My Borla adventure began about two years ago when I wanted my G35 sedan to go faster! After poking around the forums and reading about the options and being at least a little influenced by the advertising hype on the Borla website, I chose their dual exhaust for the sedan. One of the most influencing factors was that, based on a few posts, the Borla sounded most like stock.

Immediately after the exhaust was installed, it was apparent that those who claimed it sounded like stock had never heard one.

While it produced an appealing note at WOT, it also produced a VERY annoying drone under 2500 rpm. Unfortunately, my engine spends most of its time under 2500 rpm. Every person who rode in the car complained about the obnoxious exhaust sounds filling the cabin.

As time went by, the sound grew louder. Not knowing how the muffler was constructed, I suspected that fiberglass or other material was settling and allowing for more noise. Eventually, I called Borla to see if they had a solution. Their customer service told me that I was the first person who ever voiced a complaint about that exhaust. Wow, that kinda made me feel un-cool or something, even though I didn’t believe it.

Over time, the problem slowly grew until I began to notice a buzzing or rattling sound under low acceleration from a stop. Investigation revealed that something was rattling around inside the muffler so I called Borla to see how good their million-mile warranty was.

All I had to do was give them a credit card number and fax in a proof of purchase and a replacement would be on its way. And, low and behold, they also offered a set of venturis that needed to be spot welded into the pipes leading into the muffler and into the resonators. Supposedly, these venturis will reduce the drone this exhaust has become famous for. (Apparently, they must have received a second call about a drone problem!)

So now I’m faced with the repair cost to disassemble my exhaust system and weld in parts that should have been there in the first place, and to replace a muffler that fell 970,000 miles short of its projected life!

A week after faxing in the proof of purchase, the customer service guy calls and tells me he just got it – supposedly he had two in-boxes and didn’t know it. Unfortunately, they don’t have a muffler in stock for my G35 and it must be backordered.

It’s now about a month and many phone calls later. No muffler yet! Four promises of “I’ll get status information and call you back.” No calls back. One brief remark to the effect of, “Production is so backlogged with warranty items that they can’t get to it right now.” Hmmm.

What if the muffler had failed catastrophically and the car was undriveable? My car would have been out of service for a month (plus who knows how much more) waiting for Borla to make a muffler to fit my car.

I think it would be safe to say that Borla has seen their last dollar from me.

And worst of all, despite the glitz and dyno curves, it didn’t make my car faster – just louder!

 

Wow that is hated. I had a Borla system on my Lincoln LS and the drone drove me crazy. It got so intense it would make my eyes blur and water up. My wife hated riding in the car so essentially the 3 other seats were hardly ever occupied.

I am shocked that they would admit that they were back logged with warranty work... That really says a lot about their product.

I am sure some people have had a good experience but I have comletely dismissed Borla as well and aftermarket exhaust systems in general.

 

I lasted about 3 months b4 my ears got tired.

 

I have no experience with the Borla on the G, but I had the Borla on my 94 Camaro Z28 and it was definitely the best exhaust system I had ever seen. Very high quality and terrific sound/performance.

I am hesitant to change the exhaust on the G as I don't mind the factory system. Kinda glad that since exhaust on a G seems to be a bit of a problem area when it comes to aftermarket.

Hope you get things resolved soon. Keep us updated at to whether the drone is gone once you replace it.

 

I have the Borla for the coupe. The volume level difference from the stock coupe to Borla is relatively small. I believe that there is a greater difference in the sedan version since the sedan is so quiet to begin with. I do have that annoying drone driving between 30 to 40mph around town. On the highway it's pretty good.

Quality of the parts is okay. Although the H-pipe did have a leak between the two halves where it clamped down. I got that welded and everything is fine. Too many clamps, too many chances for a leak. Borla should really consider using flanges on their exhausts.

One thing that really peeved me is that when I did my spring install, the exhaust pipe was in the way of the lower suspension member where the spring was seated. There was no way to fully extend the spring to get it out and there is no way to take the exhaust apart. Once the exhaust was clamped, you cannot take it apart again unless you take a blow torch and heat the connections up. Very annoying. I won't even go into headache this exhaust caused with my rear sway bar install.

The tone of the exhaust is definitely deep. It's a little too "muscle-ly" which grows on you after a while, but you lose that exotic sound of the VQ. If I had it to do over again. I would probably go with a Greddy EVO2 or maybe one of those Intimidator exhausts.

 

For what it's worth, I recently had a ride in GRD's black G35 with the APS twin turbo and the APS exhaust (3" if I remember right).

The car was IMPRESSIVE to say the least - 495 WHP!
And to my ears, the exhaust sounded exactly like stock.

I think the liscence plate should have said "SURPRISE!"

 

i've had my fuji for well over a year and i absolutely love it. even w/ hearders and cats there is still no drone

 

I know Borla has their patented sound, but I've never liked it. The last generation of Z28, with a factory Borla exhaust, was a good example. Sure, that V8 would scream at WOT, but the exhaust note and that characteristic Borla 'coffee can' sound never was real flattering. Never liked the way they make the Corvette sound either. But I'm a stickler for exhaust notes and not just volume.

It's nice to know that their Million Mile Warranty has a Million Minute Replacement clause as well.

 

Well, it's about six weeks now. No replacement muffler yet. Plenty of promises of "I'll check and call you back." They must still be checking, because they don't call back.

I even talked with David Borla. He was apologetic and told me that I had lots of company (unhappy customers, that is). But no muffler.

The Borla drone is getting intolerable.

Maybe they should increas their guarantee to two million miles. You can guarantee anything if you don't stand behind it.

How do these people stay in business?

 

They stay in business thanks to you buying their product. That's how capitalism works.

 

My Borla TD lasted about 7 days on my G35 sedan. The resonance and mild vibration caused by the exhaust just wasn't for me. At a very steady no load cruise, the system was dead quiet, but once the torque converter unlocked, the resonace was there with a vengence. I came to the realization that this exhaust just isn't right for a 5AT that spends most of it's time in the 1,800-2,500rpm range. With more weight in the back of the car, the resonance was stronger and I worried about my 18 month old son and/or friends/parents riding back there. I also wasn't terribly impressed by the gains and the more I think about it, I think the noise made my butt believe I was going faster. The guy that bought my exhaust put it on this 05 6MT and he gains 4-5whp

 

I was having the same thoughts about the Stillen TD gen1 exhaust, and was preparing to switch to the Borla. After reading all of this, I am having second thoughts...

 

Not to knock Borla, but even as a shop owner I have gotten the same treatment as all of you. Everytime I call them for something they tell me 6-8 weeks out. When I call back in 6-8 weeks, they tell me another 6-8 weeks. Honestly I don't push their product for this reason. As far as the quality I really have nothing bad or negative to say about it, except they are known for their drone. One of the main factors that wen't in to designing the Intimidator exhaust, was trying to make the drone as minimal as possible. The thing you have to remember is that Borla is a multi-million dollar company, and if they lose your business today, or mine for that matter, they have 10 people in line to take our spots as of tomorrow. I don't agree with that being the way to handle things but hey, that is why I own my business and not one like that...Tony

 

IMO, chuck the foreward muffler, weld in this X crossover http://www.drgas.com/store/product.p...2&cat=1&page=1
or two of these cut and welded to make your own X crossover
http://www.drgas.com/store/product.p...6&cat=1&page=1

Then weld in a pair of 22" long 4" round Magnaflow mullers where the oem premuller went. Either that or see if you can stuff a dynomax dual in/out muffler in the same spot.

 

They can be pricey, but I had a Borla exhaust on my mustang and absolutely loved. I am suprised you are having problems