The H&R springs lower the car approximately 1.4 inches in the front and 1.3 inches in the rear. They are much stiffer than the stock springs and greatly reduce body roll, but still offer a decent ride quality. The huge fender gap is eliminated, greatly enhancing the appearance. Another popular brand is Eibach. The Eibach's tend to be more harsh but offer even better cornering performance than the H&R's. Some feel that the Eibach springs require an upgrade to the shocks as well.

These high performance shocks bolt in place of the stock Tokico shocks with no modifications. These will greatly enhance the performance by getting rid of the floaty feeling at high speeds, reducing nose dive during breaking/rear end squat when accelerating, and eliminating the slow bouncing motion over bumps. It also offers better road feel through the steering wheel. See MegaMax's page for help installing the new shocks and springs.

The TPR cold air intake accomplishes two things:

Increases air flow to the engine
The stock plastic airbox and tubing is very restrictive and causes turbulance in the air flow due to the various bends, diameter changes, and corrugated surfaces. The CAI tube is 3 inches in diameter, smooth walled, and offers a greater and direct airflow to the engine's intake.

Provides cooler air to the engine
The typical JWT Pop Charger or Stillen K&N cone setup increases air flow, but also pulls in the warm air that's under the hood. Density decreases with temperature, thus less oxygen is available for the combustion process. The CAI pulls air from the driver's side fender well. It's natural to think that water may be a problem, but the filter is protected by the plastic splash guard in the fender well and under the car. The filter is also located high in the fender well, so you'd have to submerge the car in 2-3 feet of water before water ingestion would become a problem.

The increased air flow and cooler air results in an average increase of about 8-10 hp at the top end of the rev range. The Cold Air Intake is available from Place Racing for around $200. Picture of my CAI.

The front strut tower brace (FSTB) is a brace that rigidly connects the top of the front shock towers together. This is the best bang for the buck to improve the cornering characteristics of the car. Upon installation you will immediately notice that the chassis is stiffer, the front end feels more planted, with better steering feel and less play. Everyone who has installed the FSTB has only good things to say about it. The FSTB works by triangulating the front suspension to reduce changes in suspension geometry (camber, caster, etc) during high performance driving.

Both Courtesy Nissan and Stillen sell a FSTB for the Maxima. The Courtesy FSTB is polished chrome while the Stillen unit has a machined aluminum finish. Functionally they are both the same, but if you're concerned about looks, go with the Stillen. Available from Courtesy Nissan for $75 and from Stillen for about $225.

The rear sway bar is another addition that makes a big difference when cornering. The stock Maxima suffers from large amounts of oversteer (front end plowing during hard cornering). The rear sway bar stiffly connects the left and right sides of the suspension to help keep both tires firmly planted on the ground. The result is less body roll and less understeer.

There are two brands of RSB available for the Maxima: Addco and Stillen. The Addco bar is available through Cattman Performance for about $165. Stillen sells their RSB for $225. Both offer similar performance, but the Stillen seems to have a larger adjustment range. Pic of Cattman's Addco, and Stillen pics here.

These are lower profile and wider than the stock (215/55-16) tires and offer a lot of performance for the price. I recently mounted these tires onto 300ZX rims (NA version) which are 1" wider than stock at 7.5" wide. This offers a very inexpensive alternative to aftermarket rims.

These aftermarket bulbs replace the stock 9004 halogen bulbs. They offer a whiter light (higher color temperature) than the halogens. Also the beam pattern is different, which also aids in focusing the light.