See Pics Below

THE INSTALL

Yesterday I received my Pacesetter off-road y-pipe and began the install. I have Pacesetter headers and a Magnaflow catback (relevant mods), and the previous owner had installed a Texas Speed catted y-pipe. I recently found out the car needed to be tuned, so I decided that if there was a time to remove the cats, it was now as this is obviously not my daily driver and I wanted to be sure that I was getting the most power out of it I could (it was only $140, so if I don't gain any power it's not a huge deal, but at least I know I'm not losing anything).

The old y-pipe would have been pretty easy to get off had I seen the clamp on the catback that was hitting the 12-bolt (we unclamped the y-pipe, unbolted the catback, and were sliding the catback towards to rear to disconnect that end of the y-pipe), but since I didn't, I spent most of the night banging on it to get it off and in the end when I saw and removed the clamp, it came off in about 5 minutes .

The install at the headers end went extremely quickly, in about ten minutes or so, but the night had ended and I went to bed with it only about halfway onto the catback. I got home from work today and just went out and started banging on the catback from near the rear with a mallet covered in a towel, and in about an hour or a little longer I finished positioning everything. I clamped it all up and rebolted the catback, rebolted the driveshaft safety loop, and made a few minor adjustments.

THE REVIEW (part 1) - Clearance, Banging, Safety Loop

First off, the clearance from the lowest part of the y-pipe to the ground is pretty impressive. I honestly don't see myself scraping on anything that most cars wouldn't, and I probably have at least a good inch and a half to two inches of extra clearance over the catted Y (possibly more?). I will try to get some pics soon.

This y-pipe comes in two pieces and has two flattened sections on the top driver's side to help with clearance between the pipe and the floorboards (my old y-pipe used to bang on the floor like crazy from a stop and sometimes from a roll, as well). After the install, I took it out tonight for about an hour just cruising. I ran it hard from a stop through third, from a 1st gear roll through third, and from a third gear roll (70mph) into fourth. It did not bang once.

One issue I had previous to the install was that my driveshaft was actually slightly touching my driveshaft safety loop. This was recently discovered by a ring around the driveshaft right at the point of the loop and was caused by the fact that the other y-pipe hung so low that the safety loop needed to be installed with spacers - ie washers and nuts - that (I now know) caused it to sit too low. The new y-pipe has so much clearance that I was able to install the loop without any spacers and still didn't have any clearance issues (although I ended up putting one in because now the loop sat a little higher than I was comfortable with, a safety loop issue, not a y-pipe issue like previously). I used to hear the driveshaft rubbing a bit before - at least I now believe that's what the noise was - but I did not hear it at all tonight, even when matting it.

THE REVIEW (part 2) - Sound, Smell, Overall

The sound difference between the ORY and the catted Y is pretty significant. The ORY is quite a bit louder and definitely a lot raspier, which, when you put your head down underneath the car, you can clearly hear is caused by the y-pipe. I almost thought there was an exhaust leak somewhere when I first started it since a lot more sound comes from the y-pipe area, but it is just that the pipe is a lot more resonant, and for obvious reasons. During wide-open throttle, the car sounds completely different, meaning a lot louder and a lot more metallic (raspier). I wouldn't trade it for the old sound for a million dollars (OK, maybe a MILLION dollars....but it sounds BADASS when you stomp on that gas pedal).

There is a definite smell right now (gas/exhaust-type smell) that wasn't there before, and I have heard of this being a result of no cats, but I will be getting it tuned next week and will see if this helps at all. Might this be caused by the car running rich, or would the opposite be the case? Anyone with knowledge or factual advice/information: your input would be appreciated.

Overall, if I had it to do over but had to spend $500 instead of $155 with shipping, I definitely would. The sound alone was worth it, but hopefully I will see a performance increase, as well. I was taking it pretty easy on my car before the swap because I need to bleed the clutch and get it tuned, but I would have to say that I may have felt a bit of a performance increase. We may find out on the dyno next week.

I highly recommend this y-pipe if you have Pacesetter headers.

 

 

I should be posting some later today! Sorry about the delay but I just got it done late last night!

 

Good write-up. Your experience fits mine to a "T" with XS LT's/ORY vs. catted Y. However, my opinion of the sound is the polar opposite of yours. The rasp drove me to pull the ORY and replace it with a catted Y. It feels like it could have lost some power at the top end as a result, though.

 

TTT for Pics!

 

Nice, so what did you do with the old Y?

 

Unfortunately the tune won't help, believe me I wish it would.
If you're anything like me you'll never get used to it. -lol

 

I love that smell, reminds me of an old muscle car.

 

I agree

 

The old y-pipe is sitting in my garage, but it's pretty banged up.

Yeah, I haven't noticed the smell much, but I may have just gotten used to it. I love this sound, though.