Exhaust & Muffler , Getting The Style & Sound You Want

[86AccordLxi]

So I told a few people that I'd upload a sound clip of my exhaust so they could hear it. I have a pacesetter catback with a ractive stainless muffler on the end that has 2 3-inch tips. Thanks to bobafett, here's the clip:

www.com-tech-online.com/3geez/exhaust.wav.

I think it sounds pretty good, though it can be a little loud at times but overall I'm very pleased.

Alex

Other Members Exhaust Clips on the Board
Custom header and exhaust on Calebs car. Right now it's at 103db but a glasspack will help bring it down a little.
http://www.sirrommotorsports.com/pho...ebsexhaust.mov

https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthrea...527#post500527

[bobafett]

justin. email it to me if you cant login to this ftp acct. i made an acct for 3geez, but alex said he couldnt login to it... but it works for me.

ftp.com-tech-online.com
username: [email protected] (yes u have to use the whole thing )
password: 3geez

please keep file sizes small. i only have about 40mb left on my server.... but i dont mind hosting pics/small movies/wav or mp3 files/

ps, anything that gets uploaded should be automatically places in the /3geez directory of http://www.com-tech-online.com/

[Vinny]

Well I finally took that restrictive 1.75" exhaust off.
I had originally planned on going with a magnaflow mirror finish stainless cat, magnaflow stainless 4" round tube muffler as a resonator, magnaflow steet series muffler, and using mirror finish stainless 2 1/4" tubing and mandrel bends.
I got imaptient and just dropped it off at the local shop yesterday. Cats now GONE along with the rest of it. With the room that was left he installed a 36" glasspack as a resonator and 2 1/4 aluminized pipe going into a generic turbo muffler. Only problem I had was he couldn't match the flange on the DC Header so he cut it off and welded the resonator to the downpipe after the flexpipe. No biggie I guess.
Pics to come maybe later today if I can get a lift just to snap a few
One last thing. The setup sounds awesome. Its has a definite deep tone to it and its still VERY quiet. I can hear the engine rev above the exhaust but the deep tone is definitely still there Maybe I'll get a quicktime movie and let someone host it for me

Cut the flange off your expensive ass almost impossible to find header. I'd never let 'em do it. Glad you like the sound though.

Still works the same. Besides it won't be on there for more than a year anyways. If I ever get rid of it the new owner can just weld up to it

Funny place to have a resonator. I have only seen cars with resonators on the catback. Thats how its on the stock exhaust and thats how its on on my exhaust too. Only thing is, the resonator for a 2.25" piping is mega big.

Well on most exhaust it comes right after the car, if you have no cat then you can move it as far upstream as you want to

No need for a resonator. The Pacesetter cat-back doesn't have one.

And what pacesetter set the standard for exhaust in terms of quality and performance?????? Please tell me that was sarcasm Steve

Sounds good man... I may be able to host the vid for you... and I should be getting my exhaust put on monday or so, so i should post one up of my car then too

yeah dude, i wanna hear how it really sounds. get that video or something cuz i wanna hear how its sounding..

The sound is actually almost non -existant. I felt like the guy in the Porsche Cayenne commercial, sitting in the car revving it with the phone on the driveway. I've talked to 2 people while I was playing withthe car, loudest thing that they could hear was the motor.
Mines tooo quiet, as in you really can't hear it. I guess thats kind of a good thing Hate for someone to think I had mad power under the hood
Well I got some lift time, kinda. I had to go back and have the rear shipping/tow anchor taken off because the muffler was swaying into it on left turns. So I figured while he had it up I'd go ahead and snap a few pics
Resonator welded to the downpipe on my DC Header

[IMG]this is what a 36" resonator looks like [/IMG]

GENERIC turbo with a 2 1/4" chrome striaht cut tip

2 shots looking down the exhaust system

[Sabz5150]

Cut the flange off your expensive ass almost impossible to find header. I'd never let 'em do it. Glad you like the sound though.

