Buddy Club Spec II exhaust test/review
 

Hey all,
I had an opportunity to test one of the first Buddy Club Spec II exhausts in the USA. I was excited to test it out, as I am a big supporter of Buddy Club products and their excellent quality. I've owned and built many drift/track/street cars over the past 15 years and I've always had great experiences with their products on my past cars as well. Ok, let's get to the good stuff...


Specs and First Impressions...
We put the exhaust system on at Raceline (racelineusa.com) in Temple City, CA. Out the box and laid out, everything fit together nicely. It was rather easy to see where everything fits, and it's made of mandrel bent polished 304 thin wall stainless steel for maximum weight savings. The piping is about 2 3/8" inches in outer diameter, and then transitions to a 3" outside diameter for approximately the last 12" of the exhaust. Now the stock exhaust system is around 38.5 lbs, and the Buddy Club is about 14 lbs, so about a 24 lbs weight difference! Being that I track my car, I am concerned about weight, so I was very happy about the weight reduction. This is in part due to the thin wall stainless steel piping, and the fact that this exhaust is a single outlet (on the passenger side) and also eliminates the muffler all together. It does have a resonator that is close to where it bolts to the secondary cat, to help quieten things down a bit. It also comes with a silencer that slides into the tip of the exhaust to further help noise levels on the street.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...d/photo4-6.jpg


Installation...
Installation wasn't very difficult, and rather straight-forward. It took around 30 minutes to swap everything over. Just remember to not tighten anything up until you have everything adjusted to where you want it, then tighten the clamp and bolts and check for clearance. There were no clearance issues with mine, or problems getting the hangers to line up.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...d/photo5-5.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...d/photo6-4.jpg


Start-Up & Driving Impression...
I was expecting the exhaust tone to be rather loud, being that it is pretty much a straight pipe with a resonator on it. I was actually surprised that it wasn't as loud as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it isn't quiet by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not obnoxiously loud. For some people, it may be a tad loud for street use, as this exhaust is designed with track racing in mind. The exhaust gets a little more quiet as the engine warms up. I drove the car around for a few days with the supplied silencer in the tip. It does make it a little more docile for the daily grind. Over around 4000 rpm, it makes a kind of high-pressure air noise if you are driving with your foot in it. I guess the best way to describe it is if you were tearing a piece of paper in half very quickly, haha. This is commonplace though of exhausts with silencers in the tip, as they are designed for normal street driving around town so that you don't give old ladies heart attacks. The exhaust tone does not sound like a typical Subaru boxer motor though, and sounds more like an inline four. It almost reminded me of my old AE86 GTS I had over 10 years ago :thumbup: It could be just a mental thing, but the engine feels slightly more torquey and responsive.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...uad/image6.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...quad/image.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...uad/image1.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...uad/image4.jpg


Without silencer...
I definitely prefer the sound without the silencer. It sounds much more throaty, aggressive, and my friend commented that it reminded him of an aftermarket exhaust on a new EVO or on a Nissan SR20DET. I can definitely see his point. It really makes the flat-four sound like a true performance car. On the freeway, it doesn't really drone or sound overpowering. I could still listen to my stereo with no problems at all. I liked how the car sounded with stock exhaust, but it was mostly intake noise that I heard, and it was just too quiet on the track for me. I can't wait to get out to the track and really see how it will perform!
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...uad/image8.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l6...uad/image7.jpg


Video of sound clips....
Not the best sound clips, because the microphone on my camera isn't the greatest. I was getting a lot of wind noise, so I put some cloth over the mic to eliminate the wind noise, unfortunately it also kind of muffles the noise of the exhaust. I also didn't get that much full-throttle time with no silencer, but I did get several seconds worth as you will hear...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIobM-XQoi4"]Buddy Club Spec II exhaust on 2013 Scion FR-S sound clip - YouTube[/ame]


Conclusion...
To wrap things up, I would definitely recommend this exhaust to someone who wants a high quality single-outlet exhaust, that wants to shave some weight off the car, and isn't afraid to make a little noise. If you want a quiet exhaust, this isn't the exhaust for you. But if you like to hear the motor and like to open it up at the track, then you can't go wrong with the Buddy Club Spec II :thumbsup: Hit up Elton at Raceline USA at 626-292-7030 (website racelineusa.com but is undergoing changes at the moment) if you want to order one, and tell him Mark Hutchinson sent you from the FT86 forums and he'll treat you right! :D

Great review Mark, thank you for sharing. Much better video then we took.

