What's up everyone! Hope you all and your cars are doing well this year! Well, it's been along time. Long story short, I got my Nismo 350z # 1508 during the late December to early January of 2010. I drove it for four years stock. I wanted to be familiar with the car and establish that "driver mod" before I even modified anything. I can now say I feel comfortable driving the car. Anyhow, time for the review. There has been only a few threads or posts on the Tomei exhaust and I know I've been getting questions about the system. There also has not been a complete review. Overall, I want to give my thoughts and a thorough review so that others who want this system can make that decision.

I hope y'all find this useful to make your decision easier.

Car: 2008 Nismo 350Z

My previous setup: Bone stock, IPP SS clutch line.

It was a hard decision to choose which exhaust I wanted. I know I was looking for something that was very high quality, but most importantly something that I would be happy with. I didn't want to buy an exhaust and not like it and end up getting the actual exhaust that I wanted. A JDM exhaust was on top of my list, but Motordyne and FI would have been a great choice as well. I guess it's really preference whether someone wants to stay dual or single.

Choices:

1.) Tomei Expreme TI

2.) Amuse R1 Titan Extra RS

3.) Fast Intentions Catback

4.) Motordyne Shockwave TDX V2

*So it was a toss up whether I wanted to get rid of the dual exhaust look or go single*

Yeah, I went single! lol Knowing Tomei's R&D and the weight savings, I was hooked. Hearing it in person was what made buy it. Hell, videos don't really justify how they sound in person. That is why if you know someone in your area with an exhaust, hit them up and ask them to hear it.

Without further ado....

Looks: 10/10. A HUGE improvement over the stock system in my own view. The quality of the welds are top notch. Something you would expect from a high end Japanese company. Literally, the welds are a work of art. Even the inside welds are just perfect. Overall, it’s a very nice exhaust system. I’ll let the pics speak for themselves.
Don’t get me wrong, FI and Motordyne have some very nice products.
Installation: 10/10. The stock exhaust was a pain to remove. The only reason was that the stock rubber hangars are a very tight fit because it prevents vibration of the exhaust or rattling from driving on the road. The Tomei exhaust was a pretty straightforward install. Since it is a slip on system, all you have to do is just align the spring clamp attachments that are welded onto the exhaust itself. The only problem though was due to shipping. The rest of the exhaust was perfect. The muffler section though was s slight concern. There was a bend in the section that slips on to the rest of the exhaust. I asked one of my Nismo buddies who had a problem with his y pipe. He told me to hit up Taka from Tomei USA. Stuff happens, but I am glad to say that Tomei USA in California was a pleasure to deal with. I spoke to Taka and he apologized that the muffler arrived in the condition it was in. Anyhow, he told me to just ship it back to them and they would send me a new muffler. Also, I wanted to note that I received Sparco clamps for the exhaust. Very high quality stuff. Overall, it is a very simple install and even though there was a slight issue with the fitment, I’m not going to let that spoil the day. Just be wary that taking the exhaust hangars off from the stock exhaust will require some elbow grease and patience.

At the stock ride height for the Nismo, it’s not too high or too low. Still, I have to angle out on some driveways and speed bumps to avoid scraping the front end. The exhaust is perfectly fine. If your lowered, it will end up scraping a bit. I will update in the future when I decide whether to just get the swift spec r springs or do a full set of coilovers.

Sound: 11/10. Seriously, the videos online do not justify how it sounds in person. I tried capturing the sound best I could with my phone. I also will attach a link of a video with the stock comparison. Anyways, I was surprised how quiet the stock exhaust was. It was good in the beginning and it does have that distinct VQ sound that everyone is very familiar with. It’s decently loud during start up, but pretty quiet once it warms up. With the Tomei system, the car literally roars and take into consideration I'm still on the stock cats and y pipe. This is how the car should have sounded from factory. The noise can attract a lot of attention (good & bad). Even during normal driving, it is very loud so be warned.

Inside, the cabin is so much louder than before. I couldn’t imagine again how quiet the stock exhaust was. On the way back home, I opened it up in a tunnel, and man I never had a grin on my face like that since I first got the car. As King said on his previous Youtube videos, the VQ’s exhaust sound is pretty hypnotic.

2 Disclaimers:

1.) It does have drone during driveway, but it can remedied with music. One thing I did notice is that if your pretty light on the throttle the drone subsides and sounds as if it is not there. I will admit that you will be tempted to open it up. Lol

2.) One thing is that it does have a popping noise when you let off the throttle after giving it gas. It actually sounds pretty cool. If you remember that Top Gear Episode where Jeremy drove the Jaguar Type F. It has that same principle of a “burbling” sound when you let off the throttle.

Other than that, I am very happy. It recreated the initial spark ever since I got the car. It’s a dry sound, but is very racy. It definitely is not a ricey sound at all. It is a very deep, exotic sound.

