Nissan 350Z
So, I got the blueflame exhaust done what must have been approx 2 or so months ago now, perhaps slightly longer, and its been on the car long enough for me to form some fairly solid opinions and observations.
First off, lets start with the positives. It looks significantly better and more "meaty" than the standard "pea-shooter" style exhausts. It also subjectively seems seems a bit keener in the performance terms. Oh, and it was cheap....
Now, the negatives, and what I would like is for people with blueflames to chime in here and say whether their experience matches mine.
For starters, when the car is cold, it seems even more lumpy than before, when you lift off the throttle it feels somewhat jerky now, and sounds like it could be slightly misfiring (small popping noises). This of course, improves once the car is warmed up so that in effect, it becomes a non-issue, although its still ever so slightly noticable sometimes.
However, for me the biggest issue has to be the way it sounds. Don't get me wrong here; it sounds pretty good at full chat, although the jury is out as to whether its really any better than standard. When driving at low revs, and at a slow rate, its not too bad. However, start driving with intent, and it changes significantly. First off, although not exactly unexpected, it does / can have a tendency to be quite boomy. However, the thing that bugs me the most, is that at low to medium revs, in particular between about 3K and 5K, the exhaust sounds rather raspy / farty. This characteristic diminishes once the car comes on cam. However, as you will understand, the car spends more time at low to mid revs than it does on cam....
Now, I've read other people describing these exhausts as raspy as well, so I'm thinking that, perhaps, its not just my exhaust, but in fact just the way they are. However, I'm increasingly of the opinion that its not a desirable sound.
Unfortunately, I'm now of the opinion that this system, whilst clearly louder than the standard system, does not IMO sound any better. In fact, I could say you could actually argue the standard system sounds better, as it did not exhibit this "fartiness / raspiness" that the blueflame have. The biggest sin committed by the standard system was simply that it was a little too quiet, however, in hindsight, I'd probably put the car back to that kind of sound if I had the option.
Now, I did always feel that the car could sound a bit louder and more aggressive than it did as standard, however, now it just sounds, well, louder. Not really more aggressive though. Just more boomy and raspy. To be fair, it does actually sound quite good still at full chat, although to me, it kind of did sound alright before anyway. However, the way the exhaust has changed the sound, for me, isnt quite in keeping with the car. Sounds a bit chavvy for my liking.
I think in hindsight, to get an improved note, had I known what I know now, I might have just stuck with the standard system, and got a simota and just left it at that - I'm sure that would have improved the sound in more the right way.
I'm going to stick a simota on anyway in the hope that it improves the sound to the point where I am perhaps not noticing it as much, but overall, I've got to say that I am a little disappointed with the exhaust.
So what do fellow blueflame owners think?
First off, lets start with the positives. It looks significantly better and more "meaty" than the standard "pea-shooter" style exhausts. It also subjectively seems seems a bit keener in the performance terms. Oh, and it was cheap....
Now, the negatives, and what I would like is for people with blueflames to chime in here and say whether their experience matches mine.
For starters, when the car is cold, it seems even more lumpy than before, when you lift off the throttle it feels somewhat jerky now, and sounds like it could be slightly misfiring (small popping noises). This of course, improves once the car is warmed up so that in effect, it becomes a non-issue, although its still ever so slightly noticable sometimes.
However, for me the biggest issue has to be the way it sounds. Don't get me wrong here; it sounds pretty good at full chat, although the jury is out as to whether its really any better than standard. When driving at low revs, and at a slow rate, its not too bad. However, start driving with intent, and it changes significantly. First off, although not exactly unexpected, it does / can have a tendency to be quite boomy. However, the thing that bugs me the most, is that at low to medium revs, in particular between about 3K and 5K, the exhaust sounds rather raspy / farty. This characteristic diminishes once the car comes on cam. However, as you will understand, the car spends more time at low to mid revs than it does on cam....
Now, I've read other people describing these exhausts as raspy as well, so I'm thinking that, perhaps, its not just my exhaust, but in fact just the way they are. However, I'm increasingly of the opinion that its not a desirable sound.
Unfortunately, I'm now of the opinion that this system, whilst clearly louder than the standard system, does not IMO sound any better. In fact, I could say you could actually argue the standard system sounds better, as it did not exhibit this "fartiness / raspiness" that the blueflame have. The biggest sin committed by the standard system was simply that it was a little too quiet, however, in hindsight, I'd probably put the car back to that kind of sound if I had the option.
Now, I did always feel that the car could sound a bit louder and more aggressive than it did as standard, however, now it just sounds, well, louder. Not really more aggressive though. Just more boomy and raspy. To be fair, it does actually sound quite good still at full chat, although to me, it kind of did sound alright before anyway. However, the way the exhaust has changed the sound, for me, isnt quite in keeping with the car. Sounds a bit chavvy for my liking.
I think in hindsight, to get an improved note, had I known what I know now, I might have just stuck with the standard system, and got a simota and just left it at that - I'm sure that would have improved the sound in more the right way.
I'm going to stick a simota on anyway in the hope that it improves the sound to the point where I am perhaps not noticing it as much, but overall, I've got to say that I am a little disappointed with the exhaust.
So what do fellow blueflame owners think?
Which is a shame as it looks spot on. I went for a mid sport sound which I was told should be just enough to know I have sports exhaust but not too loud. Having the same problems as mentioned above, really boomy when pulling away and low rev region but sounds more agressive at the top end. Going to give prospeed a ring tomorrow to see what they can do as I can't live with it like this for another month.
