Whoa, this is getting a little heated, not sure if I should chime in or not.

Here's what I think, Borla is a great exhaust from a very reputable company. They manufacture OEM exhausts for BMW and the like, that's gotta say something. It's just a matter of CHOICE.
I used to have a Borla on my sentra about ten years ago and it was a bada$$ exhaust. Couldn't beat it for the money. If you buy a Borla, awesome, more power to you. I was about to by one too. It's a tough call. Lot's of dudes want raw horsepower and it seems to be the best bang for the buck.

Other dudes (me being one of the other dudes) have done their research and just made a different choice. I love the Nismo/Weldina exhuast, sure it may produce less power, but F' it, I wanted it so I got it. I'm just one of those dudes who likes to carry an overall theme on the car. My car's Japanese, so I choose the Japanese exhaust. Also, don't talk crap on the the Nismo stuff, afterall isn't the car you're driving made by the same dudes that work hand in hand with Nissan Motorsports and their subcontractors?

Borla's quality, Nismo's quality. It's just a matter of CHOICE!

 

I have no ties to either Borla or Nismo.My point is that most exhausts have claimed between 8-15hp gains,then Borla comes up with a claim of 20-25 hp gained.To me it seems way too high.But even if it gave you a 15hp gain it would still be better than most are claiming. I have read nothing but good things about Borla on this forum.

 

SchoolZin.... agree with you entirely..

Many great products out there... and to each his/her own. Read the reviews -- you get to choose which one is best for you. period.

I like NISMO and want this theme through my Z... others want to shop and chop from various menus.

Whatever you want -- great.. just enjoy it and the ride.

A cliche ? Yes, "...but a cliche becomes more than a cliche when it is a belief passionately held." William Golding

 

You beat me to it!

What a joke. Even if I had a lot of money I wouldn't throw away $1100 on an exhaust that only produced 6whp. You have to be crazy to do that just because of the name. Oh well, not my money.

 

Few exhausts can be cost justified based on power output alone. People generally buy exhausts for one of several reasons: minor power increases, significantly enhanced sound quality, or both. I'm after the enhanced sound quality so long as I don't loose power in the process. I've owned two cars in the past that made my smile just by virtue of the sounds they made. I'm now trying to get the Z to do the same since it already does everything else pretty well.

 

I'm with you guys- if you like the exhaust then buy it. I just thought that it was uncalled for when Mr350Z took a cheap shot at Borla owners:

 

can anyone make a soundclip of the nismo exhaust???

personaly i wouldnt ever buy the borla cause of its sound no matter how much HP it makes...so i would buy an exhaust according to sound....can anyone make a nismo exhaust clip???

i'v herd the Amuse R1 titan and i think thats a great sounding exhaust...

 

I'd do it if I had the equipment (once I take delivery of the unit that is).

 

They are two very different exhuast systems. Buy I agree, Borlas is a good company, but its like putting bronze volks on a mustang. As for quality, the nismo exhaust looks much better, cleaner, and as for sound, its still has that exotic touch to it. As for the borla exhaust, its a more prestigous setup since its a true dual set up from cat-back and as for the looks and quality it is nothing compared to the nismo setup. The worst part is the sound, its the only part that draws me back from buying it.

Performance gains: Its quite confusing what the real gains are but Im sure its definately more than Nismo's since its a true dual set up

Long story short--borla is the best bang for the buck; but the NISMO is a beut.

 

Since the exhaust is under the car I could care less what it looks like. 3 important things. Quality, Performance, and Sound.

 

It might be under the car, but once you take out that flat black stock muffler, anything else you put in that area is pretty damn noticable from behind.

 

hea, if i love nismo, but if there gonna charge more for me to get less then f-em. its not about brand loyalty its about performace. for the same reasons i wouldnt buy a pos car because i was loyal to one brand. alot of people would never buy a 350z cause for one its japanese and two that its a nissan. and what do we call those people? idiots. im not gonna let nismo rip me off just cause i bought a nissan. to say that im only gonna buy japanese parts is as silly as saying im only gonna buy fords and chevys.

 

I've come to realize that a lot of 350Z owners don't mind paying big bucks for aftermarket parts even if they give little to no power gains. That's not me.

Many just care about the name. Although Nismo may make "quality" parts, it doesn't mean it has the best "performing" parts.

All I know is I'm going to buy parts that will make my Z faster. If there are guys out ther that would rather say they have a $2300 set of headers that gave you an additional 6hp, more power to you.

What's the point of buying aftermarket parts if you're not getting what you paid for (performance wise).

To each their own.

