atwong1
11-14-2007, 11:43 PM
I would like to share my experience with you guys and let you know why I gave up the R&T package to get AWD. I am also sharing my plans on how to mod it. Please comment:
I live in Atlanta, GA. We have not but one or two days of snow/ice per year. And yes, I did get my AWD for those two days because of bad past experience, or maybe plus a little more: I had another funny experience that lead me to get a AWD car. Almost 10 years ago, my wife (girlfriend back then) and I went to Florida for an NSPE meeting. We drove my Ford Probe GT (2WD) on the beach to watch sunrise. After that I was going to take her back to the hotel room to get exhausted happily, but instead, we spent 3 exhausting hours trying to get the car out of the sand. At the end, I had to pay a guy to pull us out with his 4WD jeep. It was soo stupid.
Currently I have a stock 1997 model 4800lb Infiniti Q45 with about 280 horses, and the last few times when we had snow, I can't even back it out of my driveway at least half the time. My wife used to laugh about 280 useless horses, can't even compare with her 2800lbs Camry with only 140 horses that will get out of the icy driveway. I am so glad this new dream car has AWD. For only $2000 extra, it's a no brainer for me. I know I will miss the R&T seats and steering, but I mod the rest to get more power.
I don't care for burnouts at all, because it doesn't accomplish anything in my books. Instead of having the tires screaming out loud that they are trying to go fast, I would rather the whole car just go fast without an announcement. I do like faster 0-60, and the AWD gives me exactly that due to no-spin, and more efficient power transfer between tire and road, I love that. For the high end extra power, I can get them from AirHammer with a RamAirHood, and JBA shorty (due to the clearance of the AWD transmission), JBA cat, and Corsa exhaust. To make acceleration better, I can get a set of lightweight forged alloy wheels 20" like the Savani SV2 in yellow finish, and summer tires at 255/40-20 using Diablo to fix the speedometer, and this setup will give me the side effect of better braking.
For the 1" increased clearance (height) for AWD, I do not plan to use Eibach because:
1. they will wear out my shocks faster due to the softness of the spring, and
2. I lose the clearance when I may need it (like in the beach senario above) semi-permanently. I will get UniversalAirSuspension system. That way, I will drive low normally, with the comfort and strength of an airbag spring, but if I need the extra height, I have it on demand, all without an extra toll on the shocks. I will lose my spare tires to the air tank, but one bottle fix-a-flat should be a good standby with unlimited air from the airtank, and the back up is AAA membership. Worst case, use the air suspension to jack that bald wheel up and get out of there.
All these are my actual plans to mod my 2008 R/T AWD once delivered, and all are welcomed to question or comment. I was told to expect a late delivery due to my requirement for the OEM HID projector. Does anyone who works at a dealership knows for a fact how late it's going to be? I am not desperate, because Diablo and AirHammer are not available yet for 2008 models.
By the way, I am not good at Photochop. Can someone good at it give me an idea what it will look like with the yellow SV2 wheels. FYI, this car project is codenamed "BatMobile 3" with my kids. That being said, I am looking for suggestions on where to add more Bat logos. Perhaps change the grilles to the kind that looks like a bimmer so a yellow bat logo can be spray painted on the insert?
I live in Atlanta, GA. We have not but one or two days of snow/ice per year. And yes, I did get my AWD for those two days because of bad past experience, or maybe plus a little more: I had another funny experience that lead me to get a AWD car. Almost 10 years ago, my wife (girlfriend back then) and I went to Florida for an NSPE meeting. We drove my Ford Probe GT (2WD) on the beach to watch sunrise. After that I was going to take her back to the hotel room to get exhausted happily, but instead, we spent 3 exhausting hours trying to get the car out of the sand. At the end, I had to pay a guy to pull us out with his 4WD jeep. It was soo stupid.
Currently I have a stock 1997 model 4800lb Infiniti Q45 with about 280 horses, and the last few times when we had snow, I can't even back it out of my driveway at least half the time. My wife used to laugh about 280 useless horses, can't even compare with her 2800lbs Camry with only 140 horses that will get out of the icy driveway. I am so glad this new dream car has AWD. For only $2000 extra, it's a no brainer for me. I know I will miss the R&T seats and steering, but I mod the rest to get more power.
I don't care for burnouts at all, because it doesn't accomplish anything in my books. Instead of having the tires screaming out loud that they are trying to go fast, I would rather the whole car just go fast without an announcement. I do like faster 0-60, and the AWD gives me exactly that due to no-spin, and more efficient power transfer between tire and road, I love that. For the high end extra power, I can get them from AirHammer with a RamAirHood, and JBA shorty (due to the clearance of the AWD transmission), JBA cat, and Corsa exhaust. To make acceleration better, I can get a set of lightweight forged alloy wheels 20" like the Savani SV2 in yellow finish, and summer tires at 255/40-20 using Diablo to fix the speedometer, and this setup will give me the side effect of better braking.
For the 1" increased clearance (height) for AWD, I do not plan to use Eibach because:
1. they will wear out my shocks faster due to the softness of the spring, and
2. I lose the clearance when I may need it (like in the beach senario above) semi-permanently. I will get UniversalAirSuspension system. That way, I will drive low normally, with the comfort and strength of an airbag spring, but if I need the extra height, I have it on demand, all without an extra toll on the shocks. I will lose my spare tires to the air tank, but one bottle fix-a-flat should be a good standby with unlimited air from the airtank, and the back up is AAA membership. Worst case, use the air suspension to jack that bald wheel up and get out of there.
All these are my actual plans to mod my 2008 R/T AWD once delivered, and all are welcomed to question or comment. I was told to expect a late delivery due to my requirement for the OEM HID projector. Does anyone who works at a dealership knows for a fact how late it's going to be? I am not desperate, because Diablo and AirHammer are not available yet for 2008 models.
By the way, I am not good at Photochop. Can someone good at it give me an idea what it will look like with the yellow SV2 wheels. FYI, this car project is codenamed "BatMobile 3" with my kids. That being said, I am looking for suggestions on where to add more Bat logos. Perhaps change the grilles to the kind that looks like a bimmer so a yellow bat logo can be spray painted on the insert?