Well after not modding a thing on my car since February this year, figured it was time to get crackin...

Took delivery of the Stillen cat-back last Wednesday. Polished the entire system and installed it on Saturday. Overall, the sound is exactly what I was looking for. Deep, smooth tone in the low revs and a nice high RPM wail in the top end. The butt-dyno says there's a moderate gain in the low to high RPM range, however the ECM is still figuring out the reduced backpressure. Should be all synced up by the end of this week.

A few notes...

Removal of stock resonator and rear section:
1) The bolts connecting the resonator to the rear cat were rusted to hell. Soaked them 5 times with PB Blaster and banged on them with a hammer and impact gun. Still no dice. Ended up using a breaking bar with a 16mm socket to pry them loose

2) Rear section was much easier, although a few bolts were pesky as well.

Install of new Stillen cat-back:
1) Worked from the front to the back, starting with the new resonator section. Ensure that with any new exhaust system that you lube the insulator hanger mounts with some decent high-temp grease. This will make install MUCH easier and prevent squeaks in the future.

2) Rear Y-pipe- pretty easy, but needed to remove the Y-pipe insulator hanger to get everything lined up. Only problem was that there wasn't much room to re-install the hanger bolts with the Y-pipe attached (idiot move on my part)

3) Mufflers- drivers side lined up with no problems at all. Passenger side was a PITA to get to the correct height and lined up in the bumper ovals. Had to remover the passenger side insulator mount and bang on the bottom of it with a hammer to get the height right.

Overall, about 4 to 4.5 hours start to finish. Sounds great, no drone at cruising speeds and looks great as well.

Only problem is that late last night, a metallic squeak has made itself known to the world. Gonna have to crawl back under the car tonight and find out where the hell it's coming from (thinking rear section).

Pics of the install and videos of the sound to come in the next week when I have some time!

 

pics or it didn't happen. =D

 

Figured that would be your first post! Pics are on my camera, just need to download them. Will load them up tonight. Hope to have some video later this week

 

This. Sounds great, that's what I'm looking at installing as well, so I'm excited to see pics and hear it.

 

Definitely getting the pics loaded up tonight of the full system on the car (underside) so ya'll can see how it's routed. Might be able to take some short vids of startup and revving tonight as well.

Planning on some acceleration vids, etc for this Sunday with the GoPro if the weather cooperates

 

I'm anxious to check out all the pics and sounds. Did you have it professionally installed, or from what it sounds like you just did it all yourself?

 

Did it all myself... with my dad handing me different tools while I'm buried under the car lol. "Pop, need a 3/8" drive with a 16mm deep socket, stat! And hand me the PB Blaster while you're at it" hahaha.

I do all the work on my cars past and present if I can. Saved big $$$ doing it myself along with other things.

Now just need to get those damn video clips going...

 

niceeeeeeee

 

Alright, here are the photos of it completely installed:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

 

And a video of startup with some revs at 3K, 4K and redline.

http://youtu.be/eLaSLCIh-Sw

 

sounds nice. I don't know if its possible or if road noise would drown it out, but it would be nice to get a mic near the exhaust and put the car in gear and record the sound while moving. I think a lot of exhausts sound much better when there is load on the engine, don't get me wrong I still think it is really good sounding now, it would just be interesting to hear that extra growl.

 

One step ahead of ya! Got a friend with two GoPro HD cameras that we're going to mount on the rear bumper and one inside the windshield this weekend. This way you'll get a perspective of both interior noise and what it sounds like under load. Hoping to find some "open" areas of road to really push it

 

Nice write up and pics. What did you use to polish it? Are you worried about the rust everyone mentions ?

 

http://forums.maxima.org/7th-generat...deo-clips.html

 

Nice love GoPro.... Make sure you do a nice 65 MPH cruise with a load on a slight incline so everyone can hear the drone... On a serious note I wish you didn't have the CAI as I'm afraid a lot of the interior noise will be your intake, will be interesting to see what the outside sounds like I'm hoping the wind noise won't make a major impact.

 

Used Mother's metal polish. Three coats over all surfaces for good measure. Not too worried about the rust to be honest. Worst case scenario is that I take it off, have a shop media blast it then do a ceramic coat over the whole thing.

 

Yeah, gonna use a 32GB SD card so I can get plenty of video of all driving scenarios. There is some drone around 2K when going up a slight incline, but on flat roads, barely louder than stock. Above 3K, really no issues at all.

The guy that's helping me with the vids has a 2009 M6 (with every Dinan bit you could want) and did an exhaust vid on his rear bumper (20-100mph). There's some wind noise, but you can definitely hear the exhaust over the wind noise.

 

Damn that sounds awesome!! I'd love to hear it driving, but from the video it sounds sweet! I like the look of it too, it tucks up really nice. Nice job GM, I think you just sold me on the stillen exhaust.

 

Thanks man

As long as the weather is clear this weekend, I'll get plenty of videos of the exhaust note from inside the cabin and out. Would really like to get a vid of a fly-by at full throttle, but we'll see how that pans out. Overall, very pleased with the looks, sound and build quality. Deep smooth tone from idle to about 3,500 then a nice wail at higher revs.