 

This is getting pretty funny, people can't have a matter of a difference in opinion without people getting all fired up. Maybe you should look at my other posts more clearly dudes. I said it's a matter of choice. I don't care what all of you guys buy, if it makes you happy, buy it. All this crap about people only buying Nismo stuff for the F' ing name is BS. I've done all my research, I know what I bought and why I bought it. If I only wanted more power then I would have bought the Borla, I've got respect for Borla and all of you who've bought it. Kick a$$ for you, go have fun with! I didn't want it because in my OPINION , I don't like the way it looks, period. All this junior high junk about people being idiots for what they buy is just ridiculous. Let's not resort to name calling, we are all in this because we love OUR cars, right? I don't have to love your choices and you sure as heck don't have to like mine.

 

After doing a lot of dyno testing on 350Z's, I can safely say that there is no way that you can find 15 hp out of a cat back exhaust on a 350Z. Most of the power gains are in the Y-Pipe configuration. If you uncork the car at the rear muffler, you will find absolutly no power gains over stock when the car is correctly dynoed!

Most of the dyno testing you see on the Z are bougus cherry picked runs. The Z has a lot of power variabilty on the dyno due to the trememdous amount of comand authority the knock sensor has on timing and mixture control.

The correct way to dyno a Z is to disconnect and ground the knock sensor or failing that run the car on 100 octane unleaded after a key cycle. The car must be run until the power stabilizes on the dyno which is usualy 4-5 pulls after which intake air temp and coolent temp must be monitored and each run started at about the same temp for both. If you don't do this, the power can vary by 10 hp from run to run.

Otherwise the ECU is so active that its hard to get the power increase from the noise in the data. When tested properly most exhaust systems for the Z33 give very little power gain to less power than stock. The Nismo system is one of the highest confirmed power gains. The general lack of knowlege on how to dyno the Z33 has created a lot of rumors and hype on the internet and even in the performance industry about what parts make what power.

I don't know about the quality of the Z33 borla exhaust system but every Borla system I have ever installed from my Pathfinder to my friends Z32 was pretty bad, poor fit, sloppy ugly mig welds, etc. A Borla system uses mild steel flanges that rust and the fit is so bad that every system I screwed with, I had to slot the flanges and screw around with a die grinder to get stuff to line up. Look at every Z32 with a Borla system, notice the mufflers are crooked and the tips are off position in the bumper fasia. In my prior experiances, Borla stuff was way worse in fit and construction quality than top Japanese aftermarket parts like HKS, Apexi and Greddy.

The Nismo system fits perfectly, is beautifuly made, has beautiful tig welds, is 100% polished 304 stainless and has a true gain in power when dynoed correctly. It is also legal from an emmission and sound level standpoint and will not void your warranty.

Look and a Nismo and a Borla system side by side and you will see there is no comparison in quality. Bolt the two on, the Nismo one fits flawlessly and I bet the Borla may not. Then dyno the two, I bet the Borla system will not have the claimed power levels when dynoed correctly in the way I descirbed previously.

The Nismo system also includes the B Pipes which is where the power is made, like I said before, uncorked is no power difference in this car! These reasons are where the cost differences are.

That being said, I do like Borla mufflers, they work pretty good, I just don't like Borla systems.

Morepower2

 

Borla does NOT manufacture OEM exhausts for BMW or any other OEM at least to my knowlege. They are an aftermarket company. As of last year they had not obtained QS9000 certification which most NA OEM's require a supplier to have to be a OEM supplier.

Morepower

 

An dyno's laying around after all that testing that you can share with everyone? I'm sure most of us would be interested. Thx

 

I second that.

 

A lot of them have been printed in SCC, many are confidential and some of them will be printed in future issues of some magazines so I can't really release the info.

Morepower

 

I completely understand and respect the confidentiality aspect. However until I see proof I have to go with the countless dynos from owners of Borla, Injen, Stillen, B & B, etc. exhausts who have all posted gains. We all know that dyno's can be subjective and I'm in no way disputing that there are exhausts on the market that will lose power (Tanabe). I'm not sure if what you are referring to is related to the much debated topic as to whether the ECU negates gains over a long term.

Where do you live in CA? I'm in NorCal but would be more than happy to meet you somewhere and take you for a ride in my car to see if your butt dyno tells you that my exhaust does indeed make power. I'd also be more than happy to offer my car up for as many dyno's as you need (aftermarket exhaust, stock exhaust, unbolted muffler etc) assuming you foot the dyno cost.

I'm very curious about your view and the testing which supports it. I'm no way disputing what you are saying- it's just that there are already countless dyno's on this board proving that many aftermarket exhausts do add power.