oh, I don't know all that much about it. SXN had some good suggestions though.

 

the link i supplied early is probably the best for mufflers, just look around, find sound clips, etc

 

I got my 5th gen muffler on there and it sounds good. I also had some custom b-piping made(2.5") and mid section (2.5"). It is a little deeper of a tone, but not much. It will probably sound really good when I get my Warpspeed y-pipe on there. That will be a little while, though, because I broke my arm Monday night. I will not be able to play with the max for like 6 weeks. Oh well, I will try to get some pics of it and post them up.

And because of SXN and others, I will not be taking the stock cat off and putting in a test pipe. Not worth the polution was the general consensus. I am debating on whether or not to cut off the resonator and have 2.5" piping all the way from cat back to muffler? I don't know yet. I think I will get the y-pipe on there first and see how loud it is.

 

What other exhaust work do you have done????

 

The test pipe is gonna be my next mod. Somewhere through the grapevine, there are no hp gains..but think about it this way....you're removing the cat, so.... Anyways, I'm trying to learn more about the 02 sensor emulator because I don't want to throw any codes. I know some people get away with the old clamp on the pipe....but that throws codes here and there. As far as I know, the emulator is something you have to solder on, and then shrinkwrap. Sounds weird, which I why I'm trying to learn more about it.

 

ahhhh......just leave the cat on. If you don't see anything gained from the test pipe, then why spend the money & effort on it?

 

[QUOTE=Brudaddy]I got my 5th gen muffler on there and it sounds good. I also had some custom b-piping made(2.5") and mid section (2.5"). QUOTE]

How much did this cost...parts, and also installation. Also, does a Dth gen muffler fit on a 4th gen? Just asking cause I just put on my warpspeed y-pipe, and noticed LOTS of rust, and some pieces crackling off of my muffler...or do you all think it's cool and it'll last? Thanks Guys!

 

I will probably be okay, but if you want to replace:
1. Muffler from another .org member=$100 shipped
2. custom aluminized piping 2.5" back to muffler=$50
3. The 5th gen muffler does fit fine on the 4th gen. You will have to probable cut out a little of the bumper so that it doesn't look funny(the 5th gens have two tailpipes). Don't cut them out too much though, because the muffler will not fit up in the holes. Where the hangers are, it will hang right at the bottom of the bumper. This is just as well for you don't want to burn your bumper or turn it black with exhaust. You just widen the hole for the look. The new muffler I got hung right on the same hangers...a perfect fit. You will just have to( and will prob want to) redo the piping coming all the way up to the muffler.
4. Overall, I am pleased. I like the sound of it...kind of quiet, like I wanted, but a littler deeper than the 4th gen stock muffler. I think with the warpspeed y(mine's on the way) it will be the perfect sound....not too loud....not too quiet.

 

I just got the warpspeed Y installed...it's only a lil' louder, but I'm sure all the sounds combined sounds terrific. So what was your total for everything going to the muffler being custom machined? Also, I don't have much money, so besides the $100 muffler, and already got the y-pipe, what else should I do for a fairly inexpensive amout with nice gains in the exhaust? Thanks!

 

well glad to hear i helped a little here.

i dunno about cutting the resonators. they arent really there for a lot of sound dampening of the GOOD kind of sound, they more kill the really buzzy horrible sounds that come from exhaust systems. i would think really hard before hacking that off

 

well, when i had my custom maxima straight pipe on, i didnt feel gains but car just felt smoother, at lower rpm points where car would choke and boggle in thirst for higher rpm, when i had it, it would just smooth out until i got more rpm. It made my system sound like **** though, for N/A, i dont think its worth it but if u boosting then u definitely need to get a wider diamater in there to allow better flow....

 

so test pipe's almost no power...but what about sound? can't find that post in here...thanks!!

 

um, it should make the car louder yea.

unresonated section of pipe right after the y pipe, could get buzzy

 

how do u think a greddy exhaust sp, and a warpspeed y pipe+ straight pipe will sound? ****ty? If not do you guys have any reccomendation for cats????

 

that would be incredibly loud, maybe a little buzzy.

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaCatbacks

here is a run down of the cats, check out the sound clip of the greddy with Y pipe, and imagine it with more flow, and an unresonated race pipe. its zeffs vid

 

Refer to previous post.
It only cost me like $50 to get him to run custom piping all the way back to the muffler. I like this guy's work too. He did a really good job. It should add about 5-6 hp(maybe a little more with the y-pipe combined with it) just by making the piping larger in diameter. If you leave the cat on and the resonator, it will not be too loud. That is what I did.

Anyway, smokeydriver, you got spoiled from putting that y-pipe on there. I mean, that is the largest gain for our n/a cars that you will see all at once....esp for that kind of money. Anything else just adds a few hp here and there. Other than the b-pipe and midsection, there is really not much more you can do to add power.

when cutting a hole in the bumper for the 5th gen muffler, I would just do it yourself. I would just recommend getting a file/rasp and gradually making it larger. It might take longer that way, but it will look smother. I ended up having to go back and do that to mine. The guy who fixed my bumper after the wreck used this little saw-zaw thing...and it was wreckless. I just finished it myself with the rasp.

