First, let me say that I have searched the forums. I know exhaust has been done to death. But, can I get a consensus on which exhaust is best (performance). Everything I see is "it depends on the sound you like..."

I just want to know which exhaust system will give the greatest HP and torque gains. Also, what else should I do (new headers? and if so which ones)? I've seen posts that claim CAI does not help performance at all. Is this correct?

I'm a new 350Z owner and I've been researching this forum for information and quite frankly I think I'm in worse shape now. One thread says one thing and the next thread I read says the opposite. Before spending a bunch of money, it would be nice to have a consensus of people saying what setup is best for performance gains. I'm not interested in major engine mods or turbos or superchargers. I would like to get the most performance gains possible without that. So, I think I'm looking at intake/exhaust.

Would I obtain the greatest gains with borla headers and exhaust?

HELP ME!

 

you will not see much performance gains from exhaust or N/A. the greatest difference between exhausts may be ~5hp. So just get what sounds best to you.

I had CAI and Test pipes, and dynoed higher than people with CAI and ful exhaust on the same day.

 

I've been researching the very same thing myslef. What i've come up with is that the Stillen True Dual puts out the best hp and tq gains of them all. I believe many of the exhaust systems cause you to lose some torque somewhere in the powerband. The Stillen does not. You gain both. (Somebody correct me if i am wrong). The Stillen is a bit pricey but there is a sale on them in the vendor forums from avalon racing. i haven't read up too much on the headers because ultimately i'd like to go TT so i figure i won't need them anyway in the long run. If you're looking for an intake it seems the two most poplular on the board are the JWT popcharger and the injen. I have the popcharger and love it. Great sound and gives you a little extra punch.

 

I think the stillen is heavier than stock also, so any gaines over the other exhaust may be nulled.

 

Get in on the Amuse Group buy .

 

Whats an Amuse? And, now I'm seeing all this info on the UT Y-pipe. Should I just get a Y-pipe and keep everything else stock? I'm about confused enough to just leave my car stock. Screw it!

I'm happy with the way it sounds stock. It handles great. I just need a little more power. This car just doesn't have quite enough get up and go to match its handling capability. If Nissan had just brought it out with a little over 300 HP, I don't think I would need any mods.

 

It's not that much heavier....lol...I'd say 15-20lbs at most

 

I've got a Nismo for sale for $750 shipped if you're interested

--wes

 

15-20 lbs is a lot...think about it this way:
the stock car has a power to weight ratio of 10.97 depending on which model you have. The correct thing to do is not to choose based only on which will increase HP the most, but rather on which will increase/decrease your power to weight ratio the most. 15-20 pounds on a car with a power-to-weight of 10.9 is equivelant of 1.5-2 horsepower. Therefore any 2hp advantage over another exhaust is nullified by the extra weight. Furthermore, weight is an issue because weight isn't just a factor in acceleration, but also in handling, therefore, when choosing whether to add 10 hp or to subtract about 100-120 pounds, it would be better to lose the weight because the acceleration gains will be the same but the added handling from the weightloss won't be seen in the HP gain

 

Not sure where you got your #'s from, but 10-20 lbs isn't going to make that dramatic of a difference. If it was unsprung weight it may make a performance difference, but not just body weight.

--wes

 

it's not going to make a difference, but on a heavy *** car like th 350z, why would anyone want even more weight???? It's a freaking overweight pig, if anything you want to do everything to REMOVE weight.

Funniest thing was this guy at the dragstrip with 19" wheels, stillen exhaust and intake, huge R-tires and other stuff getting raped all the time by a 100% stock 350z.

 

That's true....but honestly, 20lbs isn't going to make a difference one way or another performance wise....if it did the track,touring guys would be getting smoked by the base/enthusiast Z's because there's 2 times that weight difference between the models


As I mentioned, if it was rotational weight (drivetrain,wheels etc) that would be one thing....

--wes

 

but why you want to increase weight while you can get an exhaust with less weight. Plus there are not solid proof that Stillen exhaust make more horsepower than other exhaust.

