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But at the end of the day, if you install the headers yourself, it's definitely one of the best, cost-effective mods you can do to a naturally aspirated motor. If you look at the stock exhaust manifolds on the G, at the point where they connect to the catalytic converters, the ID of the piping looks like it's about 1.75", no joke. It creates a bottleneck effect, and therefore reduces horsepower.
Yea if you do the work yourself, that's different. Most people don't though so I was going off of that assumption.Originally Posted by Mr. Brett
Yes, test pipes are a good bang for your buck, too, I agree.But at the end of the day, if you install the headers yourself, it's definitely one of the best, cost-effective mods you can do to a naturally aspirated motor. If you look at the stock exhaust manifolds on the G, at the point where they connect to the catalytic converters, the ID of the piping looks like it's about 1.75", no joke. It creates a bottleneck effect, and therefore reduces horsepower.
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Any high compression motor is going to respond well to bolt-ons. The more air you can move through the motor, the better...
Coming from a Maxima, I can say that headers are one of the best bang-for-your-buck mods you can do to a VQ outside of spray...but headers are a whole different animal compared to a catback.
Like most everyone else said, you'll see the most gains not from either catback, but from putting on a decent set of test pipes...I've still got a stock catback, and the first thing I did when I got my G was put test pipes on it. I picked up a good bit of midrange torque. Or, at least, that's what my butt dyno told me. I have yet to actually get to a dyno.
I remember reading about 6-7yrs ago that the VQ35DE on the Maxima came alive with headers. That wasn't the case with the VQ30DE I had in my 97' Maxima. Hands down the best bang for the buck mod was the y-pipe. Originally Posted by Mr. Brett
Is there any dynoed proof that our cars don't...? I don't mean that in a harsh way. I'm just curious.Any high compression motor is going to respond well to bolt-ons. The more air you can move through the motor, the better...
Coming from a Maxima, I can say that headers are one of the best bang-for-your-buck mods you can do to a VQ outside of spray...but headers are a whole different animal compared to a catback.
Like most everyone else said, you'll see the most gains not from either catback, but from putting on a decent set of test pipes...I've still got a stock catback, and the first thing I did when I got my G was put test pipes on it. I picked up a good bit of midrange torque. Or, at least, that's what my butt dyno told me. I have yet to actually get to a dyno.
Generalizing that headers are the best bang for the buck mod on any VQ35DE is not a good assumption to make. For the G there are many headers that lose power over stock and the only ones that you could say are worthwhile are long-tube headers.
For this car the only 'real' bang for the buck mods are the spacer, HFC, moderately priced catback and dyno.
Also not any high compression engine is going to respond well to bolt ons. They only respond well if they come with retarded restrictions from the factory.
Coming from my Max which handled like an 18 wheeler, looked like it had a 6" lift kit from the factory, the G really isn't worth modding nearly as much. I'm slowly lying to myself that things need to get modded on this car but in reality, there's very little that needs to be done.
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Generalizing that headers are the best bang for the buck mod on any VQ35DE is not a good assumption to make. For the G there are many headers that lose power over stock and the only ones that you could say are worthwhile are long-tube headers.
For this car the only 'real' bang for the buck mods are the spacer, HFC, moderately priced catback and dyno.
Also not any high compression engine is going to respond well to bolt ons. They only respond well if they come with retarded restrictions from the factory.
Coming from my Max which handled like an 18 wheeler, looked like it had a 6" lift kit from the factory, the G really isn't worth modding nearly as much. I'm slowly lying to myself that things need to get modded on this car but in reality, there's very little that needs to be done.
Exactly why I sold my berks hfc and exhaust. Just didn't make it feel much better. I kept the spacer though. I wish I just would have done exterior mods now that I look back on it. Oh well..Originally Posted by RastaManMax
I remember reading about 6-7yrs ago that the VQ35DE on the Maxima came alive with headers. That wasn't the case with the VQ30DE I had in my 97' Maxima. Hands down the best bang for the buck mod was the y-pipe. Generalizing that headers are the best bang for the buck mod on any VQ35DE is not a good assumption to make. For the G there are many headers that lose power over stock and the only ones that you could say are worthwhile are long-tube headers.
For this car the only 'real' bang for the buck mods are the spacer, HFC, moderately priced catback and dyno.
Also not any high compression engine is going to respond well to bolt ons. They only respond well if they come with retarded restrictions from the factory.
Coming from my Max which handled like an 18 wheeler, looked like it had a 6" lift kit from the factory, the G really isn't worth modding nearly as much. I'm slowly lying to myself that things need to get modded on this car but in reality, there's very little that needs to be done.
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Go custom with true dual exhaust, if your worried about money. Make sure the muffler shop is good. And make sure they keep the x pipe which they will make.. It'll sound like a baby v8 but a little raspy, but you'll feel the difference 2.5 in ch pipes nothing bigger or smaller
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Generalizing that headers are the best bang for the buck mod on any VQ35DE is not a good assumption to make. For the G there are many headers that lose power over stock and the only ones that you could say are worthwhile are long-tube headers.
For this car the only 'real' bang for the buck mods are the spacer, HFC, moderately priced catback and dyno.
I'm just going off of what I've learned, being in the 5.5 gen Maxima for almost four years. I know that people that own Zs/Gs have seen losses from everything from cold air intakes to cheap intake spacers. I didn't know that there were headers on the market that actually lost horsepower.Originally Posted by RastaManMax
I remember reading about 6-7yrs ago that the VQ35DE on the Maxima came alive with headers. That wasn't the case with the VQ30DE I had in my 97' Maxima. Hands down the best bang for the buck mod was the y-pipe.Generalizing that headers are the best bang for the buck mod on any VQ35DE is not a good assumption to make. For the G there are many headers that lose power over stock and the only ones that you could say are worthwhile are long-tube headers.
For this car the only 'real' bang for the buck mods are the spacer, HFC, moderately priced catback and dyno.
And yes, a y-pipe is, from what I understand, a good mod for the Maxima too. But last I checked, a good y-pipe is nearly as expensive as some shorty headers you can get for the V35/Z33 platform. But then again, I may be wrong. Like I said. I'm still learning.
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Which it seems like a lot of car companies like to do... Like I said, it really blew my mind when I was installing my test pipes, and I saw that flange on the exhaust manifolds on the G where the ID went from 2.25 to about 1.75". If that's not a retarded restriction, I don't know what is. Originally Posted by RastaManMax
Also not any high compression engine is going to respond well to bolt ons. They only respond well if they come with retarded restrictions from the factory.
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So I'm not the only one who saw that in the Maxima. Mine handled...better...with coilovers. But it was still a dump truck at high speeds.Originally Posted by RastaManMax
Coming from my Max which handled like an 18 wheeler, looked like it had a 6" lift kit from the factory, the G really isn't worth modding nearly as much. I'm slowly lying to myself that things need to get modded on this car but in reality, there's very little that needs to be done.
You know it's bad when a factory suspension (G, duh) is more road-worthy than a fully modified suspension, on a car that weighs less, mind you.