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Last week I ordered a catback system from Beluga Racing for my 2011 G37S Coupe. Just installed it last night and so far I'm quite pleased, and thought I'd share my observations.
First off- this kit is basically a 370Z system with a 12" extension pipe. More on that later. The box arrived from Dallas and was well packed, wrapped in bubbly padding and looked great. The finish is very good and all the welds looked solid. Included were two hardware packages that consisted of bolts and gaskets. There was also a sheet of "instructions" which were so vague they were funny.
Fortunately I had access to a lift for the swap- without one it would have been way more work. It's a little tricky working the rear muffler off the rubber hangers. I removed the LH hanger on the forward side of the muffler. You'll want a can of your favorite spray penetrating oil handy!
Hanging the new system starts with connecting the 12" extension to the Y-pipe. This is where the 370Z-to-G37 swaparoo becomes noticeable. The rear flange on the extension pipe was really crowding the heat shield and small crossmember under the driveshaft. My guess is the extra 12 inches in the G's floorpan is added in the aft section- not the center of the car. My solution was to push the heat shield up a little and add some washers with longer bolts to the little crossmember. The less ****-retentive might just opt to remove and be done with it!
The rear section posed no problem at all and fits great. I hung it on the two side hangers first, then bolted up the flange, and finally replaced the forward hanger on the left side. Once it was all hanging in place I tightened up the bolts and fired it up.
"It sounds Italian!" was the first comment from my Ferrari-owning friend. But he's right- at idle it has a lower tone that's not really any louder. Overall it's not LOUD at all. Most noticeably it sounds great throughout the revs- no longer so buzzy at higher RPM. And no drone or annoying resonance at all. The "passive resonator" in the center seems to really work!
I've read varying accounts on the quality of these systems and the single pipe design, etc. So far I am very impressed with the quality of this for a system under $500. And as far as the single-pipe design is concerned- if performance gain is your priority you'd be better with high-flow cats and just leave the stock muffler. So overall I would recommend this if you're looking for a nicer sound that's not too loud and less weight.
Thanks for the review, well done!
Looks to be a nice fit and would be interesting to see how that would actually compare to the typical split true dual setup. I'd bet that it's still pretty efficient as you are running pretty good sized piping all the way back. Would be good if you could provide sound clips.
Is the ID of the Beluga pipe connecting to the OEM Y-pipe the same ID or is it bigger?
Is the ID of the Beluga pipe connecting to the OEM Y-pipe the same ID or is it bigger?
Maybe a tad bigger.
I didn't bother recording anything because I couldn't figure out how to turn off the automatic gain control on my phone. It pretty much makes any recording of an exhaust system worthless since it compensates for changes in volume.
04-21-2017, 04:18 PM
Beluga Racing Catback Exhaust - G37 Coupe
