leeI35

Sup guys, I have Cattman headers + Catback exhaust for my I35/maxima. I had the catback exhaust on my car for two months before I installed the headers. I now have the headers and Cat-back exhaust installed together for about two months now. The thing is, the noise of the muffler is ridiculous. I used to be able to stand the drowning noise but after a few months of driving and my co-worker's comments, I want to either:
1) Keep the cattman piping from the headers to the muffler and just go back to stock muffler. or
2) Add resonated tips to the end of the cattman muffler to reduce the noise.

I am at a lost because I really like the tips of the cattman exhaust and everyone likes how they look on my car + the performance is excellent. HOWEVER, I hate low rpm noise of the muffler and it's really annoying at night time when I am driving in my subdivision.

Anyway, have any of you gone back to the stock muffler with aftermarket mods ie. headers + pulleys + CAI + exhaust + stock muffler? Will I lose any real big performance numbers like 10hp+ or will I even notice a difference? Thanks in advance. My mods are in my sig.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

My guess is that with the stock muffler ya won't lose that much power, and it will be significantly less drone-y.... my uneducated guess of course....

Have ya tried a bigger resonator? Guess the one that comes with the Cattman cat-back is already pretty big....

Btw, I really like the look of the Cattman muffler too.... just as much as I like my Frankencar....

NoMotive

iTrader: (1)

that loud huh? try replacing just the rear-section with your stock muffler. if tips are a concern, look into magnaflow tips.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

OR... you can try my Frankencar muffler (its been on the car for about 500 miles) and if ya like that I"ll swap ya for the Cattman... and I'm dead serious about it...

Seems that ya live close enough too...

Robr

I recommend trying a large, glasspack to replace your resonator, or if you don't have a resonator, add the glasspack where the resonator existed.

I have a remus muffler, was louad with the resonator, got rid of my stock resonator and replaced it with a glasspack, and the tone became very smooth and tolerable.

The stock resonator gave me a headache.
I didn't personally believe the muffler guy, but said what da hell, let's try it.

Mission Muffler, in Hayward CA.

steven88

iTrader: (28)

I'd say slap on your 2k4 I35 stock muffler and leave everything else in place....it will help quiet things down alot.....and the lose will not be noticeable becuz the muffler is already free flowing as it is......From what I know you only lose a few hp from switching back to the stock muffler....nothing significant......

leeI35

Hey puppetmaster do you go to any of the local meets? Anyway, I would like to listen to the frakencar muffler compared to the cattman muffler. I am dead serious on getting rid of the sound. After driving my fiance's g35, I really want my car to be fast, but less noticeable at doing it (kind of the sleeper look), let me know when you are around or we can meet up.

leeI35

steven88, i see you have the cattman exhaust too. Do you have headers installed to? How is the sound in the six speed since you guys can control the gears better than the autos?

leeI35

Robr, I am looking into that now, thanks for the suggestion.

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

Got a stock muffer for ya if you are interested, off a 02 Max. I'm interested in the catback also. Let me know, sound is not big of an issue to me. I have a Greddy and its loud as a **** already.

03BlkSETE

iTrader: (3)

You won't lose any significant power. For example, org member juice is running 13.8's with an auto in the quarter mile with the stock muffler plus bolt ons.

leeI35

That's great! Thanks for the heads up. I have to get some sound clips for a couple of .org members then I am putting back on the stock mufflers and probably sale the cattman rear section muffler.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

No... I don't go to any of the local meets... met a couple guys here and there... but none of the big ones.... where are ya exactly? Sounded like you're in MD...

arron01SE

i have a Frankencar cat-back and intake and Cattman headers and y-pipe and my sound is just right, not obnoxious at all

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

It would be nice if Cattman posted pics of the inside of his muffler like Frankencar does:

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

You can see why FC muffler is much quieter then fart can straight through types due to its combination aborbtion and reflection type design with perforated tube and what looks to be venturi nozzles to damp low-freq sound. However, that's good for sound, but definitely not ideal for flow.

I'd suspect Cattmans' pays the noise penalty for more of a somewhat straight through/few baffle design.

MaxSE-R

hey guys, when you change the resonator to something bigger so the exhaust is not so loud, do you loose any hp or tq? b/c i'm looking into buying the cattman header and y pipe then keeping the catback stock or just changing either the b pipe or just the muffler, i dont want anything loud, something like the g35, they sound so nice and mean

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

I doubt a larger resonator will affect hp....