I tracked down the flange.

[Underdog]

Here are the pics of my new exhaust system. 2.25" press bent from the cat-back with dynomax super turbo muffler and a 4" slant tip.




I really wish I could post a sound clip, but I have nothing to record with. However, I'm going over to a friend's house tomorrow and he has a really nice digital video camera that I might be able to record with. Really nice deep sound in lower RPM's, and engine noise takes over around 4,000RPM's. As far as performance goes, it's not really noticeable, except maybe in the upper RPM's. The butt dyno always lies though.

I got it done locally. It was about $160 total including muffler and tip.

Discount Tire and Wheel

i didnt know they did exhaust work. maybe the one here where i live just doesnt

it's a different place from Discount Tire Co. It's a local place here.

Is that the X-mas gift you got? If it is, you got that on there quicker than Santa could leave the chimney! Did you find out what coil your going to get yet? Looks good, what size pipe is that & did you put in a new Cat in there? I'm not for sure what all Santa brought you off the top of my head.

No, it's the stock cat. I went with the MSD Blaster 2, which is already here waiting to be installed
While I'm on the subject of the ignition coil, I've got a quick install question. In the how-to the pictures are really blurry which doesn't help me much since I haven't done much wiring at all. Anyways, where it says to attach the 2 blue wires together and the 2 black w/ yellow stripe wires together, I can't really see the picture that well. Are they just twisted together or are they soldered? After I attach them I just wrap them around the terminal and then tighten down the little bolt right?

--------

Hey guys, here's the exhaust sound clip I promised. Link works now.
http://www.geocities.com/underdog459/exhaust.wav
Dynomax super turbo muffler, 2.25" press bent piping from the cat back. Pictures are here: https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40439

--------------

The exhaust install with piping was $90 + tax. The muffler was $40 or so from Summit Racing.

I cannot see it from those pics but I hope they left the Resonator in when they did the piping. when i first got my car day one was rims and and day 3 was exhaust. well they place that did it took out the resonator. It sounded good at first, but once it gets worn in it starts to get too loud and uncomfortable to ride in. I had 2 1/4 piping put in with a Hayame muffler and it cost me much more than that. I just Recently put the resonator back in and it makes a WORLD of difference! sounds much better now.

I had them take the resonator off. It sounds real good and it's not as loud as some exhaust systems. But we'll see I guess.

the muffler is 2.25" in and out. Not sure what you mean by nr?

.
.
.

[MarioBurke]

I cannot see it from those pics but I hope they left the Resonator in when they did the piping. when i first got my car day one was rims and and day 3 was exhaust. well they place that did it took out the resonator. It sounded good at first, but once it gets worn in it starts to get too loud and uncomfortable to ride in. I had 2 1/4 piping put in with a Hayame muffler and it cost me much more than that. I just Recently put the resonator back in and it makes a WORLD of difference! sounds much better now.

[Micah 89LXi]

I finally got it on this morning... took him about hour and a half... other people kept coming in... but after a lot of customizing and rigging he got it on... it fits fairly well considering... only problem they ran into is in order to keep it from being so low they had to mount it upside down... so the little OBX badge thing is on the bottom... (which I don’t really care about)... but this thing sounds amazing... at idle or cruising speed it sounds quiet as stock but under acceleration its sounds so good... it has such a great tone... and almost no back pressure... the double resonator does its job nicely... and overall I am very happy with it... it only has a 3" tip so it doesn’t look like a fart cannon... im trying to find a way to host some PICS... and id love to take a little movie of it or something.







