Is it bad that there is no flex pipe?

 

I don't think so. AFAIK none of the G/Z family comes with one, nor any aftermarket exhaust I've seen for them. What do you suppose it would do?

 

I can't say for certain but it could cause more strain on the bolts connecting the y pipe to the cats or stress on the headers every time the engine flexes under hard acceleration, basically now everything is very stiff and it could lead to cracks and rattles in the exhaust.

BUT this is just a guess, I asked 5 mechanics and/or techs, whatever you want to call them, some people said it was really bad and it would lead cracks, rattles, and break down of the pipes and bolts, others said it was fine, others said it just wouldn't last as long before it cracked, like one or two years.

My personal experience is after I installed Megan racing headers, the cats did not align directly up to the borla cat back, so we had to force bend the pipes about 1 to 2 inches to jam fit the bolts in place (yeah I'm probably screwed, some mechanics said I'd be fine, others said it would break) Others told me to just install flex pipes so obviously I have no idea who to listen to because I am getting three different words of advice.

If anyone knows, please enlighten us all.

 

^^ In that case IMO it would have been ideal to modify some bends or add a flex-pipe, but mine went on fine and everything lined up with very little 'persuasion' required.

 

Mine lined up very nicely. But since it's a slip fit, I could twist the pipes in for a little variance in alignment. So I just made sure everything lined up as good as possible before tightening everything down. At no time did I have to force/bend/bang on anything to get it to fit. But I did have to use a rubber hammer to get the pipes to slip down enough for dimensional reasons.

 

great so i'm screwed haha, why am i the only one who's headers did not align... haha

we totally used a hammer to bang and the biggest freaking pry bar i've ever see in my life, maybe 5 ft long to bend the cats(bolted to the headers) to bolt onto the borla....

oh well guess i'll get some new headers in 6 months after the welds break... ugh i'm so pissed....

 

Finally had a chance to take some pics while I changed the oil. Pics of the magnaflow resonated X. Basicly it looks like the Borla muffler but with the X inside (that we can't see duh!)

 

Ah, it's one of those RED resonated X pipes... (actually several red x pipes)

Or maybe I'm just ****-blocked here at work.

 

I can see them? Oddly enough, this is the 1st time I've seen the work also. the leaks on both front welded pipes aren't good to see. But I think they are very minor. I could probably touch them up myself with my own mig

 

Update. As to the issue of no flex sections, I haven't had a problem since the install and since the addition of the X pipe.

 

Hey.. I have the borla catback on my 04 sedan and it is just as Jeff92se mentioned. It wasn't bad just annoying. I find that I would have to drive in manual shift mode just to keep the rpm's up so illiminate that noice around 2000 to 2500 rpm. I also had an AEM cold air intake installed. I decided to upgrade my Stock ECU and I went with UPRev. Now, that noice is less apparent especially when doing hwy driving it used to be bad at 100-110 but now its not. It would occour at 80kph however.. but after tuning the muffler sound is much better. Just my 2cents

 

...

 

I've touched on all of those questions in this thread somewhere.

 

yea, i actually thought u did but wasnt sure if it was me trippen or you did. Long day at work, ill dig again. my bad