GarageLine XPipe and MidPipe
 

I thought I'd share my experience with GarageLine and their XPipe/MidPipe for the 370Z.

NOTE: I did not get the full catback and I have the factory cats and factory axleback. I only have their X and Mid Pipes.

Ordering/Shipping - A+
The ordering was easy (by phone). I was told it was in stock and that it would be shipped that day. I was told I'd receive an email with a tracking number that day and I did. The product arrived on time and was packaged very nicely (lots of foam peanuts and bubble wrap around the product). The product looks amazing (polished stainless) and came with all the required bolts nuts and gaskets.

Install - A+
I had local muffler shop do the install because <insert excuse list here />. It looked like if I had the appropriate tools and strength I could have installed this myself without professional assistance.

Appearance - A+
It looks great; just like the pictures on their website. Once installed you can't really see much of a change because it is all under the car. If you really get under the car and look closely, it does seem to hang a touch lower than stock as it passes under the diff - but not too bad.

Operation - A+
Immediately on start up you can hear a deeper tone but the exhaust is not noticeably any louder (at least at low revs). During the ride home I noticed that the tone seems lower but not really noticeable while driving reasonably (road noise, radio, etc.). The deeper, throatier tone is apparent after 4K rpm but it doesn't seem to be much louder than stock (maybe just a bit). This is perfect for me as I don't want to attract any LEO attention here in socal and I visit Laguna Seca where sound is monitored very closely. I don't believe in butt dynos but I have heard from many that the restrictive part of our exhaust is the Y pipe - hence my purchase.

Last Comment
When I got out of the Z in my garage after arriving home, I noticed the fairly strong aroma of burnt paper. Not sure what that is about but it seems to be coming from the tailpipe. It's probably just a couple peanuts made it into the pipes and got burnt up - to be safe blow yours out before installing them if you get one. Anyways, I'll be checking on it tonight.


Overall an A+ from me!

edit: Here is a sound sample during my first autox after installing...

Does it feel a bit faster or anything? I plan on buying this with an AAM short tail exhaust. And test pipes.

Any rasp or "whooshing" sound on decel around 2 - 2.5 K RPM...?

i don't think my butt dyno is calibrated to that extent. i'll see if my times are any faster at the next autox practice/race, though.

i'll listen for it on my next trip out but as yet I haven't heard anything like that.


EDIT: no rasp or whoosh at 2K to 2.5K rpm.

I strongly recommend the axle back as well. It will sound A lot better...not louder than what u have..but wont have a raspy sound. The stock muffler tends to have a rasp sound to it. I have over 5k miles on the cat back and love it!!
:bowrofl:

Thanks! At present I'm really happy with the tone of the GL X/MID with the factory axelback and don't think spending the extra $200+ will make me any happier. I don't hear any rasp at all - just a little louder with a touch lower tone.

I have this cobo with the muffler from a Nismo Z and I really like the difference it's def faster

cool! I was thinking of doing the same thing, but it's been posted here that the NISMO muffler is 8+ lbs heavier than standard muffler. I haven't weighed them myself, so I thought I'd give what I already had a try. I like it.

Btw how much did the muffler shop charge you to install this? I wanted to get this and my AAM short tail exhaust installed but just curious how much it would be to install that and the short tail.

I think I paid $75

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...ps4liqdaag.jpg

I expected about $80 and would have tipped him a $20 on top of that, but he charged me $100 so he got no tip.

I wonder if this holds a better gain than the aftermarket y-pipes available

added a sound example to the original post and here.

I'm running this exact setup, GarageLine x/mid pipes completed with AAM short tails. I did the install myself so my entire cat-back exhaust cost me <$700.

It definitely feels faster, but the real change is the sound... oh man that sound! :yum:

For my next install, trying to decide if I want to go Fast Intentions long tube headers, or Motordyne art pipes paired with Stillen or Z1 headers. I like the idea of the FI headers, but thinking it might be too loud. The car already screams with just the cat-back installed.