Had my y-pipe for a week or two waiting to be installed, but didn't have the gaskets. Talked to RacingLine and they mailed em to me. The gaskets just came today, so I installed the pipe tonight.

Sure wish someone would've told me for a few days beforehand to spray some penetrating lube on the nuts/bolts I'd be removing. (JK, someone did tell me. I just wish I would've listened. Lol)

Install went fine, though. Tried getting all 4 wheels up on Rhino Ramps unsuccessfully. Was able to do it with just the front of the car elevated using two ramps. The pipe fit perfectly. Install took probably an hour and a half, but coulda been 20-30 minutes if the car was on a lift.

I'm excited to see if there's any difference that I can notice over the next few days. From what I understand it'll take that long before any change could possibly happen in the ECU so that the car takes advantage of being able to exhale a little easier. Took it for a quick spin after installing and it feels the same, but I was driving slowly because the roads are icy. Couldn't open it up tonight.

I'll report back later on if it was worth the install. I've heard a few people say they love it, and a few say they couldn't tell a lick of a difference. I'm gonna be optimistic though and look forward to a little more pep when I hit the gas pedal!

 

I personally felt the difference when I installed it. But the sound quality wasn't really noticeable at all.

 

I haven't notice a huge difference at low RPM, but when you put it over 3500-4000 rpm's then at that point you will notice it. Unfortunately, if you have a heavy foot you will have no problem, but keeping the car at a constant 3000+ rpm will drain you're fuel tank alot quicker.

 

You will surely notice a increase in low end power. You will also hear a difference. Did you just replace the Y-Pipe or did you also replace the exhaust.

 

My homie should be buying this for his 7th gen Max next month, has Stillen Intake and Exhaust.....

 

How much louder does the Y-pipe make it with the stock mufflers? I've been thinking about getting the Y-pipe for the extra power but don't want anything that's overly loud or would make the car drone at speed.

 

Zero drone, the sound is only noticeable to me since I'm looking for the change compared to stock. I feel like if I hadn't told my wife that I did it, she'd have no idea. Probably still can't tell the difference even knowing that I installed the new pipe. I notice the sound increase ONLY during acceleration, and its still the same tone as stock. Just with an extra kick. I like it. But definitely no drone.

As for the feel, I've been pleasantly surprised! I kept my expectations pretty low, and prepared myself to feel no difference. It seems to me though that there is a bit of extra power when accelerating fairly hard. It seems to push a little easier between 3,000 and 5,500 rpm's. Hard to describe, but I've had to slightly re-learn how hard to depress the accelerator to get up to speed smoothly. Does that make sense? My old habitual way of pushing the pedal down wants to jet off once reaching that 3,000 rpm mark now. Don't get me wrong about acceleration being jerky, it just has a little more power in certain areas. I've been very happy about it.

My next question is what it will do to my gas mileage. I've been logging my fuel efficiency for several months now, and I'll report back as soon as I get a better idea about the before/after the y-pipe. Even if its gone down a bit, I'd still recommend this mod--I've been really pleased with it.

 

Thanks for the detailed description.

I'll be interested in seeing what it does to mpg over the course of the next several weeks. I wonder though if you will have enough time points (fill-ups) to give you reliable numbers given that your mpg is going to change with the seasons.

Any plans on the rest of the exhaust?

I'e been debating recently whether to put the y-pipe on my car first or the cat-back. Right now my car is stock (performance wise that is).

 

My fuel log began in the beginning of Sept., so it's true that the seasonal difference won't be accounted for. Still, I'll post the difference after going through a few more tanks.

I've debated upgrading the stock exhaust with a cat-back, but I don't think I'm going to. It's a lot of money, and I don't think the benefit will be worth it. I'd rather spend that money on wheels. Unless something/somebody changes my mind, my exhaust is staying like it is. Some time in the future I might replace mufflers for better sound, but that shouldn't do anything to performance. And it won't be anytime soon.

 

There is no drone with the racingline Y-pipe. None what so ever.
You will not notice any power gains from anything below 3000's rpm, but anything above 3000rpm and up you will notice it.

I'm going the AAM catback route with theY-pipe, I've been asking for a few months about drone noise and so forth but no one is commenting on that specific topic, only how nice it sound outside, which in my opinion it is ok, but in reality you have to take everything into consideration when you fork out that kind of cash. HP gains is nice to have but in the end it is the overall the drone noise will be there when you change out any exhaust system. I spoke to Khoi @ aam, and he said there is a drone noise but to him it is minor, not bad, but that is his opinion, to others it may be be too much or not at all.

To be honest, I picked up my AAM exhaust system a few days ago, it is still in the box. I'm planning on opening it tonight and snapping a few pictures of it. I'm going to wait until spring time to install it, from what i've read it will need some more work to get it to fit as for some reason the Racingline y-pipe exhaust is longer that the stock Y-pipe odd I know, but we will see. Once it is installed and I've driven it for a solid month to allow proper "break in", I will post my reviews of it. Yes I debated on keeping the cash and investing into rims, but that is the next stage. As far as I'm told I'm the only Canadian (Ontario, Canada) has ordered the AAM exhaust system, we will see if I'm the one and only after my review
Something is telling me there is more to the AAM exhaust than what has already been reported, and I don't think AAM is going to be selling these anymore, as when I ordered mine they only had 2 left on the shelf and I got the impression that the remaining exhaust systems will be the last few available for sale.

 

i think you're right about the AAM exhaust. there's just not enough demand for aftermarket parts for companies to make stuff for the 7th gen Maxima. waste of production time just to move 10-15 units

 

Agreed,I believe the demand is out there and people want good quality stuff, but "some" do not want to pay for that quality work. Yes Borla, Magnaflow is a huge company with the resources to put out all these exhausts and keep a good bottom line. Although AAM makes their system in house, I'm sure it does not cost a lot for the hardware, and sure the labor to weld the parts one etc etc is a few $$ but the bottom line they are in the business to make money and not lose money.

I wished I jumped on the band wagon when they had the initial 6 offering, but I decided to buy it afterwards and yeah I did paid for it. I picked it up across the boarder as duties and boarders fees from the shipper was ridiculous. In the end I have it and hopefully the drone noise will not be super annoying for me, as I had a pretty loud drone noise in my last car and hatted it. If it loud and annoying with this exhaust I may swap the mufflers out or just switch it back to stock, and get rid of it. Again I will wait a month or so after the break in period when I get it installed and I will comment on it.

 

I like the drone noise..but that's just me lol

 

Does this pipe replace the huge muffler under the car or does it go after the muffler? Can you get a sound clip of the exhaust note?

 

The ypipe goes before the mufflers

 

I am referring to the the giant muffler right after the catalytic converter.

 

It goes before ALL mufflers, including the giant one in the center. It replaces the pipe that has that catalytic converter in it.

As for a sound clip, that'd be really tough to get and actually have any difference be detectable. It's a very very subtle difference. Only noticeable when accelerating and you're over, I'd say, 4k rpm. And the tone is the same as you're used to already hearing, just a little louder.

 

I gotcha guys, thanks. I wouldn't think you would notice much of a sound change either.

 

Exactly, you're running air through the same 3 resonators. But, there is a small change when you're trying to force a LOT of air through it. The air is meeting less resistance, so, the sound level starts to increase a little sooner than it did stock. That's all.

 

The droning noise in the extreme almost sounds like the car is "mooing". Not an ideal sound that would be accentuated with the CVT.