ive done searches...and reading them makes me dizzy cause ppl are always bringing up other mods to get besides exhausts

right now i can afford either a plenum or an exhaust

most ppl say plenum is better to start with

assuming i wanted to buy an exhaust for around 700

which is a best buy

im looking for a loud yet classy sound...and some good power gains (i know they wont be terribly significant)

 

You might want to go with Borla. It's a little louder than stock (deeper) but it is far from being annoying. Other ppl may say Injen SES. I hear they are really loud. It's basically up to you. I bought the Borla and I am VERY pleased with the sound and performance. There are some sound clips in the forum if you do a search.

 

Borla definately, or have a custom shop build you something... PM me for info...

 

I agonized over exhausts for several weeks before going down to a local custom exhaust shop and talking through options for the Z with them. The guy I talked with has been doing custome exhausts for 30 years so knew what he was talking about (and had opinions on Borlas, etc.)

He put my car up on the lift and we spent 30 minutes talking about the stock exhaust and options for a custom setup. They ended up fabricating a custom X pipe and mandrel-bent system from the cats back, using magnaflow high perf mufflers. Took about 6 hours to install as it was tricky getting the bends right to go around the suspension pieces on the right side.

Bottom line - the result was amazing. Sound, performance far surpassed my expectations and I have a unique product that I won't see or hear at every Z event I go to. If someone here is in the Austin, TX area let me know and I'll point you in their direction. Mine was the 3rd Z they had done a custom setup for and all three were different based on owners preferences (sound, look, performance, budget). Again, if you have a local shop that knows something about exhaust systems I would highly recommend talking with them before laying out 7 bills plus for a system "off the rack".

 

sounds great..i would love to get a ustom fabricated exhaust...but i have no idea where to turn...im in the NY NJ area...any ideas

plus...i dont know if i would be able to fund it

 

havabooz:

I would not let cost worries prevent you from exploring custom options. You can probably get exactly the sound and hp gains you want for the cost of the other systems on the market. Again, the beauty is that you control the cost (to some degree) based on what you want from your system (max hp, appearance, sound). Use whatever local resources you have to find a good shop (Porsche clubs are great info sources as 911 owners are as fanatical about their cars as Z owners seem to be - I've owned both and believe that to be true).

Or, you could put that Valentine 1 to good use and zip down here to TX and have it installed here. Wd suggest waiting until Fall as it is 102 here today.

Good luck in your quest.

 

drive to texas...hehe...you know...no matter where i am..i always feel like ppl from other places get all the goodies...damn ny is supposed to be the capital of the world

im sure there are some good shops around me

but im not into the trial and error thing

i want some good reccomendations

 

plus..i must admit im not 100% exhaust savvy...so i wouldnt know what to say ...i know what to ask for

good sound

nice hp gains

but i feel like if i dont go in there with enough education i will be ttaken bigtime

 

you want mandrel bent pipes, NOT crush-bent...

you want good materials, not crap that will rust

if you go dual, you will want either an H or X-pipe to equalize the pressure between the two pipes

make sure you decide on tips, position of muffler, angles, EVERYTHING before they touch your car...

I suggest asking for something fairly quiet as they tend to always end up louder than they think it will

2.25" if you go dual, 3" if you go single...

they can't guess HP gains- those come from less backpressure and increased flow...

 

If you are going to try a custom exhaust system. Go online and see what kind of canisters that you like. Because the exhaust shop that you go too might not have the exact kind of look that you want. Then you just ask how much it would be to run the piping.
When I did my exhaust I already knew what kind of exhaust canisters I wanted and the look that I wanted. All I needed was someone to put the piping in. My Apex-i Black N1 dual setup cost me $600, which is way less than the manufactured ones.
The only problem with custom exhaust is that you have to test it yourself whether or not you got any gains out of it. Luckily I ended up with 9hp gain. So I'm happy with that

 

like i said..im way too inexperienced to be doing this

i mean..ive been reading and reading a whole lot on this forum for about 5 months and i learned a lot

but im still a little shakey in the performance section

its just not right thing for me to do right now

however if someone sorta spelled it out for me i guess i could do it

and although this is not a full DIY project
the only ones i could handle now are painting my calipers putting in a grill and smoking my taillights


otherwise i think im stuck buying an "off the shelf" exhaust

my question is...a lot of teh ppl that bought borlas or injens definately do know enough to go ask for a custom setup

so y havnt they???

 

Since you don't know too much about exhausts (like me), go with a manufacturer that has a good rep and baseline data on their exhausts. Custom is nice, but since it's custom you have nothing to compare the data to. Borla, Injen, Nismo all have documents that give you an idea of what kind of gains to expect based on certain situations. JUST MY OPINION!

 

sorry...meant to quote the whole thing

 

Brimstone - Yeah - we've seen how credible the manufacturers' claims are. And I've read negative press, in mags and on forums, at one point or another about both the products and the customer service at all of the "big manufacturers". Thus my comment about "agonizing for weeks" about what to do. It is all one big crapshoot as far as I can tell with most mods with everyone getting their "rack" exhaust systems in the mail, installed, and either being too loud, not loud enough, too ricey sounding, not boomy enough, blah blah blah.

The shop I used made NO claims about horsepower. Only promised professional advice, quality work, lifetime warranty on both the materials AND the craftmanship, and an open invitation to come back at any time to tune (if any resonance develops - none has) or just talk cars. Where is the downside there?

I'm just offering another option - one that worked for me - to those who are fretting about potentially not choosing "the perfect exhaust system". It doesn't exist. Go custom, save some bucks, learn something about your car. All good.

 

My OPINION was based off of what he said. "im looking for a loud yet classy sound...and some good power gains (i know they wont be terribly significant)". Taking into consideration that quote, it would not be feasable for him to go custom cause he will not know what it will sound like or what the hp gains CAN be. But like I said before, THAT'S MY OPINION. That is how I think. I've already paid my money for my exhaust and it's everything that I would like it to be. Nice look, nice sound and nice gains. It's his money & the decision is strictly up to him.

 

Unless the shop he goes to tells him what type of hp gains to expect. If they can tell him that info then custom would probably be better.

 

I have borla and test pipes. You can check out the sound and power of my car anytime you'd like.

 

I agree completely. Didn't mean to impune anyone's opinion. There are a lot of good solutions, Borla being one for sure.

 

thanks zaphod...wen i get a chance..ill pm you

i actually wanted to go check out the cf oem wing in flushing

if ur interested in that also maybe we can meet there

 

I did the custom exhaust thing on my "G". It's been on for about 2 month's now, and I'm as happy with it now as I was on the first day. I know it added power, felt it right off, and the sound is fantastic. I had a dual system fabricated with 2.25" pipe. The system Utilitizes a Magnaflow X Muffler. It has two Blue Streak Glasspacks with an H pipe just before the glasspacks. I used the stock tips and sprayed the muffler with flat black high temperture paint for that stealthy look. I'm happy I did it this way rather than buy one of the manufactured systems.