Custom exhaust vs stillen

Forum for Infiniti M37, M56 M35h Hybrid and Q70 owners.
AceDuce
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:36 am
Car: 2012 M56x

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Hey guys I just purchased a 2012 m56x with 16,000 km site unseen :ohno: I payed 30k and had it sent to infiniti for inspection. The service tech said the car had no issues.
First thing I want to do is the exhaust. I was wondering is a custom mandrel bent exhaust is best or would going with stillen be better. Help a brother out!! :mike


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Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9202
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Depends on the sound you want, etc. Custom might be a little bit louder while Stillen would probably be more refined sounding.

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armybrat
Posts: 548
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:43 am
Car: 2012 M56x with Tech Package (sold)
Custom 2-1/2" X-pipe exhaust with OEM sport mufflers
HPS intake hoses
Uprev tune
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

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Either one will work fine if you want more sound. The aftermarket systems like Stillen, ARK, etc. are engineered to maintain OEM scavenging, plus they are made to bolt on so you can DIY. If you want a custom set up you will need to ask yourself what are you wanting to accomplish with your car, as you have several possibilities as far as design, pipe size, etc. With the 5.6 you have a front Y-pipe assembly that has a secondary set of cats (3.7 does not have the extra cats) a dual resonator assembly and factory reverse flow mufflers (both motors share). Before I got my mandrel bent set up, I had a muffler shop delete the secondary cats and replace the rest of the Y-pipe and resonators with an X-pipe and straight pipe. Here's a good photo of what that looks like:
Image

This is factory 2" pipe. You are deleting a lot of restriction by simply doing this, and it's the cheapest option. The resonators alone choke down to 1-3/4" ID. For a stock tune, this will be plenty good enough, and actually the factory mufflers shown will sound awesome with this set up. With aftermarket muffs like Flowmaster or Magnaflow it'll even sound better. If you decide to do a custom tune you'll want to go with bigger pipes.

DFW2011M56S
Posts: 261
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:48 pm
Car: 2011 M56S

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If you are going to the trouble to redo your exhaust. If emissions are not a problem in your area cut the factory exhaust right where it turns down and starts to enter the factory secondary cats. It is right at 2.5" there. Then fabricate a 2.5" dual system with a X-pipe and lowe restriction straight through mufflers like Magnaflow. My car picked up a tremendous amount of power eveb on the stock tune.

AceDuce
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:36 am
Car: 2012 M56x

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THANK YOU FELLAS! I will get my local shop to delete the secondary cats, put in an x pipe and go straight out to some new mufflers. I'm too pumped for this. I'll look into getting a tune as well to unleash the full potential. Do you guys have a cold air intake and just k&n filters or a different set up?

DFW2011M56S
Posts: 261
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:48 pm
Car: 2011 M56S

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AceDuce wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:41 am
THANK YOU FELLAS! I will get my local shop to delete the secondary cats, put in an x pipe and go straight out to some new mufflers. I'm too pumped for this. I'll look into getting a tune as well to unleash the full potential. Do you guys have a cold air intake and just k&n filters or a different set up?
K&N filters in modified boxes and HPS silicone intake tubes.

austin713
Posts: 166
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:44 am
Car: 2011 M37

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deleting the resonators will introduce drone, depends if that bothers you. if so, do what i did and weld in some 18" vibrant resonators in place of the stock ones, and some magnaflow mufflers to replace the stockers. all in cost me around $500 for pretty much the same system stillen charged 1000 for.

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armybrat
Posts: 548
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:43 am
Car: 2012 M56x with Tech Package (sold)
Custom 2-1/2" X-pipe exhaust with OEM sport mufflers
HPS intake hoses
Uprev tune
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

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AceDuce wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:41 am
THANK YOU FELLAS! I will get my local shop to delete the secondary cats, put in an x pipe and go straight out to some new mufflers. I'm too pumped for this. I'll look into getting a tune as well to unleash the full potential. Do you guys have a cold air intake and just k&n filters or a different set up?
I run the AEM Dryflow drop in's...developed in collaboration with K&N, without the oil. I drilled a series of holes in my stock filter boxes to help draw fresh air like a CAI as well as through the front grill. I also replaced the stock intake tubes with HPS silicone smooth bore tubes.


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