I have been reading previous posts about the Y-pipe. I have a Cali spec 2K1, I am going to be receiving my Cattman Y-pipe soon, just ordered it today. Some folks say they could barely feel the difference, while others say it made a big difference. I will install no matter what the outcome, but I am curious what fellow y-pipers thoughts are on the subject.

 

I felt squat...

 

Funny.. I raced a friend of mine who had the Cattman 3in installed in his 5htgen & it was a 2 car difference from a dead start..
We both have auto!

 

Are you joking or serious? You don't think the Y-pipe on your car made a performance difference?

 

and to be honest,

I didn't feel as big a difference as I would have liked.

My car is a 5-speed, and I think my butt dyno is pretty accurate.

You know what, I feel a BIG difference in the morning when the engine is running a little rich. The car simply feels stronger.

I feel a bigger difference when the car is cold than I felt when i got the y-pipe.

Maybe the HKS afc can make the car run rich when I need extra power.

 

I'm serious... squat.

Maybe I need to retune my butt dyno.

 

hmm maybe u need to take off all ur rice and stick to stock for 1 day, then put back ur ypipe and c if that helps. than put back all ur rice. j/p keving

 

I don't know if I can ever go back to stock. Nice thought though, FriedWonton.

 

My Cattman Y gets installed tomorrow so I will let you know how it works out for me. This might sound stupid but do you think having a 5spd and the ability to get the higher RPM's would make difference? I have a high flow intake now and only felt a difference from stock at the very high rpms (seems to pull that extra little bit). Probably doesn't since the dynos I have seen show the biggest gain in around the 4-6K rpm level.

Too late for me now it is paid for...might as well install it and hope for the best!

 

Manual or auto shouldn't make that big of a difference. You "should" be able to feel something.

 

Kev: Is it because your Max is pretty modded out so proportionately the difference becomes less noticeable?

 

I didn't feel much either. Supposedly it works in the 45oo+ RPM range but how often do you drive that high in the RPM's. My 4th and 5th gears seem stronger though. For $400 for the pipe and a crap $80 installation from the ghetto car shops (Most places won't install pipe in CA), it is not worth it. I just did it so that I could be accepted in the org.

 

get a G-Tech/PRO meter. You can have it measure 0-60, acceleration G's, and other stuff like that.

I just got one and did a bunch of runs in my car stock sot that I have some data to compare it to after I put my Denso Iridium plugs in, and then after that my AEM CAI - all of which are sitting on the coffee table in my living room

I wrote up a thread on the G-Tech stuff that I did over on the SHO Accord V6 board HERE if you want to check it out, which includes thoughts on accuracy and tips for effective use.

I know a bunch of you guys have G-Tech's and maybe you have a similar thread, too, but there's another one

 

I really hope my install goes ok and I feel some sort of gains on the Y. Btw how do you like your H&R's? How much ride comfort do you feel you lost from stock? How about the handling with them?

Thanks in advance!

 

Absolutely a great mod combined with an intake! My butt dyno feels it and so does the real world dyno - 203 hp to the wheels compared to 190 stock.

 

Thanks for all the input. I will just have to see how it goes. I plan to attempt the install myself, we'll see how that goes, a little skeptical about my mechanical skills. How long did it take for you guys to get your pipe from Cattman?

 

I am installing mine this weekend so I will let you know how it feels next week

 

Cool, sounds good. Do you plan to install yourself? If so, deffinately let me know how it went.

 

Yeah, I am going to do the install with another local maxima owner. He has a '97 maxima and he also needs to install his cattman pipe. Should be fun working on two maximas....

 

I also find it interesting that you didn't feel a performance gain with the y-pipe, Kev. If I've read it once in this forum, I've read it a dozen times that the y-pipe is the best performance mod available for the Max other than NOS or forced induction. And based on Max_Gator's results, I'm even more suspicious that something else is responsible for the fact that you didn't feel a perceptible increase in performance after you installed your y-pipe.

I've been following your threads for awhile, and I notice that you periodically complain about a hesitation problem when accelerating. As you know, I had the same problem. Mine was complicated with intermittent detonation. When I had my ignition coils replaced, the detonation and hesitation disappeared and so far, they have not returned.

I can't help but wonder if a coil issue is at work in your engine too. If it is, no performance mod will be sufficient to overcome it.

I'll be getting my y-pipe installed as soon as the missing bolt in my exhaust manifold is replaced. At that point, I'll report back with the results of my butt dyno.

 

Guess what? Jane didn't feel a big difference is her y pipe also...

I might get my coils swapped with another car (maybe ECU also) soon, so we'll see what happens.

 

I'll be interested to hear if changing your coils makes a difference. BTW, to the best of my knowledge, the ECM has nothing to do with the problem. All the ECM does is retard the ignition in response to a signal from the knock sensor. Unfortunately, the ECM doesn't bother to throw an error code when it takes that action. As far as the ECM is concerned, the engine is still operating within its design limits even when it's detonating and hesitating.

MAXIMA ECM

 

I remember foozed saying he was going to have his coils and ECM replaced... I don't remember him giving a follow up on his situation.

