Mods: Exhaust. Any suggestions?

[Nate_the_IV]

Hello, all.

You know that dull feeling you get when driving with a stock exhaust, because I have been having that dull feeling for a couple of months now too.

Car: Nissan 300ZX
Year: 1996 (Yes, the redhead of the family)
Engine: N/A 3.0 L V6 DOHC
Current Mods: None

Right off the bat, I know I can’t just get an exhaust that will bolt on correctly as the pipes (or something) where missing something on the 96’s that the previous ones had, so thus the market has been leaning more towards the 90-95 model years. Not a gripe, just a slight annoyance as I would have to special order an exhaust which means more $$$$.

So, this is was what I had in mind:
2.25” (maybe 2.5”, but I hear there are some slight problems with going bigger) Specialty Z Test pipes (Still not sure if resonated would make a better sound for what I am looking for): $225.00
Megan Racing Type 2 Cat-Back exhaust: $495.00
(Prices are from importpartspro.com)

I will say I am looking for some power gains, but I do not want to spend upwards of $1,000 (I am trying to budget myself.). I guess the sound I am looking for is deep and throaty, a couple of decibels louder than stock, a small hint of rasp, but of course not riced up like a fart canned Honda Civic.
I have been searching the internet for answers on how this setup works, but it has been relatively uninformative. So any suggestions or helpful tips? And have any of you got 2.5” piping for the N/A? What are any problems associated with the bigger piping?

Thank you, in advance.

[elecfus]

you can just take out your current precats and bash out the catalyst. el cheapo test pipes. idk why you'd want to upgrade the exhaust on a NA. the stock exhaust is the best exhaust for a stock engine. the disadvantage of modifying your exhaust is the change to volumetric efficiency. if you're just looking for a change in sound you can just clip on a fart cannon.

[z.Leinbach]

upgrade the headers makes it worth it, TT guys always poke hahas at us NA guys, but 2.5 will be perfect, personally I'd avoid the test pipes on NAs it makes them sound raspy. resonators just keep it from being to loud, still rasp. and i highly recommend not getting blast pipes... 2k rpms is deafening..

[elecfus]

they originally designed the VG30DE with larger intake and exhaust diameters. but they made them longer and thinner for the final design to smooth the low end torque. you'll get more power and torque around redline with a drop everywhere below. but im just not entirely sure this is what you're hoping to achieve. I suppose it's a matter of working out how confident you are in the integrity of the engine and driving style. if you're hoping to sit around 6000rpm most of the time then you will see a benefit but it will hurt takeoff and drifting unless you dont mind feathering the clutch for more wear.

the reason people with the VG30DETT like to increase the diameter of the exhaust is because it's the first step in doing a serious boost upgrade. some of these builds shift the potential redline further up with stronger rods and pistons so it makes sense to increase the higher end torque with larger diameter pipes because they're regularly going beyond 30psi boost at 9000rpm.

[DCaff300ZX]

I was able to get a system put into my NA from a local exhaust shop many years ago that after a few tries, came out pretty good and actually DID increase low end torque a bit and made for a much better sound overall. Basically you open it up, then close it back down until the balance is correct (JUST enough back pressure) and the rasp goes away, and power begins to show back up.
I used resonators and a straight dual exhaust (no x-pipe/crossover) with high flow cats along with higher flow Magnaflow mufflers with larger exits. It took the shop three tries to get everything just right but I was extremely happy with the end result.
Most of the changes were re-adding the resonators, rotating the cats to fit better, swapping in the magnaflows and also cleaning up some of the tighter bends needed. $1000 out the door cost.