On to the most important part…

Performance: 12/10. The throttle response has greatly improved. Surprised how much “harder” it pulls to redline. It definitely woke the car up. I will re-update once I get the car back. I am having a clutch/flywheel put in through warranty with a new updated transmission. I will get a dyno once the I get the y pipe. I plan on dynoing just the rear muffler section to get an estimate of how it is running. Then I will re-dyno to see how much of a difference the y pipe makes in conjunction with the rear muffler section. Overall, I like how much more responsive the car is now. To think how quiet and sluggish the car was stock after all these years.

Final thoughts: I’m not really interested in dyno #’s and horsepower because I feel that isn’t the most important aspect. The response and the functionality (lightness) was the main reason I purchased the exhaust. The sound was just icing on the cake. The customer service was also good. Tomei took care of me and a buddy of mine when we had problems. One thing I recently encountered in regards to the look department is how it is a single canister exhaust. I’ll say this again, it is a very subjective topic and everyone has their own preference. All in all, I’ve never been so happy with the car after the exhaust got put on. Literally, Tomei had it right on the money all rolled into one package. You get the looks, sound, and performance. I hope this review was a good one and will help future buyers whether they choose the Tomei or not to

And now for the pics and videos!!!

Before:



After:



Side by side comparison of stock OEM exhaust vs Tomei:





The Sparco clamp





Stock OEM Nismo exhaust



Weight of rear muffler section



Weight of the rest of the rear exhaust section



*So roughly around 40lbs of weight savings*

Videos (feel free to comment, subscribe to my youtube page, thanks!)

First start:


Cold start:


Stock VS Tomei comparison:

 

Awesome write up! I have yet to hear this one in person. I have had the Megan single, momentum single, agency power single. Just sold the agency and ordered another momentum single today because it is by far the best i've heard to date (in person). I have heard nothing but good things about the tomei though. They make very high quality parts!

 

Thanks man! I tried be as thorough as possible since there hasn't been one review on here at all. Anyhow, did you just like the Momentum better? I'm pretty sure the quality is just as good.

 

Yeah the Momentum just has a "crispness" to the exhaust note that the agency nor any others i've owned have had.

 

I'm going to check some videos online to see how it sounds. I think I heard your car already on youtube.

 

Yeah I need to get some better videos this time around with the momentum. the previous ones were taken with a horrible camera so the sound quality is awful. thats why i always emphasize hearing them "in person" haha because videos don't do some exhaust justice at all!

 

Exactly, it is definitely very subjective.

 

Awesome write up!

 

Thanks Todd!

 

IMO the best single out there. It was my first preference when I was shopping for exhausts but it's too loud enough to get me in trouble with the po-po

Great review and pics!

 

Thanks! You shouldn't be worried at all. It's loud, but to be honest unless you open it up all the time it's somewhat tame. Crazy how the police in your country have the exotics. lol

 

Awesome pictures and sweet video! It sounds SO mean.. lol

 

great review .... I just bought the y pipe and will be getting the rest in a couple weeks ... the quality of the exhaust surpassed what i expected ... and its so frickin light!

 

In for videos when I'm off work. I have gone back and forth on how I like this... yet to hear in person so I can't make a legit judgment just yet.

Good write up though!

 

great right up. I've got this full exhaust with no cats and its LOUD!! but in a good way....

 

Thanks man, stay tuned for my baseline this thursday!

 

Thanks as well! I'm going for the Y Pipe soon along with test pipes. I am actually in the crossroads deciding between ditching the test pipes and going with the PPE long tube headers. As for the quality, I mentioned above that someone or something had crushed a bit of the pipe when I received it. I called up Tomei in California and they immediately got an RMA out for warranty. As soon as it arrived at their facility, the went out and shipped the new muffler section the same day. Even the welds are straight artwork. I literally stared at it for a good 5 minutes. lol The lightness is also a factor on what sold me on the exhaust. Surprised how heavy the stock rear section was.

 

Definitely agree with you. I had to hear it in person to actually decide. I was going back and forth as well between an AAM single or biting the bullet on a JDM exhaust from Amuse (6 month wait). Even my videos won't catch the true sound of it. It's a lot louder in person. Anyone with the Tomei will tell you that. The performance aspect itself already sold me. I know Tomei does a lot of r&d on their products. Overall, it sounds good and definitely wakes up the car no doubt. You will not be disappointed with this setup if you do decide to get it. Good luck and feel free to post up on here questions or PM me.

 

Thanks as well! I definitely agree. I drove two of my buddies Z's with the same setup. One with Stillen headers and one with test pipes. I'm still debating on whether going with the full long tubes or test pipes. The loudness of the exhaust even with the stock y pipe and cats isn't bad at all. I like it!

 

What camera do you use? The "before" photo looks like a magazine advertisement.