Tanabe Medalion Concept G Review
 

Wheeeere to begin...

Lets post some pics of the welds & unboxing. I don't have pictures of the muffler & tailpipe because my phone died.

http://i60.tinypic.com/racas3.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/72djq1.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/11c4c3p.jpg

Anyways after inspection of the welds everything looked.

Now for the install. It was fairly easy with some minor issues. Included with the exhaust was a new gasket, 2 bolts & 2 nuts. The gasket and new fasteners were for the midpipe to muffler connection. The connection from the midpipe to the frontpipe uses the oem bolts & nuts. The only real pain with this install was the flanges have a lip to them so if you don't have the proper tools (I don't have that many lol), it could be a bit of a pain. Nonetheless we got it all hooked up aside from that small issue.

Here are some pics after it was installed.

http://i58.tinypic.com/dxznt4.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/15av01.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/286ssg4.jpg

Videos are below, these are just in cabin videos... stupid rear deck wouldn't stop rattling cause my seats were down. :burnrubber:

First video is a couple pulls.
Second video is just a warm up.

https://vimeo.com/106340091
https://vimeo.com/106340092

Anyways for an actual review, I'll rate on a 1/10 scale.

Aesthetics: 8/10
This is completely subjective, but I love the way the exhaust looks on the car. Obviously if you don't like single exit exhausts this isn't for you. I'm fairly picky so I'm happy when I got it on the car and I was pleased with the way it looks. My passenger side exhaust hole delete is in the mail. :w00t:

Quality: 7/10
The welds look good but they're not top notch like a Tomei. I obviously knew buying this exhaust they weren't going to be that level of quality, but if you can justify spending $500-800 more on pretty welds go ahead.

Sound: 9/10
I wanted a quiet exhaust & I got one. I think on their website Tanabe it advertises 92Db. At low to mid rpms it has a deep & throaty sound, as you climb the powerband the pitch gets higher and a little louder. Little to no drone cruising on the freeway or streets. I'm really happy with the sound, I came from a Integra which had a fairly loud exhaust & lots of drone. So needless to say this is definitely quiet for me. :cheers:

Fitment: 7/10
It doesn't really bother me that the tailpipe doesn't sit center thru the exhaust hole, you can only tell if you're at ground level with the exhaust. So if you're really OCD about it you can fiddle around with the rubber hangers. My other concern was ground clearance and this exhaust seems to offer enough to where I can lower, I plan on dropping about an 1" so I know I won't have an issue.

Install: 8.5/10
See above about install, if I had some of the tools I needed it would have been easier.

Performance: 8/10
I'm sure ya'll know you need some headers/front pipe or remove a cat or two for some good hp/tq gains. Anyways I think this exhaust clocks in at about 22lbs, theres an official thread somewhere out there.


Overall Average: ~8/10

You could consider this exhaust if...

1) You want a quiet exhaust
2) You don't want to pay for a Tomei & put that money you just saved towards a more useful mod like an OFT *exhale*
3) You want a middle of the road single exit exhaust
4) You wan't some easy weight savings.

Woot, thanks for taking the time to take some pics and post up a review.

The only thing is that I wish the "mid" pipe that goes under the subframe was tucked up a little closer for more ground clearance. Maybe it looks closer to it in person, but it definitely looks like there's a small gap there, and that it could be up further.

Seems like a nice exhaust! Keep us updated if there's any change in the sound as it breaks in!

I'll take a better picture from ground level, I think the depth perception may be exaggerated because the angle I took the picture at.

Could be wrong tho haha.

Very nice and thorough review. EVERY exhaust review should be in this format!!!
Will you be adding an aftermarket header to pair with this exhaust in the future?

Most likely oft+ofh in the future but I don't know when. Not this year for sure, probably nearing the end of warranty.
I'll take a picture and measure tomorrow.... But from just eyeing it up I'd say there's 4 to 5 inches from the lowest point on the exhaust to the ground. Which is plenty of room unless you're going for the Hella flush stance look, in which you're just gonna scrap the shit outta your ride regardless.

I think I'll be safe with a 1 inch drop on some eibach springs.

Do you still have the sound generator on your car? I am just wondering if the sound is all exhaust or if you still have the noise maker running.

Yeah its still installed but from driving with this exhaust for a few days, the sound of the exhaust is much more prominent than the sound tube. Just at higher RPMs its a little harder to differentiate the two, the exhaust sounds great with the windows down.

Just an update... here's a pic with the FT86 hole delete.

http://i59.tinypic.com/izytro.jpg

How did you attach the hole delete? Its hard to tell in the picture.,

It's attached by 3 self tapping screws that are screwed into the plastic.

If you take off the hole delete will the screw holes be visible?

Nope they won't be visible, you'd have to stick your head under the car to see Em.

NOW WITH HEADERS!!!
 

Hey guys just wanted to update this thread for anyone looking at this as a potential exhaust.

I installed my headers today so I'm currently running OFT+OFH+Tanabe Concept G Catback. Stock OP & FP. I'm trying to keep it pretty lowkey on the streets.

Anyway here's a video, also I improved the fitment of the exhaust by using a couple of 3/8" worm clamps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jnW...ature=youtu.be

I have the same exhaust, my butt dyno says it pulls better, did you delete the sound tube?