Exhaust Setup Suggestions

[Lakitu]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Federal emissions standards don't care what state you're in, it's still illegal.

The difference is you're in a state that doesn't care so you won't get caught.

Aw meh. Well that's good to know.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

Aw meh. Well that's good to know.

There's a reason headers and tunes and other emissions modifying equipment are listed as "off road use only" and not "49 state legal" or however many states don't check emissions equipment.

[Th3rdSun]

Just get some JDM exhaust tips. All the looks of aftermarket without the headaches of worrying about if it's too loud or not. Probably about the same performance gains as well,lol.

[Detroiter]

Originally Posted by Th3rdSun

Just get some JDM exhaust tips. All the looks of aftermarket without the headaches of worrying about if it's too loud or not. Probably about the same performance gains as well,lol.

Except for the fact that it will sound like every camry/prius/nonsportscar on the road.

I'm always baffled as to why people buy a SPORTS car and not want to have any sort of exhaust tone. I get that some don't want to loose hearing but to have it silent like with the stock cat back is just pointless to me. It should have come with the TRD catback from the factory if you ask me

[Th3rdSun]

Originally Posted by Detroiter

Except for the fact that it will sound like every camry/prius/nonsportscar on the road.

I'm always baffled as to why people buy a SPORTS car and not want to have any sort of exhaust tone. I get that some don't want to loose hearing but to have it silent like with the stock cat back is just pointless to me. It should have come with the TRD catback from the factory if you ask me

I remember back in high school,some guy next to me and my friend had a ZR1 that was the quietest thing you ever heard from a sports car. It was like a ghost.

Ever since then,I preferred the "silent assassin" type of exhaust. All that noise just reminds me of those little yappy dogs that are all bark and no bite,but in this case,like people have something to prove,but in the end,no one really give a shit.For me,it's much more impressive when you a car flies by you and you never heard 'em coming.Probably because it's something that you don't see(or hear,in this case) everyday.

But hey,it you wanna spend $1000+ on all sound and minimal performance,by all means,do what makes you happy.

[Detroiter]

Originally Posted by Th3rdSun

I remember back in high school,some guy next to me and my friend had a ZR1 that was the quietest thing you ever heard from a sports car. It was like a ghost.

Ever since then,I preferred the "silent assassin" type of exhaust. All that noise just reminds me of those little yappy dogs that are all bark and no bite,but in this case,like people have something to prove,but in the end,no one really give a shit.For me,it's much more impressive when you a car flies by you and you never heard 'em coming.Probably because it's something that you don't see(or hear,in this case) everyday.

But hey,it you wanna spend $1000+ on all sound and minimal performance,by all means,do what makes you happy.

It's definitely personal preference. I get what you mean by trying to prove something to people, it seems like so many people nowadays care far too much about what others think. In my case at least and what I would hope any self respecting enthusiast would do is get the exhaust tone they do because they love the sound of it.

I honestly couldn't care any less about what others think of my exhaust, I'm actually quite positive the mass majority are annoyed/aggravated by it but it doesn't matter to me because I love driving it and hearing it scream as a go to redline rowing through gears. Maybe it just goes back to my love for motorsports. There's just something about an engine screaming as it powers around a track that I can't help but love.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by Detroiter

It's definitely personal preference. I get what you mean by trying to prove something to people, it seems like so many people nowadays care far too much about what others think. In my case at least and what I would hope any self respecting enthusiast would do is get the exhaust tone they do because they love the sound of it.

I honestly couldn't care any less about what others think of my exhaust, I'm actually quite positive the mass majority are annoyed/aggravated by it but it doesn't matter to me because I love driving it and hearing it scream as a go to redline rowing through gears. Maybe it just goes back to my love for motorsports. There's just something about an engine screaming as it powers around a track that I can't help but love.

This^.. When a racecar or bike(especially ducati 998) passes by on a track and it has that huge build up before it gets to you then has the decrescendo as it passes you.

[Th3rdSun]

Originally Posted by Detroiter

It's definitely personal preference. I get what you mean by trying to prove something to people, it seems like so many people nowadays care far too much about what others think. In my case at least and what I would hope any self respecting enthusiast would do is get the exhaust tone they do because they love the sound of it.

I honestly couldn't care any less about what others think of my exhaust, I'm actually quite positive the mass majority are annoyed/aggravated by it but it doesn't matter to me because I love driving it and hearing it scream as a go to redline rowing through gears. Maybe it just goes back to my love for motorsports. There's just something about an engine screaming as it powers around a track that I can't help but love.

Yeah,don't get me wrong,an aggressive sounding car can be music to the ears (GT 350 R). It also can give you a great placebo effect if you are in an underpowered car. But I have to say,there's something almost surreal when all you hear is nothing but a whoosh of air with minimal rumble fly by you.

