I've spent quite a bit of time sifting through Y-Pipe and exhaust related threads. This is my situation:

I was recently rear-ended while sitting at a red light in my 2kSE that I had owned for about a week and half. The body shop is going to replace the exhaust from the cat back as it was damaged in the collision. The stock set-up is about $600 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to spend the money for my tastes and performance desires. After reading some other threads, I'm with the other guys who opted to keep the factory muffler, I think it looks good and I'm not interested in an extremely loud exhaust. A little more sound would be ok. I'm pretty sold on a y-pipe (I'm going to chip in and have them install this at the same time), however not on a particular brand yet (pros and cons anyone?) I know Cattman's stainless would probably last longer, but I've heard they can bring a little more noise into the cabin than the ceramic versions available. The other question becomes should I do the y-pipe, and a b-pipe and leave the factory cat and muffler? Will this set-up work together and if so will doing both make my exhaust a lot louder regardless of my stock muffler? The only other consideration is the issue of loss of low-end torque. Any thoughts on any of this would help a ton. I would have just started at the front and moved back, piece by piece, except the body shop wants to know by Monday so they can get my car put back together. If I'm going to do an aftermarket b-pipe, I'd rather the girl's insurance pick-up the tab while I have the chance.

Thanks guys.

 

Your setup sounds good. The Cattman Y-pipes are of real high quality, probably the best out there. Getting a Y-pipe, keeping your stock cat, b-pipe and OEM muffler will keep your exhaust quiet unless at WOT, when it will sound real good.

 

I have a stock Anniv Ed. muffler on my Max with a custom b-pipe (with resonator), stock cat, and the Stillen 2pc Y-pipe. My car is slightly louder than stock. In fact, I was enjoying the slight rumble it has earlier today when I was following my wife home, while she was driving the Max. You can't go wrong with the setup you mentioned. The only reason I chose the Stillen Y was because of it's two piece design, which I definitely needed. If you want to know why, you'll have to check out my site below. Happy Modding!

 

The Y pipe doesn't really seem to make noise, no matter what Y pipe you get. There was the 'bees in the can', but that was from bad flex sections. The Y pipe is a catalyst, though, to noisy exhaust, excuse the pun, simply because it improves flow alot. You should concentrate on the B pipe and muffler to minimize any noise you want to get rid of, like get a resonator on the B pipe and keep the stock muffler, as you said.

DW

 

Is there a particular b-pipe out there that you (or anyone) would recommend that has a descent sounding(a good deep sound but not too loud sounding) resonator, but performs better than the OEM b-pipe? or should I simply just do the Y-pipe and forget about an aftermarket b-pipe? The girl's insurance is responsible for paying for all new exhaust from the cat back, so I just want to do it right the first time around. Thanks for the help.

 

I'd go with the cattman Y with the cattman mid/b and the stock muffler. That seems to be a great combo and there's no more loudness. Maybe at WOT do you hear some niceness from the Y, but barely

 

My combo:

Stillen Y Pipe
RT Cat
Custom 2 1/2" catback
24" Glass Pack Resonator
Stock Muffler

I love it.

 

I went out to a local muffler shop and had them put the car on the lift. They created a custom B-pipe, replacing my stock resonator with a glasspack and getting rid of the crushed portion behind the resonator. They also put on some nice chrome finishing tips.

With my Budget Y-Pipe, Stock Cat, Custom B and Factory Muffler..my car is nice and quiet. Unless of course I am hammering the gas. In fact, my car was so quiet I could hear the heater fan on the 1st setting on the freeway.

Custom B-pipe, glasspack and 2 chrome tips installed for $170 bucks. Slight increase on the but dyno when I punch it...got some of my low end back after my intake upgrades.

Having a quiet but great sounding maxima. Priceless!

 

If insurance is paying, look at the newest Cattman Y, B-pipe, etc. They seem to be of the highest quality. A little more expensive than others, but you never have to worry about any potential rust through or weak flanges with them. Not that the others have it, but it's mostly likely that Cattman's stuff won't give you problems over time. Definitely get a B-pipe, too, with resonator. Gotta get rid of those stock crimps all over the OEM one.

DW

 

Custom B-pipe, glasspack and 2 chrome tips installed for $170 bucks. Slight increase on the but dyno when I punch it...got some of my low end back after my intake upgrades.

