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.

If your going for header first keep in mind its one of the harder install due to the confinement of space, about 8hrs install time but well worth the music to your ears and nightmare for your neighbors ..

if you go with long tubes, you will get a certain smell out of your exhaust due to no cats. And you will get this quite a bit being a roadster. Also, if your car is white or silver you will notice slight stains building on your rear bumper. This can be wiped clean with any kinda slight degreaser or if you wash it off with soap everytime you stop the car.

But if you want the long tubes for the power, best bet would then be the FI long tubes + the MotorDyne Exhaust with the HFC module option.

if you do just an exhaust, my top suggestion would be either of the ARK exhausts.

The FI long tubes + FI exhaust with 18" resonators does sound good.

To further clarify my goals on sound, since this is a roadster, failing emmisions, exhaust fumes and excessive rasp noise are not desired. I only drive this top down, sun shining and bitch in the front seat (jk). I'm looking for the slightly higher tone that's more common in exotic imports. And since its a small car, my thought of a deep throaty tone would make it somewhat out of place, like I was trying to make it a muscle car and looking for trouble, if you see where I'm going. Granted this is no Lotus or Farrari, but thats the type of sound I'm hoping to achieve.

I went through all the sound clips that were catalogue'd on this forum, but that caused more confusion honestly as some are re-posts due to comments plus a phone recording can't do justice to such an upgrade.

I'm in the Northern burbs of Chicago and it looks like GTHause is close enough to pay a live visit for some consultation, but then I'll be hooked on their tones and concerned I might leap prematurely. Alternatively I can check into Chicago Z Club and see when their next gathering is, that seems to be a good route maybe? Assuming there are people with those types of upgrades.

One other item that peaked my couriosity were the Gen III long tube intakes from Stillen. I think they said that was a 15WHP upgd. Does that also effect the sound much?

If anyone knows of a reliable installer that works on Z's that also would be appreciated.

The Gen3 intakes do affect sound tone in various rev ranges, esp for passengers and people outside who are beside/forward of the car, but not really overall volume much. From the rear any change from the intakes is drowned out by the exhaust.

If you're looking to cruise in style in a roadster, you probably don't want headers or testpipes on the car for all of the reasons mentioned above: excessive noise, dangerously horrible exhaust fumes, etc. You wouldn't be happy. Just slap on the G3 intake and a nice catback exhaust, maybe splurge for HFCs if you want a little extra kick.

The gen 3's make your motor have just a bit more growl to it.

If you want higher pitched exotic tone I would say carbon fiber fast intentions with a 12" resonator. The carbon fiber gives it more of that exotic sound instead of a roar. It's pretty smooth sounding.

My videos were done with my iPhone, but feel free to look at them if you like, it's actually pretty good sounding. this is my FI CF mufflers with no resonator.




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Talked to gthaus and they suggested muffler only based off my requests. Can't say I was won over on their offering, based off Korean made steel and hand made design, (aren't all mufflers hand made via welding) I'm leaning back toward Stillen's solution. And also wondering if I should do Gen3 along with it. Maybe I'll get a further discount?