Question on exhaust
 

Looking for serious advice from the DIYers out here, so I hope you can help me out! I have a '10 Z vert and I'm going to take the leap on changing out the stock exhaust. When I read the other posts, I see people mainly doing CAT back.
1.) Does it make sense to do the headers as well?
2.) I don't want this to rust out. Which has best QC & reliability?
3.) lots of DIY's doing this upgrade, on a scale of 1 to 5 where does this one land (5 being most difficult)?
4.) If I DIY, am I on my own for support or do these Mfr's have a support number to trouble shoot issues?
5.) Budget is good, not looking to pay for the name unless it's that reliable.

And lastly, if I'm doing this, should I consider other upgrades that make sense while I have it all jacked up?

I do not track, it's not a daily driver and it has about 8k miles in these 2.5 years that I owned it. Its a little baby to me, so looking to do simple but worthy upgrades without going to crazy if that makes any sense....

Thanks, joe

Hey Joe! I'll take a stab at answering this for you, I recently just did Fast Intentions headers and exhaust for my car, did it all myself.

1) if you want the most hp possible, do headers. If you want some hp and a sweet sound, do just the catback. IMO, the headers will make it too loud for a good number of people.

2) Fast Intentions. Tony has the highest level of quality I've ever seen, and he pays attention to the details. Every weld is perfect. It produces the best numbers and (IMO) the best sound. It looks beautiful. You literally cannot go wrong with FI.

3) each exhaust is slightly different, but on average I would put the install at 1.5. If you can take out 10 bolts and wrap heat material around a line with a zip tie, you can do this install.

4) Tony is the best for this. I have called him probably 30 times with questions, and he has answered every single one of them and has done a great job of helping me out. His customer service CANNOT BE BEAT.

5) I personally am not rich, but when it comes to my car (and my guitars/amps) I live by the rule "you get what you pay for". FI is the best IMO, so I saved up and bought that. If you want budget, I think you can get a Topspeed exhaust for about $500-$600, and it sounds pretty good. Sometimes Stillen will have a sale where you buy the exhaust and get the GenIII intakes for free.

Lastly, you might want to look into that aluminum cover that replaces the plastic one under your engine. I think Z1 sells it (?), they're about $200. It keeps your car cooler, and has a little oil filter door so that you don't have to take it off for an oil change. Also, Swift springs give you a nice drop with a comfortable ride and can be had for about $350 shipped I think. Hope that helps!


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Since you don't seem real serious about doing anything crazy with your Z, headers aren't anything you will need right now unless you want your car extra loud.
None of the exhaust you see on this forum are going to rust out on you, everyone now uses good quality stainless steel or titanium.
The difficulty of installing a catback is about a 2 I'd say and there is lots of help on this forum and from the dealers that can troubleshoot anything you run into.
Just find a budget for yourself and see what fits in your price range. Is there a certain style you're looking for, a certain sound? just go through the exhaust sticky threads.

1) Headers will give you a slight performance increase but its a pain in the butt to do (small/cramped work space).
2) I hear good things about FI products, best to do individual research on this point though as there are alot of different exhausts to get.
3) From my experience, a 2. This depends on what kind of garage you have access to though. Its best if you can throw the car on a lift and use an impact gun.. makes a world of difference.
4) Depends on manufacturer.

This is all from my own personal experience on my Z, take it for what its worth :happydance:

are headers (lets say long tubes?) really that much louder than going with stock headers and a tp's?

The only headers that are worth putting on are long tube headers. Just regular headers (stillen) only give a marginal horse power bump.

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Since I've never heard someone with TP's I can't say how they compare but the difference from CBE only to CBE+LTH was night and day.

I haven't heard the cbe/tp combination, but the headers do provide a SIGNIFICANT db increase over just the cbe :tup:


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Very true.

Also hard to understate. As far as home garage bolt-on jobs go, there's really nothing more frustrating and difficult than a header install on this car. You better really think the pain is worth it. It is to me, but I wouldn't want someone to walk into this thinking it's as easy as changing out the catback :)

I'm not sure how all the loudness options compare in fine detail, but FI LTH + FI Catback is a *very* loud setup. There's very little restriction or muffling from engine to tailpipe. You will wake up and piss off your neighbors in the early AM :P

Per Tony at F.I. LTH's install is roughly 8 hrs.. I know when I had mine installed, the guy at the shop said this was one of the hardest header installs they had ever done due to the lack of room and the tightness of all the bolts.

Whatever you decide to do make sure you keep your stock parts because what you put into these mod'$, it falls. Into a hobby not a sound investment.

Honestly, I think it's Quieter than TP/HFC's.

After having mine installed and hearing it next to cars with FI exhausts and TPs/HFC's, mine was considerably quieter on idle, and only got loud when I got on it (when I want it to be loud).

Also headers will change the tone of the exhaust making it slightly higher, giving it that more exotic sound, which I like. :tup:

In terms of doing it just to a DD and only looking at a sound change, I wouldn't recommend the headers due to the cost/labor. A CBE and maybe HFC's would be enough for what you're looking to do.

Tony @ F.I. will answer any questions you might have based on your specific needs/desires if you give him a call. And he's always helpful if you hit a snag in your install.

I really appreciate the detailed responses from everyone. This is extremely helpful. So headers are on the list, I am looking for the more exotic sound, but still refined (?) if that makes sense. And as far as that goes, I'll likely bring it to a shop and have it done right. Fast Intentions and Stillen have been the main mfrs mentioned above, but do you mix manufactures or stick with one for headers, Cat and such? On the side, I briefly mentioned this to the wife she just laughed. So, when I go to the well, I want to do this right.

u can mix and match all u want. keep in mind that stillen is a quieter echaust, so if u are wanting something exotic sounding, you might want to look into something like gthaus or motordyne's cat back( :yum: ). but those will cost u a little more and be quite a bit louder. FI is always a good choice tho

mix manufacturers all you want, just remember that you may get a discount if you buy both the LTH's and CBE from the same place.