 

Have you not seen the dynos ? I have a Stillen exhaust.....dynoed it myself....got 9rwhp and 12 rwtq

--wes

 

intakes do nothing on this car.

Most of the reputable aftermarket exhausts will all yield similar gains, roughly 5-7hp. Headers and catback will be good for about 10-12hp combined. Add in high flow cats and you are looking at 15hp total gain. Add plenum and you are good for about 17-18hp total gain. Add Cams and you will gain about 30-35hp total gain....but cams will only give these kinds of gains with the other "breathing" components already in place.

Since all top brands are well engineered and fundamentally do the same thing, it really does come to an issue of looks and sound.

Keep in mind also, your car won't even begin to be noticably and consistently faster until you've upped the power by at least 10%, which in the case of the Z can't be done without cams or Forced induction or ECU modification/manipulation.

Basically, if you want real performance gains on this car, it will cost major $$$$. If you want to do minor mods, just for the love of doing it, that's fine, but accept that that is all you are doing.

If you want specific advice, go with stock intake, crawford, stillen or Nismo headers, and Nismo or Borla catback.

 

Did you dynoed the Greddy exhaust??? Tanabe Exhaust??? RS-R Exhaust??? JIC exhaust??? Amuse exhaust??? Fujitsubo Exhaust??? Nismo Exhuast???..... and others also??? at same day, same dyno, same location and on your car???

If not, then you don't have solid proof that Stillen give better gain then the others.

Different dynos (even of the same type), different days, and different cars will yield different results. So if you are comparing your result with someone else's dyno result on a different dyno, different Z, different location, and different day, then it is not an accurate comparison.

 

Thank you Speedracer. This is pretty much what I've been looking for. Some straight info on what will get me what. It seems that more people on this forum agree that Borla gives the best gains. If I go with Borla catback, wouldn't it make since that I use Borla headers? Also, I've been reading recent posts that indicate the new ypipe from UT yeilds better gains with stock exhaust than a complete catback system. Any thoughts on this?

 

I was saying what my gains were there Einstein.....but Sport Z magazine did dyno many of the exhausts.....adn the Stillen had the best gains......so what's your theory on that one big guy ????

 

My GReddy wasn't out then... I think it would be right up there with the Stillen... plus it's about 10-15 lbs lighter than stock... I really wish I had a dyno close so I could have baselined before and after this exhaust and the Kinetix plenum.... would have been interesting to see...

 

I'm not talking unsprung weight, nor am I talking about rotational mass. I am talking about regular weight. 20 lbs is equivelant on a stock Z car to about 2hp. I can understand calling 20 lbs irrelavent, but only from someone who would say that +/- 2hp is also irrelavent. But you are arguing over the fact that the stillen dynoed 8.9hp versus other exhausts dynoing at or around 8.2hp and claiming the stillen produced the most HP. Stay consistent, if you think 20lbs is not noticeable then .7hp will definately be unnoticeable. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Adding performance parts is not about maximizing Horsepower, it is about maximizing the power to weight ratio. Getting headers may only yield 5hp, but if you get stainless headers which weigh about 20 lbs (or something like that can't remember the actual amount) less than the cast iron ones, and you are effectively doing the same thing as adding 7hp. Aftermarket exhausts and cats, headers, intakes, and various other parts all alter the original weight. Most of these items being higher quality than the OEM parts will weigh less, and though you may be adding 30hp to your car, by dropping 100lbs off the car's original weight you are effectively doing the same thing as adding 40hp to the original car. My main point is this: the stillen may be the highest HP and torque producing aftermarket exhaust, but if it exceeds other exhausts by only 1hp, while its weight is 20 pounds over stock and 30 pounds over the nearest competitor, the 1hp advantage is not only nullified by its weight, but the weight will hurt you more than the 1 hp will help...remember...it's about power AND weight of the car...just like in the stock market it's about return AND risk. not just power, not just return...