hexotic

Im super happy with the Top Speed. For a subtle daily driver with a bit of extra zing its perfect. Didn't even bother with HFC or a y-pipe. A buddy of mine did the Manzo y-pipe, Top Speed, and FI HFC, car was twice as loud as mine, he said still too quiet... then sold his sedan bought a coupe and straight piped it lol. My point is, to each his own.

Dzionassi

I have Tanabe mid pipe, 2.5 to 3 ypipe with Vibrant 1142 3" Ultra Quiet Resonator, berk hfc, and Tanabe axle-back. It is very loud with alot of drone 1500-3000 range. After that it is manageable.
I could not stand it anymore so i took of axle-back and put original back.
I will relocate flex on ypipe and add two more Vibrant 1792 resonators...
If that will not help with drone.... next step Helmholtz resonator ....

Wellnotexactly

Thought I would post here since it felt the most appropriate. Just spoke with MD regarding build times and was told that my worst case "latest date" would be 9/25, but was just told that it could potentially be sooner. Basically they have the rear sections of the exhaust completed already and make the AWD-spec y-pipes based on orders and interest. If production happens to have time to make the y-pipes, they are coupled with the rest of the system and immediately shipped. So, best case scenario is earlier by a few weeks.

But the REAL news here, apparently the reason why MD is taking so long with all of their orders is because they are currently building prototypes for new products. Two of those being ART pipes with built in HFC, and ART pipes for the AWD sedan (finally).

RMB5190

iTrader: (2)

Thank you for that bit of information!

Wellnotexactly

Happy to share!

Im confused. Do you have a coupe? As far as I know, Tanabe never made a midpipe for the sedan and the prototype never made it to production. I know there are a few people here with just the Tanabe/aftermarket y-pipe and Tanabe axlebacks that love the sound, but they kept their midpipes/resonators stock.

obsidiansamurai

I'm quite torn between just getting a couple of cheaper chambered mufflers or dishing out the money for one of the used Tanabe axlebacks on here.

I know the Tanabe will sound good - I've never heard a Tanabe setup that didn't sound good, but I'm having troubles getting past the looks. Maybe if I could black out those cans it would look more subdued, but even then the tips are larger than I'd like. (I know, I'm probably being too picky).

The issue with chambered mufflers is that I'm not sure they'll sound better than the turbo mufflers I currently have, but they're more than 1/2 the price of a Tanabe setup.

If I went the chambered muffler route, and they actually sounded good, I could also get my sway bars. I'd have to wait quite a while for sway bars if I went the Tanabe route....oh what a predicament.

Looking for some evidence to push me either way. Sucks that there's no videos of chamber muffler setups.

Wellnotexactly

The looks are what pushed me to sell my Tanabes so I totally feel you on that. I can't say I've got experience with chambered mufflers, unless by chambered you mean HH design. If I kept the Tanabes I would most certainly black out the cans, the tips aren't actually that bad in person and I think fill the rear end quite nicely. I can snap some better photos for you if you'd like, I still need to take them off of the car to prep for my MD.



As as to the swaybar, are you looking for a set? The front bar doesn't really do much and is a super PITA to install since you've got to drop the subframe. The rear bar is the one to upgrade. If you are like me and have an X, look into getting the OEM bar from the S model sedans. It's only a few MM smaller than aftermarket but a HUGE upgrade over the OEM X bar, not to mention you can order one from an online Infiniti parts vendor for under $100. AFAIK the after market swaybars only come as a set for F/R.

kroy

What is this cheaper chambered muffler you're talking about? What brand?

Tanabe for used $400-500 is already going budget. I would only get tanabe if you're going to stop all exhaust modding at this point. A lot of people usually end up selling their tanabe later and going full CBE.

If you want to go further cheap, go topspeed midback for $400 or axleback for $300. If you need to mod and want something to hold yourself off. Get top speed; this is the best bang for buck. Even if you upgrade to a different setup later, it's not like you broke the bank.

I'm not sure if you want to go cheaper than that. This is really a pay to play hobby. Remember the issue you had going custom piping? I think you need to also consider the cost of fixing things if you don't like it.

I really suggest doing things right the first time if you want to mod your car. If you can't afford what you want yet, just have patience, save up and buy it later. Don't incessantly compromise and get cheaper parts because they look similar. Do your research.

obsidiansamurai

Hmm...they don't look as large in that pic. I wonder if I could get them to not hang down as much and fit a bit more snug. How did you plan on blacking out the cans?

