Exhaust damaged in wreck...looking for options
 

So my 370z was rear-ended last Friday and I dropped it off at the body shop yesterday to be repaired by the other guy's insurance. The muffler is being replaced, but so far they think the midpipe is good. I'm hoping they realize the mid pipe is bent. It looks like the passenger side is lower than the driver's side and, from looking at a few other Z's that are in my parking lot at work, that doesn't look normal.
I have been wanting an exhaust, but I was waiting until the car was older and maybe even out of warranty to make changes. Now I have to either have the body shop install the same OEM exhaust, or buy my own and have them mount it. Since the mid pipe is staying, I was investigating just doing an axle-back. I searched but haven't found any that were made to attach to the stock mid-pipes. Do they exist?
I don't care about HP increases. I really want my Z to just sound better. I don't really care for the stock exhaust sound. Is there an axle-back system that could do this, or should I just buy a cat-back? If I buy a cat-back, I have to keep the price under $1000. My search turned up Agency Power/Invidia/Megan Racing and that's about it. Am I overlooking one?
Any help would be appreciated.

Under $1000 exhaust options (in order from least to most expensive)

-aam short tails - hell no ($400+ for two 1' sections of pipe... get outta here. plus they are really droney)
-megan - no (sounds raspy and metallicy/ errbody knows its cheap)
-agency power - meh (similar to megan)
-top speed - yes (sound/look nice, but can be too loud for some)
-cnt - yes (great quality/sound for the money)
-Invidia - yes (looks great, sound good in person. very smooth exhaust note)

the ones bolded are my personal opinions on what i would look into in that price range.

and from having owned 2 (aam and cnt cat back) and hearing 2 others in person (invidia & megan) im not just pulling this stuff outta my a*s


hope that helps

i have my MXP Cat back up for sale for 900, it come off the car next week and ill be able to ship it if your interested in something like that.

however, if i had to pick one of the ones you listed, i like the invia, i had one on my G37 and it was great

Topspeed is nice, very cheap but sounds deep and is a great bang for the buck exhaust


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I am running invidia teamed with art pipes v3 and feel it is just about perfect. Invidia alone tends to be on the quiet side, just a step above stock. If you need a stock mid pipe I have one off my '10 with 1889 miles on it, perfect condition, approx $60 shipped.

Thanks to all for the replies. Lots of good information. I'm going to go with the CNT, if my body shop will answer the phone...

berk for 1k

Its funny how much hate edub370 has on the AAM. I daily drove the Z with AAM and larger y pipe. True there was drone. There were 2 small spots. One a tab bit over 2k rpm and the other right @ 4k rpm. The drone is such a small compromise for the huge weight saving over stock and the aggressive and yet addicting exhaust note at WOT. Plus now that AAM Ti-Tip is on sale.. the regular ones you can get for a lot less than $400 :tiphat:

OP if you have the cash to go full cat back I'd highly suggest picking up Tony's FI exhaust as it sounds incredible and very exotic. Might satisfy the sporty exhaust note the Z is lacking from factory your looking for.

Whichever way you decide to go.. keep us posted and don't forget to post some videos ;)

Ark grip 2 exhaust. Hit up FBNissan here on the forum. His pricing is damn near 1000 shipped. It would be worth the little bit extra.

If you get extra money go with the FI headers. I did this and it beats any other setup I have heard.

remember, i was running the short tails with a larger Y-pipe AND test pipes. so im sure the aam drone was exagrated in my case. i just dont think the pipes are worth the cost. only reason i picked them up is because i got them off another member for $150. idk how people ar ok for paying $400 for $50 worth of metal piping when u could have something like this:

Nissan 370Z Stainless Steel Catback Exhaust M2 Performance 09-12 Z34 | eBay

for $100 more. being a small company or not having a great brand name stamped on the back doesnt matter to me. idk, this is all just my opinion. i see people on here that love the short tails, and if thats the system you want then go for it. but there is so much more u can get for that much money IMO.

i'll stop aam bashing now :tiphat:

edubs,

I agree our short tails are overpriced for the actual materials that is involved and you're right it doesn't seem like you are getting much for what you pay for. When people try to haggle me and ask me why it costs this much well this is my answer. I 100% fully encourage everyone to go to a local shop to do the same thing. Our short tails are sold ready to be bolted on and pipes are mandrel bent. Most exhaust shops will crush bent pipes, may or may not fit properly, then you have to pick out the proper looking tips. So in the end fine you might save more money or you can go our route, guaranteed bolt on and fitment

and that $500 catback.. umm that looks extremely weary, but to each their own,

I've actually had a few people asking us to make separate y-pipes for the short tails. We never looked into this because essentially it then becomes a straight pipe set up with little to no sound control. I wouldn't be surprise if there are drone/rasp issues. In all fairness, if you are going to give feedback on how our short tails sound, you should probably include you had an upgraded Y and test pipes

I have multiple times in previous threads. since there is such a high demand for these pipes, is there anything preventing u guys from throwing together a complete system based off these short tails? maybe with a couple large resonaters before hand to take any drone out? seems like it could be a big hit

at that point we try to push our 2.5" true dual. If it's the ti-tips people are after, we have a ti-tip option for the true duals too

I think if u his could market the short tails at a $250 price point u would sell more than u could keep up with. It would act as an intermediate price point between every level cat backs and stock. $400 is just too steep for a short section of piping that doesn't require major r &d. Just my 2 cents. But then again, i don't make exhausts

OP I just posted one for $350 shipped, it has a very small blemish on one of the tips, check out my thread for detailed pics