Q re Nismo Cat-back - cabin noise when cruising

[AviBen]

I am considering getting the Nismo cat-back exhaust system for my 2010 AC 3.5 SR. My question is about the cabin noise when cruising, at both low (local street) and highway speeds. I want to be able to enjoy extended driving in relative quiet while at the same time having the slightly extra power, and also having the "throaty" sound when accelerating or going really slow (I love that gentle throaty rumble at low speeds). I've tried listening to the various YouTube videos but can't really tell. Your experiences and comments will be much appreciated.

[Ranga14]

I have it and the ypipe... Adding on the ypipe added a lot more throat and noise when hitting the gas, although when not on the gas (cruising), you can't hear a thing. So without the ypipe, at cruising speeds, it will be quiet for sure and even when you hit the gas, it won't be that loud.

Overall, the Nismo Cat Back has a nice deep import sound to it, it's perfect to me.

[AviBen]

Thanks. By the way, while I wasn't planning on the Y-Pipe -- what are the pros and cons of it? I recall hearing something about bypassing one of the catalytic converters and possibly voiding the warranty (while the Nismo cat-back alone does NOT void the warranty, of course).

[Ranga14]

The only thing it would remotely void is issues with your exhaust, nothing more than that unless they can establish why it caused "another" piece of your car to malfunction. As for the ypipe...

Pros: +13whp/+14wtq, more aggressive sound and yeah, you can feel the difference.

Cons: It deletes an unmetered cat although it's been tested and will pass all known inspections from what they say.

[AviBen]

Thanks for your help!

[SHIFT_COUPE]

If you are going to do an exhaust, I HIGHLY recommend the Y-pipe. Its a nice addition. Nismo is a nice exhaust, good luck!

[AviBen]

Thanks -- does the Y-Pipe adversely affect the Nissan car warranty? I assume we're talking about the RacingLine Y-Pipe.

[jdb10srcoupe]

This is some good info.

[Hussain]

I don't have the Nismo exhaust. I have a custome cat-back with a magnaflow muffler and have HORRIBLE cabin noise while cruising on the hwy... I've heard other members complain about in cabin noise while cruising on the hwy and they say that once they get the Y-pipe, it gets rid of that noise. gives the exhaust a nice sound and makes it louder BUT pushes the annoying sound some people get while cruising into a higher RPM. to sum it up, Y-pipe helps a lot with performance, nice sound, and keeping the sound down while cruising... I need a Y-pipe

[Ranga14]

I don't have the Nismo exhaust. I have a custome cat-back with a magnaflow muffler and have HORRIBLE cabin noise while cruising on the hwy... I've heard other members complain about in cabin noise while cruising on the hwy and they say that once they get the Y-pipe, it gets rid of that noise. gives the exhaust a nice sound and makes it louder BUT pushes the annoying sound some people get while cruising into a higher RPM. to sum it up, Y-pipe helps a lot with performance, nice sound, and keeping the sound down while cruising... I need a Y-pipe

Then get one, they aren't that expensive. :P

[AviBen]

Well, I ordered the Nismo cat-back; should have it in a couple of days and hopefully have it installed shortly thereafter. I'm going to see how that is, then consider the RacingLine Y-pipe and the AEM cold air intake.

[Hussain]

I don't have the Nismo exhaust. I have a custome cat-back with a magnaflow muffler and have HORRIBLE cabin noise while cruising on the hwy... I've heard other members complain about in cabin noise while cruising on the hwy and they say that once they get the Y-pipe, it gets rid of that noise. gives the exhaust a nice sound and makes it louder BUT pushes the annoying sound some people get while cruising into a higher RPM. to sum it up, Y-pipe helps a lot with performance, nice sound, and keeping the sound down while cruising... I need a Y-pipe

Then get one, they aren't that expensive. :P

lol ya but I just bought rings for me and my fiancée and I need to buy all 4 new tires first. so it'll be a while

[el_blacky06]

I don't have the Nismo exhaust. I have a custome cat-back with a magnaflow muffler and have HORRIBLE cabin noise while cruising on the hwy... I've heard other members complain about in cabin noise while cruising on the hwy and they say that once they get the Y-pipe, it gets rid of that noise. gives the exhaust a nice sound and makes it louder BUT pushes the annoying sound some people get while cruising into a higher RPM. to sum it up, Y-pipe helps a lot with performance, nice sound, and keeping the sound down while cruising... I need a Y-pipe

i feel ya dude cat less = in cabin noise for my sedan

[rcboy514]

My set-up is Nismo, y-pipe, and AEM.

Idle is quiet and close to stock with just a slightly lower tone.

When accelerating from a stop (moderately), you will get a nice deep throaty sound from idle to about 1800-1900 rpm. Once you hit about 2k it will start to give you that z/g purr, that purr will get louder/higher pitch/awesome until about 3500rpm. At that point it quiets down some and you can really hear the intake sound over the exhaust (from the inside of the car).

Starting from a roll (35-40mph) and about 1500 rpm and car is really quiet, when you hit the gas it will immediately hit that high pitch g/z sound from 3k-4k which sounds amazing. I like to think of it as a badass altima coupe sound, but a lot of you guys want to sound like the g/z and it is similar.

At highway speed (60-68) there is moderate drone between 1900-2200 rpm. From 70 on it sounds like stock, you can't really hear it at all and that would prolly be between 2400 rpm on up to whatever you want.

[AviBen]

This is REALLY helpful. Thanks!

