Stillen Gen3 Intake, Berk Hi-flow cat, and Stillen cat-back exhaust
 

Hey guys,

I finished the install today. I started a few nights ago, doing a little after i got home late from work each night. Overall, the Stillen intakes are pretty easy. I was pretty scared at first of damaging the front fascia during removal, but it wasn't that bad. Just make sure to unbolt all of the bolts underneath. The Nissan service manual's picture shows 4 bolts, but there's a total of 6 more bolts i had to take off to get this to come off. Just an FYI. The quality of the Stillen intakes appear to be pretty good.

For the Berk high-flow cats, definitely make sure to use some liquid wrench. The one in the DYI section showing you how to do the cat install works great, and was only a few dollars over at Home Depot. With the Stillen intakes in place, i was able to find clearance through the engine bay to get to those top bolts which gives everyone trouble. I stuck with using a breaker-bar and 1/2" drive extensions, u-joints and socket. The 1/2" drive tools were strong enough not to break. I did need extra leverage on one of the bolts so i used the bar from the racing jack and slipped it over the breaker-bar. By doing that, it made things much easier. The quality of the Berk cats look great.

Semtex, we were talking about the O2 sensor bung on the cats. There IS basically a very small opening where the bung connects to the body of the cat, so the steel wool trick in the bung should probably work and there's probably not much to worry about with it falling into the body of the cat. The hole at that junction is fairly small, probably just a LITTLE bit smaller than a hole in 3-ringed binder paper. I decided not to put the steel wool in there since I kinda forgot to pick some up and didn't remember until the install, and since there's plenty of room to get to them from underneath the car, i'll try out this fix in case i ever throw a CEL.

The Stillen exhaust was not hard to install. Removal of the stock exhaust was pretty easy and the Stillen exhaust easily went into place... until it was time to bolt the pieces up. Like everyone else, it seems, the Stillen exhaust would sit on the cross-brace. I followed the instructions, keeping the bolts loose, jacking up the area by the y-pipe and cross bar, then tightening up the bolts, but like everyone else it seems, the piping decided to rest on the cross-brace. I used some hose clamps as was suggested on this forum, and it still didn't have enough space to clear. I might go try to find some smaller hose clamps and give it another try. My other idea was to use those silicone mats you can find at Bed Bath Beyond and stuff, those silicone potholder squares or whatever you call em. I was gonna fold one in half to double-up the thickness and then place that in between the cross-brace and the exhaust. Obviously it'd still be resting on the exhaust but maybe it'll help dampen the rattling/raspy/vibration. The quality of the Stillen exhaust seems so-so to me. Two of my flanges were not straight, and seem to have been bent/warped backwards at the points where the bolts line up. And obviously how it rests on the cross-brace isn't that nice.

Overall, the car sounds great. It's definitely way louder than stock and it's pretty throaty. It sounds like a cross between an exotic and a V8, at least from what i can tell. The problem is i hear a lot of metallic rattles and vibration, sounding very raspy especially upon mid to wide open throttle. I'm assuming that this is cuz of the exhaust pipe resting on the cross-brace. I'll let you guys know tomorrow if the silicone square works in helping with the sound dampening.

As for how it feels? To be honest, I just finished breaking her in before i started putting these parts on, so i can't honestly tell you if there's any difference over stock. But there's a few people here that have been kind enough to dyno their cars with these mods to show unbiased gains. Thanks guys:tup:

If you're doing all this work in your own garage, it helps (with the cats at least) if you have something nicer than those little $20 floor jacks that only lift up to 14" high. Just a suggestion so you can get more clearance as you rest the car onto the jackstands. I also used hockey pucks as a cushion to help prevent any damage to the pinch rails.

I have a question though. Assuming the silicone square works as a buffer so the rattling is gone, is there anything wrong with leaving the exhaust resting onto the cross-brace? Will the constant heat transfer from the exhaust pipe damage or warp the cross-brace at all? After parking my car, i can still hear this clicking noise 10 minutes later from where the exhaust pipe rests on the cross-brace, i'm assuming from the expansion/contraction from the heat.