 

I've heard quite a few people say they didn't feel anything with the Y-pipe on a 5th gen. Don't the precats stay on the aftermarket y-pipes with all the 5th gens. The 4th gen pipe removes the precats and I think all the gains come from removing the precats. Adding the Y-pipe to my 96 made for stronger pull at all rpms and in every gear. My car felt so-so after 70mph without the pipe. With the Y-pipe, the car is clearly stronger on the topend. 3rd gear is my most wicked gear.


Dave

 

Both precats are removed on the fed spec emission versions of the 5th gen. On the cali spec 2k and all 2k1 models, only the rear pre-cat is removed since the front pre-cat is built into the front manifold. One 5th gen member, Desert Pearl, actually swapped out the front manifold for a fed spec manifold to get rid of the pre-cat and bolt on a fed spec y-pipe. However, his dyno results showed a minimal (2-3 hp) gain by removing the front pre-cat. So, it seems that the front pre-cat is not very restrictive. I think his results showed a gain of 13-15 hp overall fromm the y-pipe + intake he had....

 

Well my exhaust system is in one piece (finally), so I'm installing the y-pipe tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait! My butt dyno is all puckered up and ready to go.

 

My description is about the same as yours. I can't imagine that anyone else could not feel the difference that mine makes. Therefore, it must be due to vehicle differences or emissions issues.

 

Had my Cattman installed today 2K1 5pd. There is a significant difference but not a "dramatic" difference. I'm still trying to figure out if it was worth it or not but there is a performace increase for sure in my opinion. I have a stillen high flow already.

1. The Y-pipe gives a lil more rumble and it opens it up so it is a lil louder at WOT. But still quiet at cruising speeds with stock cat back.

2. More pull for sure too especially in the higher RPM's. My car just accelerates faster than before through the RPM band.

3. General throttle response has improved as well.

Questions to Y-pipe owners?

The high flow intake gives that whistling sound at certain rpms by itself. But I noticed now that the y-pipe is on I'm hearing it more through a larger range of rpms. Is this normal? How would you describe the sound characteristics with an intake an Y-pipe?

 

Jeez. Sounds like it was worth it to me, PhatGuy. But there's one quick way to find out. If you had 24 hours from right now to remove your y-pipe and return it for a full refund, would you do it?

 

Ya your right can't go back now! I got the extra power now and don't want to give it up! I think $299.00US (including one gasket set) would be more reasonable for y-pipe IMO.

I just want to be sure mine is install 100% perfectly and have no leaks etc.. Just a little paranoid but the sound of the car has changed so much I just hope I hearing what I'm supposed to be hearing.. Hoping for some feedback on that soon?

Thanks

 

With the Y-pipe and lets say an HKS Muffler, is the car going to have that annoying wine of a honda? I won't do it if that is the case, but I do like the sound of the old 300zx with and exhaust but I don't know if that is a comparison.

 

Should I get the 3" Cattman even though I don't have a supercharger...YET?

 

You should get the 3.0" diameter Y-pipe if you're planning to install a supercharger. Otherwise, stick with the 2.5" diameter Y-pipe. You'll lose a lot of low-end torque if you don't.

 

What adjustments need to be made to the factory exhaust when I go to the 3" y-pipe? (I'd like to keep the sound to a minimum, thus staying with the factory exhaust.)

 

When my Cattman Y-pipe was installed on my 2K1 cali emis yesterday after going on the first test drive i heard a knocking sound below my feet. Only on medium to hard throttle. So we took this bracket off and the knocking stopped.



I'm assuming the pipe flex on throttle was rubbing up on this bracket as you can see by the lil scratch on the bottom part of the bracket. Did not knock/rub with stand still throttle but only when driving.


Does anyone else have this bracket on their car still with Y-Pipe or did you take it off as well? Any feedback on this would be cool.

Also I notice the bottom o2 sensor seems really exposed on the bottom part of the car (has nothing to do with the above bracket). Anyone do anything to shield it at all?

Thanks in advance!

 

thats the way it is even stock...so I wouldn't sweat it...

 

Ok cool...thanks I won't sweat the o2 underneath. Do you know anything about that bracket I mentioned?

 

I'll let you know after this weekend after I install mine

But, I think it was probably just to hold the stock pipe in. The stock pipe weighs like 30 lbs....the Cattman pipe weighs only like 14....so maybe it's not necessary anymore...

 

Ya the stock pipe is heavier for sure and damn ugly too!

Let us know how your install goes for sure!

 

Well my Y-pipe is in. What a b!tch. My mechanic couldn't get the stock Y-pipe off without either removing the front manifold bolts or cutting the front flange off. He didn't want to remove the bolts for fear of breaking them. I called Cattman and they were NO HELP WHATSOEVER. So I told my mechanic to cut the flange off. Did any of you guys run into this problem?

I haven't really had a chance to wring out my new Y-pipe yet, but two things are immediately apparent. The first is that the engine pulls much harder and revs much more quickly. I simply can't imagine how anyone wouldn't notice the difference. The second is that my exhaust system is HELLA LOUD. In fact, it's so loud that I can't hear my engine wind up anymore from inside the cabin. (I don't even want to think about what my car would sound like with an underhood intake or PRCAI installed.) So I'm going back to my mechanic next week to have a 22" Magnaflow resonator put in.

If that doesn't work, I suppose I'll have to upgrade my stereo.