stillen exhaust.....review.... :/
 

just installed the stillen CBE and berk HFC. the cats went on without issue, fairly easy.


the CBE install went good as well. not sure why so many issues with it...... have about 1/4 clearance above the crossmember.

what i am not happy with is the sound. there is the audible hiss at about 2k rpm. its almost embarrassing. low throttle is sounds pretty "clean" and at WOT it sound ok, but at partial throttle is almost sounds broken. i checked for leaks, and there is none. at partial throttle is cracks, and sounds like my old tacoma 4.0 V6 with no cats, and a muffler leak.

unsure if i want to keep it, or sell it and wait for something that sounds like it belongs on a 40k car.

also, the tips....... they really made my 16 yr old that drives an old beat up honda jealous. do they really need to be that big, and stick out that far? common guys.......:confused:

edit- also, for those curious on install times, it took about 2.5 hours using a pair of jack stands in the front in the driveway. anyone with a few tools and mechanical ability shouldnt have any issues.

I noticed too that the tail pipes sticking out too far. They do not flow with rear bumber however the HP gain is awesome.

currently debating if i want to cut them off and reposition them...

I'm glad your install went well, you're the second one I've seen post a successful install without crossmember clearance now, and that's after Stillen said they made some changes to make it easier to install, so those seem to be working well.

I kinda like the hiss so long as it doesn't indicate any kind of problem, which apparently it doesn't. This evening I'm going to get some video of mine for sound comparison again now that I really know I don't have any leaks, and what a non-leaking non-rattling setup should sound like, then you can compare to what you're hearing and verify to some degree.

after closer inspection, i do not think it is the exhaust. if you open the hood, you can VERY clearly hear the noise coming from the engine. if i had to guess, its the engine closing the throttle bodies for some reason (idle?) also, after several revs and listening, the sound is very mechanical sounding, like a valve is shutting, and it is at the same rpm every time. i think you can just HEAR the noise now, and that the stock exhaust covers it up. :tup:

Oh I have lots of odd sounds up front now. Between the exhaust and the intake upgrades, all the little noises the factory tries to silence start becoming a lot more noticeable. Nothing to worry about really, and the exhaust will drown it out quickly when driving :)

Yeah, honestly, I think the problems that the STILLEN is having are "problems" that every other exhaust system will have for this car. We just don't really know yet because no one has any other aggressive CBE on their car.

Kinda makes sense now that the CBE alone produced 20WHP on my car....because they used it to kill all those crazy sounds...

Wow! the CBE alone made 20whp! I was gunna skip the CBE, guess not.

would that affect sound?

Actually, arcticreaver installed the Invidia Q300 exhaust on his Z, and guess what? Tons of hiss. You can hear it on his vid clip. So I think we do in fact know.

Link to vid clip: http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...html#post66366

As for the tips sticking out, look at how much the tips of the Invidia stick out, then complain about the Stillen tips.

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/u...invidia001.jpg

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/u...invidia002.jpg

Well that backs up my point... maybe it has something to do with the VVEL?

I don't know. To be honest, with all the whining on this forum about noise from exhaust upgrades I'm beginning to wonder if we have a bunch of first-time noob modders on here. My 350Z had a hiss when I put resonated test pipes on. And it was a hiss, not a rasp. Like it had some rasp as well, but I can tell the difference between hiss and rasp (and I happen to actually like both, in moderate doses). When I put the HFCs and CBE on my car and heard that hiss, it put a smile on my face, not a frown. On and I've seen people complaining that after they installed HFCs and a CBE, the exhaust is loud. Well duhhhhh!!! What do people expect?

i believe the invidia tip is adjustable
as far as the hiss lou from amplified(whos shop works on Z's and G's) said that the hiss was common on the G37s as well so most likely it might be the engine
but i will have him check mine again maybe next week just to make sure its not anything else

im more relieve finding out the hiss is normal
but all i want right now is an actual fix on how to bolt the exhaust correctly so it doesnt sit on the crossmember
i hear it rattle everytime the car flexes

i dont get why the stillen reps wont just post a detailed step by step w/pics on how to install there product correctly :(

What's a "noob?" ;)

I agree, frankly I'm tired of hearing people bitch about sounds they weren't expecting to hear. This isn't F1, companies don't have multi-million dollar budgets to test out whether the exhaust has a slight hiss when you let off the throttle. When you add an exhaust that isnt STOCK, you are bound to get some sort of sideeffect you weren't expecting. Rattling, fitment, hissing, etc. It's going to happen folks. Feel lucky when it doesn't.