savedbygrace

iTrader: (4)

Hey all,

Heard a car recently that had ART pipes put on...sounds good but the previous tone sounded better...now it's deeper and a little more rice sounding.

When the ART pipes were put on the guy did the XYZ w/HFC as well at same time.

The power gains were nice, I got to drive the car, but all of us that heard the car before and after much preferred the older tone.

So..since ART pipes brought the tone to a lower toned rumble...anyone have thoughts on what might bring the "lower toneness" back up to the regular pitch?

Exhaust right now is ART pipes to XYZ w/HFC to Motordyne Gamma cat back. The Gamma sounds amazing on it's own, but the power gains of the ART pipes is appreciated....would a totally different Y-pipe (with or without an HFC) bring the tone back up to that stockish sophistication rumble? Right now it sounds like a V6 impersonating a V8 a little...what can we do to get this guy's car back to the original tone without removing ART pipes? Anything?

Conversely...if he took off the ART pipes but left the XYZ w/HFC, would the HFC change the tone of the cat back much or just make it a little louder? I'm guessing putting the straight pipe into the XYZ would make it louder and up the pitch, taking the low rumble up a bit in pitch? What about third party XYZ pipes?

Thanks for all advice, my buddy and I will be working on the car again sometime in the near future, we're up for trying new things on his ride.

Saved

NoQuestionZ

iTrader: (93)

I don't have any experience with the ART pipes other than they are highly regarded. If they are for an HR engine and he wants to part with them, let me know

GL with your search

nizmo_0385

iTrader: (5)

At the end of the day the art pipes are still test pipes. Theyll make any exhaust louder and higher pitch. Nothing you can do about it. What they do well is eliminate the rasp associated with the higher pitch but sacrifice that deep tone once you open up the throttle. I agree the motordyne exhausts sound deeper with stock cats period.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

If it needs to sound more raw I would replace the HFC section with the straight pipe or resonator, problem solved. I do remember the gamma being a pretty dark sounding exhaust though.

abarclay

iTrader: (41)

I don't know if this helps or not, but I had a fairly similar set up at one time: Berk HFC (somewhat comparable sound to ART Pipes), XYZ w/resonator, and Gamma exhaust and I had pretty noticeable drone. It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely a loud deep bass tone through certain RPM ranges. I loved the sound when it wasn't droning though. Is this close to what you're experiencing or is it the overall sound?

Once I upgraded the axel back components to the V2, I got considerably less drone though and more of my VQ sound back. Make no mistake, it's still much deeper than OEM, but you could say a bit higher of a "tone".

If you have the coin to switch out the gamma to the V2, I'd say to give it a shot, otherwise it might just be going back to OEM cats to get the sound enjoyable again. You could try going to the straight pipe or resonator with the XYZ, as it would be cheaper than the V2, I just don't know if either would make that big of a difference.

GL and I hope this helps.

savedbygrace

iTrader: (4)

Thanks you guys, really appreciate the time taken to help.

I'm (we) going to experiment and change some things out over the coming weeks, might try both the resonator and straight pipe if I can find deals on them. Hate to buy new knowing we'd probably have to have to sell them off as used if they don't do the trick.

As far as straight pipes always making things louder and making things higher pitched?...this is wrong. ART pipes lower the tone to a deeper rumble, not a higher pitch at all. Just check YouTube.

TDX2 is a thought, but not worth the money in my opinion, not unless he got one used for a good price. He's completely happy with the Gamma, just wanting more power and a little louder, so he went with ART pipes and then XYZ HFC to keep a cat on.

I'll post a separate thread I think on my other line of thought....am wondering if we took the ART pipes off and sold them if there is another way to make about 20hp/20tq? Was considering the Kinetix v3 plenum...that black plastic one for about $270? Do they make more power than the Motordyne 5/16 spacer? Saw a thread where one guy said the Kinetix plenum pulled much harder than an identical car that had the 5/16 spacer from Motordyne....so maybe that's the way to go? He'd have increased power and the original tone back.

