The Yonaka system arrived on the 20th and a friend and I installed it the next day. All in all, a very good experience.
The box looked like the gorillas at UPS had played soccer with it but the contents seem to have survived in pretty good shape.
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I'm not sure how the folks at Meng can sell this for $300 shipped to my front door. The components look pretty well constructed.The pipes and muffler are all polished, the flanges are flat and very close to square and the hangers are in their proper locations.
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The welds seem to be mostly functional, if not things of beauty. (more on this later)
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The only minor QC issue was at the aft end of the resonator pipe. It looks like the pipe was cut with a wheel and there was some material from the cut that partially blocked the pipe exit. A couple of passes with a die grinder made quick work of it.
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The installation was cake. My system didn't come with instructions and, honestly, none are required. The OEM system comes off with 4 bolts, a little spray on silicone lube and about 10 minutes.
The Yonaka takes a bit longer to install. I started at the cat exit, and with a friend and some jackstands supporting the individual pipes where needed, assembled everything finger tight, then worked from front to back tightening first the cat flare/flange. The only fly in the ointment is the original bolts connecting the front pipe/cat to the mid-pipe are shouldered with an 8mm thread on the upstream side.
The bolts that come from Yonaka are all 10mm and will not fit through the flange on the cat. Rather than drill the flange out, I used two stainless 8mm x 50 flange head bolts and nuts. If possible I'd like to figure out how to use the original spring loaded fasteners or at least come close to duplicating that arrangement. Other than that, it was just a matter of aligning things and tightening bolts.
My two primary reservations relate to the strength of the hangers and the final alignment of the exhaust exits.
The hangers are simply pieces of rod that are bent and welded to the side of first the rear mid pipe and second the two exhaust exits from the muffler.
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I'm nor sure how much faith I have in the welds holding the hangers to their respective pipes. It would not have taken much more time and material to fashion a bend in the hanger to go a bit further around the pipe and then lay a bead on one or both sides of the hanger. As it stands, the system sort of dangles from what seem to me to be less than stellar looking welds. Time will tell if they hold up.
The other issue is at the rear of the car. The right exhaust pipe is slightly lower than the left and protrudes slightly more to the rear of the car.
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The differences aren't large and are more than likely not noticeable to the non-anal retentive. That said, I'll be going back under the car to see what can be done to sort out the alignment.
I bought this exhaust because 1) it was a smoking price and 2) I wanted to see if I liked the car louder without coughing up $700+ dollars to find out. As far as that goes, this exhaust is PERFECT. The sound is deep and throaty. I notice it most between 2000 and 3000 rpm in sedate driving and from 2500 to 7000 when hard on the throttle. To me it sounds EXACTLY like I think a sports car should sound.
I've always thought the raspy racket from the fart can crowd was the result of high frequency transients escaping the muffler. The rasp is completely absent here. All you get is a rumble then a wail above 5000. At 3300 in 6th (indicated 80mph) you occasionally hear a faint rumble (not what I'd call a drone) from the back of the car, mostly as the cruise control tips into the throttle to climb slight grades/overpasses.
I took Ms. Spaulding for a 100 mile drive Sunday to see what she thought. Her verdict? "I really like it. It makes the car sound much more husky, like it means business. But you can't hear it cruising on the freeway."
I agree. In my considered opinion, the product is well worth what I paid. If sound stays close to its present level, the welds on the hangers hold up and flare joint at the cat doesn't cause any problems it will be a steal.
