Hello!

I'm looking at buying either an 03 or 04 Spec V. Which is the better year in your opinions? Anything I should know? Thanks!

Micah

They get better as they get newer. The 04 is definitely better than the 03, but I like the look of the 03 better. Definitely stay away from the 02 tho. Good chance of getting a lemon.

'04 is a better performer.....but the 03 body style is better......you can always buy the 04 and swap a 03 front end then youre a real pimp

Hell yeah, that's what I would do. The 04+ years ARE a bit faster for some reason.

slight gear ratio tweaking.....that and supposedly a re-tune on the ecu....

Are the gears taller? Hopefully they are. The Spec easily has enough power to manage with taller gears and be faster at the same time.

2nd is a bit taller.....its a good gear i think thats what makes the 04+ pull the 02-03

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm gonna test drive the '04 next week, and if it falls through I'll look at a couple '03s. Again, thanks for the opinions.

Micah

or.......you could buy a '02 for really cheap and swap the v6 fromt teh altima SE-R and you'll run sub 13 second quater times and look cool as hell in your two tone interior and betr looking front end

or.......you could buy a '02 for really cheap and swap the v6 fromt teh altima SE-R and you'll run sub 13 second quater times and look cool as hell in your two tone interior and betr looking front end

or.......you could buy a '02 for really cheap and swap the v6 fromt teh altima SE-R and you'll run sub 13 second quater times and look cool as hell in your two tone interior and betr looking front end

ha ha ha.....my comp froze after i made that post....cant believe it showed up twice

They get better as they get newer. The 04 is definitely better than the 03, but I like the look of the 03 better. Definitely stay away from the 02 tho. Good chance of getting a lemon.



Yeah I agree, don't go near the 02 model Spec-V's, my mom has one and she has trouble starting it, they did recalls on 03's and higher for the fuel pump not working well in hot temperatures and my mom has taken her SE-R Spec-V (02) up to the shop and they said there is something wrong with the fuel pump but cannot find out why. My mom said she is not going to get rid of it until the engine blows, i think she is kind-of crazy...:iceslolan

you have one stubbern as mom. well, i do too, but its my dad. when we first got are mercury villager, everthing went wrong. new engine, all these recalls, a lot was changed on the car. it was all done under warrenty of course, but the still have it today and are trying to have me sell it. thankfully it works perfect for the past 5 years... or if u wanna be super pimp, put a sr20ve in there and turbo......now thats more pimp then an altima swap...

you cannot swap an 03 facia onto an 04, the head lamps, hood and fenders are all diff, you could how everget an 04 lower the piss out of it and look into possably destroking your engine, running 11:1 comp, n/a 230 hp, that is plenty for an front w dwhat are you gonna do with much more? by the way has anyone here done a vq swap? i'd consider it, anyone know who could hook me up, what isthe cost on this work ?

if your gonna go that route, you may as well throw in longer rods when you destroke it, so you can rev it up to a respectable level. oh and dont lower the car to the ground. sentras dont handle lowering well. dont try and tell me otherwise because if you do, you obviously have never driven a superlow sentra hard. id go max 1.5". and 03 front > 04 front. IMHO.
but SR20VET > 11:1 n/a qr25

you cannot swap an 03 facia onto an 04, the head lamps, hood and fenders are all diff, you could how everget an 04 lower the piss out of it and look into possably destroking your engine, running 11:1 comp, n/a 230 hp, that is plenty for an front w dwhat are you gonna do with much more? by the way has anyone here done a vq swap? i'd consider it, anyone know who could hook me up, what isthe cost on this work ?


Thats a good way to get owned with your first post, there are at least 20 people with front end swaps on there 04-05 sentras....... you need hood fenders bumper and lights but you can do it, how about research before setting yourself up for stallownage

Yeah, I think he meant you can't just swap the front bumper by itself.

meeh...who cares....its ovious information that we forgot to add...or is it just common sense to know that...?

I dunno, I never really stared at the front of a Spec to see the differences. I thought the 04+ models just got a wussier lookin bumper and the famous Renault "tooth" grill.

and smaller headlights. so the grille was longer and the hood and fenders and bumper were shaped different