 

so the b-pipe was only $50? how much for the midsection? and i'm assuming these installs are similar to the y-pipe but not as rusted of bolts. i know im kinda askin the same stuff over, but just trying to clarify...you da man Brudaddy!

 

hmm I think I will stick with the cat. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGRSTIONS ON CATS????

 

smokeydriver, you are not understanding me. It was $50 for the custom b-pipe, midsection, and installation. All of it, put on and driving out the dorr. He didn't even charge me when I left and it was knocking, because he didn't quite get it up high enough the first time. I just brought it back, and he rewelded it to the hanger thing a little higher, and it has been great ever since.

And they are not really all that similar to the y-pipe. I don't know about if you buy a b-pipe, but since I had a custom one made, he just welded it together. Or you could maybe get them to make it all out of one piece of pipe. that would be cool too. He was going to do mine that way, but he bent it a little too high. Then, he just cut the part off that he messed up, and made it a two piece thing. It looks good, and runs great!

Hope this helped.

I don't know about cats that much, image. I think that a high flow cat is a high flow cat. I mean, I don't think they are a hill of beans difference between them. The thing that will effect the sound more is the piping you choose to use and the muffler.

 

Good stuff, NOW I GOT YA! Thanks man! So, did you just go to a machine shop to get them to do this? Also, does anyone know how much it would cost to get the pipe resonated? THANKS!

 

Ok,

What gains do you get from a high flow cat?
--I've seen 0 to 6 HP posted on the org
What gains do you get from a test pipe?
--I've seen -10 to +14HP posted on the org


Most of you are saying that a test pipe will gain no performance...
Why is that?

What does an aftermarket y-pipe do compared to the stock y-pipe?
Now, what does an aftermarket cat do compared to a stock cat?
Free exhaust flow?


Hmmm, I must be missing something.

 

smokey, resonators cost an additional $50-100. They can do any kind you like. You can range from a no-namer up to flowmaster or magnaflow or something like that. Anything you want. And yes, just go to a muffler shop and tell them what you want. I would call around first...that is what I did.

 

-10hp???? what the heck? +14 hp for test pipe? that is weird...that is like the same as the y-pipe...I don't know where you have been reading...I have never seen that!

I have never seen people say more than about 2 hp tops with high flow cat and muff combined.

Yes, but there is only so much that you can free up your exhaust system and it still help you in a n/a car. When I first started learning about this, I thought, " I will just put 3" piping in and open it way up". Well, this is fine, but it would actually hurt the performance on a n/a car. The reason being is that you actually have way more exhaust going out than your engine needs, and cannot match it with fuel and air coming into the engine. Now turbo people put 3" piping in all the time...because they are forcing more fuel and air into the engine, and the engine has to be able to let that out as fast as it is being forced into it. Not so on a n/a car. there is only so much air/fuel that will naturally come into the engine, so there is only so much that it needs to let out....max! Does that make any sense?

 

sheit. I want ever ounce of HP I can get. I dont give a **** about all that crap about the enviroment and etc.. read the book of revolations... We'll all be wiped out. Hopefully we'll be gone by then. So it really doesnt matter. However, passing emmissions is another thing. I dont want this loud *** thing on the back end of my car that gives me +1 HP..... Do watcha wanna do. My 2 cents..

 

I'd leave it alone

 

Don't go with the test pipe unless you have a turbo or supercharger. Test pipe will make you lose HP. Spoke with Dallas at WarpSpeed and he was telling me that they have dyno results to prove it. They gained very little with the hi-flow cat though compared to stock cat...2-3 hp. He also mentioned about a group buy goin on with Maxima.Org members for like 85 dollars for a high-flow cat (better than random tech cat).

 

I'd be in for 85 bucks. Whens this deal gunna hit crisp?

 

Dosent a high flow cat & test pipe do the same thing??????? They both give it 2.5" Diamater I thought, the only difference is a high flow cat has porcelon on the inside to burn up the toxic crap....

 

deal's going till tomorrow...look under group deals, warpspeed y-pipe. send budha your info by tomorrow...ALL info, look in post, then ya got a week to pay up. it's 160 for the y-pipe, or 85 for a cat, if Dallas at warpspeed said ya can get it...then i guess you dont have to get both to get the deal on the cat, good luck!

 

I got in on that deal with the y-pipe. It is awesome!

You are right though, ohannon7...the test pipe replaces the cat. You cannot have both, from my understanding. That is why others were saying that it was bad for the environment to get a test pipe....you eliminate the cat convert and let unburned fuel and whatever else out into the air. You can either get a high flow cat, or a test pipe(straight pipe). I just figured that for $85, I can do a whole lot more to the car than get a test pipe. Even if I want to get one, I will have the same guy make me one....it is just straight back....for like $15 or something. Not that difficult.

 

you sir, and greatly confused.

no one ever lost 10hp from getting a test pipe. and no one EVER got anywhere NEAR 14hp from a test pipe....

