Ok so here's my list of planned mods to my car. I have a couple of decisions to make and curious if I missed some interesting mods. Some of these I'm not sure if they'll work on an 04.

Three aero mods

First one...I want the Airwalker front lip spoiler. I think it looks a little more subtle and refined than the amuse style. However I have no idea if it'll fit the 04 or if they will come out with a version for it.

Secondly...Mugen or J's Racing Type V hood. Can anyone give real reasons why Mugen is better. No sense in paying 2X more unless there is a real win! My concern with the top vents is if they pose any real problems in the rain(hey I live in the bay area)

Third...Hardtop...would love a mooncraft but that's not going to happen for a LONG while. So I'm going with OEM. Improved visibility is a big thing for me. Mugen just doesn't have that.

Now I have an opinion question about the hood and the hardtop. Don't like the raw CF look so I'm definitely painting the hood. The question is what color? I actually like the black convertible top so I'm considering getting a black OEM top and painting the hood black. Just to be different than the standard S. The problem is it kind of has that, I'm too cheap to match colors look too. I've seen a couple of Suzuka's with black hoods, that look pretty good, but I don't know if anyone has a black hardtop on one. My other choice is to go Suzuka OEM hardtop and paint the hood mostly Suzuka. I would leave the vents natural CF since I thing that looks better. Opinions.

Haven't found any spoilers that really impress me. I'm more interested in the subtle look. The OEM is ok but I'm not sure.

I'm planning to change the wheels. I want style and reduced weight. I'm think SSR Comps, either 17's or 18's. I want too see what the 18's look like on the car, I know 19's are way too big. Colorwise I'm not sure of yet, I either want to go high polished, or maybe the gold/bronze. Not sure how that'll look on the Suzuka or not, gold might be too much

Finally, for actual performance mods, once it comes out I'm going Comptech Supercharger w/ aftercooler and high boost pulley. I really want a turbo but not yet(and it's not legal in CA)

If they can show it's stronger either a Comptech reinforced 04 diff or one that Ricks was talking about creating.

No gears for now. The 04 has pretty good low gearing already so I don't want to change it yet.

Other than that alot of little changes, better brake fluid/pads. Not looking at a Big Brake kit yet, and I'm not sure it'd fit with the SSRs.

Anyother suggested mod's I haven't thought of? No AEM yet either, I want to keep it somewhat legal for now Headers and Exhausts I'm not that impressed with. The performance gains are negligible and I'm not really interested in improving the sound.

Thanks all for any advice.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CrazyPhuD
Secondly...Mugen or J's Racing Type V hood.

 

Sounds like a pretty good list. I don't think you'll find much justification for spending double on a mugen hood.

As for the color, why bother to paint it black if it's already CF? From ten feet away you won't be able to tell the difference. I'd either leave it CF or paint it blue.

I'm not a huge fan of black HT on anything other than a black car. It doesn't look bad at all, but I think a color matched top always looks better.

Someone (you maybe ) recently asked in the photo gallery for pics of gold wheels on a suzuka. You might try to find that thread. IMO they didn't look great; I much prefer either lighter or gunmetal wheels on suzuka...but I don't own one.

 

i think CF looks good on any car, especially if its functional. To give you an idea of the hood, with the hard top (but on sebring silver) here you go.....

 

what's your budget for all this if you dont mind me asking?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CrazyPhuD

First one...I want the Airwalker front lip spoiler.

 

headers and exhaust arent going to make your illegal, just keep the cat. once you get the S/C dialed in, you'll be glad you have those extra breathing capabilities. think of it as taking a deep breath through your mouth then breathing out through a straw. just my .02


im not big on aftermarket hoods, lips, hardtops etc.. because i think the cash put towards those things could be better spent. but to each his own, you know?

HOWEVER, i do plan on getting the Mugen 3 piece rear wing. it's very subtle but looks really good. plus it's better more agressive looking than the OEM wing. to me atleast. here's a pic.

 

Do you know why the Mugen hood is more expensive than the J's Racing replica? because Mugen is the one that spent time and money in the wind tunnel trying to design a functional vented hood. J's Racing copied the design and doesn't make any less money than Mugen does, if not more, from selling the replica hoods for cheaper.