Ghozt is mad that my Stillen cat-back sounds better than his Borla + y-pipe But again, it's all personal preference.

 

I'm mad that it's LOUDER...lol...jerk...and to be honest I don't always want it loud so maybe thats a good thing.

I want to try a run with those cameras you got too that sounds vicious. And yeah I love dude's M6 that thing is hot

 

New license plate: "I <3 H8RS" just for you bro! Hahaha jk

I hear ya though. Always loud = annoying, especially on a DD car. Can't wait to hook up the GoPro's and do some runs on the highway. Yeah, Matt's M6 is pretty sick. Saw him do a 180mph blast with the gopro on the rear windshield

 

Hey GM - Nice work; appreciate the feedback you plan to give. I'm kicking this around a lot. As are most, I'm interested in a nice startup/idle sound, a quiet car for cruising then a sound that comes alive when you get after it. As you work on the clips I've got one more request. I want it hear/get your sense of engine feedback with downshift/no-to-light throttle. The stock exhaust provides decent feedback in the 5-6K RPM range, but not so much the 3500-4500 range. Thanks man!

 

Thanks man, appreciate it! Got all the video taken this afternoon (two friends with M6's wanted to join in on the fun haha). Did another startup and revving video, some GoPro vids and also some HD video from a friend on the side of the road while I blew past. Did 3-4 blasts from 0-XX mph with a bumper cam and one on the drivers side door.

Honestly the tone has kinda changed over the past week. Less drone at cruising speeds while still retaining a nice smooth tone at lower revs.

I have noticed some more pull/responsiveness around 3K to redline. Under light throttle, there's some low rumble. Let off the gas and there's just a hint of noise in the background. With the Stillen CAI I already had on there, this thing pulls even easier and harder than before. Not saying the cat-back gave me 30hp, because that's ridiculous. What I CAN tell you is that the motor feels more willing to rev faster now with the new exhaust. Overall I'm very pleased with the looks, sound and performance for the money. Even my friends with M6's, Vipers, 5.0s, etc all say it sounds great, which is fine by me

My buddy is downloading all the video as we speak, so hopefully sometime tomorrow I'll post up the links to the youtube vids

 

Looks nice Jay!! Sounds good too! I think you should do what Dan did and go with the true CAI.

 

What a great post to see first thing on Monday. Damn I've been waiting for this. I'll be buying mine and having it installed this fall. I'll be having an exhaust shop do it though and hopefully not paying too much. I can't wait to see/hear all the new vids.

 

What would be better is if my friend didn't pass out last night and actually finished editing the vids from yesterday All good though. He should have everything together this evening.

I know a lot of folks hate on the Stillen because of the surface rust issue. If you live in a climate with lots of precip, snow, salt on the roads, etc, its gonna happen to pretty much ANY exhaust system. Just the nature of the game. If you really want to keep it looking good, the best thing to do is clean the metal real well and spray on a high temp clear over all the pipes and tins. Problem solved

The install is pretty straight forward, honestly man if you have access to a lift or have some jackstands, it's pretty easy and you'll save some $$.

 

+1

GMTraitor's gonna take my car for a test spin to see how the BOP's and CAI affect things, I should have my pipes back Wednesday and gonna try to sell him on both

 

IF you have access to a lift...unfortunately, I wish I did, and I might attempt it. I just have my one lift and 2 jackstands. It's ok, I'll have a shop put it together, most everything else I do myself on my car.

 

Dan wants me to be...

 

lmfao wtf. you order those lambo-style doors yet?? FAST AND FURIOUS

 

why not use welds vs. c clamps? i am assuming that would only be a benefit

 

joo know it!

 

Quick vid of acceleration runs with the Stillen CAI and CBE. Got better ideas planned for the next video shoot!

http://youtu.be/AsY3Y2HrXvY

 

Wow that was a nice video and some good editing. Might have just swayed me back to the stillen again

 

Haha thanks man. The editing credit goes to my buddy who was taking the video. Got some real nice angles, mounts and locations planned for the next one

 

You're such a balla, why don't you quit showing off? Sounds outstanding!! You have completely sold me on the stillen exhaust...I want it now! Your max looks very clean and sounds bad ***. Why don't you just take a trip to texas so you can install mine too? Very nice video work as well, you and your friend did a damn good job. Big to ya

 

HAHA! Far from it bro! Appreciate the comments. The more I drive it, the more I'm real happy with my decision to go with the Stillen full cat-back. Everyone that's heard it really likes the sound on start-up and when I'm hitting redline.

Just install it yourself man, it's really not difficult at all Although if I was to do it again, having a lift would have been nice. Laying on a concrete garage floor for 4 hours made me feel like I got hit by a truck the next morning

Hey, if I make the trip to TX, just pay me in brisket and bbq and you got a deal

 

LOL, that's all you're gonna charge me? Shoot, for that I'll throw in some texas beer too and you got a deal!

 

Well, I eat a LOT. Gonna be a lot of Tx brisket and ribs