Oh...and yes there's drone as well that is annoying....I personally know how to make Helmholtz Resonators for exhausts, and am thinking of having a shop cut a hole in the Gammas and weld on some adjustable piping, then you just experiment with pipe length until you get the drone canceling you want and weld up the pipes more permanently....but then you're at a setting that always compensated for ART pipes in the mix....if we take out the ART pipes the Helmholtz Resonators would have to be redone, so that option is further down the road if at all.

Saved

TitaniumT8

This may not help, but I will tell you my current setup and tell you my thoughts on the sound:

Motordyne 5/16 thermal plenum spacer
Injen CAI
Invidia test pipes (non resonated)
Stillen Y Pipe
Magnaflow catback

Rasp:
All of this was done this year, with the Y pipe, spacer, and CAI done about two weeks or so ago. I am pleased with the sound, especially after replacing my stock Y pipe with the Stillen. Yes, there is rasp around 3,000-3,800 RPM, but I have come to accept it. I did not want resonated pipes.

Drone:
I recently returned from vacation in which I drove my Z on the highway for a long period of time for the first time since having these parts installed. The drone is noticeable at highway speeds and it did get very slightly annoying, but that's why I have speakers in my car. Around the city I don't usually get drone of course. I don't take my car for long highway trips often, so I'm not concerned about the drone.

Intake sound:
Surprisingly I haven't really noticed a change in intake sound. This is weird considering I installed my CAI and spacer at the same time. I would think the increase in air would be substantial enough to hear it. Perhaps it's because I haven't really gone WOT since the install or the rest of the exhaust sound is drowning out the intake sound.

Overall exhaust sound:
I'm very pleased. I have a very low rumble, near stock, at idle. Below 3,000 RPM it's noticeable that I have an aftermarket exhaust, but it's not overly loud. The stock Z sound is somewhat amplified at this level. Around 3,000 RPM the rasp pays a short visit. After around 3,800 RPM Ms. Z starts to roar and it becomes apparent to others that I have more than a simple catback. In my opinion most of the sound is the result of the test pipes, because I remember when I had my Magnaflow catback installed I was very displeased with how quiet it was even at speed. At the time I still had stock cats on and no other mods.

There's slight popping, gurgling, and a very weird (but strangely addicting) hissing sound on deceleration. The hissing happens from about 2,800 RPM down to 2,200 RPM (estimation). I don't mean to go too far with this, but my overall sound reminds me of the 2004/2005 WRX STI I always wanted and will probably get as a DD next year.

If I were to give a person starting off with the Z advice I'd advise them to select the setup I have only if they 1) Don't mind the rasp that only lasts for seconds 2) Don't mind the loudness that starts above 4,000 RPM, and 3) If they aren't super concerned with racing or having the lightest setup available. I know there are exotic exhausts out there that everyone loves, but my system I put together works well for me and I'm pleased. It sounds pretty high quality and keeps the Z sound. For a person who already started exhaust mods, I'd tell them to try the ART pipes and pretty much any non resonated test pipe. Choose which sound you like better and sell the other. Removing the cats doesn't help the environment, but it's the key to saving a few pounds of weight, gaining volume, and failing inspection/emissions.

SoCal_VQ

how long have the art pipes been on? I have motordynes full line up of parts on a 05 6mt and after about 1,000 miles the tone changed to a smoother deeper sound. at first the sound was raspy at 4k and above on wot. now it's just a even increase of vq sound. there's nothing better than a motordyne setup.

StuLax18

iTrader: (4)

Going to try to get all this down and out of my head since I have two very similar setups, but pretty different sounds imo.

FX35: VQ35DE, Stillen intake, stock headers, ART pipes, 2.5" TDX V2 w/ HFC's built into midpipes, UpRev tuned

350Z: VQ35HR, Takeda intakes, stock headers, ART pipes, 3" TDX V2, UpRev tuned

So the biggest difference aside from the engine is the size piping and the HFC's added. To me there is a huge difference in sound. The Z is just so over the top loud I feel bad when I get on it most times.

Comparison videos, not sure how much they help.