I am about to buy a Y-pipe and i want to know which one do you guys think i should get? Also what are the assumed performance gains with an already installed Injen intake and custom perfomance cat-back exhaust to my car?

For you guys who have a Budget or a Cattman , how do you like your y-pipe? pros, cons,etc... thanks.

 

I have budget Y-pipe. No problem at all. Couldn't be happier w/ quality, fitment, price, and performance. People w/ Cattman will tell you the same thing so pretty much comes down to $$$?

 

Do you feel better low end gains or mid to high end gains or both?

 

how big of a price fifferance is there?
-adam

 

I couldn't really tell you because as soon as I bought my car, I got a Y-pipe. I know for sure that y-pipe will give you good gain throughout the powerband on 00-01 Maximas but for your 2k2, I would get a Cattman header.

 

The budget Y-Pipe brand new from Budget is about $169. I believe the Cattman goes for somewhere around $350. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but i'm almost positive it's no less than 350

 

so if im correct i think the y pipe will give a 00-01 max about 15 to the wheels. is the design of the budget and cattman the same?
-adam

 

I was thinking about that too, unfourtantely i don't have 7 bills to drop at this time, although for another 350 dollars it may be worth the wait.Cattman is expensive....i was on other maxima sites and many have gotten 15-19 HP /10-15 trq out of there y-pipe. I am trying to locate the "Budget" web site , but i can't locate it? From what others have said on the Vqpower website, they paid anywhere in the neiborhood for there Budget y-pipe for 160-180 dollar price rance, much cheaper than Cattmans.Although they said Cattman was the best out of the bunch. From best to worst for y-pipes they listed:

Cattman
Budget
Warpspeed
Stillen

 

Similar designs for both, and the Cattman is stainless steel which explains the huge price difference. If you're gonna keep the y-pipe on for a long time go with the Cattman. You'll get a noticable performance gain throughout since the design is far better than that of the stock y-pipe. It also eliminates the pre-cats.

 

so if the cattman is more expensive the budget must be aluminum, right? i want headers but i guess the less expensive option is the y-pipe. thanx for the info.
-adam

 

http://www.budgetexhaust.com/


Part Number: NM9901CA
Description: F-Pipe for 1999 - 20011999 Nissan Maxima - California Spec
Construction: T-304 stainless steel
Price: $250.00 Canadian



Part Number: NM00YFED
Description: F-Pipe for 2000 Nissan Maxima Federal Spec
Construction: T-304 stainless steel
Price: $250.00 Canadian

 

And yeah... the y-pipe we know is called an f-pipe over there....

 

I believe that Budget makes an SS Y-Pipe. I also think that there might be some slight design differences, but not sure exactly (the flex section and how the down pipe joins the straight part). On a Cali spec Max, the Y-Pipe only replaces the rear pre cat. I love my Cattman Y-Pipe (fitment, quality, Cust service, sound), but you gotta decide if you want to spend the dollars. My gains seem to be mid range.

 

They do... the info I posted in post #11 is straight from their website...

Construction: T-304 stainless steel

Not sure how good T-304 is or what the diff grades of SS are nor do I know what Cattman uses... but I'm sure y'all could easily find out from the Cattman website....

 

I'm more than happy with my Cattman. I mostly notice an increase in power from mid to high range. No problems with fitment at all. If you're combining it with an intake and cat back you should get decent gains. If you have any ?'s you should email Brian at Cattman. I did when I was looking for y pipes and he sent me dynos and a bunch of info on his y pipe. That made me buy from him right there. When I emailed another company (Warpspeed) with questions I got no reply.

 

Headers is a better choice for 2002+ maximas, than Y-pipe. They already have a good y-pipe, plus headers come with a y-pipe.

 

Although, headers are more money, require a lot more install work/money, and ya probably need to tune to car to get the most out of em and prevent from running too lean (or rich? I don't remember, just what someone told me when I asked about headers). So that'll mean ya need a SAFC.... I think it really depends on if ya wanna go all the way with headers or have a nice y-pipe/cat-back combo that'll be good enough if you're not planning on racing and stuff...

 

Well of course, but they are at least $600-700 for any brand, plus you will need an S-AFC for the tuning for another $400, so the two can't really be compared. Thats like saying, oh, you should get some cams instead of an intake because it's better.