ok so my exhaust hanger on the midpipe broke the weld and is no longer uspporting the exhaust...my question here is do i fix it and have it welded,OR is a catback for the 5th gen vq30's really worth the money? i would prefer some gains of course as most of us but at the same time im not looking for a LOUD exhaust as i prefer it to be quiet.So who has opinions feel free to express them.

 

This might be boring advice, but... if the pipes and muffler are functional, then fix the hanger. This gives you the breathing room to research a replacement exhaust, get your priorities in line, and budget the funds appropriately.

 

Could just buy a B-pipe and use he OEM muffler, but if your not really into performance the just fix the hanger

 

i would just take it to a muffler shop it shouldn't cost much or take too long to get you back up and running

 

bring it to any shop that has a mig welder and weld the hanger back on. just make sure the rust is somewhat cleaned. ive seen MANY 5th gens with rusty/broken hangers. i wouldnt suggest replacing the midpipe as there might be an issue of removing the nuts from the axleback portion. cars with rusted midpipe hangers tend to have rusty nuts on the axleback flange that will strip and cause a much bigger and expensive headache.

 

for the cheap!

That rusted section can easily be replaced with a SS support rod as something like it....But if you feel like it's time to upgrade to an aftermarket exhaust get your $500-700 + ready...!!! There will be several used Cattman 2.5" cattbacks flooding the market in about a month or 2 from now!!!!!

 

Oh I am waiting too for the 3"ers to get rid of there 2.5's lol... not paying nothing outrageous though

 

I don't know about it being a "flood"; that's a bit of an exaggeration. However, you do make an excellent point about Org members selling their 2.5" catbacks with Catt's next batch of 3" kits. It might even be reasonable to troll through the 3" FS thread and proactively hit up members for a pending sale.

 

Hey give no hints here I'm trying to volture something

 

You're the one who brought up the idea, Hustler. I just elaborated on it, is all.

If I were running headers instead of the Cattman Y-pipe, I might consider this 3" cat-back upgrade myself, and you could "vulture" off my cold 2.5" carcass.

I wonder what the 3" gains would be in HP and exhaust tone when compared to my 2.5" setup? Any opinion on that thread-whoring question? Maybe I should look into this more...

 

There are dynos of 5.5ers with 3" cat-backs and headers, I think it was an easy 10-15whp gain on top of headers for the 3" cat-back.

I'd do it, I'm waiting for CustomMaxima.com to release theirs.

 

Exhaust tone is different from ear to ear, what I may think a very nice performance tone you may think is loud so I don't really commennt on tone a lot... and gains are from the 12-25whp difference yes that much.... if u have a cattman muffler I wouldn't mind working a deal..... I was going to do this 3" until my trans went, now to plan B

 

Now I'm just blatantly whoring

Tone... I've heard videos of the Cattman 3" catback. Hands down, the sweetest sounding exhaust I've ever heard from a V6.

As much as I respect Cattman products, they are really $$$, so a 12 hp gain just wouldn't be worth the investment. On the flip side, CustomMaxima seems like a really messed up company, but if their 3" catback is a solid product, I could care less about questionable business acumen. For example, Frankencar products were fantastic, and we all remember what jerks those guys ended up being before they tanked.

I need to do some more research, and keep this option open. If I remember correctly, I think MIK3 upgraded his 5.5 from the Cattman 2.5" to the 3". Thanks for putting the idea in my head, guys. If I move on this, I'm sure you'll read about it somewhere.

 

Yea the $$$ is what gets me on the cattman's there is only one reason id buy the cattman over the custommaxima exhaust, and its just the looks, I know that's probebly the worst reason for buying a 3" but I'm an exhaust person, I'm the type that buys a car because of the exhaust options, yes I am that weak to exhausts... custommaxima's exhaust from the one pic I've seen looks good... but for some reason cattman's exhaust got me... $750 on the other hand dont, the thing that gets me with most ppl that owns a cattman exhaust they sell it for the exact same price as new or probebly $20 off a 5yr old catback... sadly ppl buy it...

 

When you validate something personally undesirable, that's called "screw the pooch", if you've never heard that phrase. Well done, Hustler.

 

screw the pooch... I believe I'm too young for that lls, explain

 

Well,i got it fixed today at my local muffler guy that i reply so much on and he didnt charge me a penny...however cattman is WAY overpriced if you ask me,i seen a nice setup on a guys maxima around here he got all custommaxima exhaust stuff and he got some decent gains and it sounds nice headers were like 190 and the catback was around 280 i believe he said..

 

I can't lie cattman is the best sounding setup period (credit where its due).... cattman prices is the worst (period) I understand sometimes the "you get what u pay for" thing, but to me you pay a little bit more than what you get.... to the above guy... did your friend have headers???

I understand your friend quoted the price of headers but is it installed on his... you should let him post such gains... id really like to see some numbers... he a part of the forums???

 

No he is not part of the forums,he just "inherited" his AE max from his mother a few months back and first thing he did was bought headers and a catback,if i can get ahold of him soon ill try to get him to get some sound clips and attempt to convince him to run a dyno on it

 

You said he saw nice gains ... these gains with the infamous butt dyno???... he probebly wouldn't even dyno over 200whp if that's all he got

 

Sound clips is always a major though

 

Cattman's catbacks are underpriced when compared to equivalent quality!!!! Check B&B's prices....

yeah post them please.... Here's a little something to suit your character and wallet....I think it's your style....
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...m-catback.html

 

No its not my style... seen it a while back...