Custom Magnaflow Dual Exhaust

[MadOx75]

OK, so after going looking through the threads here and not seeing too much in the way of dual exhaust mods, I decided to go to a local place, Custom Import Performance in East Stroudsburg, PA, to see what they could do. The exhaust guy there is a real pro - 30 years doing custom exhausts, takes real pride in his work.

Anyway, after putting it up on the lift and going over options, I've decided to go with a Magnaflow dual exit stainless steel muffler and 4" Magnaflow Rolled Round Angle Cut tips. The pipe closest to the rear will bend out to the new outlet they are cutting, and the one back will be piped behind the muffler around to the existing exhaust opening. I was a bit reluctant to go with the 4" tips, but he said with with the opening being the size it is, it will look fine. Its really hard to judge on the Rogue. I guess if worse comes to worse and I hate it, I just spring the cash and go with the 3" after the fact.

The work is being done a week from tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post some pics when its all said and done.

[harryg]

Sweet. post a sound clip as well please
Heres some pics I found in another post by insomnia816
Raising up


The original muffler


Replacing new one with dual exhaust


Cutting the bumper to fit the installment


What it looks like from under


What it looks like from behind

[MadOx75]

Yea, those were the pics I found and sent the guy for reference. I'll be sure to post up some pics and try to find somewhere I can get some decent sound clips recorded.

[MadOx75]

Today was the day. I went and took the Rogue in for its dual exhaust install. I have to say I'm surprised at how big the OEM muffler is compared to the Magnaflow. I forgot my camera and my cell was dead, so I didn't get any pics of it up on the lift. The owner of the place did though, and I asked him to email them to me. As soon as I get them, I'll get them posted up here. These are pics I just took now out in the street in front of my house...

[MadOx75]

I just got the pictures of the install while it was up on the lift from the owner of the shop.

Rear including fascia, dual outlets and Magnaflow muffler



Magnaflow muffler and the new passenger side outlet.



Inlet from stock resonator to muffler and "stock" outlet coming from behind.



Straight up with new outlet on left and inlet and stock outlet to the right.



Outlets from Magnaflow muffler - new outlet to the left, stock outlet wrapping behind to the right.

[Nick 568]

Very nice! Looks great!!!
What was the total $damage?
Also, does it look like pipe/muffler routing would be an issue if you had a receiver hitch installed? Chances are I won't ever do this mod, but I'm curious in case I decide I want to. :P
Also, sound clips!

[MadOx75]

I'm not to sure about the receiver hitch. I'll have to take a look and see if that will still fit. With the Magnaflow muffler, the Magnaflow tips, the piping and labor, including notching out the fascia, it was $540 plus tax. I'll be sure to get some sound clips up soon...

[harryg]

Wow that looks great, can you take a picture just above the new cutout exhaust, i'd like to see the how it looks.
and get on it with the sound clips cant wait to hear how it sounds.

Also do u have any part numbers for the magnaflow muffler and tips?

thnx

[MadOx75]

The muffler is P/N 12158. It's a 14" long stainless steel, 2.5" single inlet, 2.5" dual outlet oval muffler. I believe the tips are P/N 35136, 5" long 2.5" inlet, 4" outlet mirror finish stainless steel. I'll go out tomorrow and get some pics of the area around the new cutout, and I'll also set the camera back there and run some video to get the sound clips.

[Leo2005]

Damn...it looks good. First Rogue on this forum with custom dual exhaust. As everybody else I cannot wait for sound clip. I ended up ordering Magnaflow http://www.carid.com/2009-nissan-sentra ... 85845.html for sentra se-r instead of Borla and my rear Krom bumper should be painted this week...then I'll install my new muffler and bumper. I also ordered '11 front bumper with E&G chrome grill.

[philipa_240sx]

MadOx75,

I like the overall look, but the maze of piping and the small muffler doesn't sit well with me.

Another option would have been to use 2 smaller mufflers like the Altima (with dual exhaust outlets).

[MadOx75]

It's not really a "maze" of piping, just the one pipe has to loop back around the muffler, but I know what you mean...lol. I went with a small muffler because I didn't really want the muffler to be visible from the back at all. I do still like the idea of two separate mufflers, and we'll see how things go. If I remember correctly, and I think a few of the pics show it, there's something on the underside of the car on the passenger side that is right in the way of where an Altima style muffler would be mounted. I'll have to see if I can get a better picture. I'm sure its something that could be removed, but the dual outlet look was what I was really going for, and that was accomplished. At least now I have the notch cut out for the second pipe, and I could always switch it up at a later date...