Btw, when ya get headers, they cover all the way through the y-pipe... so ya either get headers or a y-pipe, not both... just thought I'd clarify.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Non-louvered, ie perforated core, resonators are just mini straight through mufflers, which really don't slow down the air velocity yet slightly disperse/muffle the sound.

I'd go with as big as possible non-louvered resonator.

spiromax

Look for the same thing in a resonator that you would look for in any straight-through muffler. You want a perforated core rather than a louvered core. If the design of the resonator/muffler is good, then its length usually has no effect on exhaust flow (long ones aren't significantly more restrictive than short ones). Well-designed perforated core resonators will just keep reducing noise output as they get longer.

Here's an article by Mike Kojima explaining the difference between perforated and louvered core resonators/mufflers:

http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/...revenge_nerds/

Check out the "Choosing a Good Muffler" section.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Thanks for sharing the article, spiro... very informative....

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Here's more from the old writeup Mike did for SCC that's in the 5th gen stickies:
http://www.magnaflow.com/05news/magazine/05sportc.asp

steven88

iTrader: (28)

No i don't have the headers on....but they have been sitting in my room for quite sometime now.....and I hope to get them put on as soon as I can cuz I wanna hear the sound of VI kickin in....I could already hear it with my intake....but I wanna open it up more so i can sound like an s2000

anyway I think my current setup BERK/APEX-I and cattman catback is very quiet....not loud at all in my opinion......but I do believe that the cattman catback is louder than greddy if you compared the two....I use to have a Greddy Sp1 on my 96 5spd and I thought that thing was quiet as hell....and now that I'm Running the cattman, I can tell a difference in that the Cattman is louder.....

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

But the Cattman is definitely not louder than the GReddy EVO, which is the only one that is pre-made for our Maximas.... I wish they had an SP for the 5th Gens... I'd get it in a heartbeat.... anyways, just some feedback from someone who has owned a GReddy and now has a Frankencar...

Btw, if you're not gonna put your headers on... you can send em over this way...

steven88

iTrader: (28)

yeah I suppose the greddy EVO is louder than the SP...i've seen the design on the EVOs and although I don't have first hand experience with hearing them....I can tell that it has to be louder......the EVO only has one tiny a$$ resonator as opposed to the SP1 with two medium sized resonators....also the muffler design on the SP looks like it would do a better job keeping noise down....the EVO looks like its just one big coffee can that shoots noise straight out....

LOL....I did contemplate on selling my headers but I just have to be patient and find the right time to install them....and if i did decide to sell them later down the road....I should be able to get my money's worth out of these becuz I know these are like hotcakes (cattman headers)

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

EVO is louder, I had SP on my Sentra and even with headers and fully built NA engine the exhaust wasn't anywhere as loud as the EVO1 I have. I can't make a direct comparison of a SE-R and Maxima, but most of the time 4 cylinders sound ghey compared to sixes, and my SE-R sounded mellow and deep vs the coffee can snarl of my Max.

xlcrew

iTrader: (17)

i know that for a fact the the glasspackworks very well as a resonator. i have used it on both of my maxi's and my buddy uses it on his acura legend. looks weird under the car with a long red pipe but i have it on my exhaust with a wsp ypipe, gutted cat, 2.5" piping going to my stock muffler and it works really well, just my .02

spiromax

What brand glasspacks are you guys using? Lots of the straight-through perforated resonators on the market are using steel mesh and/or ceramic wool instead of fiberglass as a sound damping material.

xlcrew

iTrader: (17)

i used a cherry bomb

spiromax

I found the site that lists all of the available Cherry Bomb glasspacks. I found some that were a nice length and diameter for use in a Maxima exhaust. How is the internal design of the Cherry Bomb? The site doesn't really say much about them except that they are straight-through (which is pretty obvious from the pics). Is the core perforated for better performance or louvered like an old-style glasspack?

If the Cherry Bomb doesn't flow well, I may just go with a Magnaflow resonator instead. They use steel mesh instead of fiberglass for sound damping, so the sound won't be the same, but at least I know that performance will be good.

xlcrew

iTrader: (17)

the cherry bomb is straight though, nothing in the way, you can see right through it, and it's durable, i say go with the cherry bomb you can get them from auto zone for like $26.00

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Please tell me you're kidding

xlcrew

iTrader: (17)

no im not kidding it works for what i use it for, it's a resonator,