I had the gen2 headers installed few weeks back, and finally got my catback exhaust system installed.

Let me tell you, WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES!! The car feels so strong now, plus fuel economy has increased. Oh and the exhaust note is intoxicating. Forget trying to imitate G35/350Z exhaust notes, they should be imitating this setup!!

NOw the questions:

1. Under hard accel, i am getting a clanking? Do i need stiffer exhaust hangers? LIke the Nismo ones?

2. After doing the intake/headers/exhaust upgrade, is it necessary to get an SAFC or Technosquare upgrade? I was under the impression that with sucha flow upgrade, will require some form of tuning... Is this true?

Regards
Ed

 

hey dou have a sound clip of that badboy on?

 

congrats, headers, ahh, i plan to make this one of if not my first performance mod. Your not the first to complain about clanking after header install, not sure what solution was.

also, yes i would get tuned with that type of an upgrade. I hear people gain 15 fwhp with stock setup and tuning, so i'm sure you'll see serious gains, or maybe that was 15 fwhp after exhaust modifications?

 

yes...sound clip please...and not just exterior...interior as well is possible..thnx..

 

where exactly is the clanking coming from? If it's coming right below you (under your seat, center console) then its the bpipe hitting your cross member...all you need is a hose clamp to go around the hanger to raise up the piping a few mm's...

as for the tuning....you won't know your AFR until you hook it up to a wideband o2...so it all depends...I know for a fact I'm running REAL rich becuz my fuel economy is crap...and also I can blow flames out my exhaust real easily...

 

I will try to get some clips using my pocket PC...

I tried the flame thing and I do get backfire noises on revving hard..

Clanking is coming from underneath where the shifter is... Weird, it wasnt there when i had just the headers in. I thinki am going to buy the NISMO bushings.

I will monitor my fuel economy again.

 

i'm sure your bpipe is hitting one of the cross members...if u say the clanking wasnt there with just the headers on, then you know the catback had to do something with it...

ask someone to watch your exhaust while u rev it to the rev limiter....as you know, most 5.5 gen tachometers are off by 300 RPMs...so when the needle is at 6600, your actually at like 6300 or so....try giving it a hard rev all the way to 6900 or 7000....then ask your friend if he sees any flames coming out

 

I think the clanking is because you have original motor mounts. Get polyurethane for a stiffer motor so when you accelerate your motor won't move, therefore there shouldn't be any clanking. I heard that with the headers it runs rich on the top end so by getting an sfac-ii you can lean it out more and produce more hp. Hope this helps. How long did it take for you to install the headers and price. How did you handle the 02 sensors?

 

I already have the Energy SUspension polyurethane engine mounts and tranny bushings.

I had the dealership install the headers and exhaust.

Front O2 sensors required extending a bit, rear O2 sensors are being simulated using O2 sim.

My dealer did a great job and charged me very favourably... I am quite pleased.

 

nice install, i'm guessing you have the cattman catback?

also, cattman catbacks are significantly heavier than the stock, therefore stressing your hangers and the exhaust piping at different parts (depending on how they installed it i.e where they tightened first) so brand new heavy duty hangers and maybe zip ties should fix it.

 

Dyno that b!$h.

 

The only way to tell if ya need tuning or not is to get it on the rollers and take a look at the AF curves. Every car is different..

 

i am really curious to hear this, i have been considering doing the full catman upgrade but would love to hear inside and out first

 

I wonder if there's any sound difference from the Gen I and Gen II headers, if not, then steven88's will be fine as far as sound comparison is concerned.

 

Go to the exhaust sticky and locate steven88's sound clip. He has Gen I headers, but I highly doubt that they will sound much different from the Gen IIs.

 

Drove it today, i love the burble, its almost like a VR6 VW (one of the sweetest sounding V6's i heard)...

I will try to get that sound clip if my Dell X50V can pick up the sound properly.

I will see if i can get the car to the DYNO to map out my air/fuel curves to see if i lean out.. Ideally should i be concerned about WOT A/R? or partial throttle?

Regards

 

Did they report any other issues with the install? Just for comparison with what Blackbird and others have reported.

 

If you're dynoing, you'll typically be WOT .

 

I think some people have just those metal clamps around oem bushings and that does that job

 

ya sound clips would be nice

 

Yup, like so:

 

^^^ owns rattling noises!

 

Yes, it does, but I won't take credit for the idea since Frankencar started including 2 clamps like that with their cat-backs a long time ago.

 

thats the first thing that popped into my head when i heard my exhaust outside of my car for the first time....

 

My car is noticeably louder with the headers. Although after re-tightening the headers it seems somewaht better, but still issues with the Gen IIs.

 

hey epacy, have you done an oil change ever since the header install? I hear the gen2 design makes it almost impossible to get to the drain plug...

 

where is the drain plug located on the 3.5L's...? right near the rear primary?

 

come up with that sound clip yet? Headers are definitely next on my list!

 

I tried to record it with my pocket pc didtn work!!

 

IMO, Steven88's in the Stickies (or in his sig) will sound very similar to the Gen IIs.

 

This is true, but i dont get the backfire with flames

 

why do u say that? the gen2 design is noticeably different from the gen1s...i also heard the fabricator is a diff company now...and a few other changes....

 

once you get headers its hard to get to the oil drain?

 

where to buy.... lol after reading the thread seems like ppl are givign back a good review toward this product...!!!! i want it lol

 

he has a test pipe, so if you have a cat u wont see any flames...

 

yeah theres a picture taken somewhere lying on the .org....its pretty crazy...and i recently did an oil change...I have gen1s which doesn't have as much of a "twist" on the equal length tubing for the rear manifold...and mine already comes REAL close to the oil drain plug...but i can still do an oil change easily

 

The design is different, but I doubt it'll make a huge difference in sound. It may sound slightly different from in the cabin and if you're standing near the front of the car, but considering most exhaust clips are from the rear, the volume and tone of the muffler will dominate the sound and it'll still sound very similar. In fact, I think even Mike's (BlackbirdVQ's) clips sound similar to yours, and he has Hotshots along with the Mossy/Cattman cat-back. Both of your clips should give someone a good idea of how headers + Cattman cat-back will sound on a VQ.

This is not even taking into consideration different recording devices and how it sounds on different computers.

And that is why I think the sound/vid clips will sound almost the same...

 

I get a lot of burbling and backfiring like Steven88.

The sound is exactly the same.. The only thing is that i never realized he used a test pipe.

 

I get a little burbling, not much backfiring. Sounds pretty good.

 

So since no one answered Steven88's question, are your oil drain plugs obstructed in any way by the headers? Just curious.