[ThandaPani]

What was the total cost for the mod?

[MadOx75]

It was $540 plus tax. I'm sure you could get it done cheaper than that depending on what kind of muffler and tips you use and where you take it.

[philipa_240sx]

It's not really a "maze" of piping, just the one pipe has to loop back around the muffler, but I know what you mean...lol.

I'm just used to the exhaust piping used on my old race car. Minimal bends, with the most direct route to the tailpipe outlet.

If I remember correctly, and I think a few of the pics show it, there's something on the underside of the car on the passenger side that is right in the way of where an Altima style muffler would be mounted.

There is a tow hook on the RH side that can be removed. There is also an evaporative emissions canister... which you cannot remove.

MadOx75, she still looks good. It was just a comment. Good luck!

[MadOx75]

No worries man, I didn't take it personally. I definitely agree that less pipe is better. Like I said, we'll see what happens. I'm used to using Magnaflow mufflers on bigger V-6 and V-8 engines, where they sound mean. It sounds really good outside the Rogue, but at low RPMs its a bit "buzzy" inside the car. I'm going to have to get used to it.

I did have take the two hook off to make way for the second exhaust outlet. I'll definitely get underneath and take another look if there's room for two mufflers under there.

Having said all that, I've been busy as Hell, so I didn't get a chance to get any vid or the sound from the outside, but I took this short video from the inside today - just some hard acceleration, then I threw it into Neutral and revved it a bit. Its only from my iPhone, so its not the greatest, but its something until I can get better, here ya go -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8TZJ05ilMk[/youtube]

[Leo2005]

I'm just used to the exhaust piping used on my old race car. Minimal bends, with the most direct route to the tailpipe outlet.

At least muffler is not huge like on that saturn:

[MadOx75]

Hey, I could always go this route next time....lol

[philipa_240sx]

It sounds really good outside the Rogue, but at low RPMs its a bit "buzzy" inside the car. I'm going to have to get used to it.

Fortunately you left the stock resonator in place. Had you removed it, the droning would be even more unbearable.

Now if you could get sound like this...

I've heard some QR25DE motors produce a nice throaty roar with the right exhaust setup. Whether it would be livable with everyday is another story.

new-2007-2008-sentra-se-r-and-spec-v-ca ... 81103.html

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAZdq86CJzw[/youtube]

[MadOx75]

OK, here's a video with sound I took tonight after work... Starting the car, revving it a few times, and then taking it up to the redline once or twice....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXWkskRtCBQ&hd=1[/youtube]

[Leo2005]

I hope my magnaflow will sound the same way. Then I won't even think about getting rid of the resonator. It would be enough for me.

[philipa_240sx]

Leo, those Magnaflow's are like having nearly straight through pipes. It's gonna be loud, but you won't know until it's fitted.

[bill875]

I guess I'm just not a fan of loud exhaust, especially on a small vehicle, but to each their own. Also, is nobody concerned about their neighbors and the noise? I used to have a neighbor who would start his car at 5:30 every morning and let it idle for 15-20 minutes. It was fitted with a loud performance exhaust system that was, IMO, just outright rude to have idling.

Just so I understand this, and not to start a flame war, is getting performance/dual exhaust on a Rogue really going to offer any real benefit or is this purely a status/macho/I just want to have a loud Rogue kind of thing thing?

[MadOx75]

Honestly, its not loud at all unless its at WOT. That camera is about 3 ft behind the exhaust pipes, and has a really sensitive microphone. You can barely hear anything when its at idle, just a little bit of a "gurgle". And I'm not sure about anyone else, but I was more interested in the look of the dual outlets than the sound. I'm glad that after a few days it actually seems to be getting quieter, as Magnaflows are apt to do.

[pawprint]

Did it increase your horsepower? I remember the Cadillac Northstar engine had 300hp with dual exhaust versus 290hp without. Of course, that was a few years ago, I think almost every car over 30K has dual exhaust standard now regardless of increasing horsepower.

