Hmm, IMO the Nismo is extreamly quiet. Even Nismo + HF cats imo, is too quiet from inside the car.

 

I found that my Nismo exhaust got quieter after about 2K miles. A nice throaty, but not too aggressive sound.

 

Yeah, I've heard that about many exhausts. One guess is that the carbon that builds up over time inside the exhaust might add an extra layer of insulation. I bought mine used, though, so I'm guessing it's already got that build-up!

 

How long have you had the Nismo exhaust on for? I remember feeling mine was quite loud too when first installed. Now after 2000 miles, the tone is much more mellow, and while the sound at cruise is still present, it is MUCH less obtrusive than before. I would say to give it some time. After the inside of your exhaust gets a nice carbon coating from exhaust gases, it will smooth out the tone.

 

too bad you aren't on the other coast, I would love to trade my borla for the nismo. Borla is too quiet for me.

 

lol, after reading all the similar responses with the nismo, anyone wonder if it's hearing loss? just kidding... i can't even hear the nismo inside with the windows up when i'm just cruising or coasting... open her up though, and you get a nice roar...

of course, my ears are pretty fux0red anyways... damn muslim extremists

 

I've had my nismo exhaust for about a week now

I originally had a borla (still for sale BTW) and when I drove it for the first time with the nismo on my way to work, I wasn't sure if it was worth it or not. About 50 miles later IT WAS. It was awesome sounding....

but here it is now about 250 miles on it and I don't think it's as loud. It's still mean sounding and all, but I would call it more muffled sounding than when it had 50 miles on it.

 

So switched from a Borla to a Nismo? Great! Can you give me a comparison of the two? I love to hear from folks who've owned both. Does the Borla drone significantly less? Is it quieter in general? I found the Nismo to be loudest from about 2800-3500 rpm. Higher than that and it seems to quiet down to somewhat stock levels. My buddy has a G35 with a Borla, and the thing barely makes any noise at all. Wasn't sure if that was just a G thing, or if Borlas are that quiet on the Z also.

 

what kind of car was it run on before? turbo / supercharger ?

i wonder if the muffler is burnt out...

mine is dead quiet at 3k with my stock cats and dc headers...

with my test pipes...

watch out it was loud!

 

when I had the borla on it was quieter and it didn't sound as mean - partly from not being as loud, but I think the nismo has more of a roaring sound to it.

The borla still sounds good in its own way. I feel like saying it sounds like the nismo except it doesn't have as much scream or grunt. The nismo is way boomier (some might call it drone, I think it just sounds tougher) around 3000 rpms.

The borla has way less dynamics than the nismo. the nismo felt more linear in the sound level. Like if you're giving the borla a little gas, it gives off a lot of volume, while the nismo doesn't give off as much. However when you go WOT, the nismo is without a doubt louder. I guess it's how SportZ magazine said, the borla is loud at idle and a little louder at WOT. The nismo is quieter at idle and a lot louder at WOT.

The borla sounded meaner/louder at startup than the nismo. The nismo has a little of a roaring beast undertone when starting up, but the borla was a lot louder overall when starting the car.

Something I didn't like about the Borla was sometimes when you'd start the car, it'd be really droning/booming sounding. Like if you started going "hummmmm" it's right at that frequency. So if you're a guy, you can hardly even hear your own voice - it's the sorta hum that feels like someone is crushing your head. I didn't like that. However as soon as you put the car in gear and give just a little gas, the boom/hum at idle goes away. It didn't always happen and only seemed to happen when parked next to a wall

I'm happier with the nismo - thanks to jason @perf nissan letting me drive his car to check it out in person

If you listen closely to the borla sound clips, you'll be able to pick out a midrange snarl. That's how I'd say the borla differs in tone from the others I've heard. It never sounded droning and me and my GF drove from Cal to AZ with it (along with my other mods) and the noise never bothered us - though the hatch was PACKED with all sorts of stuff so that may have dampened the sound on that long trip. But still, I had it for about a week and a half and drive on the highway almost everyday and still no drone with the borla.

For what I like, I'm happy with the nismo

 

actually you know how i said about i cant hear my exhuast or it doesnt seem loud. Well its winter time and for some odd reason my car seems a lot louder now. Everytime i gas the car i hear the sweet ear music. Is it because lately i've been smashing on my gas pedal alot and my exhuast has burnt something so it returned back to its normal sound?

 

maybe cause it's colder? I mean the air going in is colder so you're gonna get more power

 

I'll trade you Borla for Nismo. I am in SD.

 

Dead quiet at 3k rpm? Wow, that's where mine is the loudest! (I guess Sentry65 is experiencing the same thing based on his review just above.) I do have high flow cats, though, so maybe that's it. Jason, if you're using stock cats that's sort of an additional pair of resonators, per say, so maybe that drops the 3k rpm sound significantly.

Sentry65, do you have the stock cats, high flows, or test pipes?

 

crawford cats, like my signature says

 

Sorry, given the massive amount of info crammed into your sig, I must've missed that. But since you do have high flow cats, maybe that's what's causing our 3k rpm loudness. Jason@Performance said his Nismo exhaust is quiet at that range, but he has stock cats.

Now I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to have an extra resonator section on these high flow cats.