Kingers Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I've done a good deal of searching but can't find the answer to this lads, so appreciate you filling me in. What is the difference between the JDM and UK exhausts? I have a '02 Fairlady Z with a standard exhaust. It is very quiet, there really isn't any exhaust note from it at all, more engine noise than anything else I test drove a '05 european 350Z yesterday with a standard exhaust system and it sounded great, nice little rasp and small gurgle on the over-run. I then also got a spin off a '07 350Z roadster with aftermarket intakes - WOW what a noise! I'm missing out big time and I'm curious to know what's causing the differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 JDM exhaust is just a lot quieter than the UK one. Japs don't like loud exhausts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I can solve the problem quite easy for you though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 It's the backbox on the jdm being much more restrictive, get an aftermarket one and enjoy the noise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Speak to Tarmac, many options to suit whatever volume level you seek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingers Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Is it just the backbox though, or there different cats, y section? If it's just the backbox, what is the difference do you know, is it a bigger backbox or different baffles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Is it just the backbox though, or there different cats, y section? If it's just the backbox, what is the difference do you know, is it a bigger backbox or different baffles? Just the backbox, not sure what makes it quieter but it's a straight swap for a uk one if you want to do it cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 It's just the rear silencer that differs from UK to JDM models, the JDM is very muted in comparison to the UK silencer, so much so that you could call fitting a UK rear to a JDM as an upgrade... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingers Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 That could be an option alright as I don't want to spend much and the standard 350Z exhaust would be loud enough for me There's a '07 car being scrapped near me - would that fit ok do you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The system from the 07 plate will fit cat back if its a HR engine and if you have the DE engine, you could swap both the middle and rear silencer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingers Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I assume it is the HR motor. Sorry, so I'd have to take it from the cats back (i.e. the y pipe, centre section and back box)? Will the rear back box from the HR not fit my centre section? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 You can fit the rear silencer on, mid and rear would be better as usually this join between the mid and rear is heavily corroded and is a weak point on the OEM exhaust, so it would be easier swapping out the mid and rear unless you can cleanly remove both your current rear silencer and the one from the 07 Zed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingers Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 ah, gotcha. I'll take a good look beforehand but I suspect corrosion isn't as big an issue (I live in Ireland and we don't really salt our roads very much here as you guys tend to do in the UK). Cheers for all the info mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 You're welcome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallward Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Hi everyone, First time poster - I'm trying not to create a new thread for existing topics. I'm resurrecting this thread because there doesn't seem to be a solid answer for this. I have a 2002 JDM Fairlady Z, with a stock intake/exhaust. The exhaust is far too quiet. In my pursuit of the North American 350z stock sound, I purchased a 350z rear muffler (rear box) and installed it thinking that would do the trick. It opened up the exhaust sound the slightest amount, but otherwise it's still very very quiet. Does anyone know what other part of the exhaust is different between the JDM Fairlady Z and the USDM 350z? I'm thinking it must be the cats now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallward Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 My story gets worse. My theory about it being the cats may have been wrong - I removed the USDM muffler completely and "straight-piped" to the stock tips, under the assumption that this would not be as loud as the "muffler delete" clips on YouTube. I was wrong. It's unbelievably loud and I hate it. Now I'm stuck. I just want a light, throaty sound from the exhaust but I can't seem to get it. I'm still interested to find out what exactly the differences are in the USDM vs JDM exhaust, because the stock USDM sound is what I want... