I've read some good reviews about both the Warpspeed & Cattman Y-Pipes.. I'm trying to decide now which one i would want. The Cattman Y goes for $350 on their website and the Warpseed for $300 for the Y-pipe and $400 for the y-pipe catalytic converter combo... For my 98 SE Automatic which one would probably be better? The money isn't a problem seeing as i sold the stereo out of my old car for a pretty penny... Also i'm thinking about getting an intake but i've heard people say that they only gained power for a short period of time and then most went back to the stock intake... Any insight on maybe even a combo of what y-pipe and what intake??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thx!

ChIzAd

 

when i had my 98 i had the frankencar w/mid pipe and k&n filter (u should go apexi though) and the warpspeed y pipe. those two made her a different beast.everyone will have their own opinions but i had a 98 automagic and had nothing but good results from the two. hope this helped you out a little

 

Save your money and get the $200 non-mandrel WSP alumnized y-pipe. There's NO NEED for stainless unless you're keeping your car for about 20 years. I've got the non-mandrel WSP and I live in Kansas CIty with harsh salty winters. Two years my y-pipe still looks new. My WSP y-pipe also made a good bit more power than my Stillen mandrel y-pipe on the dyno plus WSP is much quieter. I've witnessed comparison runs of the WSP mandrel vs non-mandrel y-pipes on the same car and dyno. If an extra $100 is worth to you to gain 1hp then get the mandrel


Dave

 

Hmm.. Thx for the info both of you. Dave do you have/did you have an intake on yoru car at anytime and if so what was it like and/or was it worth the money?? Thx

ChIzAd

 

budget also sells y-pipes, approx $185 for a ss ypipe shipped.

 

Yeah get the budget y-pipe. They are all the same except budget sells them a lot cheaper...

 

The only thing that worrys me about the cheaper brands are what the guy from Cattman talked about in this post http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=245548 closer to the bottom about the 3 main factors why his stainless steel y-pipes are better than the competition because of some different things.. He said in that post how it can cause for more heat in the engine compartment and stuff like that... That's one of the reasons why i'm considering going for the warpspeed stainless steel one or the cattman stainless steel one...

ChIzAd

 

I've talked to Max owners that have warpspeed
and cattman they all say the same thing there
are only subtle differences between them all
but they say Budget is a good way to go
more bang for your buck, I'm ordering a Budget Y
on my next payday. just my opinion.

 

Hmm, I wonder why a competitor would say that about a different company's product? Could it be that you get the same thing for almost half the price and the're scared of losing business???

 

how much more horse's would a y-pipe add if i have stock exhaust and a K&N airfilter......worth it?

 

Brian Catts (Cattman) wants to highest quality pipe on the market therefore he goes to extreme lengths with his y-pipes and that's why their so expensive. His reasoning for the cerarmic heat coating on his y-pipe is to increase exhaust flow (keep heat inside the pipe), to lower corrosion, and reduce external heat is well-founded, but we're talking about a 6500-7000rpm revving V6, not a 12000rpm F1 car. The VQ runs very hot already and you're not going to notice a y-pipe making much difference in underhood heat. Coating the inside/outside of a pipe with heat resistant material (aka Jet Hot) is great for racecars that don't face the extremes of the environment (sub zero temps, 110 degree afternoons, rain, snow, salt, sand, etc). These materials do work......for RACECARS, but the elements will destory them plus do you really want this material flaking off and getting caught in the infinite taggle of pinholes in your catayltic converter?

Mandrel/non-mandrel/coated/uncoated isn't going to make a lick of difference on the VQ in terms of performance.

And a big word of warning about the Budget y-pipe, it DOES NOT USE a lined-flex section. WSP and Cattman do. A lined flex section decreases the y-pipe's inherint nasty hiss. I installed a brandnew Budget Y-pipe on a 4th gen yesterday and noticed it didn't have any lining. Fitment was great, but his Budget was significantly "hissier" than my non-mandrel alumnized lined-flex WSP.

Just things to consider.


Dave

 

I love my short ram pop charger and budget y.....

 

Will I pass emissions testing without problems (since I do now) with the Warpspeed non-mandrel bent Y pipe?

Thanks
Al

 

Dang Dave B you're pretty freaggin convincing Anyone ever tell you that?? :-) Anywho... I should have the money here in a week or two to go ahead and buy the Warpspeed aluminized one (the $200 one) so then the thing i gotta consider is how much it will cost me to have it installed cause i don't have many(if any) of the tools needed to install it(or the patience and automotive skills) plus i gotta consider how much it will cost to have a different muffler and other stuff put on and what i want.. I've heard some people on here say that they've used Flowmaster or Magnaflow mufflers but i just always thought that those are for those beefed up huge trucks with V8's so that they can rumble... Anyone know anything about these two mufflers and why or why not to get them.. I'm just looking for a non-bees in the can sound that still sounds good but doesn't cost too much cause i'm definatly on a budget... Thx for all the responses to this thread btw!

ChIzAd

 

the vq is a nasty sounding creature, maybe to tough to tame .. i have not found a great exhaust sound and dont know what to do.. ?

