I have searched but come up inconclusive.

If you have had personal experience with both the Borla and the Nismo catback exhaust systems please comment on the following.

Please answer as compared to stock and each other.

How is the sound, at idle for both?

How is the sound at average crusising speeds, any droning?

How is it at WOT?

From a power standpoint what was you experience comparing to each other and to stock.

My point to these questions is that I don't want to end up too noisy as this is a daily driver. I would like a deeper more powerful sound but don't want to disturb the neighbors just because I started the car up.

I plan a conservative HP gain plan. I am only looking to get 300 to 315 HP at the crank not wheels. I want to compensate for the 5AT losses plus a little more if possible.

After catback I would probably go to a new Plenum and hopefully eventually do the TS reflash when available for the 2004.5 if ever. I don't see any big gains from a CAI or other intake swap being reported, so I will stick to a K&N drop in to increase flow a bit. I am a believer that the stock intake is pretty good already.

 

I recently sold my Nismo cause it was too loud for me. If noise is a concern for you maybe you should stick with the Borla (deep but quieter)


Here's my take on the Nismo:

How is the sound, at idle? Just like stock with a nice rumble at startup.

How is the sound at average crusising speeds, any droning? Yes, the droning was my main problem with the Nismo. It was really annoying

How is it at WOT? Great! It sounds exotic. If you're worried about waking up the neighbors in the morning, you'll have to keep it under 4000 RPM.



In terms of power, this was the only mod in which I really felt increased power. However, based on the #'s, the Borla gives you even more gains.

Hopefully this helps. I would recommend finding someone in your area that has it and hear it in person so you avoid the same mistake I made (lost $600 in a week- ouch!)

 

I have the nismo exhaust now...
It's a nice throaty tone.

If you want quiet try borla or the fujitsubo exhaust. Both are quiet.

PM me if you are interested in the fujitsubo exhaust.

-Jeff

 

I have borla with headers and my friend has nismo with headers. They both sound the same as stock at idle, the borla is a little deeper and a little louder, the borla has no drone while cruising and the nismo has a little. The nismo is louder overall, imagine the stock sound, only louder. the nismo is louder under cruising speeds and louder at WOT. The borla sounds great at wot kind of an italian sports car sound, you know the ones with the ponies on the hood.

 

I like ponies.

 

Thanks for all responses so far. I's starting to look like the Borla may be what I'm looking for. I've noticed a few South Florida members some have exhausts so I am going to try and hook up with some to listen to thier setups.

 

I have seen/heard both. I agree with what they said.

I have the Borla and love it. Can't go wrong with either.

 

Nice to see so many people have the same opinions as me.

I've got the Borla. My friend has the Nismo. The Borla has a loud rumble just off of idle, and a much more "growly" tone to it. It's really not that much louder inside than stock at speed. The Nismo does sound very similar to stock, only louder. It does drone inside at highway speeds, but man, the sound it makes at 4k plus just sends chills down your spine. If noise doesn't bother you, go Nismo. If you want a little more noise than Stock, go Borla.

 

I had borla on mine, it was a little deeper than stock but wasnt that much of a difference. I have heard nismo, i think it sounds better than borla. If u want a similar to stock sound go with borla. After i had borla i switched to Injen with the straight tips. Sounds awesome and looks great. Also borla looks very stock as well.

 

see... to me the borla is more low pitch rumble so it covers up incabin conversation more than the NISMO exhaust...

the FUJITSUBO is just like the NISMO exhaust looks wize and sound wize but quieter...

If i had to do it over again I would do the FUjitsubo...

 

Yeah, those Fujis are nice but are just so darn expensive. You sell me one for the Nismo cost and I'm all over it! The Nismo and Borla are far more reasonably priced than just about every other Z exhaust out there. Heck, in my Audi days I remember thinking anyone who'd spend over $1000 on an exhaust was a nut job. Now I get to this Japanese aftermarket and see that $1000 for an exhaust is on the low end! Ugh!

 

i myself have the nismo exhaust with the r/t cats. i love the sound. and yes it does drone and take its toll on you on long drives. ive heard many other exhausts and wouldnt trade mine for any of them. it doesnt sound any different than stock while idling, maybe a little puttering due to the injen cai and the r/t cats. like stated before if you dont want to wake the neighbors keep it under 3.5 rpm and they wouldnt even know the difference.

 

but if the exhaust similar to the stock one....

why u change it??

 

The Nismo exhaust flows better than stock. The real problem is the very poor stock y-pipe. Any aftermarket exhaust that addresses that y-pipe will flow better than stock. In fact, keeping the stock exhaust but replacing the stock y-pipe with a high quality aftermarket y-pipe will flow almost as good as the complete aftermarket exhaust systems. (According to what some people have said.)

As far as the sound, the Nismo might sound roughly like stock when you are idling and taking it easy, but things change when you get on the gas and get the rpms up high.

 

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the input. I decided on the Fujitsubo Legalis-R exhaust and the Gruppe-S Y-Pipe. I ordered it yesterday. Max gave me a decent deal. Both items shipped for $899.

We'll see how it works out. If I don't like the results(sound) I will go back to stock muffler with the new Y-Pipe. It should arrive sometime next week so it will be a bit before it's installed.

I'll post my results when done.

I was concerned with one thing though. Nissan has gone to great lengths to manage air flow under the car with their zero-lift design, etc. The stock muffler even has a diffuser on it. Will aftermarket mufflers disrupt this much?

 

Nismo is a fair bit louder with an aftermarket intake than with the stock intake system. Take off your Pop filter, which really does nothing in terms of power, and the Nismo might have been very acceptable in terms of its overall sound level. The "droning" will almost totally disappear, although I didn't find too intrusive, since it was a somewhat higher pitched sound and not a deep bass drone which is completely intolerable.

 

Did that but didn't help. The droning was still there which was my main issue with the exhaust.

 

Interesting?????? Where did you get that info? and which Y-pipe should I get that isn't too loud?

 

Guess I am the only one that thinks Nismo Exhaust by itself is too quiet... Nismo + Crawford cats is great!

 

I have Nismo exhaust and JWT intake. It sounds awesome.. I couldn't stop flooring it for like 2 wks. now I am used to the sound when accelerating/and driving although at times it can drone when giving the throttle lightly to moderatly. Its great though most people can't even tell its not stock.