Y-Pipe owners... sound off!

[RicerX]

Hey guys,

I'm doing a bit of research here. For those of you that purchased a Y-Pipe from Racingline, if you could, please answer any of the following:

- How long did it take your order to process? After processing, how long did it take to ship to your location? (please include your location if it is not in your avatar.)
- What were your initial impressions when you first opened the package and inspected the y-pipe?
- For installation, did you have to obtain any additional parts in order to complete the installation? (gaskets, RTV sealant, etc?)
- How many miles have you driven with the pipe?
- Have you encountered any leaks, rattling, raspiness, etc?
- Do you have a factory catback section (aka are you using axleback or factory exhaust?) or are you using an aftermarket catback?
- Rate your overall experience from 1 to 10 with your Y-Pipe.

Thanks, guys!
-Z

[rcboy514]

first impressions- I could tell it was very high quality, all the welds were perfect and fitment was perfect.

The only thing I had to have was some copper gasket material.

I've driven over 5k miles with it and so far there are not leaks, strange sounds, or anything of that nature.

I have it mated to the nismo exhaust and it's so kickface!


I give it a 9.8 only because it didn't come with gaskets

[SHIFT_COUPE]

- Took 27 days to get to me here in Connecticut
- Nice packaging, good quality.
- Needed RTV Sealant. Also had to go out and purchase the hardware that was mentioned to be included. It wasn't. No biggie.
- Approximately 800 miles thus far.
- No issues after installation.
- Factory mid-pipe, Borla rear section

Overall rating - 9

May I ask why you are conducting this research? Are you having issues, or just checking it out before you purchase?

[DReed86]

Hey guys,

I'm doing a bit of research here. For those of you that purchased a Y-Pipe from Racingline, if you could, please answer any of the following:

- How long did it take your order to process? After processing, how long did it take to ship to your location? (please include your location if it is not in your avatar.)
- What were your initial impressions when you first opened the package and inspected the y-pipe?
- For installation, did you have to obtain any additional parts in order to complete the installation? (gaskets, RTV sealant, etc?)
- How many miles have you driven with the pipe?
- Have you encountered any leaks, rattling, raspiness, etc?
- Do you have a factory catback section (aka are you using axleback or factory exhaust?) or are you using an aftermarket catback?
- Rate your overall experience from 1 to 10 with your Y-Pipe.

Thanks, guys!
-Z

Well I purchased the Y pipe on July 1st, and they send me an email on July 13th yesterday that my order would be shipped soon... Im in Virgina so i cant imagine im going to get it anytime soon.... For that im not really excited about

[Ranga14]

1. From date of order, it took exactly 1 week to arrive. I'm in Dallas, TX.
2. None, my shop re used the stock gaskets, although you can buy new ones.
3. Around 5,000.
4. No leaks that I know of and nothing else.
5. Nismo Cat Back.
6. Rating: 9

IMO, you'll notice a difference with the ypipe however you'll notice even more of a difference if you have an intake+bd tuner. Especially the bd tuner, I actually returned my car to stock settings and things didn't sound as deep and throaty and I could tell there wasn't as much power output. That's just my experience based upon all the mods I've done but there's no denying the fact that air will flow better through your exhaust system with the ypipe thus yielding more hp.

You might want to check out this thread for some negative reaction:
altima-coupe-3-5-ebay-exhaust-racinglin ... 00117.html

[CoupeVQ35CVT]

^^ That would be my thread up there, which OP and you've already read. But I'll answer the q's up there here as well to add my experience:

1. Ordering process- Like Ranga14 I'm in Texas, I placed my order around end of June, ordered on a Wednesday, received a week later on a Thursday.

2. Initial impressions - Yuck, what's all this dust and metal crud all over. The welds were done right, but could be cleaned up/dusted. I can see through the flex pipe! I suppose that's normal. No finishing touches. At half the price, my ebay exhaust came polished! DOES include 2 bolts needed for the rear catback assembly to attach. DOES NOT include any gaskets.

3. Installation - Fitment itself was not an issue. Bolts right up to the location it is supposed to...except..the installer I went to had to fab a little collar on each of the 2 collectors' flanges (check my thread mentioned above), in order to match the stock unit's pieces so that he could reuse the stock 2 copper gaskets, and make a good seal. Used some paste/putty around it for good measure and seal. To me that just seemed odd. Had to reuse rear section gasket from my catback for that joint, and the stock copper ring gaskets on the front section as mentioned.

4. How many miles - 300 miles so far.

5. Leaks, rattling, raspiness, etc - I don't hear it upon cold start, but after warm up, driving around, there is a rattle from the bottom at idle RPM speeds. A little embarrassing at a red light to say the least, and a little annoying. A bit of a sssssss just barely noticeable under initial load (before car gets too loud to hear that ssss I guess). Seems like it leaks maybe - noticed water dropping there at the Y-pipe/catback joint.

6. I have an ebay catback that has been on my car since it was 2 weeks old. 30,000 miles later no trouble. Mated up to the Y-pipe rear section.