If you find a dyno (without some huge outragious correction factor) that shows gains of around 14hp for a test pipe, i will conceed, but until then...those numbers are way out of whack.

you would see 1-4 wheel horsepower at the most, depending on the rest of the exhaust system. if you were boosted, you could possible see 4-8whp, but its still such a small piece of pipe, you cant get big gains from it

 

Just for your information:

Test pipes do increase the amount of "toxic stuff" released into the environment, but not as much as all the other crap huge corporations release into the atmosphere.

Further more, there is research that shows that convertors can cause more harm than good:
But researchers have suspected for years that the converters sometimes rearrange the nitrogen-oxygen compounds to form nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas. And nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas, more than 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the most common of the gases, that is warming the atmosphere, according to experts.

This spring, the EPA published a study estimating that nitrous oxide now comprises about 7.2 percent of the gases that cause global warming. Cars and trucks, most fitted with catalytic converters, produce nearly half of that nitrous oxide, the study said. (Other sources of nitrous oxide include everything from nitrogen-based fertilizer to manure from farm animals.)

The EPA study also showed that nitrous oxide is one of a few gases for which emissions are increasing rapidly. Collectively known as greenhouse gases, they trap heat in the earth's atmosphere.

The increase in nitrous oxide, the study notes, stems from the growth in the number of miles traveled by cars that have catalytic converters. And the problem has worsened as improvements in catalytic converters, changes that have eliminated more of the nitrogen-oxygen compounds that cause smog, have conversely produced more nitrous oxide.


FOOD FOR THOUGHT....

 

while this may be true, emissions testing tests for very certain gasses....the gasses your cat converter blocks with a y pipe AND test pipe, there is 0 possibility for passing emissions, and california is already strict enough...guys fail with y-pipes as it is, with the main cat still in place.

 

that is interesting....

but who is to say that the ozone was not going to errode on its own, without any help from us. Or even if we are the cause of it erroding, I would much rather it errode than those gasses kill us. The reason that they do the emmissions testing(one of the main reasons) is to not make the air "unbreatheable". Now there are environmental considerations, but I think human safety is more of an issue than that.

 

Interesting write up though. Thanks for the input...

 

what I was trying to say is: If you have 2 pipes the same length and same diamater, How does 1 make you gain HP and 1 make you lose HP. The only real difference between the 2 is the Cat has porcelon inside it.....

Good post Nismo_K, I need to find that article.

 

True, but the other option (not using converters) would cause significantly more problems. It will only take a few more years before nearly every car on the road with be a ultra low emissions vehicle which means about the only thing they put into the air is water. The problem still lies in SUV/trucks and heavy trucks. They are our primary polluters. The heavy truck shipping industry has exploded in the past 20 years and so have the emissions.

I propose a gas guzzler/luxury tax on all truck/SUVs that get less than 20mpg overall and/or weigh over 4000lbs and are used privately. If you can afford a $45K gloried pickup truck, you can afford an extra $2000 in taxes to cover your absolute waste materials and disregard for the environment. The money could then be pooled to help develop new technologies to cleaner running motors. People that own their own business and farmers would not have to pay the tax because their need for a truck is justified.


Dave

 

I'd personally like to see big fuel taxes like in Europe where the resulting petrol prices are north of $4/gal. Wouldn't really put much of a dent in my budget, but a lot of these ridiculous SUVs like the H2, Expedition, and other garbage would end up in used car lots very very quickly. The US is spoiled with very cheap gas prices (yes, $2/gal is still cheap compared to the rest of the world) and people are very irresponsible in their buying decisions because they can still afford the gas even though their big truck just to haul their kids around town gets like 8 mpg

Better yet, a teired tax system based on emission levels and mileage. If you buy a car with higher fuel consumption, you pay higher yearly taxes. Likewise, if you buy a car with higher emissions, you also pay more taxes. This is exactly how it works in the UK and it forces you to think about the environmental impact of your vehicle, because now your sensitivity (or insensitivity) to the environment has a direct impact on your pocketbook. Again, a lot of these stupid mammoth SUVs would disappear off the road overnight.

Not trying to be a hypocrite, though. Yes, we have an SUV, and yes, they're useful. Do we really need it though? Nope. A Legacy Wagon 3.0 would have done the job just fine while also handling better and getting much better fuel mileage. But wagons just aren't "cool" like SUVs are in the US for my image conscious fiancee. They would suddenly get a lot cooler though like they are in Europe with higher fuel prices, and various taxes. At least our Highlander can manage a respectable 22-24 mpg highway which was about as good as it got in 2002.

Of course, for all this to work and to keep the economy moving, they'd have to make sure this only affects consumers and private use vehicles and not commercial businesses. The trucking industry is a big part of what keeps the economy moving so raising fuel prices on them would cripple the economy. In Europe, petrol (gas) is taxed very heavily, but diesel is still somewhat normally priced, so maybe that's what they were thinking.

 

i couldnt agree more, and i live in truck country. What about deisel's though??

 

you know that big cloud of black smoke that diesel trucks put out? yea...not amazing for the environment either