5 Spped Auto + And -

[ChrisB]

So i just bought a 2002 M35 Stagea and put it on my credit card.

I think i did pretty well on the price. Some will say way too cheap, there must be something wrong with it.

Truth is, it came from Plunket Rd car sales about a year ago and has been previously owned in Australia. I believe the former owner traded it in at a Holden Dealership and it ended up at Car City Ringwood.

I beat the guy down from $15K to $9.9K drive away and so im pretty happy that im not going to loose and money on it if i don't keep it too long.

Hopefully it will all work out. The car drove really nicely and the Turbo seems good.

A few points I'm looking for guidance on:

1. Transmittion has recently been serviced and the + and - are the wrong way around! push forward and it shifts down rather than up. is this simple to reverse the wires or something?

2. Aftermarket K&N air intake and filter. This is noisy as the cover plate on the filter box is removed. Can i get a cover for it?

Pictures here;

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/nissan-stagea-2002-11939566?vertical=Car&cr=1&eapi=2&__N=1216%201247%201252%201282%204294963846%204294960181%204294683075%20903&distance=25&silo=Stock&Range=Price:Min,Max~1|Mileage:Min,Max|Year:Min,Max|Seats:Min,Max|Power:Min,Max|TowingBrakes:Min,Max|EngineSize:Min,Max&sort=default

Thanks up front for any feedback.

[Commsman]

A few points I'm looking for guidance on:

1. Transmittion has recently been serviced and the + and - are the wrong way around! push forward and it shifts down rather than up. is this simple to reverse the wires or something?

2. Aftermarket K&N air intake and filter. This is noisy as the cover plate on the filter box is removed. Can i get a cover for it?

Nice pick up. I reckon you're right about getting it for a good price - can't go wrong IMO.

re point 1. The previous owner did a very simple mod to CORRECT the way the gear box shifts in manual mode. Most on here will agree that it is more natural to push forward to shift down & pull back to change up (to do with G forces whilst braking/accelerating). This was the 1st mod I did on mine & I found it was so natural that I didn't have to look at the + / - markings, whereas before I was always looking because they are logically WRONG, lol.. If you really don't like it that way, it's easy to swap back. Just need to remove the centre console & you will see the switches with the wires.

re point 2. There maybe someone with one for sale. I have mine in a cupboard in case I want to put it back to stock. There is a small benefit in performance with it removed (especially if you put in the 'power duct' or homemade equivalent) but you will hear more induction noise. The thing is, if you intend to put a better exhaust on your car, you will find the induction noise will reduce heaps. On my car the induction noise (& over all noise) reduced to less than stock when I put an exhaust on.

Cheers, Leon.

[slippylotion]

I find the direction of the manual shift perfectly natural in standard form. Pulling the stick is like pulling down a gear and push forward for pushing up a gear. I wouldn't push forward to shift a gear down, doesn't seem right to move forward to go backwards a gear.

[nickcorr]

Looks like an AR-X with an RS centre console...

And gear shift, I'm with Commsman as are BMW, Merc...

[KiwiRS4T]

Well the flappy paddle on my Sterling is pull up to change up and push down to change down but I guess its up to the preference of the owner!

[Commsman]

I find the direction of the manual shift perfectly natural in standard form. Pulling the stick is like pulling down a gear and push forward for pushing up a gear. I wouldn't push forward to shift a gear down, doesn't seem right to move forward to go backwards a gear.

Yeah, this subject is always polarised, but then I guess there's only 2 options, lol. There's plenty of manufacturers on either side of the camp.

Sequential g'boxes in rallying seem to be push forward to change down, & I feel much more comfortable doing the same. It's to do with the way braking forces act on your car/body (pushing you forward) as you slow down & change down thru the gears. Likewise, as you are forced back in your seat under acceleration, I find it more more natural to pull back to change up.

People can get used to doing it the opposite way (the way Nissan made it for our cars), but I (& many, many others) reckon the more natural way is the modded way. Try it, you may agree...

[Tangles]

Great purchase!!

[dirtyRS4]

nice buy mate, that's hella cheap for an M35 stagea.

gear shift up or down is really up to the individual.

[zei20l]

Sequential g'boxes in rallying seem to be push forward to change down, & I feel much more comfortable doing the same. It's to do with the way braking forces act on your car/body (pushing you forward) as you slow down & change down thru the gears. Likewise, as you are forced back in your seat under acceleration, I find it more more natural to pull back to change up.

i think youre looking for the word 'inertia'

which agrees with the way we mostly have our cars setup, and not the way nissan (and skoda) says. i have paddles so i dont touch the selector now

[PN-Mad]

I changed mine cause I always shifted the wrong way, because I'm so use to driving the 997 GT3 Cup car....

