GreenPenguin's 2004 Coupe Midpipe Comments
 

Hey Guys, thank you for accepting and welcoming me to this wonderful community! I'm so excited to share my knowledge and also learn more from everyone here. I also wanna give a shout out to BytheBay for his work on diy videos. He has given me the courage to attempt alot of repairs myself. Thank you.

Ok, now onto my coupe midpipe comment...

I bought my coupe midpipe and y pipe as a set from a guy in PA who had upgraded from his stock set up for $130- thats about 80 for the mid and 50 for the y. Anywho, I got it on yesterday (very easy with PB blaster) when the weather broke a bit... and I must say... Im slightly dissapointed :( Now I'm not a guy who likes the sound of say a hotrod or fart-cannon but, I do love a throaty exhaust like the G35 coupe and FX35. Dont get me wrong, it is now a tad deeper but not what i was expecting. So guys, where do I go from here?

Also, (and please dont crucify me for this) I forgot to remove the old Ypipe gasket before i put the new gasket on. Is there any harm in doubling up on exhaust gaskets?

I may be looking to get rid of my sedan ypipe and mid if I get the results that Im looking for. Any comment is appreciated.

I just installed an 05 sedan mid pipe on my 04 and it sounds pretty good!

I heard the HR y-pipe would make a difference in sound

What year sedan? The coupe middy should make a noticeable difference on an 03/04, not sure how much on an 05/06 since the muffler itself on those is bigger. Want more sound? Switch out your stock muffler for an HKS rear section. (search HKS sedan)

^+1 or you could spring for a set of HFCs for ~$380-500 depending on the brand. Those will definitely give you a louder, deeper sound, and they don't smell bad like test pipes :D

GP welcome to the family.

Here's what I suggest to help you with your dilemma. Decide how loud and what tone you are looking for by listening to other people's exhausts (or videos). Also, take into account if increased performance is a goal of yours or not. There are endless combinations of changes you can make to each item in the intake/exhaust flow and every change you make to stock will result in a slightly different tone to your exhaust.

Most of the sedan guys swear by the z tube, coupe mid pipe, HKS muffler combination for the perfect sound for them. I had the HKS and it was a little too loud for me, but I'm old. :) This combination does sound great but has some drone in the 1500-2500 RPM range and offers little to no added power.

Some of the 03-04 guys run the hr y-pipe, 05 sedan midpipe, stock muffler and love it. I currently have an R2C intake, polished z tube, hr y pipe, coupe mid, and my stock 05 muffler and I love the way my car sounds. Subdued but totally different from the stock tone. Engine bay looks pretty cool as well.

Aftermarket exhaust systems like the Motordyne VQ will add a decent amount of power and sound great, but can get a little pricey, $700-$800 or more new.

And so you'll know aftermarket intakes add a cool growl to the engine and add a little to the exhaust sound, but can be prone to heat soak which robs the engine of power at times. Don't pay attention to the manufacturer's claims that they will give you 10-15 more HP, that's a crock. A lot of members here advocate keeping the stock airbox with some sort of drop in high flow filter. It is a very efficient system. High flow cats and test pipes will also change the tone of your exhaust dramatically and free up some additional power so as you can see there are a lot of variables that come in to play when deciding what route you want to go.

Read through this forum to get different opinions and then go from there. Unfortunately the sedan will never sound like the coupe or FX unless you want to modify the hell out of your back end/trunk and add the coupe muffler.

Good luck!!

Yea, I guess I shouldve mentioned the year I have. Sorry guys. Anyway, I have a 2005 G sedan 6mt z-tubed and pop- charged. I did do a little reading and found that I should look into the hr y-pipe. Also, noone replied to my other question about doubling up on the exhuast gasket- I guess that means no harm no foul right? And does anyone else have trouble shifting smoothly from time to time? Somedays she shifts like a dream and others like a nightmare. My clutch fluid is as clear as it was when I flushed it last summer. I dunno. And my popcharger filter is grey now, lol no more blue :)

Why did you get a coupe Y pipe with your midpipe? The coupe Y pipe is exactly the same as ours

It's funny you ask! The guy I found on craigslist wanted 200 for the entire exhaust and only wanted to sell it as a whole. The only way I could get the mid was to buy at least the y pipe. I knew I didn't need it but I was tired of searching for the midpipe (had been looking for 8 months). So now I might be selling my stock sedan midpipe as a bundle with that y pipe :)

The Sedan and Coupe Midpipes are 100% the same. I have seen many mid pipes being sold here month after month. It should of made it sound very nice moving from 03/04 Mid to a coupe mid.