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New to Infiniti's but not to modding

2K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  q50adix 
#1 ·
Hey Folks,

I've been a life-long Mustang guy, (86, 92, 95, 07 GT's all heavily modded). My last Mustang got totaled when a guy made an illegal left turn in front of me. I ended up deciding that maybe I should "grow up" and get a sensible car, so I ended up going with a 2018 Maxima SV. The lack of aftermarket for that car really shocked me. Especially after how good I had, had it for so long with the Mustang.

After having it for about 2 years I just couldn't stand the FWD any longer. Plus I was always afraid of the CVT going out. So last weekend I traded her in on a 2018 Q50 Luxe. So far I am liking the car but still getting used to it, (the 2 entertainment screens are kinda confusing, never sure what can be controlled by the jog dial).

So far I've heard that the things to look out for on the Q are the serpentine belt and leaky turbo's. I am surprised at how much worse the gas mileage is on the Q compared to the Max. Other than the turbo's it's the same engine right?

Anyway my first mods are going to be rims and tires and springs. After that, who knows? I don't think I'll get too crazy with this car. Maybe just exhaust and a tune.

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#2 ·
No, it's not the same engine. The Maxima has the VQ35DE, 3.5L NA engine. The Q has the VR30, 3L twin-turbo engine.

Welcome!
 
#3 ·
What are you seeing in fuel economy? It is rated 27 hwy and most report doing better than that. My mixed driving results in about 21-22 and I often have a heavy foot!
 
#5 ·
I rarely look at the mpg. I bought performance. We have a Mazda3 that gets 34 mpg for fuel economy.
 
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#6 ·
That was one cool thing about the Max. It had decent performance but also got really good gas mileage. I was regularly in the low 30's with that car.
 
#7 ·
Welcome! I think you’ll end up loving the Q once you get used to it. It’s a ton of fun with a lot of after market support.
 
#8 ·
I always have mileage indicated on the cluster screen -2 reasons I guess; 1. If you see changes in what you are getting in gas mileage, can be indicator that there is maintenance needed for the car or some other problem. 2nd - There is really no other useful information to display there, at least in my trim package. Other info tends to be redundant or just useless. Guess I could look at tire pressure all the time?
 
#9 ·
I use the digital speedometer all the time. Much easier to read than the dial speedo.
 
#10 ·
There's a digital Speedo? That's what I used to leave the Max display on.

I didn't see that when I scrolled through the options. I tend to just leave it on the Stereo but I can see that by just looking to the right.
 
#11 ·
Yes, you should have it...probably go to where it shows average speed and then toggle down if I remember right. I have the same model and trim as you and I have it. Average speed is one I have never found a use for!
 
#13 ·
Hey Folks,

I've been a life-long Mustang guy, (86, 92, 95, 07 GT's all heavily modded). My last Mustang got totaled when a guy made an illegal left turn in front of me. I ended up deciding that maybe I should "grow up" and get a sensible car, so I ended up going with a 2018 Maxima SV. The lack of aftermarket for that car really shocked me. Especially after how good I had, had it for so long with the Mustang.

After having it for about 2 years I just couldn't stand the FWD any longer. Plus I was always afraid of the CVT going out. So last weekend I traded her in on a 2018 Q50 Luxe. So far I am liking the car but still getting used to it, (the 2 entertainment screens are kinda confusing, never sure what can be controlled by the jog dial).

So far I've heard that the things to look out for on the Q are the serpentine belt and leaky turbo's. I am surprised at how much worse the gas mileage is on the Q compared to the Max. Other than the turbo's it's the same engine right?

Anyway my first mods are going to be rims and tires and springs. After that, who knows? I don't think I'll get too crazy with this car. Maybe just exhaust and a tune.
Welcome!

Hah the Altima/Maxima use to have a pretty strong after-market in the early 2000s when they popular sleeper sedans
but they've moved more into family haulers than anything. So wouldn't be suprised if the aftermarket
dried up pretty heavily.

The Mustang tuning community is massive however so its hard to compare it to anything except
the other most popular of tuner platforms.

As far as the engines go the VQ35 and VR30 are very different motors as others have alluded too, in practice
VR30 is closer to the GT-R engine but downsized and with various tweaks and technology for mass-production to keep
costs down.

Hence the VR engine code although there is some overlap with the older VQ motors as with
any modern engine.

The Serpentine Belt is pretty easy to deal with if you simply swap out to a Gates-Belt and have the tensioner pully alignment checked
after that most don't have any issues (a good check every oil change though).

The leaky turbo seals is the largest issue but Infiniti has been good about honoring warranty.
 
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#14 ·
Should have swapped the wheels/tires set, rotors and calipers before you traded it in :LOL:

The Q is a better overall car but you need to keep up with the regular maintenance as with any other turbo vehicle - oil especially.

As others have said above, engines are not the same.
 
#15 ·
Should have swapped the wheels/tires set, rotors and calipers before you traded it in :LOL:
Yeah I wish I could have as I will most likely be buying another set of the same rims and doing the Akebono upgrade in the future. But I didn't keep any of the old parts.:mad:
 
#16 ·
Question folks, sucks that the Q doesn't have Android Auto. Is the only way to get traffic updates on the navigation system to subscribe to the XM traffic info?
 
#17 ·
Welcome...

You'll find one of the main gripes about the Q is the infotainment system. I think some people here have the Unavi system and there's another out there but I can't think of the name, I'm sure someone will chime in here. However, I do not know if those have traffic updates unless it utilizes and app that's on your phone that does that.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I installed a SmartAuto Kit, and it came with waze preloaded. But since it basically converts the top screen to an android tablet, you can download whatever traffic app you like.
 
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#19 ·
I installed a SmartAuto Kit, and it came with ease preloaded. But since it basically converts the top screen to an android tablet, you can download whatever traffic app you like.
SD saving the day...I had quickly used the search and Unavi was the first result lol. That SmartAuto kit was the other one I was thinking of but my tiny brain couldn't recall at the moment.
 
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