the tone is almost quiet as stock at idle and crusing..but under acceleration it sounds insane...its sooo loud and solid..no rasp at all...even at full acc....i have madrel bent ehaust 2inch piping..i didnt think to ask for larger when i was getting the exhaust done...it has a new cat on it...but i kind of want to replace it with a hi-flow cat...it has a 2.5 inlet standard...but it is no easy thing fitting this beast under there..but my guy did a really good job..had to be mounted upside down because otherwise the tip would be too low..but it looks good and sounds amazing...it doesnt sound ricey at all..its soo solid and powerful..i love it...cost me $95 on ebay and $150 for shipping and install and everything i am very pleased...the car actually shifts better now strangely
it looks nuts..but im getting used to it slowly...just the look is strange...but i love the sound..its just sic...i prob cant do vid till end of this week sometime...im getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning and i wont be doing shit for a few days...nobody around here has heard of or ever seen anything like it and thats what I love...it looks too insane to be ricey and of course it sounds nothing like a fart cannon..i would recommend it...ill try to get that vid asap

[A20A1]

I can host your pics [email protected]

[racerx]

my friend just installed a Mugen muffler just like that on his 99 civic hatch.

It is quiet!!!

It's almost as quiet as his stock muffler, but of course, it flows better... maybe... with a 1.6 liter motor, i wouldn't be too worried about how easy that 1/2 ounce of air gets out.

Get a movie up!!! that'd be awesome! I bet under WOT your car sounds a bit louder than his.

[mr eff]

i thought we already established that you needed a new driveway, Derek, after you installed the front lip!!!

hey, btw., my springs arrive monday, PM me with what days work for you so we can get together and i can abuse you for your tools i'd like to be done before my friend leaves for the season; she keeps asking when my car "is going to be shorter." (that's in less than 14 days)

[Busted_Blue]

do u know if they're legal in california?

Exhaust are usually legal in california as long as you have a stock cat or of a carb legal cat. I have a magnaflow carb legal cat + resonator + muffler and I believe I will pass. We'll see in december.


Anyways...twinloop is definitely interesting and I'm curious as the sound clips too.

[Ludi Mali]

Quick question, is there a way to get a better flowing exhaust lets say 2.25" for example and have it still be relatively quiet(ex. not much louder than stock). Only reason I ask is because i just picked up an 89 lx-i and want to tune it a little, but i know on my 87 with header and exhaust no resonator. The interior noise is way too high when driving, its difficult to talk on the freeway. I know a resonator would help, but how much? Would adding a large resonator and a specific muffler help a lot or is it pretty much lots of flow lots of noise?

[A20A1]

Definately grab a long resonator. As for the muffler chambered ones like hooker / dynomax / magnaflow / etc. will help reduce noise and still flow nice.

i noticed many people that got custom exhausts on theri cars went with 2.25 in exhaust... i have a 2 inch exhaust on mine now... i guess when it was replaced (whenever that happened) thats just what was put on. I want to get a better flowing exhaust but i dont think another quarter inch would make much of a difference at all. I was thinking a 3 inch exhaust would be nice- Is there any reason why everyone goes with 2.25?

3" lowers the exhaust velocity but it also lowers restriction.
Velocity is good for scavenging out exhaust gasses, so a smaller pipe diameter will help you there.
Too small a pipe diameter will be too restrictive and hinder flow, so you have what is called "Pumping Loss" cause it's harder to expell gasses, You could also refer to it as "Backpressure" which is just resistance to the flow of exhaust gas.

2.25" is a balanced pipe size offerring good flow and still maintaining velocity.

You don't want backpressure. Some confuse backpressure with pressure waves that occure durring the exhaust cycle. There is a write-up somewhere on the board that describes the difference. Here is the write up :
https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352
.
.
.

yea but is it worth going to 2.25 from 2? sounds like a very small adjustment to be worthwhile-and what is the reason for 2.25-who made that the standard-and is that the standard for all performance exahsust for hondas and most 4 cyl imports or just for our cars

It's base I think more on displacement and rpm of the motor... higher displacement or higher RPM the more gasses are going out. So the greater need for increased flow, thus the larger pipe diameter.

The demand for flow is not constant either, it changes with rpm.