[NRXRaptor]

All I can recommend is ARK DTS because I have it. Invidia N1s I've heard in person are very deep but they drone real bad imo. Recently picked up a catted JDL UEL header and an OFT, just saving for a frontpipe and overpipe and I am good to go. I'm almost certainly going to get a JDL overpipe and an HKS dual resonated front pipe, though JDL's ultraquiet front overpipe looks neat but it has a cat and I don't want that

[Lakitu]

So if I have a resonated exhaust with a muffler, that already generates a sound that I love, what can be expected when I:

- add catless headers

I read that it will be louder with horse gains and some other benefits, but do I lose any of the niceness from the exhaust setup I have already? Really not a fan of the amplified weed whacker sound some cars have, sorry guys :P It's all deep rumble for me at idle and low rpms, and pleasantly constricted low-drone sound at higher rpms.

I read that catted headers are pretty much a no-go for gains and also more expensive than uncatted, it's only just available if you're trying to stay legal or get by without a tune. But I'm not concerned about legal and I'll be doing a tune. Hell, my tint shade is illegal! Luckily haven't had any cops pulling me over about it just yet!

So, after adding headers and taking it a step further what happens if I add:

- add a resonated front pipe
- add a non-resonated front pipe
- Compared to keeping the stock one?

And as for overpipe, not even sure if there's a point in changing that for any gain or sound change. Isn't it just a small curved pipe that just snakes around some metal to connect header and front pipe..? Or does it serve some purpose I'm unaware of?

[churchx]

It's not that catted aftermarket headers won't bring any improvement over stock. It's just that price/performance will suck, as gains are less and they cost more vs catless ones, also they won't ensure 100% CEL eliminating with stock tune, and may still fail MOTs that do visual checks and/or require no alteration of any sorts for stock cats .. so more cons, lesser pros, yet cost more, making more sense for other alternatives, like keeping stock header or gut it if budget is tight, deleting secondary cat if CEL-free with std. ecu tune matters, or go for most gains in way of catless headers and their cheaper price dedicating to tune.

[lantsalot]

Originally Posted by revaholic

For sure, it definitely seems like a quality product. Hey I actually bought their resonated downpipe too but I haven't installed it yet. Did you have it on just axleback for a while, and if so did you notice it getting much louder when you had the downpipe in? Also did you notice any improvements to the torque dip?

I did! I was running the resonated dp + axleback for about 1.5 years. LOVED IT. It did make the car a bit louder, and made it sound quite a bit meaner (at least, on the inside). Not sure if it actually made it louder on the outside or not. Would highly recommend that combination though. If i did it again, I would have gotten the axle back + the resonated dp done at the same time instead of staggering them!

[lantsalot]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

So if [U][B]
I read that catted headers are pretty much a no-go for gains and also more expensive than uncatted, it's only just available if you're trying to stay legal or get by without a tune. But I'm not concerned about legal and I'll be doing a tune. Hell, my tint shade is illegal! Luckily haven't had any cops pulling me over about it just yet!

So having just got my catted headers and tune done, I still have the differences pretty fresh in my mind. I'm not refuting what other people have said because everyone has their own experiences, but based on what I did, here's some insight, keep in mind that I already had a resonated dp and an axleback :

- with the addition of the catted headers, no tune, I noticed that the famed 'torque' dip was much, much less...well....noticable. I drove around with the headers for almost a week without tune, CEL never came on. Probably about 100-150 miles or so of driving.

- got entire setup tuned 5 days later, and with the headers + resonated fp + axleback + drop in filter ended up getting a +30 hp gain.

- Even catted, headers are LOUD on our cars. Especially if you've got a decent aftermarket exhaust set up. I like loud cars--i really do, but hearing this setup--I would have regretted going catless. I suspect that this is largely because I have the nameless downpipe. I can almost guarantee that no one would ride in my car if I had chosen the catless and everyone on the road would hate me. If you want to avoid this, may want to stick with stock downpipe / frontpipe or do the JDL ultra quiet.

Hope this helps!

[NRXRaptor]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

So if I have a resonated exhaust with a muffler, that already generates a sound that I love, what can be expected when I:

- add catless headers

I read that it will be louder with horse gains and some other benefits, but do I lose any of the niceness from the exhaust setup I have already? Really not a fan of the amplified weed whacker sound some cars have, sorry guys :P It's all deep rumble for me at idle and low rpms, and pleasantly constricted low-drone sound at higher rpms.

I read that catted headers are pretty much a no-go for gains and also more expensive than uncatted, it's only just available if you're trying to stay legal or get by without a tune. But I'm not concerned about legal and I'll be doing a tune. Hell, my tint shade is illegal! Luckily haven't had any cops pulling me over about it just yet!

So, after adding headers and taking it a step further what happens if I add:

- add a resonated front pipe
- add a non-resonated front pipe
- Compared to keeping the stock one?

And as for overpipe, not even sure if there's a point in changing that for any gain or sound change. Isn't it just a small curved pipe that just snakes around some metal to connect header and front pipe..? Or does it serve some purpose I'm unaware of?

The advantage of keeping at least one cat somewhere is for smell. Check the for sale section and you will see many catless headers/frontpipes for sale because the owner got tired of the smell. Cats also cut rasp and volume (and uncombusted fuel obviously) at the expense of power