - and rotors/pads. That way you can put your stock ones back on before you go back to Nissan in "new" condition and not be flogged with a $10K replacement.

Do you sell the Cobb tuner itself and is it in stock? If so could you PM me a price? Cheers!

[LSX-438]

For anyone interested in a harness setup, it turns out the EVO 7~9 Sparco harness bar fits the R35....

About $650 here in Australia

[Martin Donnon]

It makes us happy to see you enjoy the Willall Midpipe as much as we do Snowman

Next up is to swap out to WR35TM in the transmission and rid your GTR of all those little zinging and whining noises in the transmission....

[LSX-438]

I too have the Willall Midpipe and Tranny Fluid, thanks Martin.

Hopefully we'll find time to whack them on soon!

[Majanal]

You drop the return driveshaft from the transfer case.

It's not a simple fuse pull.

I would guess you would have to do something with slip sensors also if you were going to use it for Drifting?