There has been much said and written about AAM’s Short-tailed exhaust, but I have not heard or seen them on a Nismo. After watching and listening to countless videos and reading comments on The 370.com I decided to give AAM short-tails a try, and they did not disappoint. Let me start by saying if you are looking for a mild or tame sounding exhaust you need not apply. It’s loud.....but not obnoxious.
First the look of the new Titanium Tips are simply elegant and has fast written all over them.
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The install was breeze...well let me quantify that. It was a breeze after we got the nuts off of the exhaust...What a PITA. We were able to complete the project in 20 minutes, after the removal of abstinent parts. The fitment is perfect.
The look is very clean and unobstructed, which I really like.
The blue flame tips looks awesome and compliment the color of the car. The only feedback I have on this is the tip diameter could be larger (4.5 or 5.0 inches) and the tail pipes extended a couple of inches, as the ti-tips are somewhat hidden or tucked in under the diffuser.
I put 1K miles on them since I purchased them from AAM (Khoi is the man ) a little over a week ago. The miles were put on traveling to SoCA to spend time with my brother. This gave me a chance to break them in, feel and hear the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good: The sound during acceleration is exhilarating...raw wide open power. People stop what they are doing to find the sound. My brother was following me onto an on ramp in Montclair, CA and he said he saw a woman almost run off the road while trying to keep me in her sight plane as I made my way around the clover leaf.
It is just as impressive when down shifting. Wow...the sound of the engine revving and then the aggressive decrescendo of a series of small backfires and the growling burbling of the exhaust will make you want to do it all over again, and again, and again. Yep, some people like to hear the sound of their own voice...well I can’t get enough of my engine.
The bad: I have read that some do not like the rasp which is associated with this and other exhaust. I think it is a matter of preference. I don’t mind the rasp, I think it is what sets this engine apart from others. I guess for me it would be like listening to my favorite blues singer and then telling him/her their singing would be better if they could just get that rasp out of their voice.
The ugly: Well there is no getting around it....the drone is unforgiving. My wife is a singer and has perfect pitch (all that means is that she hears tones or notes way better than most people) and she has to plug her ears during hard acceleration or when the engine is under load for fears of her ears exploding and getting blood all over my Z.
However, the drone can be mitigated as some have already written by finding the sweet spot in the right rpm zone and up shifting at about 3k rpms. It also helps to keep the windows down....which makes is easier to hear your engine too!
Over all these bad boys are worth considering as a upgrade to your Nismo, if you are not wanting to spend a lot of money on a new exhaust or change the stock set up much. The bottom line is the sound and look is outstanding...I grantee it will definitely make you sticker peck out