 

I'd guess you'd have about a 5% chance of passing emissions testing with a Y-pipe. It's been done, but it's very rare. The Y-pipe removes the precats which are used to increase "light off" of the main cat during cold starts.


Dave

 

Very true, i do have a slight hiss on my budget, HOWEVER, one of my friends just installed his Warspeed Y, and he has that nice same hiss as well...

For my budget, im just gonna wrap it with exhuast wrap to quiet down the hiss...

And once again, it DOES NOT MATTER IF ITS STAINLESS. Does your car come with stainless steel from the factory?! Obviously not, and how long does a stock exhuast system last?! pretty freakin long, longer than you'll probably ever keep the car...



Eric

 

You might as well save your money and learn about your car and do the work yourself. You'll end up spending $100+ for a y-pipe install assuming you can find a shop willing to do the "illegal" emissions work. You could spend $20 for a Chiltons Maxima repair manual, $40 for a 2 ton 16-18" jack, $15 for jack stands, $60 for a quality rachet/metric 8-18mm spocket set, $5 for universal swivel joint, $15 for some socket extensions, and $15 for a breaker bar. This work is not hard, just time consuming. The 4th gen is a very easy to work on and for about $250 in tools you can pretty much do any of the needed maintenance/aftermarket installs on this car. I've save $$$$ doing the work myself.


Dave

 

People pass emissions all the time with aftermarket Y-pipes, you just need to get the car very warmed up before you start. My car was cooling off for a half an hour after a 30 minute drive and it didn't pass the first time, but we tried again right afterwards and it was fine.

 

Hence my explanation of the precats purpose. Most people aren't lucky enough to choose when their car gets tested. You usually get one pass and if you fail they tell you to fix it and come back. It's rare you can argue your case and make more runs.


Dave

 

I've had a Warpspeed Y-pipe, and currently have a Cattman Y-pipe and I've done back-to-back dynos of both. The basic design of all Y-pipes (except the 1st gen stillen pipes) are all the same, so they are all going to make nearly the same power.

I've got two friends with budget Y-pipes and they've had no problems. For the money I'd recommend budget's Y-pipe. I'm not sure if they had lined flex sections, but their cars don't sound any different then mine.

I've had an aftermarket Y-pipe on my car for the past two inspections and every year I've passed emissions in PA (outside Philly) well within range. Do a search and you can find my posts on it.

EDIT:
Here are the threads:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=106480
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=119817

 

y-pipe install cost me $50...

 

I would install it myself Dave and get all those tools and stuff but currently i'm in college studying to be an engineer so i do not have much free time to wash my car so especially not much time to install some exhaust mods. I do plan on one day when i graduate to get a house that has a big garage so that i can buy a bunch of tools to do things to my cars for much cheaper and plus it's just a lot of fun but not right now... Also no one has mentioned anything about mufflers or anything like that in response to my comment about magnaflow mufflers or flowmasters.... If anyone has any experience with those or heard any positive or negative things about either then please let me know..

ChIzAd

 

Ok, Im the 4th gen dave b installed the y pipe on. (yes im a talking car!) anyway, ive driven around a bit with the pipe on and i've noticed no hissing sound. However it is important to note that i have DEI exhaust wrap on my pipe. or maybe it does his but i dont notice it because ive never heard a car with my exhaust with a lined section...

Also dave, what exactly is the lined flex section. what do they use to line it?

dave i think you're just saying this because you have issues with your y pipe not being mandrelly bent. Going around and trying to convince everyone else to buy non mandrel y pipe isnt going to change anything. your y pipe still sucks, has crap bends and isn't stainless steel. not to mention that your pipe is out of style. who has a non mandrelly bent pipe? thats so not cool. i think you are just jellous of my awsome mandrel stainles steel un-lined flex section budget pipe i got for 160 bucks back when the conversion rate worked in our favor. Live in the now! Live in the NOw... ok im just messing..., but as far as the guy who doesnt want to insatll his own pipe, i sympathise with him because there is no way i would have gotten that thing on by myself unless you and the other kc maxima guys helped me out.

 

I ve done enough installs and the Cattman Ypipe has more of a straight flow design compared to the stillen. The 2nd bend coming from the flex section, how ever the stillen has one bracket the Cattman does not have. The cattman is a superior quality Ypipe. I have the Cattman and I am very very happy with it. About to hand it down to my little brother since I just bought a 95Max

 

Hey! Don't talk to Dave like that!

 

dude chill, i was just joking with the guy. hey im greatly indebted to him, he istalled my y pipe and sts the other day. i think dave b's car is tight.

 

I could hear the hiss when you revved up the car and it will get progressively worse however you did wrap the pipe so the hiss won't be near as extreme.

When we talk about lined flex sections, we're talking about an internal webbing of material much like the webbing that's on the outside. This keeps the flex section from expanding under high load. My Y-pipe has a hiss, but it's very faint, especially compared to my old Stillen y-pipe.


Madd tizIt to u foo!!!



Dave