Edited February 26, 2012 by PN-Mad

[bigkevracer]

I changed mine cause I always shifted the wrong way, because racecar....

Fixed your post

[Jetwreck]

I changed mine cause I always shifted the wrong way, because I'm so use to driving the 997 GT3 Cup car....

tell the truth....you changed yours because you wanted to be awesome! Same reason you got that exhaust!

[Commsman]

i think youre looking for the word 'inertia'

That could be it, thanks

[QJQ]

Great looking car, especially love the grille. Does the Nismo sticker mean anything?

Gear shift direction is definitely a personal thing. My sister has a HSV which is set up opposite to the Stag and one of the first things she commented to me was she wished it was the other way around. For those that have swapped the direction, can the + and - marks be swapped neatly or can they be removed? Otherwise this would be confusing to anyone else who may have to drive the car. I spose you could just ban anyone else from driving it .

On a side note, gotta love accurate advertising. Looks more like an AR-X than a 250RS V, 139,000ks not 136,000, if it is rear drive type why does it have a snow button (OK, in the description it does say AWD), there's no dual climate button, the cruise, if it exists, must be aftermarket, and 4 speed.................why even bother writing anything.......... or am I being too picky?

[Daleo]

Great looking car, especially love the grille. Does the Nismo sticker mean anything?

Gear shift direction is definitely a personal thing. My sister has a HSV which is set up opposite to the Stag and one of the first things she commented to me was she wished it was the other way around. For those that have swapped the direction, can the + and - marks be swapped neatly or can they be removed? Otherwise this would be confusing to anyone else who may have to drive the car. I spose you could just ban anyone else from driving it .

On a side note, gotta love accurate advertising. Looks more like an AR-X than a 250RS V, 139,000ks not 136,000, if it is rear drive type why does it have a snow button (OK, in the description it does say AWD), there's no dual climate button, the cruise, if it exists, must be aftermarket, and 4 speed.................why even bother writing anything.......... or am I being too picky?

You can't really remove the OEM Markings; as they're etched into the Stainless gate surround.

You could probably get a sticker maker to do some little round stickers, or maybe even get them to do something on vinyl and wrap the gate surround (C/F or Metal effect film?)

Edited February 26, 2012 by Daleo

[ChrisB]

Thanks for the comments and feedback guys.

QJQ, your spot on with the comments re the bad description.

I'm sure its an AR-X (for sure its all wheel drive) and the AX-R is the one that gets the plastic guards right?

Cruise control? I don't think so. Dual zone climate control? Certainly not!

Maybe I should threaten the dealer under the trade descriptions act then he can fit aftermarket cruise control for me!!

As for the plus and minus on the shift, i might change it back to stock the way Nissan intended. My V36 Coupe is the standard way around and now I'm perfectly comfortable with that; best keep them both the same way.

Guys, i have another question.

The standard stereo is coming out and will be replaced with a unit that has bluetooth phone connection. I'm wondering if its possible to remove the boost pressure and battery gauge at the same time and put in a double din head unit instead. Why exactly would I need the boost gauge anyway, the needle never moves on the gauges anyway.

The middle gauge for the battery works fine but the other two do nothing, is this normal?

Cheers

Chris

[Daleo]

The torque split gauge only moves when there's a loss of traction; in a stocker, you won't see much action. Give it a punt on some dirt or grass; it'll move.

The boost gauge has an issue with dry solder joint's and Scotty did a "how to fix" on that, it's quite easy.

Link; http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/297345-m35-factory-boost-gauge-repair/page__p__4951320__hl__boost+sensor+fix__fromsearch__1#entry4951320

There's no reason why you can't remove them though.

[KiwiRS4T]

You can get a holder for the boost gauge and put it somehwere else.

[Daleo]

You can get a holder for the boost gauge and put it somehwere else.

He'd be better off buying a proper boost gauge and using that; the OEM one is hardly the last word in resolution.

[Commsman]

You can get a holder for the boost gauge and put it somehwere else.

Also, in a M35 the 3 gauges are joined together by a printed circuit board - big effort required (impossible?) to separate. And as Dale said, the boost gauge is close to useless for discerning exactly what's happening.