Just installed AAM Competition S-Line Short Tail Exhaust
 

I recently purchased the AAM Competition S-Line Short Tail Exhaust and installed this evening with some buddies. I wanted to share the install as I couldn't find much on the prime other than material provided by he manufacturer. So here it is: Everything was pretty straight forward. Its possible to do this without jacking the car up, but it makes it much easier raised, on jack stands, which we did. My Z has about 13,000 miles on it so the bolts on the pipe flanges were pretty snug. We used the 3' lever from the jack to provide enough leverage to free up the nuts, just slipped it over the socket wrench. The stock muffler is hung by three hangers, two at the rear and one on the driver side, more forward than the other two. The two rear hangers are what the new AAM pipes used. We removed the entire hangers, rubber and bracket, from the car, still attached to the stock muffler. It just seemed easier to remove the rubber from the hangers after the whole thing was free from the car rather than struggle with rubber underneath the car. There is one smallish black heat shield on the passenger side that needs to be removed which was held on by three nuts, no biggie. After everything was cleared out, we slipped the rubber bumpers still attached to their brackets, onto the new pipes hangers. Everything lined up pretty good so we snugged the flanges in place and replaced the four nuts onto the flanges. Then re-attached the two hanger brackets with the pipes already hung. Tightened everything down and cleaned up. Fired her up and she purred. ...loudly. It's certainly a drastic change in the sound of the car which is what I was going for. The guys helping me have a Evo X with straight pipes and a Mazdaspeed MX-5 with muffler delete. The AAM pipes made my Z a tad louder than both of their cars. I'm confident it's only a matter of time before I get a ticket for a loud exhaust. It's pretty loud in low RPM (2-4k) on acceleration and deceleration. It has a nice quiet spot somewhere around 4-5k under cruising throttle. I'll post some videos with pro audio soon. Just got a new Sony FS-100 that will be used for some nice vid clips in the future.

Good write up. I love the sound of the shorty's. Very aggressive and exotic. In for the pics and a video maybe?

my shorty's stayed on for about 15 min. because i also have a test pipe. (ear bleeding loud). but it would be interesting to hear them on a car with stock cats. probably sounds a little more civilized

anyway we can get a video? im considering this exhaust too

I made a quick video thus morning with my iPhone but the audio quality is horrible. I will put up a video with quality audio very soon.

does it drone bad on the interstate? and is it raspy?

It does drone at a certain RPM but it really depends on throttle position. If it starts to drone, I simply change gears and throttle pressure. It has a nice aggressive rasp to it at around 4-5k RPM under full throttle. For example, I drove it for a good hour on the freeway from Woodland Hills to Santa Monica, including PCH and it wasn't bad if I was aware of what RPM/throttle position I was at. Trying to figure out how to demonstrate the different throttle sounds without hanging a camera out a window like every other idiot on youtube.

Okay, here is the first video I've made so far. I have to warn you, DO NOT turn up your speakers until after the third rev. I set the audio recording to manual, lower than average so that the high revs didn't spike the audio. The first scene is backed up against a cement wall so may seem a little louder. Forum rep appreciated, Enjoy!

Imagine that times 5 if you add test pipes. LOL it beastly.

sounds good

I might go with a high flow cat, but I don't think I could handle a test pipe.

Sounds good man, glad you like it.

Man that sounds aggressive. very nice! Sounds deep almost v8 like with an exotic twist. Did you notice a slight performance gain?

No noticeable performance gain. I could always bring it to Precision Z around the corner from me and put it on their dyno.

Hey MQDuclos are you still impressed with the AAM? Really considering since the muffler shop near my place quoted $275 for a muffler delete. I would prefer an easy bolt on over slicing and dicing my stock muffler.

Please advise! Cheers.