I'd take it to a muffler shop to have them try to fix it like other people in this forum have, but i won't be able to get to one until another two weeks. Plus i think it just really sucks that we pay all this money for an exhaust system just to have to take it back to a muffler shop and now pay to have them fix this when it should have been built with clearance in the first place.

Alright, the silicone squares worked. there's no more rattling/vibration noise. I also figure that with the silicone blocking the direct contact heat from the exhaust pipes, the cross-brace should be ok.

Awesome honest review on the install... you have a PM on the fitment of the exhaust.. with your input and others we've made some adjustment for easier install to clear the crossmember..

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the power gains.. :)

Any ideas when these "fixed" exhausts will be available? I was holding out on buying your exhaust until the fitment issues were straightened out.

Axio, do you hear any kind of hiss when decelerating, as the car gains vacuum? I've heard it in a couple of vids/clips of different exhausts, and that hiss has plagued me for 4 years now on my g35.

For a while, I thought it was an exhaust leak. But I've been through 8 different exhaust configurations, and its been present since the first exhaust mod. I've heard it on other g's and z's as well, and I'm afraid it might just be some inherent trait of the motor.

Better yet, can those of us that have installed the exhaust and continue to have issue see some sort of replacement X pipe in the near future?

I will PM you guys...

They are already available.

T-Ray, i don't really hear a hiss when decelerating. The exhaust itself sounds pretty good.

Unfortunately my silicone square fix isn't going to work. I checked it last night and the direct heat from the pipe is melting the silicone square. Looks like i'll have to wait out the two weeks before I can find time to take the car into a muffler shop and pay someone to heat and bend the pipes...

Yeah exhaust temps are a little higher than your usual cooking temps, but :tup: for trying it anyways. When I was in the same boat, I googled around looking for an industrial source of higher-temp rubber mat that might work, but never found anything that really looked satisfactory for this application. It'll all be better once you get it bent. The hard part is just finding a good exhaust guy to do the work, if you don't already know one.

The guy I found that fixed mine is really cool, I've been recommending him to everyone around here. He's cheap, he's a genius, very laid back shop, cash transactions, etc :) His website looks like it was designed by a 13 year old in 1994, but the work was excellent: AFFORDABLE MUFFLERS, L.L.C. , Mufflers & Exhaust Systems, Houston

Too bad you're not in Houston though.

Wow, you're not kidding about the design of his website. Had me laughing out loud.

^ Agreed, not to mention it caused me to have 3 epileptic seisures.

Thanks Wstar for posting your muffler guy. Ill be sure to go check him out when Im ready.

Yeah, the tag said it was heat resistant up to 600 degrees... guess they lied.

As for the exhaust guy, I'm gonna take it to my friend's mechanic. Luckily he's open on Sunday so I can make it this weekend afterall. Unfortunately he said he doesn't have a hot torch so if he can't do it the way the Stillen guys recommended, he was gonna try to hammer and bend the pipe. I'm gonna assume he knows his stuff since me basically built my friend's 900whp Supra, so hopefully a few minor bends without using heat will be ok. Thanks for the shop recommendation though, but yeah, Houston might be a little far haha

so if i buy the exhaust now it wont have the fitment issue correct?

As a relative noobie to after-market installs, it seems that many on the board have gone with the Stillen intake and cat-back, but with the Berk hi-flow cats. Is this because the Berk offers some substantial benefit over Stillen's product? It sounds like there is a (mild) issue with fitting. I am considering getting the three for my 370 and my instinct was to just go with Stillen all the way for consistency sake. Any advice would be much appreciated! :tup:

Besides, Josh is about 4 buildings away from where I used to work on Airport loop...

Berk had theirs on the market before Stillen did. At the time I ordered, the Stillens weren't even available, so that's the main reason many of us went with Berk, I think. As for gains of one over the other, Berk has proven dyno gains. I have yet to see a dyno on the Stillen HFCs, so I can't say if one will have substantially more gains over the other.

umm, I may have the results of the full stillen setup by tonight, if not, then I should have it by tomorrow night.

Update: just heard from HPLogic that the mechanic stayed in the shop last night till 3AM to get my headers done. That is incredible service, I should have results for you guys tonight.

