Thoughts on replacing my GReddy Evo 3 with a Perrin Non-Resonated Catback

[Foobar]

As some of you knew from following my posts, I've had the GReddy Evo 3 on my car since it came out and I absolutely love the deep throaty exhaust note which is almost like a roaring rumble. With the silencers on, it's very tame - too tame for my tastes. With the silencers off, it really gives a new dimension to driving fun.

Unfortunately, with the silencers off, it has a slight drone between 3-4K RPM. I say slight but your mileage will definitely vary. Different People respond in different ways to harmonic resonance. My wife can't even tell it's there, I get a mild headache, and my 8 year old daughter gets physically sick. In normal day to day driving, you'll never notice it, but 3K RPM on the 6MT is right at 67MPH so this at prolonged highway driving, it will annoy you if you're sensitive to it.

I looked around and decided that the non-resonated Perrin would still give me that deep sound that I enjoy without the drone. I waited until a decent sale (Black Friday @ FT86SpeedFactory) and got it for a great price (cheaper than my Evo 3 actually). Unfortunately, this thing was in big demand and Perrin was backed up. It was estimated that I might get it before Christmas, but then it got re-estimated towards the end of the year, and then once more at January 21. I was almost tempted to cancel the order since the Evo 3 had tamed down a bit after some use and carbon buildup, but I figured since I had already waited over a month, I'd just wait it out. To my surprise, it arrived yesterday.

I went ahead and swapped it out this morning and took it for a test drive. Here are my first impressions: The fit and finish of this thing is fantastic. I don't think I need to reiterate this as everyone here pretty much agrees that Perrin fabricates some nice stuff. They are ahead of the curve in this regard and I will continue to buy their stuff (I already have quite a few of their products on my car). At start up, the sound was a lot quieter than I was used to with the Evo 3. I dare say it was almost too quiet. I haven't heard the stock exhaust in a while, but I almost felt like it was that quiet. A quick stomp on the gas and the sound woke up and really came to life. Still nothing like the Evo 3 though. I checked for leaks, made sure everything was fitting properly and I went ahead and took it for a drive. Again, my immediate thought was that the car was almost too quiet for my tastes. I heard some folks complain of a slight drone, or a raspy tone coming from the Perrin - I just don't see that. You guys are either way too sensitive to sound, or something's not hooked up right, because this thing just purrs. I can't even imagine what the resonated version would sound like - must be completely silent!

In any event, I hopped on to the parkway, took it up to 80MPH and there is absolutely no drone whatsoever. There was some kind of vibration type noise at around 5K RPM, so I'll have to check everything again after things settle and retorque everything. There might be something loose or not fitting exactly right.

Edit: I re-torqued everything after about 50 miles of driving and I lost the 5K vibration. Must've been exhaust leaking through a loose gasket.

Bottom line, it fits perfectly in the rear bumper cut outs, it looks fantastic, it is completely drone-free, and it still has a nice "bite" to the sound. I am definitely keeping it, but I wish it had more of the deep growl that the Evo 3 had.

A perfect system, in my opinion, would be the Evo 3's deep growl with the Perrin's fit and finish and drone-free construction.

Thanks to Jeremy at FT-86 SpeedFactory and to Chris & Jeff at Perrin.

[DarkSunrise]

Nice write-up. Can't wait till mine arrives. It's interesting, some people think the Perrin non-resonated is way too loud, others think it's too quiet/stock-like. I guess everyone hears things differently.

Did you end up doing the install on ramps?

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

Nice write-up. Can't wait till mine arrives. It's interesting, some people think the Perrin non-resonated is way too loud, others think it's too quiet/stock-like. I guess everyone hears things differently.

Did you end up doing the install on ramps?

Indeed, unfortunately I needed to raise the front due to my long torque wrench.

It was a cinch to install and v-bands are damned convenient.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Indeed, unfortunately I needed to raise the front due to my long torque wrench.

It was a cinch to install and v-bands are damned convenient.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Good to hear. V-bands are one of the reasons I went with Perrin.

[FR-S Matt]

The non resonated Perrin is raspy as hell. Listen to it on youtube. Resonated Perrin sounds way better, and when you add a header, it's just going to need a resonator even more.

About to pull the trigger on the Nameless Headerback system though. Hands down, I think that system sounds the best of anything I've heard... and I've done TONS of research on it for months.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

The non resonated Perrin is raspy as hell. Listen to it on youtube. Resonated Perrin sounds way better, and when you add a header, it's just going to need a resonator even more.

