Beluga Catback exhaust & Y pipe install
 

After lots of research, I went ahead and purchased the Beluga Catback exhaust system and the Y pipe. It shipped and arrives really fast; about 4days.

I have got to say, I was blown away at how well they treated me. I called the number on the phone and asked a lot of questions. They did a great job and answered all my questions. They even called me back to offer me a little bit more of a discount based on how I might order from Ebay. It's so rare to find that kind of support from, well, a manufacturer of sorts. Anyway, my :tiphat: to them; keep up the great service. I asked if there was anything special needed or is this a "direct bolt on" and they assured me its a direct bolt on. So, this weekend, I'm going to install the system myself and I'll let you know. It looks pretty straight forward to be honest. Really pleased with the how I was treated and how freak'n fast this thing shipped and arrived. I was expecting weeks before it arrived, but it was here pretty fast...Just nuts.

Now, we look at the packing. I prefer the systems that have the self-forming foam that they put around packed objects, but I also know that increases the cost and it IS a muffler system...so other than the tips, what should I care... I did like how they wrapped them in bubble wrap and put some bracers in to help keep the box from collapsing.
http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...5-dscf0370.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...5-dscf0373.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...1-dscf0386.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...8-dscf0374.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...7-dscf0376.jpg

Yeah I don't get why some companies have a 4 month wait time for a product. I don't care how nice or cool it is, I am not going to wait that long for something. It should be a stocked item and ready to ship at moments notice for the most part. If inventory gets low then more need to be made to replenish. I understand the cost associated with maintaining back stock, but that is what keeps customers happy and more willing to make an impulse purchase.

agreed. Customer service right? I think the delays are based on how they run their business. It costs $ to keep in on the shelves. Some companies get the orders THEN build it; it helps keep costs down, but it often drives customer satisfaction down as well if they are not upfront and/or well advertised about the time delay.

going to put the car up on jacks tonight and PB blast all the bolts. This way in the morning, (after a few cups of coffee) I am hopeful that this will go without major issues. :bowrofl: I always seem to run into issues with my installs. This doesn't reflect on the product, just my lack of experience of working on cars. LOL...I'll keep you all posted.
wish me luck. DIY video and pictures to follow.:tup:

The hardware looks pretty good. With that single pipe back, there should be some weight savings. Have you weighed the three components?

Let us know if ya need any help...there is a DIY on here and YouTube by me already, but more the better...you might need some washers in the mid section (so it dosent hit the cross member on the mid pipe) like some others have but other then that you're a good to go. I'm so glad that some others see the great value in the exhaust system. In stock, great price, great communication....WIN WIN:ughdance:

We need to do this, but I can tell you just by handling both oem and this beluga exhaust...it's much lighter from front to back.:tup:

Yeah, having never done this before, it took me all day, but I finally got it dialed in late last night. No matter how I tried to adjust the system, I'm just 1/16 above the cross beam. How did you all adjust this? If you input washers, what bolts did you put them on under x-beam? Cause on mine, there are a tone of bolts.... I took some pictures yesterday during the install and will post later today; I hope. I ran into a few issues, but I'm not sure if that wasn't to be expected. I think if I had the right tools, it would have gone much faster. Anyway, if you could provide me a picture of what bolts you or someone else used washers on, I'd appreciate it a lot....:)
DIY to follow.

Dzel used some washers on his cross beam and I'll let him chime in on what he used....I have just a bit more clearance than you. Post your pics and I'll pm DZEL and see what he says.

Well, after a good nights sleep and some fresh coffee, we got back under and were able to figure out which 4 bolts it was.. pictures to follow. As you all stated, it took about 10 minutes. I know have about 1/2 an inch between the beem and midsection.

Update
 

Ok. So today was the first day I've put on the new exhaust. Drove in both city and highway conditions with some spirited and normal driving. I'm really pleased with this set up so far. For normal driving conditions, it’s not at all intrusive or so loud I have to turn up the stereo. I'm thinking the ECU has not really adjusted yet, but so far really nice. When I get above about 3500 RPMs it starts to sound better than stock and the higher I go the better it is, but not so abusive that it's annoying; exactly what I wanted. I'm still working on the DIY install content and the sound clips, but I'll post them as soon as I can. Work is a little busy right now. Really like the look and the sound for the daily driver. If I'm sitting idle and or at low city speeds/rpms, almost sounds stock but enough of a hint that there is more..(and then when you romp on it, the beast unleashes).Very pleased. I'll keep you posted :eekdance:
As far as performance gains, I'm not going to dyno it unless someone offers it up for free, but the entire seat of the pants driving experience seems to have woken up. The car seems to excellerate a little better and a little harder. Keep in mind that this IS my daily driver and I'm very familiar with how the car runs, so I'd say it feels like it pulls a little stronger or "less restricted" if that makes any sense. I'll try to grab some video on the way home tonight to post.

Great!!! Post a pic of the washers that you used so others canbe sure when they order. Glad you are happy with the setup and give another week for the ecu and she'll be good to go.

Glad you like your exhaust OP :tup:. I like the rolled tips. Is the sound comparable to the Nismo exhaust, or is it louder?

I would say mine is louder than some of the nismos ive been around with stock exhaust.