If you already have 2" then stick with it. Unless you're planning some major mods or reving higer, don't bother with redoing the exhaust all over again, you'll spend too much just to get a little more bump in power in the top end.
Of course you don't want to go from a 2.25" pipe to a 2.0" pipe as that can hurt flow.

This is just what I know, it may not be totally accurate so I would like to point that out before I type this post.

Going from 2 to 2.25 might pose an increase in power (my sunfire was stock 2" and 2.25" was the general upgrade) but it wouldnt be worth the money. If you have a good 2" exhaust I'd stay with it. Its still bigger than stock, but really, if anything you will just shift the power band from a good 2" to a good 2.25" to the higher end. I'm 99% sure you will lose a little low end power, but free up the top end. Thus shifting the powerband. Not worth it IMO.

Yup it shifts the power band.
When I decided to mod my exhaust before doing any head or intake work I went for 2.5 just cause, I knew where I wanted to go with the motor and that I was going to be reving 7,500 rpm and figured why settle with 2.25" if at 7500 rpm 2.5 would offer some velocity and good flow. I'm probably still better off with 2.25", but I've yet to complete my engine project... so far however everything has held true... you lose a good deal of bottom end and gain up top. With the addition of a cam it made the change more noticable, as the motor is kinda sluggish till it reaches 4,000 rpm then it wakes up. Then with the header it made the motor seem lighter, the revs picked up quicker but still power didn't show up till around 4,000 rpm.

Here is a visal comarison between stock 1.75" and 2.50"


.
.
.

do you think a straight through muiffler would help the flow, or would it just give me a different exhaust tone and thats it?

Straight through mufflers in my opinion don't quiet the exhaust as much because they don't absorb/reflect/disrupt the sound as well. They cam offer more flow over most chambered mufflers... but they are just louder. IMO straight thru mufflers are stuffed resonators with a tip, you can turn your res/muff into a muffler by adding a silencer which reduces the exhaust outlet to something like 1.75" or 2" pipe, but since it's not going to flow as well. Unless you like the sound of plan on taking the silencer on and off, just stick with a good flowing chambered muffler, some will flow the same as a 2.5" straight pipe so don't just assume they are restrictive and that no muffler or striaght though mufflers are the only way.

A possibly confirmable point, but I've found that the closer the muffler/resonator is to the header the deeper or more grumbly the sound is. When you place it right at the tip of the exhaust pipe it does little.

[mr eff]

a resonator will cut the reverberation cause by vibration (sounds redundant.. it is), which means instead of the "sound" being vibratory, it's more pleasantly "deep."

i guess what i'm saying is that a resonator will not quiet the car, but rather it will turn errant annoying vibration into a deep sound which may, or may not, trickle into the cabin.

busted has like a 40 foot long resonator somehow bolted on below his car (joke, shameless) but it's still audibly louder than mine. i guess what i'm trying to say is that the final note of the exhaust is going to be primarily influenced by your muffler...

can't say i'm wrong in that a baffled muffler will be less noisy than a straight-through one. perhaps folks can post their experiences with different brands...?

i have a dynamax super turbo (13" resonator -- don't get me wrong, they really help) and it's still a bit loud for my taste when i listen to other people drive it. deep note, suppresses a lot of sound that the 2.25" would normally produce. (i also have a header, which also makes things louder too ... so many factors, arg!)

edit: i can talk on the cell phone on the freeway without shouting, and i can definitely hear the CD player's range of sound just fine. it's louder than stock, but not nearly as goddamned loud as my friend's geo prizm!!

[modu03]

are pacesetter monza exhausts for our cars any upgrade in performance or are they mostly replacements? and are they about the same noise level or at least produce a nice mellow tone?

uh... no... the pacesetter is a relatively loud exhaust... i had it on my old hatch it gets quite annoying on the freeway and will effect how clearly you can hear your radio even if you turn it up.

it will give you a decent boost in performance, but if you want it quieter, i would just buy the exhaust and put in a dynomax super turbo in place of the monza muffler.

oh, and i tried a resonator, 26 inch, it changed the sound to a deeper tone, but it doesn't really help much

[5spdaccordlxi]

i noticed many people that got custom exhausts on theri cars went with 2.25 in exhaust... i have a 2 inch exhaust on mine now... i guess when it was replaced (whenever that happened) thats just what was put on. I want to get a better flowing exhaust but i dont think another quarter inch would make much of a difference at all. I was thinking a 3 inch exhaust would be nice- Is there any reason why everyone goes with 2.25?

