Test Pipes?

[flyguy2618]

I was wondering about test pipes and how they work, are there any real bennefits and is it worth it? Also in terms of sound in peoples opinions should this make the car sound better while still staying to its Z sounds or dose it sound worse, (what do they do to the sound of the car) also i may be wrong about this but i think i remember reading that there is a second o2 sensor located by the headers and exahust, would test pipes damage or have any other effects on this, or any other part of the engine. If anyone knows any other information on this toppic i would really appriciate the information.

[evildky]

test pipes are just straight pipes taht bolt in in place of your cataletic convertors, the result is less restriction in the exhaust and more unburt fumes in your exhaust (not a big deal if you have no emissions testing in your area, a huge deal if you do) sound, might make the exhaust a touch louder shouldn't be enough to be an issue

[flyguy2618]

Thats what i thought they were straight pipes, and a little lounder is ok i kinda like it makes it sound like a super car, as long as it still sounds like a Z and not a ricer lol. But is unburt fumes a big deal in terms of harm to the engine or exhaust, does it condensate or anything like that or hurt any parts? As far as emissions goes i was just going to get a stillen true dual exhaust system and put test pipes on it and then when i have to get my car checked for emissions in 5 years i would just switch out the test pipes for the cats. But do you think any cops would know or have you ever heard of them looking for test pipes if they were suspicious and then ticketing anyone?

[TheHat]

I did some research and found that the gains from test pipes are not much more then hi flow cats, like maybe 2 hp more. I am sure your trying to sqeaze every bit of power out of your car but to me going dealing with the hassel of emissions isnt worth it in my opinion for a 2 hp gain over a hi flow.

[evildky]

no it doesn't hurt your car, and yes you can buy high flow cats but they cost more than test pipes, and it might only be a 2hp difference on a stock motor but once it's boosted it makes more of a difference, I have no idea if he'd ever boost his car but it's my way of thinking, get the most from every part

[NSRsheets]

^

[flyguy2618]

Thanks for all the input, i am thinking about boosting sometime in the future, also from what ive seen high flow cats are a little more emmissions frendly but not a lot, i think ill go with test pipes as long as no cops are gonna get suspicious and try to look under my car, but ive never really heard of one doin this so i think im probably pretty good.

[TheHat]

Good call. Did realize you are going to be boosting, in that case definatly get the test pipes and get anything that will let the gas flow as freely as possible.

[flyguy2618]

Thats great ya i think im going to pretty soon then. I just have one more question besides the cop thing for anyone who knows. Since taking out the cat lets more raw gas fumes flow threw the pipes will this make alot more smoke or exhaust fumes come from the back of my car, the only reason i care is because i dont want it to look like somethings wrong with it when im drivin, ( like one of those beaters you see on the road that look like there on fire or something when they accellerate lol) also someone told me that since the exhaust is hot it may make flames or bursts of burning fumes come from my exhaust is this ture?

[evildky]

it won't make flames, if you have a truely open exhaust no cat and a true straight through muffler or none at all and you get a very rich condition and an exhaust backfire then you can, you tend to see this wwhen people have large injectors and a n alpha n injection setup in conjunction with a non recorc type bov or you can get an ignition cutout that shuts off the coils for a second then fires a coil at the tip of the exhaust to ignite the unburnt fuel

[flyguy2618]

Ok ya its not really something im looking for, definatly dont want to be mistaken for a fast and the furious car lol , but i saw a car a few days ago that had a small burst of flames come out his pipes for a second or two when he got off the throttle just a flash as his RPM's were going down.

[flyguy2618]

Thats all great, thanks for all the info and input everyone, it helped alot.

[WTX350z]

I believe Test pipes will set off a CEL on the 06's since you have a OE Wideband. I have HFC's and love em...very little rasp, and it just accentuates the beautiful Z sound.

Test pipes produce rasp, which to me ruins the sound of a car.

[flyguy2618]

Is there any way to get it so it wont set anything off?

[cuffuup28]

You have to do some minor modification to the test pipes to "trick" the O2 sensor. I happen to have a set of Megan test pipes that already have all the work done...it's ready for "plug and play" action. They also have a built in resignator, so it's not at all "raspy" like most test pipes. As long as your Z is NOT an '07 or '08, I have a brand new, never used set for sale...$50 bucks if you live close enough, Or tack on a few extra dollars, and I will ship'em to you! They don't fit on '07 or '08 because the header mounting flange is bigger, due to the duel intake's. Let me know if ya want'em. [email protected]

[cuffuup28]

and just because a pic is worth a 1,000 words...

[NSRsheets]

If you want a video here's a link to my thread.zerothread/296968

[BackIntoAnS13]

cuffuup28, Do you happen to have them for sale still??? If so how much shipped to 88001?

[Punishyou]

Hey man I came across this post and saw you have the megan resonated test pipes. I have them too but on a 05 z and you mentioned there was a difference in the 02 sensors. Well my Z is tripping the sensors with the megan cats. Any imput on fixing them. You think the "fix" that megan did for the sensor is a little too much for the 05 and needs to be cut down some? Any thoughts would be great