Cattman y-pipe and Apexi Exhaust impressions
08-12-2001, 01:19 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 137
I FINALLY got the Apexi WS exhaust in at last. They were on back-order
from hell. So I got up early and took off for the shop, Rayco, to get them
put on.
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy.
The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not
mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there
was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow
hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both
installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like
they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would
have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and
then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was
gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't
know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting
stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it
over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned
from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it.
Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was
so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came
out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the
equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone,
half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe.
Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even
if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard
that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I
was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was
shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical
ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the
muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming
out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just
the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to
the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The
second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the
center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I
didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the
tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road
is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped
higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light
throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much
quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the
slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held
longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a
monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home,
about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2
sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer
reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it
properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All
in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard
somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not,
then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the
muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more
"seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in
new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy
PS I LOVE the burble when slowing down.......mmmmmmm, burble....
from hell. So I got up early and took off for the shop, Rayco, to get them
put on.
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy.
The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not
mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there
was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow
hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both
installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like
they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would
have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and
then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was
gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't
know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting
stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it
over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned
from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it.
Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was
so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came
out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the
equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone,
half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe.
Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even
if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard
that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I
was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was
shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical
ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the
muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming
out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just
the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to
the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The
second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the
center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I
didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the
tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road
is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped
higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light
throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much
quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the
slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held
longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a
monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home,
about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2
sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer
reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it
properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All
in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard
somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not,
then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the
muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more
"seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in
new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy
PS I LOVE the burble when slowing down.......mmmmmmm, burble....
08-12-2001, 07:38 PM
#5
Originally posted by theblue
here is a pic of mine:
I have the same setup and love it!
here is a pic of mine:
I have the same setup and love it!
I just wanted to make sure it wasn't one of the infamous tin-can exhausts with the tip size that you could fit a CD in. I'm not a fan of huge exhaust tips.
08-13-2001, 03:17 AM
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 137
Hey blue......
When you had your exhaust put on, did you replace the rubber hanger thingys (it's 6am, I'm at work, and haven't had my coffee yet)? I believe this is the cause of the banging when doing right hand turns of curves...I already had the tow hook removed.
Lovejoy
Lovejoy
08-13-2001, 06:17 AM
#9
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 3,150
Re: Hey blue......
Originally posted by Lovejoy
When you had your exhaust put on, did you replace the rubber hanger thingys (it's 6am, I'm at work, and haven't had my coffee yet)? I believe this is the cause of the banging when doing right hand turns of curves...I already had the tow hook removed.
Lovejoy
When you had your exhaust put on, did you replace the rubber hanger thingys (it's 6am, I'm at work, and haven't had my coffee yet)? I believe this is the cause of the banging when doing right hand turns of curves...I already had the tow hook removed.
Lovejoy
08-13-2001, 12:39 PM
#11
Nice write up. I have Cattman SS Y at home I have yet to install. I'm eager!
As for you noise concerns, I've picked up from this board that the Y with anything else in the exhuast, be it B-pipe or custom muffler or both, will add noise. The quietest Y setup is to just have the Y, maybe a randam tech cat, and keep the stock muffler and B pipe. Of course, that would sacrifice some power, but not as much as you gained with the addition of the Y.
Enjoy your ride!
DW
As for you noise concerns, I've picked up from this board that the Y with anything else in the exhuast, be it B-pipe or custom muffler or both, will add noise. The quietest Y setup is to just have the Y, maybe a randam tech cat, and keep the stock muffler and B pipe. Of course, that would sacrifice some power, but not as much as you gained with the addition of the Y.
Enjoy your ride!
DW
Originally posted by Lovejoy
I FINALLY got the Apexi WS exhaust in at last. They were on back-order
from hell. So I got up early and took off for the shop, Rayco, to get them
put on.
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy.
The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not
mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there
was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow
hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both
installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like
they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would
have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and
then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was
gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't
know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting
stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it
over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned
from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it.
Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was
so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came
out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the
equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone,
half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe.
Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even
if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard
that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I
was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was
shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical
ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the
muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming
out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just
the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to
the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The
second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the
center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I
didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the
tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road
is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped
higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light
throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much
quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the
slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held
longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a
monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home,
about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2
sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer
reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it
properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All
in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard
somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not,
then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the
muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more
"seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in
new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy
PS I LOVE the burble when slowing down.......mmmmmmm, burble....
I FINALLY got the Apexi WS exhaust in at last. They were on back-order
from hell. So I got up early and took off for the shop, Rayco, to get them
put on.