Welcome to the Beluga family! I have done vids up of mine with resonated test pipes. I still have not taken driving ones yet but I should get to the track soon

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Absolutely...I also am making notes on the pictures from the DIY we took. There are a few key things to know about how the set up gets installed that we learned from trial and error. For example, the rear rubber hangers have to get flipped from the stock position to get the exhaust not to hit the rear bumper and stuff like that. On my car, the rear rubber hangers were "rubber down" (picture to follow). When we install them the same way on this system, the rear tips hit the rear bumper. When we flipped the rubber hangers, "rubber up" the exhaust lined up perfectly for me.

There were other areas of feedback too. Like the bolts that came with the Y pipe: were way too short to go threw both the stock cats and the new Y pipe flange; and the holes were off alignment by 1/8 of an inch. We chalked this up to the fact that Beluga has no idea what you are going to connect it to. I made the holes in the Y pipes just a little larger and it went on fine. The rest of the install was mostly plug and play. But again, they don't know what you plan to connect it to. I just used the bolts from the stock cat's and it worked great. The hardware they did send along was really nice though, so I'm sure it will get used on another project down the road. For the $, I can't complain at all. ...and maybe that kind of metal work is expected? This is the first time I've done a catback install, so maybe I should have expected it? As feedback, I don't think a set of basic instructions would be too hard to develop. It would have been a little helpful, but then again, they did recommend "professional installation" for a reason. I just wanted to learn how to do it. It was great.
Just wish I could get a Beluga Racing decal; :) that would be cool.

Rear Rubber hangers
 

Ok, so for example, in this picture, notice that the rubber hanger has the stock exhaust hole (long rusty piece) on the bottom...
[IMG]http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...9-dscf0413.jpg[/IMG]

on the rear rubber hangers that hold up the very back of the stock exhaust we had to flip the position of the rubber piece so that the hole that the new exhaust hanger goes threw was on top. Once we did that, it angled the new exhaust pefectly. I will get that actual picture posted as soon as I can. This is for reference purposes only. :)

Yeah that's why I just reused the factory cat bolts & Shave a little inside the y-pipe holes...per my DiY:hello: Never heard of flipping the rear hangers...mine were fine. Thanks for posting!!!

yeah we thought it was weird too, but its the only way we could get the exhaust to line up correctly. I'll try to get pictures in the morning to show you what I mean...:tiphat:

What is the decibel difference between the stock and the beluga? Looking for something with no drone and slightly louder than stock.

So its been a few months now, would you still recommend this exhaust? Im ready to get an exhaust now, and Beluga warehouse is actually about 20 minutes from where I live which makes it extremely convenient. I just want to make sure its worth going with this particular exhaust. Any suggestions would be great.

I love it when I do take the car out I get nothing but positive feedback on the exhaust. And since they're so close if you do have any issues you can just go up there.

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Any dyno numbers ? I love this exhaust tone!

Not on my end. :-(

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All that write up... and no vid clips??

Hit us up!

I know guys I have a couple of vids on you tube but they were with my phone. Hopefully I'll get a go pro for Xmas!

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I read through this thread with great interest and from the initial observations this appears to be quite a nice (lower priced) alternative to the Stillen's et al.....

So doing a bit of digging in you tube I found this video posted up by Shadezz.

BELUGA RACING CATBACK EXHAUST 370Z / Z34 SOUND CLIPS!! - YouTube

Sounds wonderful.

Plus the parts review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=h-fpoXxRZuc

Also hope I can get in touch with Shadezz and see if I can join some of the local get together's (especially the ones taking place at the Castle Rock parking lot).

Love to hear this exhaust in person and determine if this is the one for me :).

Also would love to get the info on your installer and a price he charged.

Thanks in advance !

Here is the eBay link to Beluga (glad to see them having a rating of 100%):


Nissan 370Z from beluga-racing | eBay

Did you find my vid? I have Test Pipes on mine. beluga cat back exhaust ot like me on there Rick Mesa or GH5T KoopaPrime i forget which

Found it :)

Love it !

Beluga CBE with CNT Test Pipes on a Nissan 370Z - YouTube

So did you ever trace the hiss?

How are you guys still liking this? I can't stand the stock exhaust so I'm going with a cheap alternative even though it's not the greatest but it'll do.

The hiss is actually an occurrence that happens with most after market exhaust. Perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

Yes I still love my exhaust I just did a car event and cruise. While getting on the on ramp I got on it a little. Mustang and Supra owners were giving me props on how nice the car sounded.

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Any drone present?

No drone

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Great sounding exhaust and I love mine and can't understand how people would drop 2-3 times more for others exhaust. Very happy period..you will too.

Let me know anytime you wanna hear it..

Also let's add that its track proven too!!!

I would be completely sold if someone would dyno. Doesn't have to be before and after, just that with intake, this exhaust (y & muffler), and a tune reaches the same area as others ~320whp

Yeah just wondering the gains even though it's not a huge deal for me. I'm between this and the Top Speed exhaust

How much do a couple of pulls on a dyno go for? Sub 100?

On dyno days they csn go ad low as $20 bucks. But the closest place that has those events is 6 hours away from me. :-(

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google around, someone did dyno either this exhaust or one like it and it picked up 15-18whp

not bad imo