I prefer motordyne ART's pipe, it'll make it sound more deeper and nicer :tup:

The install was super easy and quick. I would highly recommend this over hacking and welding. If I ever get a slap on the wrist from the 5-0, I can easily unbolt the AAM pipes and stick stock muffler back on with minimal work. The sound can be almost too loud at times, especially with the windows up. I keep my windows down 90% of the time for two reasons... One: because I live in Souther California and I enjoy the beautiful weather. And two: because my windows have 5% tint all the way around. There's a pretty harsh harmonic resonance at certain RPM (about 4k, under moderate load), with the windows up. Other than that, I love it! It's a quick way to turn heads. I ran into a guy with the Meisterschaft axle-back kit which is about $1,000 more than what the AAM pipes costs, and it was marginally louder but clearly a more tuned sound. All in all, I highly recommend the AAM pipes if you're looking for a quick, low-cost aggressive sound.

Re: Aam
 

Thanks MQ,

Appreciate the feedback. I have LEO's that blanket my area and live at the top of the hill (Anaheim Hills). I can already see the red & blues behind me if it's that aggressive. Down hill, no worries thou. Anyway, thanks still might pull the trigger...Decision, decisions.

Cheers,

3 Sheets

I just ordered these and will have them by next monday hopefully. They way you removed the muffler is the same way i had decided on when I looked at it this morning. How are you enjoying them now that it has been 2 months?

Any long term engine wear issues with running the AAM competition short tail exhaust ?

Short answer, nope.

If I have to take short trips each week. 2.5 hours one way..
Do you think it will be a problem?


Does it drone, say around 60-80 miles in 6th gear?

80mph 6th gear puts you at 3k rpm. Should be no problem.

might as well get a full exhaust system and get some gains and sound.

If the short tails had some gains, i would get these for a quick DIY project.

let me know if you get a ticket for the loud sound. it's one of the best sound so far and i'm going to get one for sure.

Love the sound transformation by the AAM short tails :tup:

I'm wanting to get the F.I. TDX non-resonated cat back and customise it with muffler delete. If Tony cannot arrange that I'm gonna swap my mufflers for the AAM shorties, too :p

I'm planning on combining the lot with non-resonated test pipes and see if I can handle the noise, else some F.I. HFC downpipes go in.

Cheers

Thread revival... Your plan for your exhaust system sounds like a headache maker!

Thats a big waste of $$$ IMO...and might be the most complicated setup ive ever heard of.

Garageline sells a 2.5" midpipe + y-pipe for $300. Attach the AAM short tails, and you're done.

Why buy an FI catback, when a lot of the costs is in the mufflers themselves, just to not install them, and then have a custom muffler delete made? What? lol

I wasn't planning to buy the complete F.I. catback and then delete the muffler. That's why I've recently inquired @Tony/Dan for them to ship me the TDX with deleted mufflers already, i.e. much lower costs, too. But still waiting for their reply.

If they cant do that I go with AAM shorties and search for separate suitable 2.5" midpipe/downpipe.

As for the noise level of this combo, it wont come near any headache threshold as far I've heard here ;-)
In fact just the right tune to go with a Z. But on top of all, my TT will quieten down more compared to the NA in that video clip

Why not buy the aam mid pipe? That with short tails should give you a lot of noise and power.

Because AAM's midpipe is resonated

Thats gonna be crazy loud. I had the short tails with the stock mid pipe and was just as loud as the corvettes at my autox events.

Really? That would almost sound too good to be true :)
Can u make a video clip of ur exhaust note?

I don't think you realize how loud the short tails are alone. When you add a midpipe, reasonated or not, they get that much louder. They will drone too. If my Z was my 2nd car or I lived in the woods I would consider them, but u should seriously buy just the short tails first to get an idea of what you're in for.

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I'm looking into getting this exhaust but worried about the attention it might cause. Did you ever get a ticket for having the short tails.

Cant wait to get mines!

If you think short tails plus test pipes if loud then you need to listen to a tomei single with test pipes. I had a custom dual 2.5 inch with no mufflers or resonators from the test pipes back and my tomei is still louder and sounds sooooooo much better

I would love if someone had a audio clip of this setup
:excited: