# Anybody else upgraded from 2002 to 2006 Spec V?



## Aggdaddy (Feb 6, 2003)

I traded in my 2002 spec v for a 2006 recently. Lots of nice little improvements. But there is something I am wondering about. My 2002 felt like it had a little more kick in the pants than this 2006. 

Is there a difference in exhaust or ecu that might make my older car of 75000 miles seem faster?

No mods were made to the 2002, however the dealer did have to replace my engine at around 7000 miles to fix a problem with a recall or something.

Oh and seems like the differential or something has changed. I don't have to muscle the steering wheel upon 1st gear starts like I did with the 2002.


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## PoppinJ (Jun 13, 2005)

You are very observant. Some small changes were made between the 02 and 05. The reason 1st gear feels different is because its a little bit longer in the 05, they changes it from the 03 to 04 models. I think the reason it doesn't feel as peppy is because of the recall they did for the header. If I'm not mistaken they changed something in the ECU, and I remember many people complaining about their cars feeling more sluggish after having it done. They said it didn't effect actual performance, but they did notice a difference.


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## Aggdaddy (Feb 6, 2003)

I knew it was something I was missing.

Thanks for confirming that for me. I almost wish I had my 2002 now. Almost.

This one is much nicer in looks and I might make a aftermarket upgrade later on.


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## xbrandonx (Mar 27, 2004)

you've got to be kidding me about the looks, the 02 front OEM bumper is the best stock bumper I've seen on ANY nissan.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

xbrandonx said:


> you've got to be kidding me about the looks, the 02 front OEM bumper is the best stock bumper I've seen on ANY nissan.



i'm gonna have to disagree. 1) the Z looks better.

2) the 2002-2003 spec front end looks way dated now.......

3) why would you claim a sentra's bumper looks better than any bumper on any nissan? Even better than the R34 GT-R? Come on.


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## neogeon (Nov 30, 2005)

hmmm, strange, i heard the 06 was supposed to be faster from an ECU upgrade or some such. Also, the header pre-cat recall made it run slightly richer according to the service department manager at my dealership (trust me, he knows his shit, ive talked tech with him) and said most people reported it feeling faster, and i agree. As for the steering wrestling, it seems all spec vs left the factor with the alignment off as i thought it was just torque steer but i finally just decided to get an alignment and the problem is completely gone, i can accelerate and not touch the wheel. It will feel slower also because like was already stated the gearing is taller in the later Spec Vs so naturally shorter gears will feel faster as revvs climb faster, but if you plan on adding a significant amount of HP youll be glad you have higher ratios. As for styling, i think the 02 is definently the winner and i almost wanted to cry when i saw what they did to the 04. I think the 04 looks alot better in person than in pictures but it still doesnt come near the 02. I much prefer the bumper, gauges, and seats in the 02 but i will admit i do think i like the 06 shift knob slightly more as it seems more like the EVO and STI shift knobs for that rally car look. As for Chimmike's comments, the front bumper of the 350z is easily the worst styling of the entire car. Also, the 02/03 bumper was modeled after the R34 skyline bumper and this is was clearly stated on the nissan website when it first came out. I personally find it looks closest to the R32 without the lateral slats running across it (you can modify the R32 grill on Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 to look identical to a spec v by removing those slats). As for outdated, its 4 years old, give me a break, its not clothes, 240sx's are still considered good looking cars and they are 15+ years old.

P.S. Thank you for not bishing about your motor being replaced like so many other spec v owners. I personally would've considered it a blessing to get a free 0 mile motor with all recall work done. Also, your 75k miles (problem free?) proves the QR isnt destined toward an early grave necessarily and that once the bugs are fixed it is a good and long lasting motor.


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## xbrandonx (Mar 27, 2004)

chimmike said:


> i'm gonna have to disagree. 1) the Z looks better.
> 
> 2) the 2002-2003 spec front end looks way dated now.......
> 
> 3) why would you claim a sentra's bumper looks better than any bumper on any nissan? Even better than the R34 GT-R? Come on.


ah, USDM nissan then. Still though, the R34 bumper is on every single damn car now though, it gets old.

and I like the looks of a z32 better then the z33, but still not as much as the specV bumper.


