NISMO Exhaust Review

[pra11]

I have a 2004 G35 Coupe 6MT.

I've been searching for a couple years now for a good exhaust setup that retains the stock sound, but amplifies it a lot. I love the way our cars sound, which is why I haven't been seriously considering exhausts like HKS or Borla.

I heard the NISMO exhaust on a few clips online, fell in love with the way it sounded through my headphones, and made the purchase. I also bought the 6" (or 8" - whatever it is) extension so the exhaust properly fit the G35 (as you may or may not know, NISMO only makes an exhaust for the 350Z, but it fits the coupe with the addition of the extension pipe).

At the time of the exhaust installation, I already had Crawford Cats, Crawford V5 Plenum, and a Stillen Intake installed. I liked all 3 mods a lot, but they didn't do a tremendous job making the stock sound of my car louder.

So after I got the exhaust installed - I started my car. Gave it a few quick revs and it sounded fantastic. It actually sounded EXACTLY like what I was looking for - it sounded like a louder, mean, raw version of our stock sound. As I drove away, I was thinking to myself that it was crazy how much louder the exhaust made my car. I've read reviews that the NISMO exhaust isn't "too much louder" than stock, etc. In my opinion, and I don't have a LOT of modding experience, the exhaust was WAY louder than stock. Definitely noticable at ALL RPMs during all types of driving.

It seems to sound the best when driving about 75%. That is... giving it about 75% of full throttle and shifting at about 5000 RPM. It wails a tone much like the stock exhaust: smooth and high pitched. And at every shift of the gears, the RPMs drop in a nice gurgle characteristic of the G35 Coupe. I couldn't help but run through the first 3 gears in this manner nearly every time the speed limit was 50 or above. I actually got a speeding ticket 3 days after I got my exhaust installed because I merged onto interstate 290 at 12:30 AM on a Sunday night and gunned it to "81 MPH" solely to hear my exhaust.

The only time the exhaust is as quiet as stock is when coasting. When I do not have my foot on the gas pedal, the exhaust is pretty much silent. This is true for nearly any speed.

I definitely did NOT buy this exhaust for any performance enhancements. Only for sound. I know the stock exhaust is very free flowing as it is. But I can't help but mention that the car surprised me with how quick it was. I didn't get the car dyno'd or anything like that, but it HAD to add some power. Definitely no complaints there. And since I put the stock exhaust back on (more on that later...), the car feels slower. It's kind of depressing, anyway.

There are a lot of upsides to this exhaust... it made the car a little faster. It sounded PERFECT from 3000 RPM and up. It looked about stock, but the tips were angled up slightly, so it looked a little more aggressive.... There was only ONE downside to the exhaust, and because of it, I had to go back to stock.

The downside is that I do a lot of highway driving (AKA: 75 MPH sustained speeds), which puts me at about 2500 RPM - exactly where the exhaust is the loudest. So I'd drive, say, from Chicago to Madison, and I'd listen to 2 hours of exhaust sound. If I had other people in the car, like my girlfriend, it would get kind of tedious to be gentle with the throttle. And because of how loud the exhaust is between 2000-3000 RPM, I simply had to take it off. I went back to stock today.

Yes I miss it already. My car sounds ridiculously quiet now. But I made the decision and I'm sticking with it. I took some video of the exhaust before I brought it to the shop to have it uninstalled, but it was really windy and (a) you couldn't hear the exhaust over the wind and (b) the damn camera tipped over and took video of the sky because of the wind. However, I took some video from INSIDE the car to give you an idea of how sweet the exhaust sounds and how similar to stock it sounds once you get up there (above 3K) in the RPM band.

Here's the link

You Tube

You Tube

Just keep in mind that the noises you're hearing are DEFINITELY louder than stock.

If you guys have any questions, let me know. I'm from the Chicago area and I'll be selling the exhaust. I'll update this thread once I clean up the exhaust a little bit, take some pictures, and make a post in the classifieds.

*edit* For sale: http://g35driver.com/forums/showthre...50#post1979850

[VQGEE35]

pm'd you...

[KDubz33]

Hey buddy can i purchase your 8" exhaust extension. Im from Chicago and looking to buy soon. Email me at KevGolfr33@comcast.net

Thanks, Kevin

[civic4982]

I guess it's the crawford cats that really made your Nismo loud at the lower RPMs. I've got stock cats and nismo headers and have had no issues with it being loud. It's actually just about silent until 3000 rpm in my cabin.

[pra11]

Originally Posted by civic4982

I guess it's the crawford cats that really made your Nismo loud at the lower RPMs. I've got stock cats and nismo headers and have had no issues with it being loud. It's actually just about silent until 3000 rpm in my cabin.

Yeah, I've heard that about the NISMO exhaust. Other posts on this forum mention that any kind of aftermarket cats or test pipes will introduce a high amount of drone with the NISMO. Anyway, it was too much for me.

But let me tell you - right now I'm running the Amuse exhaust with the same cats and everything, and the difference in drone between this and the NISMO is almost unbelievable. The Amuse is nearly as loud, if not AS LOUD, as the Nismo when you're stepping on it. But when you're cruising along at ANY speed with the Amuse, you get nearly no drone. I guess that's what you get for shelling out way too much money for metal pipes.

[EGGPLANT]

How much did you get the Amuse for?

[ttrank]

Amuse = Baller!

[pra11]

Originally Posted by bluevelvet

How much did you get the Amuse for?

Amuse Exhaust: $1000/shipped, used from another member on the forum.

At first I didn't think it was worth it. But then my ECU adjusted to the new exhaust, the tone changed a little bit from when I first put it on, and I noticed a good amount of extra power. Plus the thing about not droning....

This is my 3rd exhaust and I think I've finally found a winner.

[twin001]

I agree with the Nismo droning badly with test pipes. I had them on long enough for me to turn right around and put the car back in the garage to take them off.....AND this was with the MD XYZ pipe w/ Catalytic Converter module. However, with stock cats it sounds great. I do miss the extra power the TP's gave me though.

[Eva G]

isn't there 2 different nismo's? one that is s-tune and one that is not? what are the differences?

[bp240]

as soon as i read the first like 2 sentences of your review on the NISMO exhaust i knew that youtube video i had been watching for weeks was yours...and then sure enough there was the link at the end of your description...i really wish you had made more videos to show the drone because im very interested in the NISMO exhaust but no one i know has one so im stuck deciding by looking at youtube vids.