And for sway bars (I realize there's probably a better thread than this), as much as everyone swears by their effectiveness, and as often as I've convinced myself I need them, I still find myself on the fence. The ride is already pretty harsh and the sway bars I know would make it harsher, but the body roll bugs me at times. I've been eyeing adjustable ones that I can put on the lightest setting, but then are they really worth purchasing at that point?

Been going back-and-forth on sway bars and will need to dig through other threads some more.

RMB5190

iTrader: (2)

Magnaflow chambered mufflers can be had for cheaper at $74-75 per can. Two of them plus install and you're still at half the price of a used Tanabe. They will sound monumentally better than turbo mufflers. Here they are with Oval designs so you don't have coffee cans hanging out the back; the design also helps with the elimination of drone since it isn't just a hollow tube.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-13256

Can get them painted in satin black if you don't want to represent with some bling.

Just to clarify, the chambered mufflers have no packing material and the chambers cause the sound waves to bounce around the muffler and off of one another, unrestricted and free flowing. Your turbo muffler consists of packed material and perforated tubing that guides the gases in a particular way that compliments what the manufacturer was trying to achieve with the sound. That said, the chambered muffler will be louder.

I'm not going to begin to try to explain how the Hemholtz work but for the most part, they are able to bounce sound waves in a way that minimizes drone. Someone smarter than me can explain but you can see an example on the Ark system with the way the whale dongs hand off the mufflers. I have no idea how FI does this witchcraft on their end.

A resonated Tanabe set-up can be found on pg. 10 @ the top.

Magnaflow straight through with resonator delete can be found on page 17

guy from norcal

iTrader: (2)

Chambered muffler is going to be a deeper sound than turbo.
this guy is running 2.5" jones 2 chamber race mufflers W/no resonators.
part#jfp250 About $37 each


I'm using a 2.5" jones 2158 muffler. Sounds real similar to the 2 chamber race muffler.

Wellnotexactly

I'm sure with some zip ties around the hanger portions of the muffler you could lift them a tad, but be careful about the tips making contact with your bumper. As to the muffler painting, BLnewt painted his cans with some Rustoleum high temp paint found at either your local Home Depot or auto parts store. He's got a whole thread dedicated to it so I'd search for that if I were you.

As to the sway bars, the harshness of ride is negligible if you're not using any other aftermarket suspension parts, and even then your largest contributor to harsher ride feel would likely be a different culprit. Take these opinions with a grain of salt, what I consider "normal" ride quality may be a bit skewed since I've spent most of my driving life in cars on coilovers. There's no going wrong with a sway bar mod to be honest. Less body roll and understeer are almost always good things.

RMB5190

iTrader: (2)

Whats the drone like with a tubular muffler like that?

obsidiansamurai

I'd say that's a good suggestion. I really thought I could get away with a cheap, nice sounding exhaust, but ya live and ya learn. I had looked at a few cheaper $50-75 chambered mufflers on Summit Racing - very similar to what a couple of the guys linked already.

So my plan as of now:

1. Replace turbo mufflers with some chambered ones and see if that sounds nice.
2. If chambered mufflers sound like ****, then just put the turbo mufflers back on and deal with the subpar sound.
3. Regardless of what happens in either 1 or 2, save up for a decent CBE and go that route later on.

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure I'm going to just give the chambered mufflers a shot. I was watching a Summit Racing video about the different types of exhausts today and they mentioned the chambered mufflers would rasp more. So right now I have the true dual resonated x pipe setup w/ turbo mufflers instead of resonators and then another set of turbo mufflers at the end. Do you think it would sound too raspy or loud if I kept everything the way it was aside from replacing those turbo mufflers at the end with chambered mufflers?

And whale dongs - oddly, yet accurately described lol.

That sounds pretty damn nice. Wouldn't mind a sound like that but possibly quieter. Would the 3 chamber sound quieter than the 2 chamber?

Sweet, I think that's actually what the current muffler shop has sprayed on my turbo mufflers, so I may just have them repeat it with the chambered ones - glad it's that easy!

And 10-4 on the sway bars; I am leaning towards getting them rather than not. I'm getting a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ put on here soon and thought about them doing the sway bars at the same time. I wonder how the ride with that combo would be. My tires now are almost-bald, summer tires that probably contribute to the harshness quite a bit.

And once again, thank you all for being so helpful. Great bunch you are

Dzionassi

I have QX50 with modified coupes midpipe. Made little longer.