To frontpipe or not to front pipe
 

Soon I will be getting an ACE A 350 header to pair with my stock 19 TRD 86. The car has the TRD OE exhaust which sounds almost like a slightly quieter Perrin 2.5" or identical to the D shaped tip TRD exhaust..

Is a catless front pipe worth it? I am aware of the lack of advantages in power when it comes to a catless frontpipe. However, I like a loud car, but not too loud. I commute 140 miles a day, with a 100 miles of that cruising at around 68 mph (usually :D) , and I don't want any rasp or ringing ears when I step out of the vehicle.

If it will not be that loud with the OE exhaust and ace header, is resonated worth it over catless?

Honestly a resonated will tame the sound but if had to do it again I would go catted because catless just sticks. Even on the cold days my car just smell like fumes. Performance gains between the is not even noticeable

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I'd recommend a catless fp with a resonator. It'll have less drone compared to a full catless fp.

Deciding on this as well. I went FI so my headers are replaced, and I already installed catback previously.



Only thing left is overpipe and frontpipe. I like the sound as it is now but want some performance gains since the fp still has a cat/muffler.



Thinking of going with an HKS dual resonated to keep sound levels down.

OE front pipe is about as quiet as you'll get for a tame setup. You could probably weld in a resonator for maximum stealth setup.

I'd try it with the stock one and decide afterwards if you think you need to go aftermarket for sound tuning. Performance gains from removing the cat are tiny and hardly worth considering for regular road use, based on various dyno sheets with user feedback. Plus there is the smell from completely catless, for daily use that can be too much for some. For tracking it's worth removing the cat to avoid overheating and destroying it over time.

I say keep the o.e. frontpipe

A catless frontpipe is frivolous unless you want to add rasp. Keep the stock catted front pipe and spend you money on anything else to change the sound, you won't be disappointed :)

Me, an intellectual: wait until the header is on then decide if you want it louder or if it's good where it is.

Have you considered the JDL ultra quiet? it has a High Flow Cat, Resonator, and is lighter than stock.

I have Catless header, Over, Catless but Resonated Front Pipe, and titanium single exit exhaust, it is very loud. I am considering getting the ultra quiet, I think it would make a difference having a high flow cat in there with keeping a loud exhaust tame

Thanks all, I think I will follow this advice and wait till after the header is on for the front pipe decision.


Interesting, but I plan on keeping the stock cat back, which is no where near as loud as your single exit. And personally I have a distaste towards cats and a lot of other emissions equipment....

i think thats smart to wait. for example: im deciding which lower control arms to get. im going to put the coilovers in first, then after a while decide how much lower i want to go, determining which lca to get. it will mean that i need to go back in and work on the part of the car i was just had apart, but its better in the long run.

Hey, just curious when you ordered your ACE headers? I ordered mine on Black Friday and am still waiting on them, apparently some delay in fabrication due to the holidays. Then also have to wait for them to be ceramic coated. :(

Start with free OE front pipe and guage what the sound levels are and then replace. Honestly I would just keep stock front pipe as you want one cat. Till you get to the 350-400whp range will the stock exhaust become an issue. Your already replacing the biggest restriction in the header and overpipe with the ace 350 combo.

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I started with a light straight-through catback (HKS SpecL). Then, replaced front pipe with HKS dual resonator. After that, I replaced header with 2017+ improved stock header. And I did not change the JR factory tune. There is noticeable difference in power at high rpm and throttle response. I would do the same again if I had to redo. I wanted to keep JR factory tune and I am glad it still performs as smooth with the changes.

BTW HKS dual resonator front pipe is just a bit louder than stock front pipe. HKS has dyno plots of catback, front pipe, and header stepwise in their website