Does a cat back exhaust actually add power?

[Tranzor Z]

Fairly new Z owner coming from many Mustangs. I didn't realize how tiny our exhaust is until the guys at Z1 told me to look under the car.

I'm thinking about a cat back system if I can actually get power out of one.

Second question is are the downpipes as restrictive as the entire exhaust is? I may be interested in doing full turbo back if that's the case.

Any advice will be appreciated!

Steve

 

[FSUZ33]

Others can chime in with numbers, but in regards to catback exhaust, and intake/catback, gains are minimal...maybe 10-15?. The noticeable gains don't hit until you start playing with the downpipes. A caveat to that, is a tune is recommended with downpipe changes.

 

[Bumflik]

I would say lower... 5-9Hp

 

[sarge]

Concept Z Performance did a vid w/ Dyno on the Nismo Street Exhaust. They got 15 hp increase over stock and 31 ft lbs torque. It’s a video on YouTube so it’s gotta be true!!



My wife and I installed the Nismo Street exhaust in about 3 hours in our garage with the car on jackstands. It sounds MUCH better than the videos. 3 weeks and an 800 mi trip it seems to have gotten louder. Killer exhaust, the cops won’t run me down but everyone around me (and the ones that end up behind me definitely know I’m there.

 

[LeeO8283]

You’ll never get much without a proper tuning from what I’ve understood. But the numbers sound right 5-15hp max, pushing it if you got it tuned.
So adding that and a cold air you could get between 10-25 straight up.

Z1 has an entire kit, rather expensive one where it’ll add an additional 200hp after tuning. They even gave one away back in 2023, think they nicknamed it the 600R. Costs as much as the damn car.

 

[Howdog70]

My Ass Dyno 2.0 noticed a big difference from stock nismo exhaust to track nismo exhaust. Definitely worth it.

 

[msco123]

Does an axle back exhaust change add anything?

 

[Mellowyellow]

My understanding, and I may be wrong, is that the downpipes and specifically the lower downpipes, is the bottleneck. So if that is true an axlelback or catback by itself won't do much if anything for performance. Think of it this way, if you have a 1/2 inch water hose connected to your water tap and then add a 3/4 inch hose to the 1/2 inch, are you going to flow a higher volume of water?

 

[FSUZ33]

My Ass Dyno 2.0 noticed a big difference from stock nismo exhaust to track nismo exhaust. Definitely worth it.

Not, in any way, saying you're wrong; but it's not uncommon for Ass Dyno's to report higher than actual power gains that trace directly with increased noise/volume.

 

[Howdog70]

Not, in any way, saying you're wrong; but it's not uncommon for Ass Dyno's to report higher than actual power gains that trace directly with increased noise/volume.

My Ass Dyno 2.0 is calibrated, bruh.
I think the nismo track gives noticeable gains, but...I'd want to go bigger pipe diameter if I had to buy again.

 

[FSUZ33]

My Ass Dyno 2.0 is calibrated, bruh.
I think the nismo track gives noticeable gains, but...I'd want to go bigger pipe diameter if I had to buy again.

Dude!...I didn't catch you were at v2.0, so I take it back. I think all of the bugs were fixed around v1.8.

 

[Howdog70]

Dude!...I didn't catch you were at v2.0, so I take it back. I think all of the bugs were fixed around v1.8.

Recognize the 2.0! LMAO

I actually had to swap the setup for a replacement, and went back to stock while I waited for the new parts to come in. It was noticeable, the difference in power. I'm a fan of bigger pipes for sure on these cars.

 

[robin]

When I don't see the dyno report in SAE Or the smoothing I suspect they r showing the results in standard. IMHO not a fair representation.


My wife and I installed the Nismo Street exhaust in about 3 hours in our garage with the car on jackstands. It sounds MUCH better than the videos. 3 weeks and an 800 mi trip it seems to have gotten louder. Killer exhaust, the cops won’t run me down but everyone around me (and the ones that end up behind me definitely know I’m there.
[/QUOTE]

Concept Z Performance did a vid w/ Dyno on the Nismo Street Exhaust. They got 15 hp increase over stock and 31 ft lbs torque. It’s a video on YouTube so it’s gotta be true!!



My wife and I installed the Nismo Street exhaust in about 3 hours in our garage with the car on jackstands. It sounds MUCH better than the videos. 3 weeks and an 800 mi trip it seems to have gotten louder. Killer exhaust, the cops won’t run me down but everyone around me (and the ones that end up behind me definitely know I’m there.

 

[Heavy Dupree]

Outlet on the LDPs is ony 1.68 inches, it's a major chokepoint.

 

[RickW]

Fairly new Z owner coming from many Mustangs. I didn't realize how tiny our exhaust is until the guys at Z1 told me to look under the car.

I'm thinking about a cat back system if I can actually get power out of one.

Second question is are the downpipes as restrictive as the entire exhaust is? I may be interested in doing full turbo back if that's the case.

Any advice will be appreciated!

Steve

once the turbos hit max boost that's about all the power we will get. less restrictive downpipes and exhaust will let them spool up faster and a tune will raise that boost level to get the most power out of the turbos