Having a quiet but great sounding maxima. Priceless! [/B][/QUOTE]

The loss of low end torque was and remains my last reservation about these mods. How much low end should I expect to lose? I love to drive hard, but its also nice to have that low end torque when I'm not driving as aggressively.

 

What I think the intake upgrades do is give you much more mid and top end. When I went to a franken-mid and JWT pop, my car gained about a 1/2 second hesitation under full throttle before hell broke loose. I belive this custom b-pipe gave it back to me.

Not to mention it sounds great under WOT! Even my 350z buddy was impressed.

 

The loss of low end torque was and remains my last reservation about these mods. How much low end should I expect to lose? I love to drive hard, but its also nice to have that low end torque when I'm not driving as aggressively. [/B][/QUOTE]

The loss in bottom end is due to the reduced exhaust velocity because of the increased diameter of the y-pipe. I don't know all of the dimensions of aftermarket y-pipes, but one that starts out about the size of the stock Y or slightly larger, but then opens up to a larger size further down, would reduce this loss of low end torque.

I have done the exhaust mods you mentioned, but I can't quantify the low end loss because I have an automatic. I can't get any dyno data below about 3k rpm. Also due to our crappy automatics gear ratios and sluggishness, my car always feels slow in the lower rpms.

If I had to guess with what I know now, I'd suspect that you aren't really losing too much bottom end. It just seems that way because most of your gain is in the upper rpms, making it seem like the bottom end is weaker. Trust me, you WON'T regret upgrading your Y!!!

 

2kSeattleMax, do you have any pix of the work that was done? My next mod in a couple of weeks will be a WSP Y+B. If I can get a B done cheaper, then I may go that route when I have the muffler shop install the Y-pipe....Thx

 

I would also be interested in the above...also,is there a clear advantage with going with a custom b-pipe with a glasspack as opposed to one by Cattman or Stillen with a resonator? I have to order the stuff tomorrow for my car. I'm having the body shop cancel the replacement OEM b-pipe, adding a Y-pipe, but staying with the new OEM muffler. Last chance for votes on which Y-pipe I can't live without.

Thanks everyone for all your help! Will post pics and more details when the car gets back home.

 

There isn't much to a B-pipe. Just tell them you want to go from the rear flange of the cat to the flange on the muffler section. Tell them to replace the stock resonator with a glasspack and voila! Anything is better than that POS crushed section behind the stock resonator. That thing has to pinch down to less than an inch.

 

Well, getting an aftermarket B pipe not only fixes the crushed section behind the stock B pipe, but it also gets rid of the S curve in front of it, too, for 97+ Maximas;

http://www.warpspeedperformance.com/bpipefix.htm

DW

 

That's what I've got. The resonator tings ALOT after I shut off the car...DRIVES ME NUTS!! I took it back to the muffler shop, and he welded it more???, and it's a little better, but I am thinking about going with the Cattman Mid-pipe soon.

 

i want to upgrade my exhaust also, but don't know what route to take. i want it quiet , but want better performance.
could i just install a Y pipe and leave the rest oem?

what would i gain from this?

kj

 

i noticed all the pinched pipe and stuff when i had my resonator removed. So is a B-pipe pretty much straight?? If not how much would a custom Mandrel bent 2.5 inch b-pipe without resonator cost??

 

Warpspeed sells a B-pipe w/o resonator for $50.

 

are there any reasons to purchase the whole b pipe for 150 or 170 as opposed to the b pipe fix? the fix obviously gets rid of the crimp but are there any other reasons for getting the whole pipe besides just replacing stock piping?

 

Courtesy Nissan has a performance b-pipe for $189.00.

I don't know how it works or sounds, though.

Check it out here:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...de=A32-MIDPIPE

 

says its for an A32 or 4th gen though. i would assume the main difference is the length.

 

I can't see paying that much for a b-pipe when you can go have one custom made locally for $150 bucks or cheaper(installed). If you have any problems with it, you can have the local site fix it.

 

i agree with you on that. im getting mine done at a local shop, 2.5 crush bent with resonator for 125 installed.

 

hey completely unrelated, but i just want to make sure, you have a real AE right? you didnt buy the kit from somebody else?
i only ask cuz on your site, the last picture looks like your paint doesnt match...im just curious
holla