Stillen Exhaust/Intakes/HFC Install
 

After a month of having my exhaust setup i figured its time to post my thoughts and a few pics/vid of the results.

I decided on Stillen for the catbacks and intakes with Berk high flow cats. I was affraid of the "cutting" needed to install the gen'3s but decided to go with them due to the great reviews everyone seemed to give them for performance and sound.

On a side note, i wasnt sure how i was going to get everything to the shop :shakes head: Just a heads up to plan on taking everything in another vehicle or use sheets and towels to wrap everything up.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0172.jpg

The install of the Stillen cat back was easy. From my research it seemed it could be hit or miss in reguards to fitment however i had no issues. Tip allignment seems good side to side, yet feels some what low to me.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0262.jpg
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0184.jpg

How ever installation of the Berk HFC and the Gen 3 intakes was a different story. Starting with the driver side top bolt on the stock cats! The passenger side was tight as well but eventually gave. Yet the driver side refused to budge. After an hour working on this one bolt alone, we finally got the sucker off.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0190.jpg

After that everything bolted up well. Now on to the Gen 3 Intakes! My mechanic got cut happy on the first hole and... well ill let the image speak for itself.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0201.jpg

This was the first 370 intake install for this shop. Thankfully they learned enough on the first go to make a proper hole on the driver side, and the rest was a breeze.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0202.jpg


Unfortunately with the passenger side intake hole to large, there was now room for it to move around so I had them fab a bracket up for temporary purposes. I plan on removing the bracket and putting a small ammount of heat wrap on the pipe in that area to close the gap, unless anyone has any suggestions?

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...z/IMG_0211.jpg

My thoughts in the end are somewhat of a mixed bag. I do love the sound, yet at times the loud hiss/rattle on decel truely annoys me. On the performance side of things my but dyno wants to tell me im that much faster. However i realize i need a tune and some dyno results to get an accurate result. I plan on getting tuned next weekend, and i will post up the charts soon. Here is my video with start up and a drive around town.

Nice write up and video, the Z now sounds angry! The hiss I have come to believe is the Berk HFC. Yeh it's annoying. Good bracket mod on the tube bracket. Keep an eye on the A/C hose as someone already mentioned that it cuased issues from rubbing.

In for dyno results.

Thanks! On the AC hose i wasnt exactly sure what i was looking for. I decided to have them wrap rubber hose around the AC line that is near the apex of the driver side intake tube. If you look really close you can see black rubber. If this is not the fix please let me know!

Hahah, you look angry in that video when you saw the blue 350z. good video and mean exahust! rep added +1

Check out RCZ's journal thread, he has pics posted of the A/C hose issue.

His post is here: http://www.the370z.com/446492-post499.html

Scroll down a few posts to see pics. http://www.the370z.com/446653-post506.html

Beat me to that comment. Q: was the guy in the DB Z33 rubber necking when he heard you go by? I noticed you were checking the side mirror on the fly by.

Nice video! I have been looking into Intakes/Exhausts and im not sure what i want exactly...

Hah! we had a good chance to go for it but.. due to a few unchoice words to the guy in his mercedes that cut me off, i had to edit the vid short.

Here in texas i get alot of the.. what the hell is that? a nissan? Then they look at me like get a v8. Leaving the spurs game the other night someone actully yelled.. "rice burner" as i was leaving the parking lot hah. Maybe thats where the anger stems from /shrug.

There are many helpfull posts on this board with lots of detail to help you make a decision. There are some great choices such as FI, Berk, Stillen and for the people with deep pockets Amuse and many others!

Woo, great choice on the exhaust, i love the way mine sounds, just wish it were louder. I kinda like the hiss, I tell girls that ride with me that dont know any better that its a blow off valve:rofl2:

My main 2 right now are Stillen and Berk. There is a nice video comparing them in this forum and its hard to tell the difference at points in the video. I'm sure both will end up making you pleased though. This thread helped me quite a bit.

btw, seems like you're having a hard time stopping those back wheels from breaking loose during a WOT gear shift to 2nd, I have this issue too, and I f'in love it.:tup:

The car just seems to want to get itself sideways... guess im going to need some good DR's for daily use...

that muffler sections a heavy bitch isnt it?

sounds really good. do you have a tune?

Yeh I saw part of the cedes cutting you off.

I would move back to Seatle rather than take that redneck crap. But we bite our bottom lip and just say we are not gonna stoop to their level. When you are leaving them in the dust they might reconsider their words next time they come across a Z34.

No tune yet, if they have time im shooting for next saturday at the Austin uprev site.