7. Rate your overall experience - 7.0 - For $300 I perhaps wrongly expected a bit more finish to the product and better/proper installation setup (the flange issue). Performance wise, I REALLY want to say it works. But I can't notice that little bit of difference, without something else to compare against. Sound wise, it a nice addition, a little more "crack" when you let off the throttle real quick from high rpm. A bit more pronounced blurb (a good thing), and a little bit more drone (not too bad) under medium and high loads at mid rpm range. At highway cruising it is as silent as can be realistically expected.

[RicerX]

May I ask why you are conducting this research? Are you having issues, or just checking it out before you purchase?

I've heard conflicting opinions on quality and fitment of these things across several different threads. I wanted to see how many people actually had problems vs how many people are totally satisfied with the product. I've got one on order but I've read a couple threads and I'm having some reservations I guess. I was looking for this thread to prove me correct or incorrect, basically. Plus, it'll be pretty informative for prospective buyers as well.

It's been about a week since the order was placed for me and I haven't heard anything about the status.

Basically, I only want quality parts that won't cause me problems with drivability. I'll spend the extra money on a brand's part that may not create as much performance gains as another brand's similar part as long as it will surpass it in quality and durability.

I'm driving a $32,000 sport coupe, not a $4,000 used Civic, and I feel my aftermarket parts should live up to that. I'm not at all saying the Racingline Y-Pipe is or is not living up to it, I just wanted to test the waters to see what the overall consensus is.

[white midori]

Just wonder can Racingline can give us some comments according these questions

[DJ_B_Easy]

- Order processed in 2 days, had the product a little over a week after that in NJ, so about 2 weeks total from date of order I received my product. (Keep in mind RL is in Canada. Small as the issues may be, there are issues with clearing customs).
- Have to agree with most and say that it seemed a little "unfinished". Dirty to put it best. Im not good enough a craftsman to notice bad welds and such but I thought it looked OK. Bolts were included.
- I did not do the install, but the mechanic who did used some sealant, not sure what brand or type.
- Closing in on about 6,000 miles with the Y.
- NO, ZERO, NADA for issues. Sounds great, no leaks, and I dont care what anyone says, I felt the difference in performance the very first drive on the highway home from my mechanic. I love how it even makes driving up a hill seemingly effortless for the Coupe. Slight pressure on the gas and you're gone.
- I have factory catback. (I read a thread saying that certain aftermarket exhausts will actually counteract effectiveness of the Y pipe. Issues with not enough back pressure).
- 10. I have no reason to not give it a 10. It came dirty, big deal. My cars underside is filthy so it joined the club. Performance and sound more than make up for it.

In Racingline's defense (been getting a lot of bad press here lately)...they recently moved their operations and had to completely relocate. Im sure this backed them up a few weeks if not an entire month in processing. Also, it seems the interest and demand for the Y has increased dramatically recently. Now Im not sure if they are making them in house or outsourcing them but a little pressure on a fabricator and quality goes down the drain. Im not saying this is excusable, but we arent buying from K&N here. I have had nothing but GREAT experiences with RL through 3 orders and I feel bad for them getting such a terrible rep.

And that would be my $0.07

[Desire1314]

Hmm, RL has no say in both threads....has anyone informed them yet?

[CoupeVQ35CVT]

- Have to agree with most and say that it seemed a little "unfinished". Dirty to put it best. Im not good enough a craftsman to notice bad welds and such but I thought it looked OK. Bolts were included.
- I have factory catback. (I read a thread saying that certain aftermarket exhausts will actually counteract effectiveness of the Y pipe. Issues with not enough back pressure).
- 10. I have no reason to not give it a 10. It came dirty, big deal. My cars underside is filthy so it joined the club. Performance and sound more than make up for it.

I don't actually have an issue with the product being "dirty" though it is kind of annoying when you don't expect that from a finished product. But like you said, we buy it for the performance, and perhaps a little bit of that new sound. And to that, I cannot say I noticed the 4% increase in power, but sound is nice. I mean, 10 whp on top of stock 240 whp....I honestly can't say I would notice something that subtle. You probably can't even detect a difference in 0-60 time with any kind of substantial consistency. I think a lot of it is placebo, but perhaps for some it isn't.

And btw, our cars do not use backpressure for any kind of power. That is a dead-horse-beaten myth that only is really true for old school carburated engines. We want as little to no back pressure as possible with fuel injected cars...unless RL did say that, and has a good explanation if that seriously is their reasoning for certain aftermarket exhausts not working well with it.

[AviBen]

I ordered RL Y-Pipe this past Saturday 7/10, got email acknowledging receipt of the order (and PayPal charge came through at my bank on Sunday) but their email said this is not yet an order confirmation, which they said will come through with a detailed email "once your order has been processed". Three business days later and nothing further. I sent an email asking what's up but no response. And, the link in their email, to check the status of my order on their website, doesn't work. They've got me wondering now . . . .