Blast from the past?
http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1358465064

Thanks man! Wow, that is an old pic of my old car! That was from maybe 2003 or 2004 at D1 driver search? Thanks for sharing that! :)

08/14/03 - D1GP Driver Search @ Cali Speedway. I bought a red S13 coupe because of that RB25 sound you had. I think it was you and Andy Yen and maybe Alex Pffiefer were the only ones who could actually drift the course.
I attended this event with a then 12 year old Patrick Mordaunt, now the driver for Apexi, talk about time flying...

Oh damn, that's cool! I'm happy that you went and bought a red coupe because of that! :) That event at Cali Speedway was fun, but drifting in the parking lot was not ideal. There was a huge dip in the track to channel rain water, so when you hit it sideways, it made the car want to do funky things, haha. And you were there with Pat? Pattycakes? haha, I remember him talking to me on AIM when he was 12 and talking about how he would one day be a great drifter, and he'd also come out to watch me drift at Willow Springs all the time. Now he is big time! And time DEFINITELY flies! :eyebulge:

That dip ruined a few peoples day, a certain 350z crashed twice I think because of it. And yep, Pattycakes is the man, proud of that kid sticking to it & all his success.
Not really my business but do you still kick it with Dave? You two are the definition of OG.

Aww shucks man! Haha, barely anyone remembers us these days, haha, much respect. Dave and I do still hang out! We are both going to Willow Springs on Saturday for a track day (grip event). I have my FR-S as you know, and a Kouki S14 project that I've been slowing been building. Dave has an orange 1970 240z, and a Honda S2k, which is what he'll have at the track.

WOW Mark Slide Squad with an FRS. I been stalking your site/cars since early/mid 2000's. Can't wait to see what you do with this car!

Haha, at least you're honest about stalking ;) This car actually isn't going to be anything crazy. I bought it with the intention of a practical daily/fun/occasional track car. I've said that many times though in the past and then end up with a dedicated track car a year later :bonk:

Thanks for the review! I was looking for a non vendor review and after reading this im pretty sold on the exhaust.

Were there any other exhausts you were considering besides this one?

Side note, I was also at that event. I bought my very 1st digital camera (non-SLR) that day just for that event. $500, 3.2MP with a 16MB CF card. Ill dig up some pics from that event. Since then ive gone on to shooting Formula D with Bridges Racing/Achilles Radial for the past 2-3 years and starting up www.ohdamn.co its crazy to see how far everyone from back in the days have gone in the past 10 years

Is this street legal in cali?

Thanks Andrew! I was considering something like a Greddy or Perrin before I went with the Buddy Club. I wanted to shed as much weight as possible being that I track the car.

I'd love to see the pics you got from back in the day! Yeah, it is crazy how everyone's path in life has been over the past 10 years from the old OG drift guys, haha. Some went to Formula D, some disappeared, some stayed grassroots, some became axe murderers haha jk. I love drifting still, but I am more into how it used to be over 10 years ago when it was still small here and it was more of just "fun". Once it got super big and mainstream, it kind of brought out the worst people into th scene. I got into grip driving in my later years, and I am enjoying it immensely. I am still working on a project S14 Kouki though and have a brand new built S14 SR20 to put in it. It needs to be caged and some other things, such as aero (rear track aero that provides downforce), wheels/tires, dynoing, etc. Then I will take that out to some grassroot drift events but mostly focus on grip/time attack events with it. Can't wait! :thumbsup:

I don't believe it would be, but from what I know, anything that isn't factory isn't legal, as it's considered a "modifed exhaust". I have a couple friends who are cops who told me this, doesn't matter if it is under the 95 db rule. :(

does anyone have a dyno of this with no tune???