3" lowers the exhaust velocity but it also lowers restriction.
Velocity is good for scavenging out exhaust gasses, so a smaller pipe diameter will help you there.
Too small a pipe diameter will be too restrictive and hinder flow, so you have what is called "Pumping Loss" cause it's harder to expell gasses, You could also refer to it as "Backpressure" which is just resistance to the flow of exhaust gas.

2.25" is a balanced pipe size offerring good flow and still maintaining velocity.

You don't want backpressure. Some confuse backpressure with pressure waves that occure durring the exhaust cycle. There is a write-up somewhere on the board that describes the difference. Here is the write up :
https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352

yea but is it worth going to 2.25 from 2? sounds like a very small adjustment to be worthwhile-and what is the reason for 2.25-who made that the standard-and is that the standard for all performance exahsust for hondas and most 4 cyl imports or just for our cars

do you think a straight through muiffler would help the flow, or would it just give me a different exhaust tone and thats it?

[keruhas184]

Yes. For natural aspirated applications it was generally determined that 2.25" is the optimum width for our cars. This is because you want to keep a proper amount of back-pressure for the low end power, as well as having a good width for the high end not to be restricted. 3 inches would be a bit too large for a N/A application.

Where do you live? I will be parting out my current car soon, and I could sell you my exhaust if you're in the NE area...

[FyreDaug]

This is just what I know, it may not be totally accurate so I would like to point that out before I type this post.

Going from 2 to 2.25 might pose an increase in power (my sunfire was stock 2" and 2.25" was the general upgrade) but it wouldnt be worth the money. If you have a good 2" exhaust I'd stay with it. Its still bigger than stock, but really, if anything you will just shift the power band from a good 2" to a good 2.25" to the higher end. I'm 99% sure you will lose a little low end power, but free up the top end. Thus shifting the powerband. Not worth it IMO.

About 2.25" being the general idea for an upgraded exhaust, its just balanced in the fact that our little small displacement motors can only move so much exhaust, if the velocity is low the gas has time to cool off making it difficult twice. Low velocity and high density. Like mike said, 2.25" is the balance. If you have a weak engine and all you did (and plan to do) is the exhaust, leave it at 2" but if you throw more air into the engine you will be expelling more, so raise it up a bit.

This is the table I go by, I kinda made it up myself, but generally its accurate.
<100hp <2"
100-140hp 2-2.25"
140-200 2.5"
and so on, I cut it off at 200hp, because I dont (and never have) own(ed) a car with more than 200.

1 Thing though, if you want to have a good NA motor with nitrous, you could set your exhaust to 1 step above my tables listed unless you barely spray. Nitrous adds lots of volume into the combustion chamber, so therefore more exhaust. **personally, I wouldnt raise the exhaust size just for nitrous**

[w00tw00t111]

dude not to bust you're balls but have you been under you're accord the exhaust is going in a whole other directions you're best bet is going to be to go to a exhaust shop and have a exhaust custom made and search around for a muffler you like and weld that to the end

I agree with Ace whole heartly. Or if you don't want an Aftermarket tip why not just go to a jy and sawz all the tip off? And weld it to your custom exhaust? Would be quiet and stock looking. The only thiing that you have to keep in mind is that if you are doing this for performance sake.(Which I would assume you are, otherwise why not just buy the whole system from a jy?) then quiet = restriction and restriction=loss of horsepower. Think of it this way, if you have a super flowing exhaust system and then right at the end you have an insanly small and restrictive tip then you've basically destroyed what you just spent all that money on. Speaking of money as far as that goes I would assume that a fully custom mandrel bent header back exhuast would be quite expensive. Much more then aftermarket cat-backs and those are fairly expensive as it is.