[AviBen]

So, the cat-back arrived and it's IN, the stock exhaust is sitting in the corner of my garage "just in case"(!?), and I've gotten to drive the car with the new exhaust, and I'm thinking "wow this is loud" and "is it too loud" and "I'm a cop magnet" and "will I be able to stand this" and "what will the neighbors think" and . . . . . then I realize I just want to keep driving and what I'm feeling is absolute poetry . . . . "big cat" and "listen to that big guy purr" and "cohones" and "the essence of throatiness" and "that's what a car is supposed to do when you hit the gas" and "big cats aren't silent -- this is sweet."

At my age.

[rcboy514]

thats awesome!! lol

I've revved at a few cops with my nismo and y-pipe and they did nothing, so I think you are good

[CoupeVQ35CVT]

Haha funny experience after the Nismo eh? Yeah it sounds loud in the sense that when you hit the gas the guy behind you will know you got something going on under that hood, but other than that, I think I've heard worse offenders in terms of loudness and noise on a daily basis (Mustangs, F-150, V8 galore here in Texas), and the Nismo is a refreshing change of sound!

I have the ebay catback, and just recently bought the Y-pipe, and can't wait to have it put on. Best bang for the buck I hear.

Enjoy your new exhaust!

[Ranga14]

Haha funny experience after the Nismo eh? Yeah it sounds loud in the sense that when you hit the gas the guy behind you will know you got something going on under that hood, but other than that, I think I've heard worse offenders in terms of loudness and noise on a daily basis (Mustangs, F-150, V8 galore here in Texas), and the Nismo is a refreshing change of sound!

I have the ebay catback, and just recently bought the Y-pipe, and can't wait to have it put on. Best bang for the buck I hear.

Enjoy your new exhaust!

You heard mine from behind a lot.

[insaneturbo13]

Haha funny experience after the Nismo eh? Yeah it sounds loud in the sense that when you hit the gas the guy behind you will know you got something going on under that hood, but other than that, I think I've heard worse offenders in terms of loudness and noise on a daily basis (Mustangs, F-150, V8 galore here in Texas), and the Nismo is a refreshing change of sound!

I have the ebay catback, and just recently bought the Y-pipe, and can't wait to have it put on. Best bang for the buck I hear.

Enjoy your new exhaust!

You heard mine from behind a lot.

burned

[fr4c]

AviBen,

Now that you had your exhaust in for a few months, has the drone and exhaust sound settled down? I just had mine put in and feel the drone at lower rpms to be a bit too much for my taste.

[AviBen]

In answer to your question, I now also have the Racingline Y-Pipe and AEM Intake. The drone kicks in at around 2,000 RPMs, but I find it tolerable, and cruising at lower RPMs is rather quiet (except, of course, when accelerating). I really like the sound in general, and feel that things have settled in nicely. However, you will never run silent again at cruising speed.

[fr4c]

In answer to your question, I now also have the Racingline Y-Pipe and AEM Intake. The drone kicks in at around 2,000 RPMs, but I find it tolerable, and cruising at lower RPMs is rather quiet (except, of course, when accelerating). I really like the sound in general, and feel that things have settled in nicely. However, you will never run silent again at cruising speed.

I currently have the AEM intake and Nismo exhaust, and I find the drone to be quite loud when driving locally especially since the CVT hovers around 2000RPM. Did the "drone" and exhaust quite down with the addition of the y-pipe, or louder? I'd hate to take off my AEM intake just to quite things down

[AviBen]

My AEM Intake and Racingline Y-Pipe were installed at the same time, so I can't tell you whether the Y-Pipe toned down what the sound would have been with only the Intake. Some of the testimonials for the Y-Pipe say it helped tone down and "move back" the noise of the Nismo exhaust. I'm sorry you are experiencing some distress over this -- perhaps both the system itself and the way you experience it will settle in over time -- as for me, I enjoy the sound of my car so much most of the time that I tolerate the occasional cruising drone rather well. As I think I indicated above, the "VROOM VROOM" really speaks to the little boy in me!

[rcboy514]

true that^ I can't ever decide whether to roll my window down and listen to my car or roll it up and listen to music. lol my car usually wins.

[fr4c]

My AEM Intake and Racingline Y-Pipe were installed at the same time, so I can't tell you whether the Y-Pipe toned down what the sound would have been with only the Intake. Some of the testimonials for the Y-Pipe say it helped tone down and "move back" the noise of the Nismo exhaust. I'm sorry you are experiencing some distress over this -- perhaps both the system itself and the way you experience it will settle in over time -- as for me, I enjoy the sound of my car so much most of the time that I tolerate the occasional cruising drone rather well. As I think I indicated above, the "VROOM VROOM" really speaks to the little boy in me!

Yes the sound is rather addicting, and it's just begging to be rev'ed which can be a bad thing

Last question, was there a difference in sound from when you were just running the Nismo catback, and when you added the AEM/y-pipe? I remember when I first put in the intake there was a significant increase in sound, so I'm thinking if I was to revert back to the stock intake it will also decrease the drone of the exhaust. I won't be sacrificing a noticeable amount of HP with the intake removed (other than sound) and I'm willing to run the stock airbox again with the K&N filter if it gives me a quiter cruising experience around town.

[AviBen]

Yes -- maybe it's my imagination, but I noticed what seemed like a significant increase in the volume and pitch of acceleration, which seems to be coming from the intake -- with a kind of "breathiness" quality to it. I actually like it, and I think the intake and Y-Pipe combined offer a little noticeable increase in power, particularly in passing power and acceleration rather than from a standing start. How long have you had your mods in place? I'd suggest giving it some time -- not only for the system to settle in, but to get used to it yourself, which is what happened to me.