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## Aggdaddy (Feb 6, 2003)

neogeon said:


> hmmm, strange, i heard the 06 was supposed to be faster from an ECU upgrade or some such. Also, the header pre-cat recall made it run slightly richer according to the service department manager at my dealership (trust me, he knows his shit, ive talked tech with him) and said most people reported it feeling faster, and i agree. As for the steering wrestling, it seems all spec vs left the factor with the alignment off as i thought it was just torque steer but i finally just decided to get an alignment and the problem is completely gone, i can accelerate and not touch the wheel. It will feel slower also because like was already stated the gearing is taller in the later Spec Vs so naturally shorter gears will feel faster as revvs climb faster, but if you plan on adding a significant amount of HP youll be glad you have higher ratios. As for styling, i think the 02 is definently the winner and i almost wanted to cry when i saw what they did to the 04. I think the 04 looks alot better in person than in pictures but it still doesnt come near the 02. I much prefer the bumper, gauges, and seats in the 02 but i will admit i do think i like the 06 shift knob slightly more as it seems more like the EVO and STI shift knobs for that rally car look. As for Chimmike's comments, the front bumper of the 350z is easily the worst styling of the entire car. Also, the 02/03 bumper was modeled after the R34 skyline bumper and this is was clearly stated on the nissan website when it first came out. I personally find it looks closest to the R32 without the lateral slats running across it (you can modify the R32 grill on Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 to look identical to a spec v by removing those slats). As for outdated, its 4 years old, give me a break, its not clothes, 240sx's are still considered good looking cars and they are 15+ years old.
> 
> P.S. Thank you for not bishing about your motor being replaced like so many other spec v owners. I personally would've considered it a blessing to get a free 0 mile motor with all recall work done. Also, your 75k miles (problem free?) proves the QR isnt destined toward an early grave necessarily and that once the bugs are fixed it is a good and long lasting motor.



Oh yeah, I think I did good in taking care of that motor. Nothing less than 89 octane, fuel injector cleaner after every oil change. Always did the scheduled maintenance as listed by my local Nissan dealer. Gave the car sufficient warm up time in the morning before leaving for work. never redlined it. Got close though.  

I guess you're right about the power seeming different because of different gear ratios. Maybe I just need to wait until it breaks in fully before judging too quickly.


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## neogeon (Nov 30, 2005)

Aggdaddy said:


> Oh yeah, I think I did good in taking care of that motor. Nothing less than 89 octane, fuel injector cleaner after every oil change. Always did the scheduled maintenance as listed by my local Nissan dealer. Gave the car sufficient warm up time in the morning before leaving for work. never redlined it. Got close though.
> 
> I guess you're right about the power seeming different because of different gear ratios. Maybe I just need to wait until it breaks in fully before judging too quickly.


i highly suspect the problems with the pre-cat were from it not warming up properly and damage occuring while it was still cold from 2fast2furious imitations. Do you personally know the person you sold it to? check on it in a few months and let us know how long it lasts.


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## Aggdaddy (Feb 6, 2003)

neogeon said:


> i highly suspect the problems with the pre-cat were from it not warming up properly and damage occuring while it was still cold from 2fast2furious imitations. Do you personally know the person you sold it to? check on it in a few months and let us know how long it lasts.



I'm not following you. I haven't had any problems with the engine after it was changed and that was 1000 miles after I bought the car. Its been traded in to the dealer. I don't think I can keep up with it now.


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## neogeon (Nov 30, 2005)

Aggdaddy said:


> I'm not following you. I haven't had any problems with the engine after it was changed and that was 1000 miles after I bought the car. Its been traded in to the dealer. I don't think I can keep up with it now.


well thats find then, just glad to hear something positive about a high mileage QR for once instead of the general negativity that makes abundant appearances from a few.


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## Aggdaddy (Feb 6, 2003)

neogeon said:


> well thats find then, just glad to hear something positive about a high mileage QR for once instead of the general negativity that makes abundant appearances from a few.



yeah, whoever gets it, should be thoroughly pleased with the power. The day before I traded it in I was gettin' on it, and it was moving goood.

I thought that since it had so many miles on, that perfromance was degrading over time. I get into the 2006, it was a little slower than my 2002. I figured it just needs to be broken in so I didn't worry about it.


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