I have a Cattman Y-pipe, Frankencar intake, and PowerTech muffler, and I am thinking of adding a B-pipe to the mix.

1) Will the B-pipe change the sound of the exhaust at all (if I use a resonator).

2) What kind of gains should I expect a B-pipe to produce with my given setup?

3) Who makes the "best" B-pipe, do they come with a resonator, and how much should I expect to pay?

Thanks.

 

1. with a resonator your sound shouldn't change all that much.

2. gains with a b-pipe is quite minimal (in the sense of performance vs. a y-pipe)

3. there is no "best" anything. However, you should invest in stainless steel and 2.5" b-pipe. Cattman, Frankencar, and Budget exhaust all make one. I'd choose budget as their price is relatively cheap, ss construction, 2.5" with shipping included already.

 

1) well I got the budget b before the cattman y and the sound increase with just a b-pipe wasn't that much at all. I wouldn't expect it to make your set up as of now with the cattman y much louder.

2) Gains will be minimum compared to the y-pipe, but in my opinion it's a must since you already have a muff and y.

3) My budget had to be fabricated to make it fit. I've heard a lot of people that had the same issues as I did with fitment and it knocking all over the place under the car. The muffler shop only charged me $40 for fabrication and they did a really nice job. My total was $140 with my new y install and fixing all the welds and re did the custom rear bent section that some crappy muff shop did the first time. Not too sure how much frankencar or cattman pipes are, but the budget may be worth it even if it doesn't fit right.

 

1. I have the frankencar B-pipe on my 2000 max with a stillen y and stillen rear section. After the b-pipe install the exhaust got slightly deeper than it already was but its not super loud by any means, just has a louder growl now.

2. As everyone else has said you probably wont feel much or see much as far as gains in power.

3. Look into the frankencar B. I chose the frankencar because ive heard of the fitment problems with budgets products, and cattman is pretty expensive for a B pipe so I went with the frankencar. The frankencar is slightly cheaper than the cattman, I got mine for 200 picked up, i think its 20 more to ship. The quality on the pipe is real nice too, stainless steel, fully polished, 2.5" mandrel bent, resonated, etc. Fitment was very good I thought, it looks to hang slightly lower than the stock B but not so low as to cause any problems, and you will have to adjust the rubber hangers slightly with some hose clamps so the pipe doesnt rattle but thats it. Good luck!


-Steve

 

Not to steal thread... but do you guys know what the stock exhaust diameter is? Im going to remove my resonator and just make my own ghetto B-pipe.

 

At the muffler mine is only 2" outside but I think its a little larger at the resonator.

I have had 3 Budget B-Pipes, (3 different cars) they all fit very well with no problems. Of course its 2.5" mandrel so much larger than the stock 2" and has to be centered properly. I also found the stock B is only supported in 1 or 2 spots so I installed another support just before the rear axle, that firmed it up great.

The other thing about the Budget is that it can be ordered with or without the resonator and they have flanged that section so you can later buy the resonator and just bolt it in if you desire vs having to have it welded etc.

 

pretty sure it's 2.25" but I could be wrong.

 

Actually the B-Pipe is different dia's depending on where you measure.

Outlet from cat is 2.5
Inlet to resonator is 2.25
Out from resonator is 2.10
Pipe after resonator is 2.0
Inlet to muffler is 1.875

Those were all measured where there were no bends. The stock pipe is crush bent so the dia's are even smaller that those shown above.

With any form of boost you would see a major HP decrease because of the 2" or less dia.

Remember too that the area of a circle is proportional to the square of its dia. eg. 1.875x1.875=3.5, 2.5x2.5=6.25 Therefore a 2.5" pipe will flow over 80% more than the stock Maxima pipe which is 1.875" or less on some of the bends near the muffler.

 

a resonated b-pipe will not make your car any louder, actually it would make it more quiet with more of a rumble.

we have a socal SC'ed 4th gen with 3 resonators in his exhaust system, i think it sounds great! A domestic rumble, but not loud at all.

 

Hmm.. I guess it's a waste of ~$200 then, since it gives very little to no gains.

 

dont the cat-backs dyno around 8 whp? a cat-back is essentially a b-pipe anyways, thats where all gains would come from.

 

I have Cattman's b-pipe with a resonator. I like it, definitely less restrictive than a stock one.

 

The budget B(or any b pipe) will give you the same gains as any full cat back.....What people here are reffering to little gains is that its not neck snapping difference in power(ala y pipe)....but its noticeable nonetheless and gives a nicer tone to the exhaust