Ditto. I went with Berk's HFCs because they were available at the time and Stillen's were not. I don't really have any solid opinions about the relative difference other than the obvious things everyone points out from pics of the two.

:tup:

Thanks, guys. I was going to pop over to Stillen next week and take a look at their setup. RCZ, I will anxiously await your results!

Not as much as I do my friend!!

Guys, just wondering: regarding the intakes, do you have to take the bumper cover back off when cleaning the filters, or can you get to them without taking the cover back off?

You *might* be able to get to them from under the car after you remove the undertray. This is a pic I snapped while I was under there doing an oil change. I suspect it'd be pretty hard tho, unless you're a contortionist. Even if you were able to reach the bolts to loosen the filters, I'm not sure if you'd be able to pull them off from this angle.

http://www.the370z.com/members/semte...h-radiator.jpg

Yes, the bumper cover has to be removed for filter access. It's pretty easy, I think I can get that thing off in about 10 minutes now having done it a few times.

update if the fitment has been correcteD?

Thanks for the info guys...

I'm hearing mixed things. Josh said on this thread that Stillen has made changes to the jig so that this should be corrected. However my mechanic was talking to Chuck from Stillen's R&D department and he said he had no idea of any corrections, nor was he aware of anything wrong with our exhaust fitment in the first place and was aparantly upset at Josh posting that there was a correction.

Josh, can you please elaborate on this?

I'm not trying to bust Stillen out here or their reps. Just sharing what I found out last night since racerxj17 asked. Maybe there was a disconnect in communication between Chuck and Josh, and there really IS a fix.

And if that's the case, I'd love for Stillen, since people here talk about how great their customer service is, to maybe just send us first edition CBE owners that have this issue, the fixed pipe segments so we can swap em out. Either that or reimburse us the cost we paid for tweaking the pipes ourselves. THAT IMO would be great service. Doing nothing about it for us on the other hand doesn't really impress me much.

Chuck is the Customer Service Manager, and is a point of contact for problems in installation and customer questions, for which it's his job to research the problem, talk to our technical people, and work on solving the issue. He is not in R&D.

He was not immediately aware of some people having issues with the crossmember because it's largely not been an issue, except for a couple of guys on the boards as you've seen, most being resolved already.

There isn't a significant difference to the exhaust, it's just a little different to aid in the installation. I know everyone likes their shops and their installers and I'm sure that all of them are good guys, but in most of the instances it's pretty clear that the instructions were not followed, and the center section was not raised before the system was tightened down, particularly at the slip joints, which once tightened the first time like to remain together, and unless they are fully separated, tend not to allow for further adjustment. This is why we've made the minor change, to reduce the chance of the crossmember touching.

Axio, I would be happy to see if there is something we can do for you for the issues you've experienced, which is absolutely not something we expect. Please feel free to contact me.

Josh

I'd rather not change out my pipes at this point. Both of the main sections of mine have been slightly altered, and I'm happy with the fitment I have now, no need to go introducing new variables and more work.

I don't know any more than you do on any changes that have been made since the first ones went out, but I'm sure Josh will be along at some point once he's sorted it out.

Edit: I guess he was posting as I was heh.

now its sounding like the exhaust wasnt changed, just in the install guide. what actually was done? i have one on order, and purchased only knowing the issue had be resolved. im not going to lie, im going to be pretty upset if i cant get it to fit like a 1300 exhaust should:confused:

We did make a change to the exhaust to bring the center section up higher. If the instructions are followed you shouldn't have any problems at all. If there are any questions during the install, feel free to contact us. We have a service facility on-site, we've installed a ton of these.

I'm sure you'll be more than pleased.. especially when you get it back on the road and feel the difference. :)

I'll be ordering the Stillen Intake and cat back in the next few days. I'm not worried about fitment, I trust in the Stillen brand.

