So, I'm looking at putting a whole new exhaust system on the ride. I've got a Magnaflow muffler on there now with the stock piping and, where it doesn't sound bad, it's louder than what I want and not as deep as I would prefer.
I'm looking for a single catback; something that would be a direct fit and definitely something of good quality; I don't wanna replace it every year due to rust-outs. Also, I would like to stay away from having a shop fab the pipes themselves; not many mandrel benders in STL will do so at a reasonable price. Anyone have any suggestions for a nice flowing exhaust that isn't loud or raspy at the top end, and has a good deep note? I'm trying to stray from RKSport and their Magnaflow stuff, and I don't have tons of money to spend (aiming for $400 or less). I'm at work or else I'd spend some time searching and reading reviews. Any input is appreciated. Thanks all.
Suck, squish, bang, blow... muahahahaha!!
why are you worried about mandrel bending? it's too expensive for the lack of performance gains over compression bent. let's face the facts. compression bent is NO MORE RESTRICTIVE. it just looks prettier.
I was a retard, and now I'm permanently banned.
I'm not worried about the bending; as I had asked in my first post, I would like suggestions on what brand of cat-back exhaust to go with. I want an entire exhaust system... I don't want one fabricated by a local shop.. by going with a full system, I'm pretty much guaranteed fit and proper bends. The last time I had a whole system done under the car at a shop here, they did a crappy-ass welding job and I had to deal with piping not following the intended path rattling against @!#$. Thus, the solution I'm taking is just ordering a whole exhaust system.
Again, any brand/product recommendations? Something not too loud... mellow, but deep and smooth, for the Ecotec.
Suck, squish, bang, blow... muahahahaha!!
I have the Vibrant catback, bolt-on, nice sound, nice quality. I'll try to post a vid or sound file...
Spotabee Racing wrote:why are you worried about mandrel bending? it's too expensive for the lack of performance gains over compression bent. let's face the facts. compression bent is NO MORE RESTRICTIVE. it just looks prettier.
Oh hush...it's not that expensive.
If you have the option of getting it mendrel bent, I say go for it.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
I beg to differ on cost. I had about 10 different qoutes from shops with mandrel benders and shops with compression benders.
On average mandrel bent would have cost me 300-350 dollars from the cat back.
the compression bent on average was 90-120 catback.
Guess which one i went with.
Go to a decent shop that will let you in the bay with them and just watch them do it and ask questions. Hell the guy who did mine let me bend over half my own pipe. Look for small shops with guys who have been doing it for years. These are usually your most cost effective and i have found to be the highest quality. For those wondering the shop i got it done at also garunteed my exhaust for life against rusting out and leaks. I only paid 120 for my piping catback with my own muffler and tip welded on.
I don't need no stinking SIG. Wait this is one.
DOH!
CAVolution wrote:I beg to differ on cost. I had about 10 different qoutes from shops with mandrel benders and shops with compression benders.
On average mandrel bent would have cost me 300-350 dollars from the cat back.
the compression bent on average was 90-120 catback.
Guess which one i went with.
Go to a decent shop that will let you in the bay with them and just watch them do it and ask questions. Hell the guy who did mine let me bend over half my own pipe. Look for small shops with guys who have been doing it for years. These are usually your most cost effective and i have found to be the highest quality. For those wondering the shop i got it done at also garunteed my exhaust for life against rusting out and leaks. I only paid 120 for my piping catback with my own muffler and tip welded on.
Well in my case, I have dual exhaust. Bends are important to make sure they aren't cheaply bent or bent badly to abstruct airflow, that's why I opt to get mendrel bends.
Also, to spend $300 on a cat-back setup isn't bad because that's about what you would spend for a pre-made one anyways...it's still an affordable price. Spotabee made it seem like $150 for compressed and $600 for mendrel or something big like that.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
Thats why i make sure i have a good enough relationship with the shop so that i am allowed in the shop to watch the bends and such as i am extremely picky( as i am sure you are).
I agree it is still an affordable price but unless you are going big turbo and high horsepower. Mandrel bends make no difference(if they do make any it will be small to nonexistent on most cars) in performance. So i say spend the 90-120 and get compression bends and spend the rest on other more important things like a high flow cat and a header which will make a bigger difference than mandrel bends.
Just my 2 pence.
By the way i love your car NJHK.
I don't need no stinking SIG. Wait this is one.
DOH!
CAVolution wrote:Thats why i make sure i have a good enough relationship with the shop so that i am allowed in the shop to watch the bends and such as i am extremely picky( as i am sure you are).
I agree it is still an affordable price but unless you are going big turbo and high horsepower. Mandrel bends make no difference(if they do make any it will be small to nonexistent on most cars) in performance. So i say spend the 90-120 and get compression bends and spend the rest on other more important things like a high flow cat and a header which will make a bigger difference than mandrel bends.
Just my 2 pence.
By the way i love your car NJHK.