About to pull the trigger on the Nameless Headerback system though. Hands down, I think that system sounds the best of anything I've heard... and I've done TONS of research on it for months.

I have no Raspy sound coming from my install. Is there a good example youtube video of this that I can compare against? I'll capture some video of mine this weekend.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Foobar

I have no Raspy sound coming from my install. Is there a good example youtube video of this that I can compare against? I'll capture some video of mine this weekend.

There needs to be more. The one I saw had a bad camera angle and you'd hear this low rpm rasp in it. Even in the idle, it was pretty bad.

The Perrin resonated on the other hand sounds outstanding.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

There needs to be more. The one I saw had a bad camera angle and you'd hear this low rpm rasp in it. Even in the idle, it was pretty bad.

The Perrin resonated on the other hand sounds outstanding.

Yeah I'm definitely not hearing anything at idle that anyone could consider a raspy tone, but sounds have a habit of being perceived differently by different people. I just did a quick youtube search for "raspy exhaust" and my Perrin doesn't sound anything like any of those.

[King Tut]

I am actually debating those same two exhausts right now. I am also affraid that the Perrin will be too tame and looks a little too much like the OEM exhaust. I will be running the Full Blown kit with 3" downpipe, 2.5" overpipe, 2.5" midpipe, and no cats. As long as there isn't any drone below 65 mph, then I think I will be fine with the more aggressive and better looking Greddy Evo 3.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Yeah I'm definitely not hearing anything at idle that anyone could consider a raspy tone, but sounds have a habit of being perceived differently by different people. I just did a quick youtube search for "raspy exhaust" and my Perrin doesn't sound anything like any of those.

I'll show you the links later when I can get to them. It was idle revving and a non resonated drive video. I love the loudness of it, but the slight rasp it hits at certain RPM's are what kills it for me.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by King Tut

I am actually debating those same two exhausts right now. I am also affraid that the Perrin will be too tame and looks a little too much like the OEM exhaust. I will be running the Full Blown kit with 3" downpipe, 2.5" overpipe, 2.5" midpipe, and no cats. As long as there isn't any drone below 65 mph, then I think I will be fine with the more aggressive and better looking Greddy Evo 3.

No drone on the Evo 3 below 65 MPH in 6th gear. I've yet to hear an exhaust that sounds as good as the Evo 3, to be honest. Outside of the car, the Evo 3 is perfect to me. Construction of the Perrin looks a bit more refined than the Evo 3, but it could just be the design. Perrin has a brushed finish that looks pretty classy, the Evo 3 is just polished.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Foobar

No drone on the Evo 3 below 65 MPH in 6th gear. I've yet to hear an exhaust that sounds as good as the Evo 3, to be honest. Outside of the car, the Evo 3 is perfect to me. Construction of the Perrin looks a bit more refined than the Evo 3, but it could just be the design. Perrin has a brushed finish that looks pretty classy, the Evo 3 is just polished.

More thought was put into the Perrin. I'm not familiar with Greddy since I haven't been in the aftermarket with japanese cars very long. The Evo3 does have a nice deep tone to it. Perrin proved their product performed, made sure it worked from front to back, and tried to make multiple options available based on how loud you want it. Realistically, it's the front half of the exhaust where the gains count with your OP/Downpipe combo. Not to mention, you're getting great quality with Perrin. I haven't seen an Evo3 system front to back and seen the welds.

Perrin would have gotten me if their headerback wasn't $500 more than the Nameless system I want. I would gladly take a Perrin if I could get the headerback for $1000.

[Saab2Frs]

@Foobar

Thanks for write up. I just ordered an unresonated Perrin exhaust last night and am super stoked for it to come in.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Yeah I'm definitely not hearing anything at idle that anyone could consider a raspy tone, but sounds have a habit of being perceived differently by different people. I just did a quick youtube search for "raspy exhaust" and my Perrin doesn't sound anything like any of those.

Driving: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUTetReiFnE"]2013 Brz with PERRIN non-resonated cat back with cat less front-pipe and over-pipe. - YouTube[/ame]

Idle Revs: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMepqsCLDUU"]BRZ Perrin Cat-back - YouTube[/ame]



I don't know if it's because of the catless front pipe, but damn.


Cold Start: Catted but Non Resonated: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xm2TVk03Ho"]AU BRZ Perrin exhaust cold start - YouTube[/ame]


Actually sounds good when it's warmed up just like all others.