Hey friends.

I'm new to the world of Z's, just picked up a stock 2003 Touring! I have some basic questions regarding modification to the new z.

I want to do some exhaust work first, but I'm clueless. I just came from a mustang GT, so whatever I know kinda flies out of the window, as this is a different machine.

What I want is a DEEP and LOUD exhaust, where do I start? I'm not a fan of raspy and "fart can" sounding exhausts, I like a tuner that sounds good. Where should I start? What brands and parts can you suggest to me? I'd like to start with the cheaper mods, as my budget is tight right after the purchase.

ALSO, what websites do you use most for your mods? Mustangs had a one stop shop called americanmuscle.com, exclusive for stangs, which I used for everything. Looking for a similar place for my Z.



A little bit about my Z - Found a 2003 touring, leather, navigation, clean title, 55k miles, not ONE scratch or ding... Snagged her for $10,500.

 

congrats on the car. all the questions you asked have already been answered here, use the search function. this car is not cheap to mod so get ready to spend some money. my suggestion is to save up and get quality parts rather than ebay crap.

 

Also YouTube is your friend....

 

As others said definitely search and do a bunch of research before making any decisions. I personally love motordyne exhaust, another popular one is hks. Just please don't go cheap on any parts from ebay.

 

call z1 an they can sell u whatever u need plus they can answer any question u have.

 

Shoulda clarified, not cheap parts, just the cheaper parts I can start with haha. I.e installing an intake first instead of a turbocharger lol. Except regarding exhaust.

 

springs are cheap, intake if you want do that is cheap, plenum spacer, and then it starts getting expensive.... camber kits, exhuast, test pipes or hfc, wheels and tires... tune.... it depends on YOUR budget

 

^^^ I can't believe you didn't mention Motordyne in a post trav... is this real life?

 

Is it forever??? Petey surprised no GIF....

 

I actually looked into test pipes to start on my volume and deep tone... What would you say is a typical range of cost for those? And (if you know) what is a good brand for that deep loud tone?

 

Motordyne and Berk. Between 400-600.

 

I mean... I am one to enjoy a good .gif...

Or meme




Anyways...

Z1 makes their own test pipes for a fair price (http://www.z1motorsports.com/350_g35...oducts_id=3373)

It's not exactly a complicated part so I would suggest Z1 based on reputation and price.

 

Solid meme.

I might disgust some of you with this question BUT, how do straight pipes sound on it?

 

As already been mentioned,contact Z1 Motorsports.
See if John is available.
They have what you need.
I'd go with HFC's rather than test pipes.
Listen to sound clips.Whats your budget?
You may want to consider a single exhaust system--one pipe
out the back for the sound you want.Look into a plenum spacer.
Post a pic.

 

For my first mod I wanna go under $500, cause that's what I can afford (for now.) Do HFC's have the deeper tone as opposed to the tests? Will I get the volume I want from the HFC's?


Also - what is a plenum spacer, and what does it do? That is an unfamiliar mod/term to me, coming from american muscle to a z.


Thanks for your patience new friends, been relatively easy on me as a noob and I appreciate that.

 

Hold the hell on, $400-500? That's sucker prices. Don't spend more than $200 for test pipes. Google:
-z1 motorsports test pipes
-5/16" motordyne plenum spacer (just get the basic cheapy one, all the extra **** is nonsense)

Exhaust should run you ~$1,000 for a quality system, or $600-1000 used, Don't waste your time with aftermarket catalytic converters. You can spend more if you want a specific sound, but you will NOT improve performance from any off-the-shelf exhaust. Beyond $1200 exhausts, the only exhaust worth buying is one tuned for your specific cams from the headers all the way back to the tips. Nismo, Tomei, Momentum, Z1 Motorsports, DC headers, and PPE LTH along with a few others show proven gains on the VQ35 engine (more-so on a VQ35DE since the OEM manifolds for early year cars is terrible). Headers are expensive though, and install labor will be relatively high. You can find a set of used headers for $400, and install them for a bit more though if you are a bargain hunter.

Cams are expensive, and not very beneficial unless you buy all the other corresponding parts which gets expensive quickly. JWT makes the best. Kelford a close second from what I've heard, but no experience with them.

NWP 75mm throttle body makes power. Non-revup intake manifold generally outperforms revup intake manifold. Kinetix intake manifold (the shiny funny looking one) factually makes whp/tq gains at high RPMs and on boosted cars regardless of what the masses think.

A larger diameter intake will help also.

If you're considering FI, make sure you have deep pockets, and do a lot more research on how engines work, how compressors, superchargers/turbos work etc....

Either go for performance, or don't. Don't compromise with "HFC" unless the LEOs force you to.

 

$500 best performance = test pipes, plenum spacer, and change your OEM air intake box to an OEM 06 airbox. 10whp at least there... and at $50/whp that's good NA on this platform, cost goes up dramatically the higher you go in horsepower on this car if you try to do the NA thing. It's not an american muscle car, it's a tiny 3.5 liter high reving motor... that doesn't even rev high from the factory (in early years).

Plenum spacer is like a thick gasket. It increases the space between the lower intake manifold and the upper thereby increasing internal volume, and volumetric efficiency (airflow), ultimately increasing whp.

This car is very easy to waste money on with no rewards/results, and is afflicted with ricer-technology in recent years. Do lots of research. When in doubt, call the actual tuner shops that sell these products, and have a good understanding of the car and engine (Z1 Motorsports, SOHO Motorsports, Z Car Garage, etc).

 

I have Z1 test pipes on mine with a Borla. Deep sound defiantly not fart can. Not loud enough to get a ticket for it. Screams past 4k. Test pipes = mega rasp on this car I found out, I have a Resonated X-pipe from magnaflow that fixed that right up.

If you decide to buy a Borla and keep stock cats on though, expect stock level sound or less.

 

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the purchase of your 350Z. I think you'll find as already mentioned here that what you could get for fairly cheap for your Mustang, this 'aint gonna happen with your 350Z. You're gonna be looking at around $1500 to $2000 for a decent exhaust and as also mentioned before You Tube is gonna be your friend although you'll have to bear in mind that the recording equipment usually used to record exhaust sound are of the I-Phone quality(pretty poor sound). I can only suggest spending plenty of search time on google and see if you can come up with the quality of sound that you're after.

 

Having read the OP, does anyone else feel like this?