To answer another members question on why most people are going with Berk HFC instead of the Stillen HFC is two-fold. One, the Berks were out first and all the mod happy kids went with them. Second and more importantly, as you can see the Berk HFC have raised bungs to put your O2 sensors into which will help in not throwing a CEL light. The Stillen's do not have this feature and you will most definitely be throwing codes. And quite frankly, I don't feel like buying non-foulers and drilling them out. Been there done that on my other cars. If Stillen addressed this issue, your damn right I'd be going with the whole stillen set up (HFC, Intakes, Exhaust)

But for now, I'll stick with the Stillen intakes and Exhaust and go with Berks

Hey Josh, thanks for the reply. As for the installation, I basically took it to the mechanic. He spent a long time fiddling with the exhaust, raising the middle section and then tightening all the bolts, and it didn't clear. Then he loosened the up again and did one section at a time with the jack pushing up the middle section and me pushing up the rest of the pipes as well. After a few times of us doing this, we were able to get the exhaust to clear by a few mm. We then unbolted the crossmember and added washers in there to act as spacers. Overnight though, the exhaust sagged and hit the crossmember again. I went ahead and added yet a third washer, and then also used hose clamps on the hanger to help prevent more sagging.

Now, the exhaust clears the crossmember by 1/4". Taht's with three washers acting as spacers to pull the crossmember down. And using hose clamps...

And what's worse now is i'm having exhaust leaks at the slip joints. I have no idea why the hell this happening. Is anyone else having exhaust leaks at the slip joints? Not only can I hear the leak, i can hear a rasp at around 2000 rpm now, which i'm assuming is a result from the leak. At one of the rear slip joints, there's even water that straight up drips from teh slip joint. I've been under the car, the slip joints look tight, I can't see any visible gaps... wth is going on?

If nobody else is having these issues, maybe I just have a random bad Stillen product. If that's the case, Josh, is it possible to get an exchange on this unit with one of your newer ones? I'm not trying to make any money off you guys, I'm not trying to get free parts, etc. All I'm trying to do is make this exhaust work properly... I'm just getting really frustrated here.

i installed my stillen intake earlier(took me bout 2 1/2 hours or so)
i hear hissing after i rev it(not sure if its the intake sucking in air)
also exhaust started backfiring a little afte high revs @4k
is that norm?

tomorrow im getting my Berks HFC and stillen exhaust installed by amplified motorsports
we shall se if i face these problems everyone is having
update tomorow

tru Asiatik, I think the hiss from the intakes is normal. As for the backfire, I can't really tell you because I installed all pieces at the same time.

Good luck on the exhaust. PLEASE let me know, esp about the slip joint leakage.

::::raises hand::::

I am experiencing the same thing...I have already spoken to Josh & Kyle and am in the works of trying a couple of last attempts at making this work...

To ADD to your problem (which I am experiencing all of them) when I finally got to clear the X area, the rear section - mainly where the two slip joint pipes bend upward to affix to the muffler - it began hitting against that black triangle brace!

This really sucks! It has me cringe when I drive the car! Whats worse is that 2k-3k hiss/rasp/rattle - whatever you want to call it is EXTREMELY audible from the outside and makes the car sound so ghetto!

Now, to be fair, both Josh and Kyle have been working with me to try and resolve this and once I try these new gaskets + following the instructions to the TEE - I will find out whether or not this works...

BTW - I see you have the Berk HFCs and I am sure your hearing the same exact sound as RCZ's sound in the video he just posted. I am using the test pipes and although the noise, according to my exhaust guy, is only audible (you can damn near FEEL it in the pipe) on the right side of the exhaust somewhere between the right-test pipe and the X joint. Its where the slip joint is on the right-hand side...So it has stumped us all.

I wasnt going to post this video but I think its OK now since I been working with Stillen and hopefully someone either knows what it is, or better yet, if we figure it out, it will save someone time and money to resolve/prevent it frm happening to them!

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Danny, thanks for posting that. My car sounds exactly the same. I've had both my wife and my boss hit he gas as i'm laying down near the car, and i've felt the leak with my hand where the passenger-side slip joint on the Y-pipe is. I THINK that's where that ghetto hiss/rattle/rasp is coming from.

I'm telling you it's not like I'm dreaming it up... We had the car on a lift and the mechanic was like "I put my hands and ear up against the left side and can't hear/feel it at all the way I do right around that slip joint".

It's really got me bummed. :( Might try the resonTed test pipes from GTM incase it's the test pipes fault!

for whatever reason, mine doesn't do that at all... i've got stillen HFCs though, so maybe that has something to do with it ?