Quiet-est single exit?
 

Other than the first 30 seconds after a cold start, my current setup is extremely quiet. There's no drone on the freeway and cruising under 80, it's virtually inaudible and road noise takes over (them RS3s...):

PTuning 4-2-1 EL header (catless)
Tomei overpipe
Tome straight pipe (hatless)
OEM catback

I no longer drive this car on a daily basis, so I'd like to save weight by ditching the OEM catback. Single exit exhausts would provide the most savings, but I'm concerned about sound levels. It seems like most single exits are obnoxiously loud :( (Tomei would be out of the question). Among the dual exit options, the TRD USA and Q300 are not much louder than stock, but for a saving 5-6 pounds I wouldn't bother.

Any suggestions? I'd be getting a Driveways labs diffuser at the same time so I'm not concerned about the gap between the rear axle and the rear bumper.

FT86SF V2 is loud. Here's my OFH + FT86SFV2 single exit non res cbe.. stock FP/OP

[ame]http://youtu.be/rHKRIegPyd8[/ame]

It's really a compromise between loud and weight. Any round can is going to be loud, so you would want a oval can, which is heavier. Then there are inline resonators and helmholtz resonators also.

I would personally go with the largest oval can I could find, since you don't have any cats.

I recently picked up a lightly used Tanabe Concept G single exit. I might get to install it this weekend and will let you know how it sounds if so. It comes in under $600 from FT86SF new. I got mine used for significantly less than that so if it is too loud I can resell it without taking a big $$ hit. It seems there isn't a ton of info out there on the single exits, but this might be one of the quietest available. My apartment complex hopes it is anyway!

Tanabe Concept G single exit
Great for daily driving ! louder than stock but quiet enough to stay legal

I am in the same boat, looking at quieter single exit systems. best one I think I've seen so far is the TF works with dual resonators.

pls post a review and tag me in it of how you like the exhaust after you've installed it!

Ask JDL for a custom titanium header back or cat back.

Installed the Tanabe Concept G today. I will do a full review once I get to drive it more. There is a crap ton of snow on the ground right now.

My initial impression is that this exhaust is damn quiet. Other than cold start, it is barely louder than stock in my opinion and has a nice tone. Throttle response seems improved, but that could just be my tires spinning in the snow :lol:

Other mods?

I have no other mods which would affect the exhaust sound.

I HAD the tanabe concept g paired with motiv catted fp and op, and sounded like an s2000 with exhaust just to compare. low rpms is where is sounds louder than stock but quiets down at higher rpms. Its lovely IMO

you basically have 2 options to maintain a decent volume and no rasp:

Catless header and front pipe with stock catback or Q300
Or
Stock header with any catback you want

Every other combination I have tried myself or heard gets loud and raspy very quick. With your current setup, going to any single exit will be loud and likely raspy. Even running a catted aftermarket header and catted namless front pipe was loud and a bit raspy on my custom single exit (varex muffler). That setup sounded mean as hell with the varex fully open, but way too loud for a daily driver, would have been perfect for a track day car though.

My advice would be to pick the single exit with the largest can and a resonated midpipe. It may still be too raspy though.. these things are rasp monsters when you remove the cats and don't run a suitcase muffler.

Did I mention rasp already lol.

Perhaps go custom and buy a Greddy RS Universal Muffler or some sort of universal single canister muffler and either modify the OEM mid pipe (adding a bigger resonator) or get a custom mid pipe to fit the muffler. Adding a bigger resonator, however, will probably limit the amount of weight you originally wanted to save, but I think it'll be worth it--for the sake of your neighbors and people around you. Honestly, this is a hit or miss type of thing--to save weight for more gains or to sacrifice some power for civility. On a side note, I dare you to add the Tomei Type 80 to your set up hehehehehe