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy.
The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not
mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there
was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow
hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both
installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like
they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would
have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and
then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was
gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't
know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting
stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it
over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned
from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it.
Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was
so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came
out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the
equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone,
half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe.
Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even
if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard
that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I
was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was
shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical
ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the
muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming
out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just
the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to
the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The
second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the
center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I
didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the
tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road
is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped
higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light
throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much
quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the
slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held
longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a
monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home,
about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2
sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer
reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it
properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All
in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard
somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not,
then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the
muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more
"seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in
new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy
PS I LOVE the burble when slowing down.......mmmmmmm, burble....
08-13-2001, 01:12 PM
#12
Originally posted by dwapenyi
Nice write up. I have Cattman SS Y at home I have yet to install. I'm eager!
As for you noise concerns, I've picked up from this board that the Y with anything else in the exhuast, be it B-pipe or custom muffler or both, will add noise. The quietest Y setup is to just have the Y, maybe a randam tech cat, and keep the stock muffler and B pipe. Of course, that would sacrifice some power, but not as much as you gained with the addition of the Y.
Enjoy your ride!
DW
Nice write up. I have Cattman SS Y at home I have yet to install. I'm eager!
As for you noise concerns, I've picked up from this board that the Y with anything else in the exhuast, be it B-pipe or custom muffler or both, will add noise. The quietest Y setup is to just have the Y, maybe a randam tech cat, and keep the stock muffler and B pipe. Of course, that would sacrifice some power, but not as much as you gained with the addition of the Y.
Enjoy your ride!
DW
08-13-2001, 01:17 PM
#13
Oh man, now you've got me thinking about another mod. make it stop!! 
DW
DW
Originally posted by breaux124
Replacing the b-pipe will increase the noise very slightly if you keep the stock muffler. It's the muffler that causes huge changes in sound.
Replacing the b-pipe will increase the noise very slightly if you keep the stock muffler. It's the muffler that causes huge changes in sound.
08-18-2001, 11:14 PM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 187
Well, I just installed the Catt Y pipe and can feel a lot more power coming from my car. It pulls a lot harder. Also, the extra sound is barely noticeable except at the low end. It isn't too loud and sounds like a small v-8 is in the car. Theres a little droning sound when laying off the gas, but nothing to complain about. Overall, probably the best purchase I've made on the Max.
08-19-2001, 08:27 AM
#18
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 137
Second report...
This is my second installment on the y-pipe and exhaust.
After a week of doing my daily commute the initial boomy exhaust note has quietened down noticeably. I will assume this is due to the flex section "softening" up and the muffler packing getting into the "seasoned" state. The exhaust note is definately a the back, the muffler. I can not hear anything coming from the y-pipe, or the intake for that matter....all muffler.
Low end power and torque is improved. I am resetting the ECU today and will update you again in another week on the improvement, if any. The ECU has definately "learned" that there was something different there. When taking my favorite onramp going to work in the morning, I normaly hit light throttle and let the torque do its thing. On the '95s, there is a dip/flat spot around 3200 rpm where there is a loss of power. With the current mods and an un-reset ECU, the dip is still there, but it rebounds MUCH quicker. You reach the edge, it dips then jumps right back up on track. I hope that I will see a better improvement with the ECU reset.
When hitting it hard, the rpms rise fast and she pulls hard. Shift points have jumped in a noticeable way. As stated before the tranny usually shifts around 4.6k on the onramp. Now, im MY case, the shift is around 5.5-5.8k. Maybe my tranny ECU is funky, or it is just a fluke. This is in 3rd gear (slush-box) and holding the throttle steady. I have to note here that I leave home at about 4:45am and hit the beltway around 5am to the intake temp is still pretty cool. But anyway the shift point for that particular ramp is jumped anywhere from 500 to 800k rpm.
Back on the exhaust note. When curising at a steady pace, the note is barely noticeable above 2k. There is that slight edge, just slight. From a dead stop and under light throttle, city driving, the note is not very intrusive. I believe the note has more to do with the resonation of the trunk more than the muffler itself. After all, it is just a big sealed cavity. When you jump on it from cruise, she jumps and pulls hard. Just like it should be. Fast in, do the work, fast out.
