Cool. Love how it keeps the stock tips. Do you feel any difference in your ride in speed terms? I think removing the exhaust might just be a little to loud for my taste, but I have to admit the clips of the unbolted ones so far sound great, but very loud.
btw, I wonder how it woulda looked if you got the stock tips flamed. I like the HKS exhausts flamed tips.

 

hit us up on a quick video later

 

You know, alot of people say you will lose horsepower and torque, but I think actually feeling it is all in your mind. Quite honestly, I didn't notice any difference simply because the amount that you gain or lose when you do minor mods like this is virtually unoticable because the horsepower and torque gains or loses are so little, sometimes not even a dyno can pick them up. If they do, it could be due to a number of different variables.

To answer your question (speed wise), if anything it seems faster because it sounds like a race car, race cars are fast (most anyways), so in my mind, it seems quicker, but I'm sure its just the sound of it that floats my boat.

Warning, it is pretty loud, but it really does sound like a top notch performance exhaust. The sound is anything but cheap. Although it may not look like a top notch exhaust, when you are in the drivers seat at 4000 RPMs, who really gives a rats ***. Am I right?

The flamed tips might look cool. I simply used the stock ones in their stock form because it was the most cost effective for me. I didnt need to buy anything more, but would really like to see what other folks decide on doing with this mod (i.e. tips, sizes, angles, piping, etc.)

 

i dont care what the welds look like either

to the guy who asked for sound clips and power guesses, you could read my thread a little bit.

i have videos of the car on the dyno with the axle-back setup, although i lost the flybys. the inital videos are just unbolted-muffler ones.

i don't think the power changed at all, but ill never know unless i take a lot of time to make some dyno runs. i'd do it if someone paid for them, but it's pointless to me. im not going to jump off a cliff for 5 horsepower.

i was just thinking today too...the exhaust section i fabbed up definitely made it sound louder and deeper to some degree.

my offer still stands if anyone wants to drive to nj or meet me somewhere close

you can also ask around on the northeast forums and tsz33.com...there are at least 3 members who have seen/heard my exhaust now.

as for pipe color...i hate how mine doesnt match either...coating it black could be an option somewhere down the road, but i think i'm going to leave it for now.

 

The Neon SXT has a single pipe down the driver's side past the rear axle where another pipe splits off toward the passenger side to connect to the other exaust tip. It is very visible from behind. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw your setup. We all know that a lot of cars (including the Z) are really single exhaust with dual tips, but when it is plainly visible, it just looks cheap. Painting them black may help, but it does hang down pretty low. As far as the welds, if they are structurally sound, I don't give a rat's *** either. But if they are not, sooner than later, they will come apart - it has happened to me many times. In comparing to other Zs, what I meant was that you have a significant investment here, and most guys invest a proportional amount when upgrading the exhaust. Going cheap just smacks of 'backyard engineering', but not everyone is Bill Gates, so forgive my inappropriate criticism. Again, I do applaud the innovation by yourself and other who have done the same thing.

 

Werd up homie.

 

Fixing welds THAT FAR BACK in the exhaust should be no big deal. (If they break)

Fixing welds at or near the headers, that's much more of a PITA

 

Very true my friend, thank goodness the rest of my exhaust is stock. Should have no problems.

 

Technically, it's not illegal to remove your muffler or do anything you want to your exhaust. I believe the only law is that you can't exceed a certain decibel rating. If this system without the muffler is below the legal sound limit, then it should be legal. As far as emissions, the law only applies to everything back to the cats. Smog laws don't apply to anything *after* the cats. Technically, I suppose you could just remove your entire exhaust after the cats as long as it didn't exceed the sound limit. (Although it's unlikely that any car would be quiet enough for that.)

 

sound level is def. illegal. sounds good, but illegal. have u guys heard of an exhaust cut-off valve? when u get pulled over, close the valve and ure back to using ure muffler! when the cops drive away in dismay, kindly open it back up again. (if any police men are reading this, i swear i don't have one=)

 

I think the posted pictures are slightly deceiving in that they are taken from a position lower than the height of the actual exhaust. I'd like to see a dead-on shot, something that another car might see. With my setup, you can barely tell what's going on from that view, and my guess is that it's similar with Luke's setup. However, if I was Luke, I would've had them tuck the pipe up higher. That was the MOST important thing in my mind, quite possibly to avoid assimilating the SXT badge.

I still think it looks good, and it's still a Z. Still waiting for videos to see if your car sounds any different from mine. Keep us posted.

-SuperBlackTouring

 

Here you go guys. I just had it thermal coated today and it looks way better than it did uncoated. Its really not that obvious anymore, even from normal ride height. As you can see, the last picture is a pretty low camera angle and its still not very obvious at all.

Sorry, havent had a chance to get video or sound clips yet, but I'm working on it. My video camera took a crap on me today at work, so need to come up with another one. Sound coming soon.

 

Very nice. That dark coating really makes a difference.

 

how did you do it or who did it and how much did it cost?

HPC?

 

The company I work for in the evenings, Replika Maschinen, did it for me. We are a thermal coating and head porting specialty shop in Santa Clara, Ca. Since I work there it cost me nothing, but a job like this would normally run somewhere in the area of 100 bucks, possibly less if minimal prep work is required, like mine. Check out the website if you have any questions on thermal coatings or would like to see more finished pieces.

www.replikamaschinen.com

 

that looks better now.... i gotta do that to mines

 

You know man, if you are looking for a more cost effective way to do this, a can of High Temp flat black engine or exhaust paint would work just as good. Thermal coatings on parts of your exhaust this far back in the system don't make much of a difference. I simply went with the coating because it is a baked on application, similar to powder coating (in liquid form), that holds up to the rock chips and scuffs and it was free, can't beat that.

A can of that paint for 6 bucks would do the trick for you too. I wouldnt waste your time or money to have it sent out to a thermal coating place. Just wouldn't make sence for a low budget project, however, if you would like for it to be more of a durable coating that withstands the wear and tear of the road, send it on out to me, I'll have it coated for you. Up to you.

 

looks real good now.

 

wow...
why not re-make piping for the entire system...
make it straight pipe
lol

 

Simple, I don't have the money.