sipar69 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thought I’d post a write-up: Stillen exhaust system to go with recently fitted Cobra high flow cats on the 370Z Nismo. (Pics + vid at the end) Reason for the mods I like the Nismo exhaust - well made; looks great; sounds much better than a standard 370’s exhaust - just a shade too quiet for me. The Nismo’s an aggressive looking car and I felt it needed a soundtrack to match. Cobra HFCs were added last month in an attempt to increase volume (I think I was the first person in the UK to get a set of these HFCs). I’m happy with them, but they didn’t make much difference to the sound. Choices I’m not into very loud or flashy looking exhausts. I wanted something louder than the Nismo, but not chavy sounding. After lots of research, the contenders came down to HKS, Invidia, Ark and Stillen (the latter because I had one on my previous 370 and loved it) I nearly took a chance on the Ark DTS but Ark only had the blingy ‘Techno’ tips in stock. Fully coloured tips aren’t for me and I kept thinking back to how good my Stillen sounded. (Having now heard the Stillen and HFCs together, I reckon Ark DTS + HFCs would have been too loud for me anyway.) Ordering Ordering through the Tarmac Sportz website was painless. Chris is always really helpful and quick to answer queries. The order was placed on a Wednesday and arrived from California by the following Monday, well packed in a huge box with a ton of padding. Fitting I was a bit anxious because there is a known issue with the Stillen CBE + HFCs combo: on some 370s the exhaust rests on the cross-brace creating a rattle/vibration. It seems to be pot luck whether this affects a particular car, so the backup plan was put the stock cats back on and sell the Cobras. In the end, the fitting (at a local garage I’ve used previously) went very well. It was necessary to slightly modify one of the three hanger brackets to get the tips to line up correctly. Having done my research on the US forums, I was expecting this and mentioned it to the guys. Apparently, it was a very quick and easy fix. Best of all, there’s plenty of clearance between the exhaust and cross-brace. I like that the ‘cannon barrel’ tips look very similar to the Nismo system on the car. Results I immediately noticed a deeper sound on start up, which I remembered from previously having a Stillen. It sounds fairly loud (but not obnoxious), then settles into to a nice burble. What I wasn’t expecting was the difference in sound that the HFCs are capable of making. Although they made very little difference to the Nismo exhaust, they make more difference to the Stillen. As I left the garage, went into 2nd gear and gave the pedal a jab, there was a growl that made me grin from ear to ear. It’s a noticeable difference to the sound of the Stillen on its own (which sounded very good itself on my last car). The character of the sound is also different – a bit more “race car†and less refined, but in a good way. Crucially, the extra growl is only there when you want it to be. The exhaust is still civilised when just cruising along, but the HFCs have made it capable of sounding very aggressive if/when you want it to. Accelerate steadily and it sounds good but perfectly civilised. Drop a gear and prod the pedal and you get a really menacing howl. The sound on downshifts is awesome and I can’t detect any drone with this set up. As seems to be the case with most CBE + HFC combinations, there is some ‘rasp’ on cold start and when the car is getting up to temperature. I’d never heard rasp in person and I can’t say it’s a noise I like, but it’s totally outweighed by how much I love the sound the car makes overall. It also seems to go away when everything is up to temperature. I haven’t said anything about performance gains because I didn’t do the mod for that reason. I can’t say the car feels any different, but I wasn’t expecting it to. Overall I’m really happy. I feel like the Nismo now has the sound to go with its looks. And finally some pics and a cold start vid (sorry for the quality and no revs due to quiet country location and not wanting to upset the locals!) The Nismo exhaust from the side/rear The Stillen from a similar angle Cold Start Video http://s1294.photobu...192cb4.mp4.html 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 have you got cold start vids (of the nismo) and full chat vids of both be nice to see what the difference is/was but definately sounds nice through my speakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks Unfortunately I've not got a vid of the Nismo exhaust. It was a nice sound but just too quiet for me. I'd say if the Nismo was 4/10 in terms of volume, the Stillen and HFCs have bumped up the volume to about 7 or 8/10 and changed the character of the sound - made it a bit harsher but in a good way. I did get my other half to do a vid while we were driving today but the quality isn't great and it doesn't seem to want to upload - will see if I can get it uploaded later. As always, vids don't really do justice to the sound (and they seem to accentuate the rasp when giving it some throttle). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeaJones Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Very nice :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Glad you have got the noise you wanted, and good to hear you have gone back to the stillen, great exhaust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Cheers Will. I always missed not having the Stillen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatooandy67 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) That sounds and looks sweet, very nice exhaust , very nice zed 👠Edited April 5, 2014 by tatooandy67 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Excellent write up, much appreciated 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panman Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Very nice. Absolutely love your car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsexr Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Sounds nice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottyZ Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Would be interesting to see the gains you'd get with an Uprev. Lovely looking car by the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus01 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Glad you like your outcome, I'm really pleased with your Nismo for my 370 it brings to life the synchro rev nicely at roundabouts etc and just adds just the right amount of low to mid rev sound I was looking for whilst giving the nice quiet cruise sound I prefer. Visually the Nismo exhaust on the standard rear really does look good. As they say horses for courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Very nice looking exhaust sipar69 and sounded lovely on tick over. Can't help but wonder though what it sounds like at full chat or blasting through a tunnel. Any vids appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Glad you like your outcome, I'm really pleased with your Nismo for my 370 it brings to life the synchro rev nicely at roundabouts etc and just adds just the right amount of low to mid rev sound I was looking for whilst giving the nice quiet cruise sound I prefer. Visually the Nismo exhaust on the standard rear really does look good. As they say horses for courses. Hey Marcus, I'm glad the Nismo system went to a good home. Definitely a quality system and a nice sound - ideal if you want sporty but subtle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) Very nice looking exhaust sipar69 and sounded lovely on tick over. Can't help but wonder though what it sounds like at full chat or blasting through a tunnel. Any vids appreciated. Thanks GM. I've tried taking a couple of vids in-car but the results haven't done the real sound justice. I'll see what I can do Edited April 6, 2014 by sipar69 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedman Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Very nice - sounds good! How many miles did you do before you changed the system and did the sound on the Nismo system improve/get louder with more miles on it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Nice throaty sound , Awesome looking zed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Thanks for your comments. I did not have the car long before changing the system so I can't really comment on whether the exhaust got louder over time. I added high flow cats, which made a small difference, but it still wasn't quite enough for me. I'm happy with sound now and certainly won't be looking to go any louder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R35LEE Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Great exhaust and not too loud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suits Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Nice write up. Glad you managed to achieve the sound you were aiming for. I find that after about 1000 miles new systems really settle into their tones and overall sound. Once they get there, comparing them to the sound when they were first installed, they sound very different. Also by 1000 miles you learn where all the pops and snarls are in the rev range . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Good to hear the Stillen is still doing the business for those of us who like a real sports car sound. Stillon mine after 4+ years use and 25k miles of coke to make it feel special 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Best exhaust I've heard for sound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtB Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Sounds great, good write-up too I'm realise i'm a little late... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Sounds great, good write-up too I'm realise i'm a little late... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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