[MadOx75]

Did it increase your horsepower? I remember the Cadillac Northstar engine had 300hp with dual exhaust versus 290hp without. Of course, that was a few years ago, I think almost every car over 30K has dual exhaust standard now regardless of increasing horsepower.

Honestly, I have no idea. I'm sure it probably did, because it definitely breaths a lot better now with that Magnaflow muffler than it did with the huge stock muffler. Apparently Nissan uses some pretty restrictive exhaust on these motors, as evidenced by this post - http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/2002-2 ... post346014

I'm not sure there's 10 or 20 hp worth of restriction, but I'm sure there's a lot. Hell, the Juke owners are getting 13WHP out of the Stillen Muffler swap on their cars...

[philipa_240sx]

Apparently Nissan uses some pretty restrictive exhaust on these motors, as evidenced by this post

MadOx75,

We try to keep everything local here on NICO. I try to discourage people from linking to competing forums. I'll keep the link... for now.

The link posted to is part of an OLD article from SportCompactCar on the 1st gen QR25DE motor. I've read it before, and they are making reference to the system as a whole. The very short and less than optimal exhaust manifold runners were one of the items mentioned along with the close coupled cat (which is required to reduce cold start emissions).

Nissan has come a long way with the QR25DE since then. The engine has been refined for it's 2nd generation (including the Rogue) and features many changes. But we cannot escape one simple fact:

Every mfg has certain noise, performance and cost requirements when designing an exhaust system. Nissan exhausts are not any more restrictive than other mfg's stock systems.

Like the old PTC (performance, time, cost) triangle, you can only have two. Or in this case...

Noise
Performance
Cost

It's quite easy to free up a few hp by swapping in a straight through muffler. But there is a penalty to be paid in increased noise. This may not be acceptable for a vehicle that is going to be purchased by families, etc who want a comfortable, quiet and stylish vehicle.

[MadOx75]

Sorry about the link, when I copied and pasted it my brain seriously thought it was from here, not the other place. I blame lack of sleep. You can delete it out if you like.

As for the noise, I definitely got more than I bargained for in that department. Well, let me qualify that. It doesn't sound that bad outside the car. Its definitely not the sound you expect to hear coming from a Rogue, but its not obnoxiously loud. The inside is an entirely different story. Without having a true trunk area to contain the sound coming from the rear of the vehicle, combined with the way the CVT holds its "gears", the sound is downright annoying at times inside the car. I probably should have known that it would be like that, because every external sound that comes from back there seems to be amplified - road dirt hitting it, rain water splashing it... I'm planning on taking two courses of action to correct the sound issue. First, I'm going to take it back to the place I had the work done and have them add an additional resonator (the stock one was never removed) in hopes that it quiets it down a bit. Second, I'm going to take apart the area by the spare tire and put some Dynamat or Hushmat down on the entire section. Hopefully these two things will quiet it down some.

I really didn't get the dual exhaust for any type of performance gains. I'm not looking to make a race car here. It was strictly an aesthetic upgrade for me because I definitely have symmetry issues. Its the same reason I like my wife's 09 Altima more than her 06 - the 09 2.5 came with dual exhausts, the 06 didn't... Just a personal preference form me.

[pawprint]

Well I agree about the aesthetics and it looks great. However, $540 is out of my price range.

My Dad suggested I buy a chrome exhaust tip and glue it to the right side of the bumper! That would look classy!
(He's also the person who has a TV sitting on-top of another TV.) We're classy people!

[philipa_240sx]

The inside is an entirely different story. Without having a true trunk area to contain the sound coming from the rear of the vehicle, combined with the way the CVT holds its "gears", the sound is downright annoying at times inside the car. I probably should have known that it would be like that, because every external sound that comes from back there seems to be amplified - road dirt hitting it, rain water splashing it... I'm planning on taking two courses of action to correct the sound issue. First, I'm going to take it back to the place I had the work done and have them add an additional resonator (the stock one was never removed) in hopes that it quiets it down a bit. Second, I'm going to take apart the area by the spare tire and put some Dynamat or Hushmat down on the entire section. Hopefully these two things will quiet it down some.

That would likely go a long way to helping the issue. But ultimately any straight through muffler like the one you chose is going to sound very loud.

I know you like the dual exhaust, but I would have tried to go with a dual muffler setup just like the Altima.