You make very good valid points. Also, I plan to go boost soon so my mendrel bent 2 1/2" piping will come in very useful
Thank you for the compliment...I'm glad you like Samantha as much as I do
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
I think what Spotabee Racing is actually saying is that for most of us having pipe mandrel bent is pointless. The gains on most of our cars would be neglegalbe at best and that money would be better spent elsewhere. Look at it this way in the example CAVolution gave he saved between $180 to $260 by getting compression bends. I know for $260 you could get yourself a header and highflow cat. So what makes more sense? a whole new exhaust from the head all the way to the muffler or a store bought cat back system?
I really would like to go to a 2.5 inch exhaust system instead of my 2.25.. Where can I buy the piping??? Besdes going to an exhaust shop.
I rather buy a good brand exhaust piping. Can anyone help?
"FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE STOCK"
02ecotecimportkiller wrote:I really would like to go to a 2.5 inch exhaust system instead of my 2.25.. Where can I buy the piping??? Besdes going to an exhaust shop.
I rather buy a good brand exhaust piping. Can anyone help?
In my post I listed an ebay store where you cant get un polished stainless in 2.5" dia in 5' lengths for $36 plus shipping.... I thought that was a pretty good deal. Here is the link agian.
http://stores.ebay.com/Performance-Curve_W0QQssPageNameZmercQ5fviQ5frsccQ5fpr4Q5fpcnQ5fQ5fstoresQQtZkm
02ecotecimportkiller wrote:I really would like to go to a 2.5 inch exhaust system instead of my 2.25.. Where can I buy the piping??? Besdes going to an exhaust shop.
I rather buy a good brand exhaust piping. Can anyone help?
If you're going to a shop anyways, just have them get the piping for you instead of you wasting your money in buying it and shipping it to your door.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
Michael Woolever wrote:I think what Spotabee Racing is actually saying is that for most of us having pipe mandrel bent is pointless. The gains on most of our cars would be neglegalbe at best and that money would be better spent elsewhere. Look at it this way in the example CAVolution gave he saved between $180 to $260 by getting compression bends. I know for $260 you could get yourself a header and highflow cat. So what makes more sense? a whole new exhaust from the head all the way to the muffler or a store bought cat back system?
my point EXACTLY.
02ecotecimportkiller wrote:I really would like to go to a 2.5 inch exhaust system instead of my 2.25.. Where can I buy the piping??? Besdes going to an exhaust shop.
I rather buy a good brand exhaust piping. Can anyone help?
it's your low end torque loss for going with too large of piping. so don't say we didn't tell you so.
I was a retard, and now I'm permanently banned.
Here's the vid, hope it work, it give you an idea about the sound. I have a Pacesetter 4-1 ceramic coated header, a Magnaflow Hi-Flow Cat, an 18" Vibrant resonator and the Vibrant catback. I had to cut a little bit of the catback to fit all this but I'm pretty happy with the result. 2.25" is the max size that I would go for an N/A car, but that your choice...
It's at the track, sorry for the quality, (this is what you got when you only pay 300$ (CAD) for a digital cam
)
Clicky
I knew I should of watched my muffy videos I cant understand a word hes saying. At least it sounded nice
J BODYS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.
"
boobs now with Riboflabin"
cool 15.35 a pont rouge mon sunbird avait fais 19.42 lol
btw guys it's at the pont-rouge drag strip near Québec so they are talking in french
the sunfire did 15.35 on the 1/4 mile the civic did almost 19.00
just get a custom exhaust.... I paid about $140 for the cat back, 2.25 inch piping, a muffler, and hangers. I got all the parts and they bent the piping, welded everything, id it all parts and labor for $140 then when I came back a second time to get my cutout welded in, they cut out a section of the exhaust cut the cat out, moved the cat farther towards the back of the car so the cutout could fit on the end of the header rewelded everything and charged me another $20
Asked my buddy Rob from Extreme muffler about the benifits of mandrel bending vs.
regular bending in a real world application. He said and I quote, " Mandrel bent exhaust is only useful if you don't have a cat or anything other then a Flowmaster muffler. As soon as you put on a restrictive type muffler or cat. convert. then any gains mandrel bending gave to you just went away." Basicly if its not a bad ass big block or a seriously turboed out 4 or 6 cylinder then its just not really worth the difference in
price or hassel.
So in short if your Cavy runs less then 11's with a big honkin turbo its not gonna do you much good.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
i can't exactly acknowledge the validity of that statement. however, it still corresponds with my point that cost-effectively... compression bent is best.
I was a retard, and now I'm permanently banned.
Darkstars have a good point, it will be cheaper to have a shop doing you a custom exhaust than buying a catback (I should have done that) The money that you save there will allow you to do something else.You will still have the choice to put the muffler, resonator, and the cat that you want. And if you have to cut it for any reason, you won't feel bad cause you paid more for a catback....
jackalope ( a.k.a. the prick ) wrote: He said and I quote, " Mandrel bent exhaust is only useful if you don't have a cat or anything other then a Flowmaster muffler. As soon as you put on a restrictive type muffler or cat. convert. then any gains mandrel bending gave to you just went away."
except that on a 4 cylinder, a turbo style muffler (ie borla, magnaflow, or other straight through design) will flow better than a flowmaster as there are no baffles in the way of the exhaust flow.
