I am a 30 year old with a 99 max se limited auto with 60,000 miles. I am interested in increasing the horsepower in my car WITHOUT making it sound like those f@^!ing civics that I hear all over the place. I am way too old to drive around town with a car that sounds like theirs. I have searched this forum for a week now and it seems that owning a y-pipe and a CAI is the way to go. I ordered an EBAY "True" CAI the other day and am hesitant about the y-pipe thing. I guess I do not mind if things were a little loud, but I want it to sound like an engine not a muffler (understand? like when you hear a Mustang coming- you dont hear its muffler!) I have a couple of questions. What exactly will the CAI sound like if it was by itself? What would my CAI and y-pipe sound like together? If I got these mods would I be lumped in the same category as the ricers? What makes those civics, integras, neons, sound like they do? Could I sell my car with the CAI and y-pipe on or would people not want them on? Is it true about warming the car up to pass emissions? Is Budget the way to go, how much should I expect to pay?

So many questions I know. I really want to make the right choices though, and everyone on this forum seems so helpful. Any advice/information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Your CAI will be much louder than a Y-pipe with a stock cat-back. I can not tell any real difference in exhaust noise with my y-pipe and stock cat-back.

 

Your in the right place to be. No one here likes anything about those civics that sounds like little bumble bees. With your CAI, your car will sound much more mean. It doesn't add many ponies, but the sound effect is well worth it in my opinion. As far as they Y-pipe goes, I don't know how much sound will be increased, or what it will sound like, but expect a difference than stock. I'm curious myself to hear what a max sounds like with just a Y-pipe and intake. As for the last few of your questions, the things that make those cars annoying are their exhaust. Like you said, when you hear a muscle car, you hear the engine, not the damn exhaust. On Civics and the like, it's vice versa. They have aftermarket exhaust witch takes out anything stock that kept the car quiet in order to gain attention. On to emissions, I myself wouldn't know the first thing about emmisions tests since my town doesn't require them, but from what I hear, as long as you get the car to operating temperature, things will go good. Budget is a good company, great customer service and price. Most members say they are the best bang for the buck, but at the moment there is a group deal being held in the group deal board that has the warpspeed Y-pipe for $160 ($20 cheaper than Budget). I hope that answers most of your questions.

 

you're too old to modify your car

 

oooohhh...little harsh there considering I just went to your 75th B-day party!

"You gonna eat yor cornbread?"

 

nonsense, no one is to old to mod.

 

Get the Warpspeed Y pipe for your 99 SE-L. You can't hear any difference in exhaust noise level, but you can feel the car pull harder up top. A true CAI pulling cold air from outside the engine bay will give you more mid range power but will choke slightly up top. A simple pop charger will pull harder up top but lag in the low end and produce poor throttle response. The stock intake is the best combo for power and throttle response. However it needs to be opened up slightly to get the top end out of it. Under your battery there is a black box that attaches to your stock intake just after the snorkle. Take that box out and cut the back side that sits against the inner fender wall open. That will allow your stock intake to breath much better when you jump on the gas, yet is completely silent. Nobody will ever know your intake is modified. I have a 99 SE-L with the modified intake and a Warpspeed Y pipe. My car pulls nicely throughout the RPM range. And by the way, I'm a young 41 year old man. Calling yourself an old man at 30 seems pretty sad. Perhaps you need more umf out of your life, then your car.

 

the best mod any of u old guys should get is a 18yr old girl to ride shotgun naked with you. she'll handle tighter than any car..lol

 

Cornbread,
Which CAI did you order from Ebay? I'm thinking of getting one from Ebay but I don't know which one to get. There's so many of them.

 

hehe... Im resisting the urge to make an offensive joke here. I should be congratulated!

 

Neither the y-pipe nor the CAI really make much noise unless you really get on the gas.

 

http://maxmods.dyndns.org Great info there!

