# just bought my first car, what do you think?



## gti-rSE-R (Oct 20, 2003)

yo guys i'm new and i just bought my first car. I landed a 1994 
SE-R, and for only 2 g's. I got alot of big plans, and i thought i'd ask for your input

1) small suspension upgrades (saving money)
2)Gti-R swap
3)more suspension upgrades
4)big turbo (still shopping around for exact one)
5)bolt ons
6)gutted interior/roll cage
7)functional ground effects kit
8) new paint and exterior enhancements


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

Good choice ... save some more ... it's a fun car to drive, even in stock trim... go for the suspension upgrades first...

before going GTiR, think to yourself... "how much money am I willing to spend?"... it is perfectly possible to turbo the stock engine, and while you may not get the huge numbers you will get from a modded DET, you will still get plenty of power for track work...


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## Z_Spool (Sep 27, 2003)

we've got a '91 sentra so if you need anything let me know and I can probably set you up with where you need to go. Coilovers, CF hood, Turbo, etc.


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## nametakennow (Oct 20, 2003)

Umm... one more detail. If you're going to be running a GTi-R motor, especially after you get the big turbo on it, you're going to need brakes to stop all that speed. Brembo is obviously a good choice, shop around... just a thought, good luck!


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## calichaz (Oct 22, 2003)

dude, why do you want to go turbo? for the same price you can have a 250hp+ all motor sr20, and when you gut the car out, including all A/C and stuff you are looking at like 9lbs/hp or better!!!


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## ad_Adrian (Oct 23, 2003)

ah my first car is a nissan bluebird 1983
now you guys are all thinking man why has this dude got a old car


well its my first and i love it i have reved it up and added a turbo engine and i am a coopdi la hoy! its old and has lasted me for so long
it was my dads before i got it then i did it up real nice 
touched up some nice leather seat's etc
and its lasted me 2 years of driving so far going on my third year
been with me through 2 crashes and its a hardy great car
done up a nice sound system with an amp and subwoofer
u know its a beast for an old car and i love it!!
of course all the new nissan car rules

which i'll proberly be getting once this one hits the bag


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

calichaz said:


> *dude, why do you want to go turbo? for the same price you can have a 250hp+ all motor sr20, and when you gut the car out, including all A/C and stuff you are looking at like 9lbs/hp or better!!! *


 What the hell are you talking about? The Fastest N/A SR20DE is ~200-210hp and belongs to Andreas Miko. He's a hardcore tuner and fabricator and he's put a crap load into that engine so don't say it's cheaper than a turbo to get 250+hp from that engine N/A. The only N/A SR2O that would make this true is to swap in an SR20VE and tune it or find yourself a racing Spec SR20 (about $12,000) which pumps out almost 350 N/A horses.

Seriously tho, Andreas Miko is pretty much the best of the best and after fabricating his own parts and tuning it in his own performance shop, he's only at 210.


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

That's what I'm saying! Most turbo guys don't put out 250hp!

Anyway gti-rSE-R, since you spent all your money buying the car you'll need to save about 4-5 times what you paid for the car to do the things you want to do, and spending that much on your first car wouldn't be very wise. Even if you plan to have the car for a long time, there's a good chance the car will be involved in an accident that will end up with the car totaled. You have a fast car as it is, drive it and appreciate it for awhile before you blow all your money on it. I didn't even start making my suspension mods until I had gotten used to the cars limits with the stock setup. That took me a good year to do. Now I'm almost done making all the suspension and brake mods necessary to make it a safe car when I turbo it next spring. You'll kill yourself and/or someone else if you turbo it before you put better brakes and suspension on. It's way too easy to overpower the stock brakes and suspension. You've also got a lot of research to do before you can do anything to the car, and if $2K was your life savings, you can't afford to have anyone else do the work for you. That's not a dig, just a fact. You've got a sweet car, start by keeping it up and taking good care of it. Slowly replacing things that need it and learning in the process. You can kick plenty of ass with the car as it is now without spending a dollar on it, and if not, it's because you haven't learned to drive it yet. My doesn't run as well as it should and I'm still faster and more nimble that most other cars. And I've not done anything to make the car faster yet. You'll do what you want I suppose, I'd just hate for a young person to make a bunch of quick decisions that could really cost them in the long run when they can't afford to pay the consequences. You've got your whole life to do this stuff. Why do you think most guys with a quick B13 are anywhere from 10 years older than you to twice your age? Because it takes that to get there without costing you more than you're willing or able to pay. Good choice on the car, I feel it's the one of the best cars ever made, and I bought one because of that, not because I couldn't afford anything else.


