I know it's expensive for a y-pipe back exhaust, but you should check out the tanabe medalion touring exhaust. It's super quiet and sounds great. I know some vendors on here sell it, including performance nissan (PM Andy@Performance to get a good price)

You can keep the y-pipe you have with your nismo, and sell the remaining portion. Anyone can just pick up a y-pipe, so you should be able to sell it.

The problem with hacking up your exhaust is you can spend a lot of time and money chasing something that still doesn't sound like what you want.

There are some sound clips of the medalion touring (on a G35) on tanabe's website, www.tanabe-usa.com

 

I used to have Nismo exhaust+HFC which was LOUD.
Also had Nismo exhaust+TP which was SUPERRRRRR LOUD.

If you have $450 to spare, get yourself JIC Y-Pipe. That will quiet down the
exhaust noise of Nismo a bit. I know mine did.

 

Mike, I know you are right. If I'd have taken your advice I'd now have the exhaust I really wanted (down in my gut) from Day One. Ever since I began this quest a couple of months ago, the Tanabe Medalion Touring has been my most favorite. It is the sexiest looking exhaust I've ever seen. I love the bevelled tips. I also think it sounds the best (from the clips I've heard).

I went with NISMO simply because I just think it is more appropriate to have NISMO exhaust on a Nissan. A Track Zed with NISMO exhaust is just "good form." I know I sound like a "ricer," but I really, really like the NISMO etching on the tips and the muffler. It shows you are keeping with the Nissan theme. The NISMO also didn't sound so loud in the clips.

Maybe I should be looking for a tanabe midpipe with their new sound deadening material, and keep the rest all-NISMO? Maybe two resonators?

As always, looking to have my cake and eat it too.

Crap. I just dumped a grand into this NISMO and now I'm looking at dumping another grand into the Tanabe and I still won't have a "NISMO" -etched exhaust to "go with" the car.

I'm usually not a fan-boy of any sorts and believe form should follow function, but the NISMO does this very well and is warranty-backed by my Nissan dealer so I went for it.

As carbon builds up, maybe it will dampen it down?

 

Really? What does the JIC Y-pipe have that is different from the NISMO? Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

 

What really quiets your exhaust down, is to hear someone running a nismo with headers, test pipes.

Give it a few weeks either way, whether you keep it or ditch it.

Because you just may get used to the sound.

For me, I kind of hate the kinetix cats sound on the stock exhaust. It's pretty raspy/guguly but not too bad once the car heats up. They also make a weird noise when decelerating at exactly 4k rpm, sounds like a train horn in the distance. Then there's either some ULTRA-rasp or some rattling, not sure which, when the car is cold at 2000-3000 rpm.

But then, I think about how this is a sports car and I don't really care how it sounds.

Decision is yours, but just sleep on it a while.

 

JIC y-pipe is more more straight and free-flowing than Nismo y-pipe.
Nismo y-pipe IMO is crap compared to JIC.
Not sure exactly how it is quieter than the Nismo, but it just does it.
You'll gain a few more hp as well.
Search the forum about the JIC y-pipe. Plenty of info available.

 

Once again Mike, you are spot on. If I wasn't so damn set on the NISMO name and hasty in making this decision, I would have listened to you last month when you said (in more than one thread) that the Tanabe Touring was your favorite.

It struck me because it was also mine. I should have ignored the whole NISMO cult thing and just gone with either my gut, or gone with the opinion of the one person who I really trust.

Like you said, I need to sleep on it. Meanwhile, I'll be looking for someone who wants to swap or buy my NISMO mid-pipe and muffler just in case...

 

I have seen it mentioned a lot, but at the time I was reading for info on full systems, and quickly narrowed it down to either NISMO or Tanabe, both of which come with their own Y-pipe.

If I could just get past that damn "NISMO thang"....

I'll definitely research the Y-pipe alone (another two weeks of midnight reading... great!), because if it does what you say it does, it is exactly what I'm looking for.

(Actually, the Tanabe is exactly what I was looking for, but it didn't have the nifty "NISMO" etchings).

At this point, I'm tempted to sell the NISMO, buy the Tanabe, and have some machine shop in Houston laser-etch "NISMO" onto the tips. Of course, this would involve changing my screen-name and my circle of friends...

 

DON'T

 

I like the way you capitalized that, as if I was about to jump off a very tall building (right over your Z).


Don't worry, I'd never do such a thing. I'm going to try to secure a Tanabe mid-pipe with it's resonator and see if that helps, and if not, I'll buy the Tanabe Y-back system and sell the NISMO left-overs.

I like those bevelled tips the best and always have.

Like Mike said, I need to sleep on it. Meanwhile, any suggestions are welcome. Anyone know of a baffle that fits inside the piping so does not require cutting?

Furthermore, had I known that the NISMO tips would be slightly oval, instead of round, I'd have gone with the Tanabe anyway. In the pics they look round!

Oh well, such is life.

It wouldn't be such a big deal if we were talking about major hp gains, but with the Z33 we are only messing with the sound and the cosmetics with our aftermarket exhausts anyway.

 

Have you thought about trying to add the factory mid-pipe back in? That resonator is really efficient - and filters pulse very well.

Rick

 

Yes I have. Good question and thanks for the reply. I've been searching the forums on the effects of bottlenecking (thanks again for the info, Mike), because I'd be going from a larger collector at the Y-pipe to the smaller diameter stock mid-pipe.

According to some people (yes, I've been searching all night), this changes the note and has undesirable accoustic consequences. On the other hand, would that really be a "bottleneck," since it happens at the Y-pipe where merging gases is inevitable?

QUESTION: Would using a NISMO Y-pipe with an OEM mid-pipe be considered a "bottleneck?"

Mike? Anyone? Help!

 

If pipe diameter is less in the factory mid-pipe, you would have a point in the system where less flow may be achieved. HOWEVER, the point will also slightly slow the gasses down (duh), keeping them hotter, and thus reducing the noise as well as possible flow efficiency - it could cancel itself out. MAYBE...

Rick

 

Thanks again for the help!

What exactly do you mean by "cancel itself out?" I'm sorry, but I'm not following which two elements you are referring to here. Are you suggesting that I may not suffer as much hp loss or sound distortion since it is a collector rather than a bottleneck?

 

No, if the factory mid-pipe is a smaller diameter, you would loose a little top end, but likely gain some bottom end power, however, as the pulse will be slowed, the gases will stay hotter, thereby helping performance as well - so the loss:gain issue may not be one afterall.

Rick

 

Outstanding point! Your logic makes perfect sense to me. I am, however, wondering what that will do to the sound quality, because I've heard rumors of accoustic distortion and "odd sounds."

I guess there is one way to find out...

 

http://media.putfile.com/Dyno-vid-full-bolt-ons-untuned

Mike is right lol

 

+1. There are some silly people who think the Nismo is loud. Rock the Injen or HKS True-Dual and then see if you think the Nismo is loud. Or come listen to my Nismo + Strup unresonated test-pipe setup. Haha.

 

Before clicking the thread, I thought it was a joke.

 

I know, I know... it is odd for someone in a performance vehicle to complain about the noise. But you know, it was the dozens and dozens of comments like yours (that the NISMO is too quiet) that inspired my (false) confidence that it wouldn't drone or sound like a Mustang.

And it does. My Z sounds like a Mustang now.