My local garage took 45 minutes to complete the install. The flanges on the front of the X-pipe did not line-up perfectly with the cat flanges, but they were close. A little fiddling took care of that. The tube ends on the back of the X-pipe did not line-up perfectly with the tube ends on the front of the resonator section. It was off by just a hair, but enough to cause trouble. Again, fiddling saved the day. (It may have gone better if the X-pipe & the resonator section had been assembled on the ground, and then put into place on the car as one piece.) The rest of the install, from resonators to muffler, was a breeze. There were no clearance problems.

There were only two customers in there early this morning, so all five mechanics made themselves available to assist with my project from time-to-time! (Many compliments.) We took a vote, and it was unanimous: The d@mn thing does not ship with all new gaskets for the flange connections, and it should!

Upon first starting-up, the change in exhaust note compared to the OEM system was instantly obvious: louder and deeper. It sounded good: All of our mouths were hanging open.

As I drove away and picked-up speed, the engine seemed confused. It seemed to hesitate. Or maybe it was me? It was as if the engine were drunk. (I was not.) When I got home, I did a quick ECU reset procedure, and then took a little drive.

The car behaved better. I took it easy for most of the trip. At idle and at cruising speed, the exhaust burbles quietly. All other points on the line from idle to red-line are characterized as *significantly* louder than stock. I hope that mellows out over the next week or two. I accelerated *hard* a few times, and the exhaust positively WAILS at high RPMs. Woo, baby! The car lunges forward like a b!tch, with much more authority than before. Gotta love it...

So far, so good. But I still hope the exhaust note becomes more quiet in the 1,000-4,000 rpm range in the next few days.

'03 G35 5AT Sedan, Garnet Fire/Willow
18x8 SSR GT1/Bridgestone S03 225/45/18Y
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs & Anti-Sway Kit
Stillen Cat-Back Exhaust System

 

I know what you mean about the low-rpm exhaust note. I know someone with a Bullitt Mustang lightly modded and an aftermarket exhaust. The thing is so bloody loud that it threatens to break windows even at quite low rpms and speeds. It's quite ridiculous, and I'm certain his neighbors are quite unimpressed and have likely reported him to the police for sound level violations.


Black/Willow 03.5 6MT, Premium, Navi, Aero, SAT
350Z Nismo CAI

 

bullseye,

Let us know how it sounds after you have a few more miles logged. Most have said that the sound does mellow after a while. Thanks.

Take care,

amG35
2003 Silver Sedan

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

The flanges on the front of the X-pipe did not line-up perfectly with the cat flanges, but they were close. A little fiddling took care of that.

<hr></blockquote>If you read my post, you'll see I had the same problem. All you have to do is loosen the cat hanger bolts, they are on slip brackets, and loosing them will allow easy positioning of the cats. I did connect the x-pipe, resonator section and resonator to the joint ahead of muffler section on the ground. It's much easier to align the remaining short section and muffler that way. I"m with you re: the gaskets. I mean really, how much do a couple of friggen gaskets cost anyway? I would also have liked to see slip clamps instead of the cheaper old-style pipe clamps incase I ever wanted to remove the system without having to cut it apart. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how the tone and db mellow over the next couple of weeks. I was thinking uh oh, a bit loud here at first, but now it is just perfect. Make sure you complete all the resets correctly. Trust us, it only gets better! Congrats.

2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY

 

Well put Doug.

Concerning gaskets. Stillen does include two gaskets for their dual midpipes to dual muffler inlet flanges. They don't include two new cat to x-pipe gaskets. While I'd had the new gaskets, I decided not to use them. There were no leaks and haven't heard of anyone else having a problem with re-using these gaskets.

FYI, the MSRP costs for factory exhaust sytem gaskets.

Cat to y-pipe (x-pipe) flange gasket - 2 x $7.41 = $14.82
Y-pipe to midpipe flange gasket - $7.57 (Not used with Stillen exhaust system)
Midpipe to muffler flange ring gasket - $7.83 (Not used with Stillen exhaust system)

I paid $5.42 (x 2 = $10.82), $5.55 and $5.75 for these gaskets. Pretty steep? Try buying the cat/y-pipe flange nuts. MSRP is $3.52 each. I paid $2.57 each. These prices do not include tax and shipping.


DaveO
2003 G35 Sedan - DP / Willow / AT / Premium / Sport
350Z Engine Cover, T-Stat & Air Duct / Stillen CAI
GG 7-Wire H-G Kit / TS ECU / E-Fans
Street Edge TC / B&M Cooler / Stillen Exhaust

 

bullseye,

Did you re-use the factory gaskets? Any exhaust leaks?