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## sno (Oct 4, 2002)

yeah, what everyone else is saying: start with suspension and brake mods first.


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## viprdude (Jun 27, 2003)

suspenion first, brakes second, sr20ve next. best n/a engine i have seen.


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## 1badnx (Sep 21, 2003)

Definately go brakes and suspension. Brakes first. 14 in front and 12 in the back plenty safe. Would stop a 70 caddie on a pin head, imagine your car. Suspension is all in taste, but always go safety and driveability first. you'll be glad you did.


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## ad_Adrian (Oct 23, 2003)

yeah suspension is definatly what you need if u want ur car to survive longer! and of course the brakes for your self!
i think suspension is more then taste its to make ur car last more the better suspension u have


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## gti-rSE-R (Oct 20, 2003)

thanks guys. I guess i should just take a step back and check everything out. I had plans for new brakes to be on relatively soon in the stages but i just forgot to mention. I know, not the best thing to forget to mention, but believe me, i wasn't gonna be pushing 225 with the stock brakes still on it. I'm not that dumb. I know i have some serious saving to do and i've already made a couple hundred since the purchase of the car, But i still have a really long way to go. If you guys got any more advice, just lemme know, or if you want email me.


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## Harris (Nov 11, 2002)

Brake upgrade

Front: NX2K calipers and rotors
Rear: Maxima calipers and rotors (96 Maxima, IIRC)

Suspension

This depends on what you intend to do with the car, i.e., are you looking to go drag racing, auto-x, or just daily driving?

turbo

Depends on how much power you want.

GTi-R swap

You have to worry about finding replacement parts, which has resulted in unconfirmed reports of sudden hair-fallout by those who have this engine in their cars. Again, depends on how much headache you're willing to look at.

Bolt-ons

Depends on what you define as bolt-ons.

Interior

Depends on how you intend to use the car (daily driver or dedicated racer).

Exterior

Same as Interior

Decide on those things and then make your decisions.


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## 2SR20DE (May 17, 2003)

Cough... cough... no need for big brakes if you just on the street or the drag strip... cough cough... 

go for power if that's what you want... cough... cough... maybe some minor suspension stuff, decent springs and struts....

You only need big brakes if your doing some track work like autox or road racing... on the street it's not needed. I hope your not planning in driving 90+ on the streets regularly and in need of some serious heat dissapation.

is it getting warm in here? I can feel some flames coming on just like the ones I can see out of my window right now...


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

If you only need bigger brakes for track use, you're not driving fast enough!  I used to overpower the stockers all the time, scared myself pretty good a couple of times.


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## 2SR20DE (May 17, 2003)

If your talking about reducing you stopping distance w/ big brakes your going to first want to get good tires. That's what it's all about. My car w/ the stock brakes on the street are fine, w/ my Azenis they set the car down very fast. W/ my Azenis and Metal Masters... you'll be completely fine. I'm upgrading to NX only becaue I do track work and they dissapate heat faster... i'm not getting them to shorten my stopping distances on the street. Only significant reason for shorter stopping distance on the track will be heat dissapation.


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## NeedforSpeed23 (Sep 2, 2003)

i'm planning on putting a BB in my 4 dr xe how hard is the transplant from a 1.6 to a 2.0 turbo


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## Gump (Jan 30, 2003)

You got alot of big plans. Realistically, why did you buy a se-r to turn it into something that its not. Dont get me wrong, its a great car with alot of potential, but for what intrend to do to it, you could buy something that has far more potential.

As for your XE transplant. you got some work ahead of you, but its do-able.


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## NeedforSpeed23 (Sep 2, 2003)

ok some hints on what i should expect to encount would be good i'm mechanically sound but what kind of problems i'm going to run into with the wiring


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## H8_2BU (Jul 1, 2003)

*hmm*

Well,

My SE-R is still stock but I enjoy the power she already has. I like driving around corners fast. There are plenty of places where I live and can safely do that. The stock brakes heat up pretty quickly so if this your style of driving you may want an upgrade.

H8


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