Well, as far as I could see, they all had true duals. The cars were the ML350, ML500, and E350. I looked under the cars and could see the pipes were separated all the way to the motor. Then, peeking under the hoods, it looked as if cats hung right off the exhaust manifolds. If they weren't cats, then the cats were nowhere to be found. The MB guy couldn't be sure if they had true dual systems, but he agreed with what I said. So maybe I am correct.

Just looking at the systems, it would seem impractical for Nissan or any of the Japanese cars which have fake duals, to make such a system. Now I'm thinking that it's more than the cost of the cats, it's the engineering that it would take plus extra piping on top of that. All the while, the consumer is satisfied with the fake duals, even down to a fake twin-pipe look like on the G35 coupe, Murano, and 350Z. Nissan already got, what 265 hp with the fake setup, right? MB gets only 268 and 302 out of their V motors, with true setups. So the marginal cost most likely way exceeds the marginal benefit--just that when you're expensive, you can afford to do things right but at the same time bill the end-user for it. my .02

Just go and peek under one of those vehicles and you'll better appreciate what I'm saying. Anyway, the new ML's were fun to drive, as they had us go over logs, drive up a ramp forcing the outside rear tire to be in the air, etc. I also drove a C230 Kompressor and was surprised how Maxima-like the steering was, only no float. That's why the Ford Focus and BMW steering are real treasures.

 

how exactly is the 350z/G35 a "fake" dual exhaust?

 

as far as I know they split for the cat-back. so it is not "really" a dual exhaust just dual outlet.

a true dual exhaust os from the motor back. I would guess that it would be pointless for a max to have it that way because of low exhaust velocity and it would be heavy. It would most likely hurt performance.

 

Untill someone tries this and dynos it, It's all speculations...

 

the weight factor will not show up on the dyno though....

 

I agree. i think the Dual tips look good. Maybe in the future if Maximas will come with a V8 engine they will use true dual exhaust.

Im happy with my dual tips.

 

well the other cars come in rwd format so its easier to run the pipes. they also have models with larger engines so im sure the plan the car for the duals and v8.

as for the hp rating most mb cars dyno close to the numbers the state. and if u toss a c class around u would see how un maxima like its steering is.

 

Good points. I think what I was really trying to say is due to what I think is involved with such a setup, there's really no benefit to the Japanese car buyer, i.e. Japanese cars tend to advertise high HP numbers anyway, and the buyer would not be willing to pay for another cat, let alone all the design and add'l parts that would be required.

I did toss around the C230, that was the whole point of the track that MB setup. Maybe I only took one lap with the car. What it seemed like was that the steering was still on the light side, however, it had no dead spots and was completely linear. But it didn't have that crisp feel to me, at least, like a Ford Focus or BMW 330i. I think the new E90 BMW is quite a benchmark for feel--it'd be curious to see how much is refinement, and how much is design. Because if it were design only, I wouldn't put it past Hyundai to come out with something that would approach it.