[AviBen]

Right after the post I made immediately above. I sent another email to RacingLine. Six minutes later, I got an email confirming my order and shipping directions. One minute after that, I got an email saying my order has been shipped and is complete -- saying the shipment date is July 15 (it was still the evening of July 14 and RacingLine is in a time zone where it's a couple of hours earlier, I believe). My fingers are crossed.

[Ranga14]

Glad your ypipe is on the way! I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure it has something to do with the move DJBeasy mentioned.

[Flypinoy457]

1. I'm located in Bay Area, California. Took about week and half after I ordered it.

2. Top notch quality for first impressions. When I was doing the research before I bought mine, I saw mixed results for weld quality; I guess I was the one of the lucky ones.

3. I used the stock gaskets, and bought some exhaust high temp sealant for extra precautions.

4. Been about 3,500 miles with the Y-Pipe + Borla axel back (did both installs in one shot) and still sounds amazing.

5. *see above

6. I rate it a 9 because I am very picky when it comes to rating. Only way I would go from a 9 to a 10 would be using even higher grade materials and build quality. Nice semi polished piping with virtually no weld marks, basically looking like it came factory from Nissan or Nismo.

Overall well worth every penny, and definitely the best mod for horsepower per dollar.

Here is an exhaust clip from the Norcal Meet few weeks ago:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1587040/Flypino ... 0Video.mov

[god]

I'm driving a $32,000 sport coupe, not a $4,000 used Civic, and I feel my aftermarket parts should live up to that. I'm not at all saying the Racingline Y-Pipe is or is not living up to it, I just wanted to test the waters to see what the overall consensus is.

Damnn you payed 32k for yours? i love my a/c but you deff could of got a better car for 32k

[DJ_B_Easy]

We want as little to no back pressure as possible with fuel injected cars...unless RL did say that, and has a good explanation if that seriously is their reasoning for certain aftermarket exhausts not working well with it.

I believe this this might have been the case, it was right when I joined the forum and I couldnt even tell you what the thread topic was about. Backpressure and such is by no means my forte so I couldnt even begin to argue for it. I'll try a search later and see if I can dig it up.

[dangeris]

I am fully sponsored by Racingline and got the Y-pipe and other things at no charge.

Love the y-pipe and you can really feel it open up in the mid range.

[RicerX]

Damnn you payed 32k for yours? i love my a/c but you deff could of got a better car for 32k

Nowhere in that post did I say I paid $32K. Anyone here knows that's sticker for one that's nearly loaded out. (Everything minus tech.)

[Loop]

Here is an exhaust clip from the Norcal Meet few weeks ago:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1587040/Flypino ... 0Video.mov

Is that really a Borla exhaust you have or is the exhaust using Borla materials? Your tips look different from what Borla's production exhaust looks.

[Loop]

Hmm, RL has no say in both threads....has anyone informed them yet?

They are busy on other forums.

[Ranga14]

Hmm, RL has no say in both threads....has anyone informed them yet?

They are busy on other forums.

lmao

[RicerX]

I missed that reference? haha

[AviBen]

Update to my earlier posts (above): The Y-Pipe arrived in good shape two days ago (ordered online Sat. July 10, arrived Mon. July 19). It was clean looking, came in a box decently packed with cushioning paper, without any instructions but I had downloaded the instructions off the RL internet site. As of today, it's installed, seems to work as advertised, but note that my AEM Intake (which arrived the next day) was installed at the same time, so I'm experiencing the effects of both. More throaty and burbly sound, easier-sounding hum at highway cruising speeds than with Nismo cat-back alone. I also have a feeling that it needs to "settle in" during a period of some driving -- that's how it felt with the Nismo cat-back -- anyone else experience that? So far, I'm pleased.

[DJ_B_Easy]

It does need to break in a little. Give it about a week or so, the sound should get a little deeper and such.

[maxentropy]

I concur on the raspyness right after install. After a few weeks it tends to settle and sounds really smooth. Same as installing an exhaust. there is always the period where the sealant works its magic and seals it off.

[BzOaY]

I purchased the Y-pipe and it did take awhile to arrive to SD reason being i also ordered front strut bar(out of stock) and rear sway bar(also out of stock). i had to wait till they got them before they could ship everything. Purchase date was 5/29 and i got the y pipe a few weeks ago, and the sway bar and strut bar come in on Wednesday. It does look pretty sexy but it doesn't matter what it looks like it is going under your car and cant really see it. I noticed looking at the stock and racinglines there is a lot of restriction in the stock y pipe because it goes from a circle to oval then back. To me it seems like that could restrict it. racinglines does not do that. It also eliminates a cat. I am running a stock exhaust besides the y pipe but i also have an injen CAI. I have prob drive a few hundred miles with the y pipe on now, i just took a short vacation. I didn't have any problems removing or installing it no leaks i did use some RTV just for security reasons it doesn't come with any gaskets but there is only one gasket from the old y pipe and that is at the back connecting to the rear exhaust. Overall i love the y pipe next I'm going to purchase cat back exhaust which will make it sound alot better, prob rate it a 9. It is definitely worth the money i would get it