In the first installment, I had complained about there being a banging or vibration. I went back to the shop and they blew me off. They put the car on the lift and looked under the car. There were no obvious signs of rubbing or banging. I told them that it only happens when the car has warmed up. I did notice that the rear left hanger was very close the spre tire well, and had banged it up some. They even looked at it and blew it off. I had them take it for a test drive. By that time the exhaust had cooled, so there was no noise, and they didn't want to look at it again. The big blowoff. I went to the local TrackAuto and bought some new exhaust hanger thingies. I will replace the 2 in the rear, and cut up the old one and glue it to the spot that seems to be getting banged up. I hope this will fix the problem. If not I will take it to my shop and have them check it out.....I should have gone there to start with, but wanted to save some dosh. So I got what I paid for.
This concludes the second installment. Look for another one next weekend.
Lovejoy
After a week of doing my daily commute the initial boomy exhaust note has quietened down noticeably. I will assume this is due to the flex section "softening" up and the muffler packing getting into the "seasoned" state. The exhaust note is definately a the back, the muffler. I can not hear anything coming from the y-pipe, or the intake for that matter....all muffler.
Low end power and torque is improved. I am resetting the ECU today and will update you again in another week on the improvement, if any. The ECU has definately "learned" that there was something different there. When taking my favorite onramp going to work in the morning, I normaly hit light throttle and let the torque do its thing. On the '95s, there is a dip/flat spot around 3200 rpm where there is a loss of power. With the current mods and an un-reset ECU, the dip is still there, but it rebounds MUCH quicker. You reach the edge, it dips then jumps right back up on track. I hope that I will see a better improvement with the ECU reset.
When hitting it hard, the rpms rise fast and she pulls hard. Shift points have jumped in a noticeable way. As stated before the tranny usually shifts around 4.6k on the onramp. Now, im MY case, the shift is around 5.5-5.8k. Maybe my tranny ECU is funky, or it is just a fluke. This is in 3rd gear (slush-box) and holding the throttle steady. I have to note here that I leave home at about 4:45am and hit the beltway around 5am to the intake temp is still pretty cool. But anyway the shift point for that particular ramp is jumped anywhere from 500 to 800k rpm.
Back on the exhaust note. When curising at a steady pace, the note is barely noticeable above 2k. There is that slight edge, just slight. From a dead stop and under light throttle, city driving, the note is not very intrusive. I believe the note has more to do with the resonation of the trunk more than the muffler itself. After all, it is just a big sealed cavity. When you jump on it from cruise, she jumps and pulls hard. Just like it should be. Fast in, do the work, fast out.
In the first installment, I had complained about there being a banging or vibration. I went back to the shop and they blew me off. They put the car on the lift and looked under the car. There were no obvious signs of rubbing or banging. I told them that it only happens when the car has warmed up. I did notice that the rear left hanger was very close the spre tire well, and had banged it up some. They even looked at it and blew it off. I had them take it for a test drive. By that time the exhaust had cooled, so there was no noise, and they didn't want to look at it again. The big blowoff. I went to the local TrackAuto and bought some new exhaust hanger thingies. I will replace the 2 in the rear, and cut up the old one and glue it to the spot that seems to be getting banged up. I hope this will fix the problem. If not I will take it to my shop and have them check it out.....I should have gone there to start with, but wanted to save some dosh. So I got what I paid for.
This concludes the second installment. Look for another one next weekend.
Lovejoy
08-20-2001, 10:19 AM
#19
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 137
Minor update......
On the drive back from the shop, I was trying to localize where the banging/rattling was coming from. On a whim, I decided to replace the rubber hanger isolators/bushings. I picked 3 up from TrackAuto Sunday morning, proceeded to replace the ones around the muffler section. The hardest part was trying to pull the old ones off....with the emphisis on pull. I wanted to keep the old ones to use later to shore up another point. I ended up having to cut them off....duh. I used some Mobil 1 spray lube to get them on. The third bushing I had was too soft, and I will have to get 2 more. One for in front of the muffler (b-pipe muffler junction) and mid pipe.
Going to work this morning, there was almost no rattle or banging. Even when pulling some g's on the onramp that would sound like a saw was cutting the car in two. There was a very slight rattle, but that was expected cause I didn't replace them all. So when you install an exhaust, replace the old bushings with the stiffest ones you can find. I also believe that the Apexi is heavier than the stock exhaust, so the old worn bushings just weren't up to the task of keeping things in check. More to come.
Lovejoy
Going to work this morning, there was almost no rattle or banging. Even when pulling some g's on the onramp that would sound like a saw was cutting the car in two. There was a very slight rattle, but that was expected cause I didn't replace them all. So when you install an exhaust, replace the old bushings with the stiffest ones you can find. I also believe that the Apexi is heavier than the stock exhaust, so the old worn bushings just weren't up to the task of keeping things in check. More to come.
Lovejoy
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