JJG2005

Well, I had a big exhaust leak and never got it taken care of... and before I knew it an 8' section of my exhaust fell off! Basically everything from the cat back is gone. A shop will put on an "oem quality" exhaust for $160 including custom bent piping... but I'd like to upgrade while I'm at it. What I am looking for is an exhaust that is QUIET at low RPM and idle, but gives the impression that the car has some power at high RPM and when reving. (I will be using the ES for real estate, and can't have it sound like a fart can...) I'm sure many of you know what a stock G35 coupe or 350z sounds like... just a very nice pure engine sound. Any idea how I can get my ES to sound like that? I know upgrading to 2.5" piping from 2.25" would be a start...

Thanks!

jhenty

if you do upgrade to 2.5" piping get a real good muffler because it will be a lot louder. My suggestion would be to upgrade to 2.5" with a resonator somewhere in the middle, you can use any cheap glass pack for this and for the muffler get an Apexi world sport universal. It should end up being the exact sound you want, at least as close as you can get.

Pheonix

The best exhaust, is no exhaust! The stock 2 1/4" cat-back is fine. Less you have some serious horsepower gains in mind; sizing from 2 1/4" - 4" maybe worth a handful @ best on a dyno. Wouldn't gain you anything seat of the pants, or on a race.

All you really need is a basic cat-back for sound. Generic parts are cheap & work great. No need for some expencive pre-made stuff most of the time.
My list:
1) Borla
2) Borla
3) Borla
4) Magnaflow
5) Apexi
6) Knock-offs for Magnaflow/Apexi

Toyota v6 engines sounds great with an intake & exhaust.

I like spiral flow mufflers as a resonator. That & a Borla just combine to make a distinctive sound that's great!

The most important thing to keep in mind is the resonator (pre-muffler) While they produce an awsome sound, without a resonator it'll be raspy - like any engine would be without one & since it's an import car - it's rice.
Anything for a resonator will work. Even if that means go buying a $15 glasspack. Just make sure you have something!

If you're gonna DIY, or just pay someone to weld it together, you can buy sizes between 2-3" of galvanized mild steel pipe @ Lowes/Home Depot for about $15 per 10'. (Some of it inside as EMT COnduit, some of it outside as pipe / fence post As opposed to $5-10 per 3' at an auto store.
Sounds like you have a problem with rust, IDK if you'd use stainless or not, but if not high-temp duplicolor spraypaint sells for $4-5.

GATO

iTrader: (1)

pheonix,,,,,, whats a glasspack? I'm fixin to get the apexi just like the one Juan01 has.....but I dont want it raspy or ricey.

I buy an apexi world take it to a muffler shop and tell them what?


.

juan01

Okay guys, whatever you do.... DO NOT TAKE OUT YOUR RESONATOR! It will sound like wet farts as the RPM climbs. But, if you press your little ECT button with a heavy foot, the exhaust SCREAMS near the 5k-6k. I loved that sound.

Still though, the wet farting = ricer. So I had to get myself a resonator on Ebay... I put it on about 2 weeks ago and it is much better now; no more rasp. I lost the 5-6krpm scream, but it was okay since I don't see the need to do that all the time.

Gato, take it to the shop and tell them you want to replace your piping to 2.5", but from the resonator on... not from the cat. Just bring your Apexi (if that's what you end up getting) with you and they will do the rest.

Pheonix

Ya, it's real bad 3-4,000rpm.

GATO

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Juan01

JJG2005

So, let me get this straight.... 2.25" piping to factory cat... then from there 2.5" piping to a spiral flow resonator or ebay glass pack, and then 2.5" piping to an aftermarket muffler like an apexi will sound hopefully not too rice, but pretty quiet when not getting on it, but a nice deep engine sound when driving a bit agressively?

Thanks for the posts guys

Pheonix

Ya that'd sound way better.

jhenty

i've got a borla muffler on my solara which has the same engine as your 97 es and it sounds amazing but I would stick to 2 1/4" piping to tone it down cause the borla is really deep and tends to get too much attention. I have a 2.5" with a $20 glass pack for a resonator and a borla pro xs.

Pheonix

That's the Pro XS's tho not the 2.5" pipe. Pro XS's can get hella loud. (Just noise wise without that glasspack & the ES padding, you'd hate it trust me!) They're really aggressive compaired to the rest of their models. I'd use a quieter muffler, unless you really want something that can get aggressive, or you wanna run an actual small muffler as a pre-muffler. (Instead of a straight through resonator)

juan01

What I did was change everything from the cat to 2.5" (eliminating resonator) which resulted in rasp. You could just have them upgrade the piping from the resonator on.... Instead of having to get another resonator or glass pack. But yeah, I guess if you want more vroom, do what I did.

To be honest, my Apexi WS2 really isn't all that quiet. Sometimes it can rattle the rear deck, but maybe that's because everything got loosened up with my sub.

Lvangundy

The only way your car will sound like a G35 is if you swap the engine.

A muffler will never 'change' the sound of the engine exhaust, it will only amplify it. Canister or muffler size and shape do change the tone however, usually larger canisters create a deeper sound.

3000

Convert to a dual exhaust???
Example: those in the LS, SC, GS
My SC's oem exhausts makes that one Humming low noise. It sounds alright.

Pheonix

That works, I've seen it on a few i4 Camrys.
You just have to Y it again, or do some real manly work header-back to make true duals.