WSP y-pipe $160 shipped http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=295028
Budget is about $190-$200 shipped

 

Too old, huh? That makes me ancient then. I have ten years on you. Modding is a timeless art. Never to old to enjoy playing with toys.

 

the y pipe really isnt loud at all. heres a sound clip of my stock max with just a warpspeed y-pipe. it adds a slightly deeper sound and it sounds great! not to mention the power it gives is even better!

http://home.bak.rr.com/maximatodd/video/ypipe.zip

 

First of all I would like to thank everyone who responded. You took the time out of your day to answer my 3,000 questions and it was greatly appreciated. I especially liked the jokes. This forum is definately great thanks to people like yourselves.

Hey Azynromeo, the ebay CAI was about 35 dollars from Procarparts.
I havent got it yet (tomorrow) Ill let you know how it works/sounds.

 

You could also go for an Underdrive pulley and a lightened flywheel. Those add no sound whatsoever, and will give you some more power.

 

And I have 6 years on you but nowhere close to Methuselah!

 

If you are wanting a quiet setup, I would go for the y-pipe. I would not go with the CAI, however. They are loud a cr ap at anything above like 3500 rpms. Just stick with the stock airbox like njmaxseltd said. It has the best throttle response out of any, and is not really louder.

If you want a little more hp, you could also go to a muffler shop and get them to custom make you a b-pipe(after the cat and back to the muffler) that is 2.5" diameter. Then, just keep your stock muffler on, and you will add a little more hp without all the noise. I did this to mine, because I have the same car you do and don't want it loud at all.

 

I already ordered the CAI. It will be in tomorrow. How much louder would the CAI be? What does it sound like exactly? Is it annoying?

 

It depends. Some people report their intakes to be throaty and mean like a Z while others will admit they made their VQ sound like a beehive working third shift on overtime. If you don't like it, I'd stick with the stock airbox; maybe drop in a better filter like a K&N. Personally, I'll be making my own intake next weekend if I can find the right K&N cone filter.

~THT

 

It's loud, prepare yourself!

 

Yeah, it is loud. It will probably not be something that you are looking for if you are wanting a quiet ride.

 

I don't find the CAI or any intake to be loud except on WOT, and even then its not very loud on the outside, I would assume you want it to make a little noise when you go WOT anyway.....

 

The CAI will be loud at WOT, but it is a very agressive sound, and nothing like all those civics you see. It will sound almost stock at low rpms.

 

I think the y-pipe is the only true bolt-on power adder.. You won't feel much from an intake. The sound is what made me get mine


EDIT: ^^ The y-pipe and an MEVI are 2 major power adders.

 

The intake has a nice throaty sound when you get on it, but if you're just cruising around, you won't even notice. Nothing like a rice burner.

 

lol....you're killing me....thanks for making me feel a bit younger..........

 

i agree 10X
you will not notice any sound change if you drive normal and dont redline every gear. others out side the car will not notice anything either so dont worry about getting any dirty looks from people. But once you notice that trafic light turn yellow and you floor it to beat the red, you will hear that intake growl like a rabid pit bull. Basicly any intake other than stock will have a growl at WOT (from what ive seen atleast) if you drive normal you will not notice a thing but i can almost garuntee that after you install your intake you will love that sound and would go WOT more often.

 

Thanks so much everyone. This board is pretty amazing! I've learned so much. I guess I'm not that old. But you have to understand that I am new to all of this modding stuff. I thought that if I did any mod whatsoever (especially if it made your car loud) I would be lumped into that highschool civic RICE-a-roni punk. Thanks again for everything!!!!!

 

Nitrous is pretty silent, heh.. same with a v2 supercharger.

I'm suprised more people haven't mentioned an underdrive pulley, and MEVI. Neither will add any noticeable amount of noise, and are pretty good performers.

Heh, don't forget a 5spd swap, it'll shave off almost a second in the 1/4.

 

There are plenty of mods that you can do to not make it rice. Rice is just annoying, so I can understand your concern.