Akrapovic Titanium Exhaust for the Nissan GT-R
When your car is as incredible as the Nissan GT-R, it can be hard to find a modification piece worthy of the vehicle. When it comes to exhaust systems, there are a lot of options out there too, so what exactly should you be looking for? Weight, performance, sound, visual appearance? How about all four.
The Akrapovic Evo exhaust for the Nissan GT-R is a rarity in the fact that it delivers incredible benefits in all 4 departments there, that no other exhaust can really equal.
Weight
The GT-R is a heavy car, we know this. This is, in fact, about the only real knock on the vehicle that exists. It's heavy, alright, we get that, how do we get past that? A great place to shed some weight is in the exhaust. The stock exhaust weighs over 65 pounds, and by switching to a full titanium exhaust system (Like the Akrapovic EVO) you're able to shed more than half of that weight. The EVO weighs 38.5 pounds less than the stock exhaust, and comes in at right around 30 pounds on its own as a complete system. That's a lot of weight to save, especially when you consider the HP and Torque boosts that the system provides.
Performance
So, you're saving weight and adding HP, what does this mean for the vehicle's performance? Well, for one, it means the car will be a lot quicker. The Akrapovic exhaust offers a published 17 extra HP (even though independent dyno numbers are posted in forums a lot that show as much as 31HP extra). If you assume that you'll get exactly the published bonuses, that means your vehicle will lose 38.5 pounds and gain 17 HP, which takes its HP/LB ratio from the stock 1HP for each 7.2 LBS to a much more impressive 1HP/7.8LBs. That's a half a pound per HP that's shaved by switching to an Akrapovic exhaust.
Couple those HP numbers with the Torque bonuses that the Akrapovic provides, and you'll see something even more impressive. Akrapovic published Torque numbers of 41 lbs/ft, and those numbers tend to fall right in line with independt dynos on various forum posts (I've seen 37-45 lbs/ft torque posted). When comparing that to the vehicle's weight, you'll see another impressive picture. The stock 2010 GT-R provides 434 lbs/ft, for a Torque:Weight ratio of 1:8.75. When you add in the extra Torque of the Akrapovic exhaust, and remove the extra weight, that ratio changes to 1:8. That changes your ratio by a full 3/4 of a pound, and should really help provide a lot more pick-up and go performance, which is amazing when you consider how much get up and go the GT-R already has.
Sound
Nobody ever complains about the way the GT-R sounds, do they? The vehicle is an absolute beast, with a powerful exhaust note that tears apart the road beneath it. But what if you could make your GT-R sound even meaner? The Akrapovic exhaust does just that. With a louder exhaust volume, and an exhaust tone that sounds like it belongs on a Formula 1 racing ring (or the Nurburgring, if you want to get specific). The Akrapovic takes the steady exhaust crescendo of the GT-R and really opens it up. Of course, it's hard to describe an exhaust tone, so I'll just post some Akrapovic videos and let you hear this one for yourself.
Appearance
I know, I know, an exhaust doesn't change the overall appearance of a vehicle that much when it's driven... usually. The Akrapovic EVO Exhaust for the Nissan GT-R does a magnificent job of improving that appearance, though, as it comes outfitted with large, quad tips in your choice of either titanium or carbon fiber. The tips are all double-rolled edges, and give a fantastic aftermarket appearance to your GT-R that's equal parts subtle and style. The large, well-finished, and attractive tips really draw the eye to the back-end of the GT-R in the same way that the exhaust's tone will draw the ear, making them a perfect compliment for the rest of the vehicle.They really achieve this look, also, by acting as a near-mirror image to the GT-R's taillights and giving the rear of the car a powerful visual motif.
Installed a new Exhaust, wanted to share!
Hey everybody. I recently had the benefit of saving up enough side cash to justify buying myself a new exhaust for my Nissan GT-R. I'd done some research, and thought about getting the Borla, as it seemed to be the best deal for the money and was very well reviewed everywhere I looked, but I decided to spend a little bit more and go with the TiTek titanium exhaust. While the Borla is well reviewed, I am very glad that I went with the TiTek exhaust, as this thing is AWESOME! Had a couple friends come over (they had recently done a new exhaust install on one of their Camaros) and we set to work putting on my new exhaust. It wasn't exactly easy, but wasn't difficult either. Took the three of us about 3 1/2 hours, and a 12-pack, and we had the thing installed.
I purchased the full TiTek Stage 1 exhaust with titanium resonated Mid-Pipe from the guys at www.southerncarparts.com, as they seemed to have the best prices I could find and were super helpful when talking to them over the phone (Here's a shout out to you guys! Thanks for the help!). Took a couple weeks to get out to me, which wasn't too terrible honestly as I'm a patient man. I was anticipating it those last couple days though, monitoring me tracking number regularly. My anticipation was well-founded. Got the exhaust on, and started it up, and my GT-R roared in a way it never had before. It wasn't throaty or gurgling like an American muscle car with a MagnaFlow on it either. It was mean and clean. The notes were crisp, the volume increase sharp as it worked through the RPM meter (sounding incredibly fierce every time I got up 5k RPMS and higher), and the immediate performance boosts were noticable on my read-outs (nice having a car that gives definitive feedback) as I was accelerating to 60 from a stop tenths of a second faster than I ever had before. I was also pulling new highs on the lateral G's coming out of sharp turns and stomping the gas. At idle it is loud, but never obnoxious, and I can still listen to music at a comfortable level inside the vehicle while driving, so I sacrifice none of the comforts which make the GT-R so great.
In short, I am very glad that I paid a little bit extra and went with the TiTek Stage 1 Aluminum exhaust (once again, this is not meant to be a knock on any other exhaust system for the GT-R as I've read positives on each and every one of them) and can not imagine any other system giving me more oomph or enjoyment. My R35 GT-R, which was already the nicest and meanest ride everywhere I go around my home town, has got a little more character and growl and became that much scarier to all other vehicles out there. Install was fairly easily done by a few guys with limited knowledge, which was a nice plus as I'm certain I couldn't have justified spending any more money to either the wife or myself, and was actually a lot of fun to do with interested friends. I'd give this exhaust an A+ all the way, if I was going to assign a letter-grade to it, and would highly recommend it to anyone out there looking to do a solid single upgrade to their Nissan GT-R. Also, if you're curious, be sure to check out the Southern Car Parts website, as those guys really helped me get this, and talked me through a couple issues and qualms I had before buying it. This was their personal recommendation, and they obviously know their stuff. A great buy for a great car and I couldn't possibly be happier. Time for me to take my GT-R out for a drive and enjoy the sound and the looks.
One last note that I forgot to mention, the tips on this exhaust look awesome as well. The flame touched titanium is a great visual touch and it really makes the rear of my GT-R look a lot meaner.