REVIEW of Fujitsubo Authorize R Type S

[leevanf]

Wanted to share my impressions on an exhaust not many own to help those who are deciding on it. I understand exhaust videos are impossible to judge because the real sound of an exhaust can come from many POVs. As a bystander, behind the car, in front, and even inside the car has a mix of different sounds. So i'll try to describe my review in a different way - relative to the environment - rather than just the sound. It may be lengthy but since there are so few reviews of this exhaust, i thought id share mine.

Why this exhaust?
So I wanted my car to sound livelier - but still remain calm for DD. Also, I did not want to attract obnoxious attention nor do I want it too sound louder than the power it actually makes too.
My choices were initially HKS, greddy, Q300. But after hearing the sound of all of them, I felt like the tone of the Fujitsubo was the most unique - which leads us to the sound.

Exhaust Sounds
Since I play guitar, i'd use treble, mid, and bass as a point of comparison. I found that different exhausts have different skews or focuses - like a catless FP system tends to shoot up the overall treble insanely making that quick zipper-ripping growl. Badly made systems ala-fartcans on the other hand, seem to go all bass + treble, with no mid or body to balance the sound properly, hence spewing extremes that make us find them annoying. Among my choice exhausts, it feels like the other exhausts are slightly bass-focused, which all sound cool But upon hearing the Fujitsubo, I personally found it very unique because it seems like in the scheme of low-mid-hi', they seemed to balance the bass, mid, and treble very well, with a slightly stronger mid providing some cut-through which I think fits well with a 2.0 4-cyl.

Volume Level From Bystander POV
So there is no doubt the tone is great. Now the biggest question many ask, is it loud enough? As I've read reviews saying it feels like your threw away money to almost do nothing to the car. I can honestly say you will definitely notice it - even in idle. Sure, it wont create a situation where the drivers beside you will literally feel their skin tingle and chest vibrate as you pull up beside them. But hey, even stock 300hp cars don't do this. And I think its just right this exhaust doesn't as well.
- On idle, the improved bass can definitely be felt when standing beside the car. Maybe not during outdoors/noisy traffic. Barely felt when in front of the car.
- Standing near the rear or at the back of the car, you can definitely tell its a sports exhaust. its not "nothing".
- But, it doesn't cause strong vibrations or "can be felt" if thats what youre looking for.
- I would compare it closely to almost any stock OEM exhaust on any entry-mid level sports car from the other manufacturers with a tiny bit more kick.
- Another exhaust that seems to follow this tone profile is the Corsa. Albeit the Corsa being louder in overall volume, and slightly more bass.
- If you give it the beans, like all aftermarket exhausts, it will definitely sound great especially to those who can hear you from behind both on car or in foot.
- Freeway speeds are droneless and perfect, but will not sound too loud, which usually is OK of course.
- Music can drown the idle speed out, but will definitely be unable to drown the presence of the exhaust when giving it throttle.

Volume level from driver position
You can definitely hear the improved bass from inside. When buying new it sounds bassier and muddier but eventually as the packing material wears off, the mids growls that I was talking about comes out clearer.
You can tell that the exhaust is there, but its not loud enough to steal your/anyones attention in a conversation. Meaning it doesn't drone, theres no vibration through your skull or any of that. You can basically just tell "theres bass behind my car." and still relax!

Driving the car
The car tends to sound bassier in the lower RPMs, and then begins to scream as you hit past 4k. I like it. The sound is just so good in all RPMs that I dont feel tempted to floor it all the time, because i actually enjoy the smooth rumble in city driving speeds. Comparing in cabin volumes, to me its 65 exhaust, 35 front engine. If you want it to feel louder inside the cabin, just drop your back seats.

So thats about it! All-in-all, it really feels like a well designed exhaust tone-wise, which was well matched to the car's stock 200hp profile. This is basically an exhaust thats not noticeable to many on idle until you at least give it some throttle. Other people in cars wont hear you much until youre giving it good throttle or are in front of them, and nearby bystanders will definitely still hear you. I have nothing to say about build quality because fuji is of course exceptional. Welds and alignment is perfect. You reuse the OEM midpipe to frontpipe bolt, but all the rest are of course new fujitsubo-supplied.

My only warning with this exhaust is that the mid is pretty strong, so putting a catless FP might turn this into a hi-pitched chainsaw. Maybe good to pair with a catless header, UEL/EL, but retain stock FP. But either way, we all have different needs For me, this is a perfect balance for DD needs.

Here is a sound clip at 1:32
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV_ndoTr08E[/ame]

[RJasonKlein]

Wow - that was a thorough and thoughtful review. Great job, man!