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac350 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Hi there, I’ve recently added a cat back system to my z, and just like you I wanted a meatier sound. My standard stock was blowing, but actually sounded quite good with the blow, but I knew the mot would fail due to escape of exhaust gas...blah blah. So it was time for the change. I managed to find a buddy club pro cat back exhaust on eBay for £500, which was like brand new. The guy that was selling it told me that every time you go to accelerate your foot would become something of the gods and your neighbours would soon hate you. Haha how true this was... the only thing I would say is that mine has a slight droning when idling, but I’m really pleased with it and the drone doesn’t really bother me. i know exactly what you mean, there’s loud and then there’s oh dear loud - the type of sound a straight scaffold pipe would create. i honestly think you could get your sound sound nailed by just adding a decent cat back system for a few hundred quid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallward Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 I know nobody here is interested, but for the sake of documenting this for someone else I'm going to report back on this thread. I'm comparing the difference between a JDM Fairlady Z and a USDM 350z, after noticing that the JDM model is much quieter than the US. It turns out that the exhaust system appears to be different between the two, although not visibly. The part numbers differ between several components - whether that means the parts are different in reality I don't know. For VQ35DE models only, here are the different part numbers for the main parts of the exhaust system: USDM 350z: 2003+ CAT CONVERTER: 208B2-CD425 2006 CAT CONVERTER: 208B2-AC325 2003+ Y PIPE: 20020AM660 2003+ MID RESONATOR: 20300CD000 2003+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100CD010 2006+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100-CF50A JDM Z33 Fairlady Z: 2002+ CAT CONVERTER: 208B3-AL926 2002+ Y PIPE: 20020-AF625 2002+ MID RESONATOR: 20300-CD025 2002+ BACK MUFFLER: B0100CD90A 2006+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100CD025 As you can see, the part numbers differ between every part. My hunch is that most of the sound difference comes from the cats and the rear muffler (but probably the cats due to very different emission laws in Japan vs USA). If you're trying to replicate the sound of a stock USDM 350z (and you should, it's one of the best sounding stock exhaust systems I've heard) then you're best to replace the entire system from the cats back. I hope that's helpful to someone out there (most likely Canadians and Americans who have imported a Z33 instead of buying a local 350z). Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallward Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 To follow up on my previous outline of differences, I have conducted an experiment. I have fitted a USDM muffler from a 2006 350z (part number 20100-CF50A) to replace my stock JDM muffler from a 2003 Z33 (part number B0100CD90A). The new USDM muffler is definitely louder. I have since removed my central exhaust resonator too and the exhaust is sounding very nice, almost perfect. So there we have it. The exhaust system does differ between JDM import models and other models, even if they look identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincenzo Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 03/09/2018 at 02:53, fallward said: I know nobody here is interested, but for the sake of documenting this for someone else I'm going to report back on this thread. I'm comparing the difference between a JDM Fairlady Z and a USDM 350z, after noticing that the JDM model is much quieter than the US. It turns out that the exhaust system appears to be different between the two, although not visibly. The part numbers differ between several components - whether that means the parts are different in reality I don't know. For VQ35DE models only, here are the different part numbers for the main parts of the exhaust system: USDM 350z: 2003+ CAT CONVERTER: 208B2-CD425 2006 CAT CONVERTER: 208B2-AC325 2003+ Y PIPE: 20020AM660 2003+ MID RESONATOR: 20300CD000 2003+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100CD010 2006+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100-CF50A JDM Z33 Fairlady Z: 2002+ CAT CONVERTER: 208B3-AL926 2002+ Y PIPE: 20020-AF625 2002+ MID RESONATOR: 20300-CD025 2002+ BACK MUFFLER: B0100CD90A 2006+ BACK MUFFLER: 20100CD025 As you can see, the part numbers differ between every part. My hunch is that most of the sound difference comes from the cats and the rear muffler (but probably the cats due to very different emission laws in Japan vs USA). If you're trying to replicate the sound of a stock USDM 350z (and you should, it's one of the best sounding stock exhaust systems I've heard) then you're best to replace the entire system from the cats back. I hope that's helpful to someone out there (most likely Canadians and Americans who have imported a Z33 instead of buying a local 350z). Cheers Hello from America! This info actually helps quite a lot for me. I'm currently investigating the equivalencies of the USDM 350Z & the JDM Fairlady in order to follow the US Governments tedious laws on importing cars. The part numbers mentioned confirm that the parts are different so thank you for that. I'm still trying to find info/part numbers on the airbags and seatbelts as well. I'm a little more confident that those are the same but it's best to have numbers to confirm. Additionally, and most importantly, I'm trying to find any info on crash test ratings of the RHD models, whether it be from Japan or UK (or any other similar market). Part of the requirements for import (regarding the Z) in the US is the car has to be comparable to its US market version. The 350z has been crash tested here and the NHTSA was satisfied by its results, but, they have a clause that they need some form of information that states or proves the RHD version is comparably safe as the LHD version. So I'll try to sum this up, I'm looking for part numbers for seatbelts and airbags for the two different markets as well as any info on crash test ratings for the RHD version UK or JDM. Any help would be so greatly appreciated! ✌️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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