Thanks,

amG35
2003 Silver Sedan

 

DaveO,

From where did you order these gaskets? Could you provide the part numbers?

Thanks,

amG35
2003 Silver Sedan

 

amg35,

No problem.

Cat/y-pipe flange gasket (uses two) - # 20692 - 1E810
Y-pipe/midpipe flange gasket - # 20692 - 65J00
Midpipe/muffler flange ring gasket - # 29691 - OP600

Cat/y-pipe flange nuts (uses four) - # 20602 - 41G00
Midpipe front & rear flange nuts (uses four) - #08918 - 3401A

Sources? While I'm sure there's many good sources, I can personally recommend both these guys.

Justin @ Infiniti of Scottsdale (AZ) - 888.216.5328
parts@infinitiofscottsdale.com

Jason @ Performance Nissan (Duarte, CA) - 626.305.3000 parts@perfnissan.com

They have good prices, post here and are good knowledgable guys to talk with. (in my subjective opinion)


DaveO
2003 G35 Sedan - DP / Willow / AT / Premium / Sport
350Z Engine Cover, T-Stat & Air Duct / Stillen CAI
GG 7-Wire H-G Kit / TS ECU / E-Fans
Street Edge TC / B&M Cooler / Stillen Exhaust

 

We reused the factory gaskets. (I was prepared for that.) No leaks whatsoever, but still, two more new gaskets would have been a nice touch, at the very least, right?

The mechanics told me they did not install exhaust systems very often, and they were reluctant to try. I encouraged them anyway, as it is a straightforward bolt-on system. I watched the installation throughout the entire process, and it wasn't too bad at all. With all five guys milling about under that car, giving a hand here, holding that pipe there, contributing a few words of advice... it looked like a Chinese fire drill. But when they were done, you should have seen the looks of pride on their faces. You would have thought I was about to take that car to the moon! They all did a great job, and all five of them deserve the credit. LOL! What a great way to start the day!

I did the quick ecu reset after I got home from the garage. I'm sure I did it right, as the CEL began to blink when I expected it to start blinking. At that point, it was more than 10 seconds of full-on throttle application, and then... done.

As I mentioned before, the engine seemed to function more smoothly after that. I took another drive this evening, and it's better than this morning. I've got to be careful, though... that exhaust note is loud enough to awaken a sleeping cop, and I am tempted to drive at WOT all the time. What a rush...


'03 G35 5AT Sedan, Garnet Fire/Willow
18x8 SSR GT1/Bridgestone S03 225/45/18Y
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs & Anti-Sway Kit
Stillen Cat-Back Exhaust System

 

WHAT? CAN YOU SAY THAT LOUDER? I CAN'T HEAR YOU... OH. OK. WILL DO.

:-)

'03 G35 5AT Sedan, Garnet Fire/Willow
18x8 SSR GT1/Bridgestone S03 225/45/18Y
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs & Anti-Sway Kit
Stillen Cat-Back Dual Exhaust System

 

bullseye,

I'm drooling. Do you or anybody know if this will fit the G35x? Otherwise by Monday I'll be calling them.

X

2K4 G35x/Brilliant Silver/Graphite/Premium/Wood

 

Hmmm...

I'm 99% sure this system would fit the G35X. That said, if I owned a G35X, I wouldn't buy this system unless I was 100% sure it would fit. Give the folks at Stillen a holler on Monday.

'03 G35 5AT Sedan, Garnet Fire/Willow
18x8 SSR GT1/Bridgestone S03 225/45/18Y
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs & Anti-Sway Kit
Stillen Cat-Back Dual Exhaust System

 

bullseye - if you have only done the "Basic ECU Reset", you may want to do the the others as well. The "Idle Air Volume Learning" reset did wonders for mine. I posted them in lead_foot's Stillen Exhaust thread HERE.

2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY

 

When you call Stillen, make sure to ask for Adam Hume. Otherwise if it is your first call you will run the risk of being ASSigned a lifetime idiot as your salesperson for ever and ever.

Adam Hume: Toll free 800-576-2131 ext# 138

Cheers, Ted

'03 Sedan 5a: BS/G, Prem, Aero/Body, Sport, Nav
Click for MODS or Vote at Online Showoff

 

Thanks for the reminder. I recall having read the post before, but I had forgotten it. I'll try every one of the resets you described today, to see what happens. If you should happen to see a mushroom cloud rising over Memphis, Tennessee later this afternoon, you'll know I did something wrong! Thanks again.

'03 G35 5AT Sedan, Garnet Fire/Willow
18x8 SSR GT1/Bridgestone S03 225/45/18Y
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs & Anti-Sway Kit
Stillen Cat-Back Dual Exhaust System <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by bullseye on 01/18/04 11:52 AM.</EM></FONT></P>