Not to be a thread whore but, I was wondering something that is very close to this subject. If I was to buy a long piece of 2 or 2.5' piping and then crawl under my 3g and see what degree of "bendage" that I needed. Then went to the pipe and used an Oxy-Acetylene torch or a butane torch and heated it up and bent it. Would this work? Assuming that the bend angle and length was right of course. Or would it be better just to do the kink bends?

Not to steal your thread Helix but if you find that having it made is too expensive then I thought that this might be a good,viable option for ya.

[Justin86]

your best bet for a muffler would be to get a dynomax/flowmaster/Borla. They make stock looking mufflers with single or dual exits, and then you could get an tip on them if you needed, trying searching a little next time.

[Helix]

your best bet for a muffler would be to get a dynomax/flowmaster/Borla. They make stock looking mufflers with single or dual exits, and then you could get an tip on them if you needed, trying searching a little next time.

Yeah, I know about generic borla and dynomax mufflers, I was just wondering if there was a nicely made piece that fit really well with the 3g's look. Kinda like how the thermal looks on that neon. Looks nice, almost stock, only higher quality. Exhaust work is INSANE around here, hence trying to find something that'd fit without welding/modifications.

[Busted_Blue]

Yeah, I'm curious too....... Was it worth the $$$$ for it? They are on E-Bay for about $90.

They've gotten cheaper. Sparktec Motorsports orderd 500 more in stock. I think its 75bucks buy it now +shipping.
Looks funny and alot lower than my exhaust right now. I wouldn't even be able to back up into my driveway with that thing. sound clips?

I have a 2.25 custom piping with a 22inch straight-thru resonator, as well as a straight thru magnaflow muffler. I can talk on the freeway without much trouble as well as listen to music without much trouble. The cabin noise isn't that bad. I am about to put on a dc sports header so we'll see how much louder it will be.
here are a few notes to help you choose an exhaust:
2.25 is optimal for NA Hondas.
resonators reduces vibrations and deepens the tone of an exhaust note (the longer the deeper)
The muffler determines how loud it is going to be. (chambered, straight-thru design)
There is a member on this board that ordered an OBX twinloop. These new designs are made to have the flow of a straight thru with the volume of a chambered. It is something you might want to look at.



i like mine, magnoflow exhaust

Dude that first pic makes it look like an RS*R muffler! Nice! Is it loud?

everyone says it looks like one. It's fairly loud. Nothing intolerable (At least to me) and it definitely sounds like an exhaust that was from a reputable brand name like rs*r

[mr eff]

busted has sound clips somewhere on another thread. you can click his name and scan through the threads he's started.

it sounds loud to me. the muffler is straight-through, so of course it is -- but it's also better for flow. derek's set up is a deep grumble, but mostly because of his rediculous 7 foot long resonator (or whatever it is)

the tip looks real nice in person though, and it actually helped to "project" the loudness/sound of the exhaust.

[HondaBoy]

here's mine. its got 2.25 in. pipe from the cat back, goes through one 12 in. and one 24 in. glass pack. does the same thing as what i'll call a fart can, but it doesnt sound anything like what fart cans do. could have to do with the fact that the mufflers are farther down than the tail pipes.
go here for the piping pix:https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthrea...hlight=exhaust


nah, that dual exhaust was actually really light weight, and i was kinda keeping that in mind when i had them make it. it weighed quite i bit less than the stock piping with resonator and muffler. all i know is it opened it up and sounds like a throaty little monster. i'm still yet to get a sound clip made and posted though.

[POS carb]

I bought a hooker aero chamber muffler, hooker euro dual tips, adn got it welded in all for $110. The sound is throaty to aggressive. I'd recommend a resonator or stock muffler piping if you want to stay quiet

gotta find the pics