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Berk or Helix test pipes?

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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 09:46 AM
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Default Berk or Helix test pipes?

anyone have any of these installed? feedback on power, sound, any rasp?
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 10:22 AM
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No feedback on either, but they are both non-resonated and I personally would not recommend them as such. I have Megans, which imo are hit and miss. Sadly, I think mine are the miss, as there is a slight rattle at low throttle at about 2000rpm, which I suspect is due to a poor quality resonator. Others have not reported this problem, but considering the price of these things, and the work involved with changing them, I haven't bothered having them warrantied. I'm planning on replacing them with FI or Kinetix test pipes next season (or any other decent brand of resonated test pipe), and I'm gonna sell these for cheap to someone that doesn't care about a slight rattle. It's only audible if my windows are closed and my music is quiet, but I'm **** retentive about my car, and even the slightest imperfection drives me into a fit of rage. If you're the same way, stay away from Megan products.
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 10:38 AM
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APS 3.5" TP's FTMFW:

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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 11:02 AM
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-You will get rasp
-Sound depends, What mods do you have? Which exhaust?
-Power, I would suggest you do a before and after dyno... This is the only way to tell if you have made any gains.


I ran test pipes for about 5 days. Paired with my nismo exhaust. It sounded amazing at WOT, its just to bad I don't drive at WOT 95% of the time...
My honest opinion was that it was to obnoxious for me.. I was almost embarrased to drive my z..

I switched out to BERK HFC's and loved them.

You need to provide more info on your setup:
-DE/REVUP/HR motor?
-Mods to date
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 11:08 AM
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i have also seen tp's reduce hp
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 11:55 AM
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Check out some clips on youtube, I'm rather fond of my stock exhaust + resonated test pipes combination, but if I were to get an exhaust, I may find it too loud. Either way, I would recommend you steer clear of non-resonated TP's, and decide between high flow cats and resonated TP's.
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 03:28 PM
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any problems passing e-test with testpipes and stock exhaust?
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Old Nov 11, 2008 | 07:24 PM
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Reality sold me his Helix V2 afterwards, I matched it up with Injen Angled SES. It was RASPY as hell, and LOUD as hell. But afterwards, I switched to stock exhaust with the Helix, it sounded like VQ heaven. Not too loud, No rasp at all, just perfect. If I had known earlier, I would have ran this setup the entire time I had the Z.

You will not pass emissions with TP's and stock exhaust. Those two cats are the only cats on the entire system. No pre-cats, no-post cats like other cars.
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 04:48 AM
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Haha, yea, definitely no passing e-test without the cats. I should take a pic of what my tips look like at the end of one week of driving before I clean them. It looks like a flesh eating disease is caked on them. It's some scary stuff, I almost feel bad about spewing it into the environment.
You can also smell it if you're behind me, and even I can smell it if my windows are down at a light or stop sign. The trippiest part has got to be the fact that standing behind my car will cause me to tear up. The only other car that ever did that to me was my buddy's RX-7, and we all know how environmentally friendly those premix running bastards are
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 05:07 AM
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^I could never smell my test pipes unless I'm going in reverse fast.

Never had to clean the Injen tips that much because they weren't rolled or double walled like OEM and nismo hahaha
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 05:25 AM
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Default test pipes

awesome feedback guys.
i have a magnaflow catback, k&n drop in filter, motordyne spacer and mrev2. i have the rev up engine.
i'm basically looking to gain some more power with one more mod. Should i go hfc, UR pulleys or y-pipe?? or should i not even bother cause it won't make much difference anyways??
thanks again for the insight.
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 05:44 AM
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Pulleys, get the one for AMS. I already noticed a huge difference just from Lightweight oversized crank pulley on my mr2.
Then HFC
Then Y-pipe
Then something to tune it.
Or if you feel like it, all of it at the same time
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 06:19 AM
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The new motordyne y-pipe seems to be really cool. They've put a lot of work into developing it, and would likely be my next step if I were you.
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 07:24 AM
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My experience with AMS pullies:
-Definite improvement in throttle response
-Noisey, almost irritating at times (sound is similar to slipping belts)

Would I do them again.. probably not.

Skip the pullies
If I were you...
-Berk HFC (warranty is excellent. And Bryan@BERK is a great person to deal with)
-XYZ pipe from Motordyne (if you are going with TP's, then get the single cat for the XYZ pipe)
-Emanage Ultimate piggyback

Then head to Ed's shop for a dyno tuning session!
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 07:34 AM
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if you want noticeable performance gains, i'd go with a TT instead of squeezing blood from a rock with NA mods
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 08:16 AM
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Originally Posted by goneinsixtyseconds
if you want noticeable performance gains, i'd go with a TT instead of squeezing blood from a rock with NA mods
LMAO!
purchasing a set of TPs.. $200+ max
purchasing a TT kit + necessary breathing mods + gauges + install = $25k!
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 09:22 AM
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^^ but you get noticeable performance gains
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by goneinsixtyseconds
^^ but you get noticeable performance gains
This is true..
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 06:07 PM
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Default stock cats

why wouldn't a person just knock the ceramic stuff out of the stock cats and have a cheap test pipe? or there are actually two cats in the stock cat one before the o2 bung and one after. you could knock the ceramic stuff out of just the second one and the computer would still be alright with that and gain a little less restriction? has anyone done either of these things?

i have berk test pipes and a nismo exhaust it sounds like garbage!!! i am embarrassed to drive the car.
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Old Nov 12, 2008 | 07:50 PM
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I didn't do it because I don't plan on keeping the car forever, and I want to be able to sell it. So I'm keeping any stock part I take off it in my basement, to return to stock before selling.
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