Daemione

I know there've been a few threads on this, but nothing that really answers my specific questions . . . .

So I'm looking at finally getting a cat-back exhaust, and I want to go custom, 2.5" OD all the way through. My goal being an exhaust that sacrifices little in the way of performance, but it has to be quiet. Basically, if I can hear it over the engine, it's too loud.

So for the piping, I think I'm going to get it from here. $165 shipped for Prelude specific mandrel bends - aluminized 2.5" OD piping. The site is KTeller8's over on honda-tech.com - he seems to have a pretty good deal going, lots of satisfied customers.

Sharkcohen, I understand you got your stuff through him . . . . did you ever get pictures? And what size resonator did you eventually end up with - there's some conflicting #'s in your posts . . .

In order to get the MOST sound suppression possible, I want to fit the largest possible resonator, and the most appropriate muffler. I'm mainly looking at Magnaflow products - bigexhaust.com seems to have pretty good prices.

For the resonator, is there enough space in the 5th gen tunnel to fit the big 6" diameter 27" long round muffler (part#12640)? Or is the 18" one the longest I can go (part#12646)? And is the 6" diameter can too wide - are the 4" diameter rounds more appropriate? I apologize, I normally would go and measure it myself and draw my own conclusions, but my driveway is still covered in mud (snowed more yesterday - argh). If someone happens to know (or would like to measure) how much room is available for a resonator, I'd be most appreciative.

For my muffler choice, I'm less sure of what I want. There's 3 basic size categories of oval universals, the 4x9, 5x8, and 5x11. Given the size of the stock muffler, I don't think it'd be any problem to fit an 18" long example of any of those (stock is ~16" long), but which will provide the most sound suppression? Since they're straight through, it seems to me the larger the muffler, the more sound suppression, but on the magnaflow site, they mention the 5x11 as only being suitable for large trucks and the sort.

Or should I consider one of the XL turbo series mufflers? They're baffled, which would make for a potentially quieter system. And as long as the ultimate flow-rate is greater than my needs, I'd care not a whit that it isn't straight-through, especially if the end result is a quieter car.

So my questions boil down to these three:
1) How big a resonator can I fit?
2) What size straight-through muffler will be the quietest?
3) What kind of flow & noise suppression could be expected from one of the XL turbo mufflers?

Anyone have any input? Thanks in advance . . . .

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Daemione

So I've exchanged a few e-mails w/ Magnaflow re: flow rates, pretty frustrating.
Wow. That may be the most vague response I've ever received to a simple question.

Anyway . . . .He's completely missing the point of what I'm after. The guy doesn't seem to be able to answer any of my questions. Maybe I'll try calling them up to talk to someone different. Or maybe I just won't go with Magnaflow after all.

Frustrating.

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92H22A

Ah yes, it does sound extremely frustrating.

A couple months ago I purchased a complete catback exhaust system from KTeller8 (He is a good guy so definately do business with him). I bought the 2.5" stainless steel piping, a magnaflow 18" resonator (22" total length) and a magnaflow street series muffler with dual 3" tips (the smallest I could find). The sound is really nice and low and I like it a lot at low RPMs and at idle, but I've decided it is too loud for me at WOT and cruising on the freeway it drones quite a bit, so this thread has peaked my interest as I am looking to make some changes soon.

It seems that now I am too looking for the most sound suppression I can achieve. I was going to look into either replacing my current resonator with a bigger one, or trying to add a second one to the piping. I am also considering replacing the muffler with something with smaller tips and that is more stock looking.

Unfortunately I can't provide any solid answers to your questions, but maybe you can draw some conclusions from my setup. Definately keep us updated on anything you find out from Magnaflow (don't give up ).

Also, feel free to ask me any questions or request some pics of the piping that KTeller8, keeping in mind that I have a 4th gen.

Daemione

Hey, thanks for your input. Good to hear that KTeller8's Prelude piping works as well as the other more popular ones he sells. And your review of the sound quality & volume from the Magnaflow auxiliaries sounds a lot like what I've read elsewhere - hopefully it'll be possible to put together a system that performs just as well, just at a lower decibel level.

So I sucked it up & crawled down in the mud with a tape measure to figure out exactly how much space there is to work with down there. On my car, it's a 16" cat, followed by 9 inches of piping, then a big 22" resonator (looks like 6" diameter), and finally another 5 or 6 inches before the two 90 degree bends. Not only that, but the exhaust tunnel is relatively large all the way down - no bottle necks that I could see.

So it looks to me that fitting the big-ass 27" body 6" diameter resonator should work out . . . . . yay. The only bad news is that the big resonator is only available in 2.5" & 3" pipe diameters - so mild n/a applications are out for that one, I guess.

Although with the amount of space I saw under there, it's probably possible to fit two 14" versions end to end. More expensive, though (two $52 resonators vs. $65 for the 27" one). Of course, if you're using 2 resonators, you might even be able to fit two of the 7" rounds at $71 a pop (only available in stainless, it looks like).

92H22A - I'm thinking of going with a SS universal instead of one of the Street series - a little bit less expensive, and more options for smaller dual tips. Do you happen to know exactly which muffler you've got?

I need to measure the stock muffler again, but from what I recall there's tons of space for width & height in a muffler, and about 18 inches for muffler length. So with that in mind, I'm leaning towards part #14258 - SS, 5x9 oval, 18" body, 2.5" inlet, and dual 2.25" tips, at $102. Should look pretty stock, and with it being a little bigger than the stock muffler, I may not even need add-on tips to extend out beyond the bumper.

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sharkcohen

I suggest against going with Kteller8's exhaust. Although the bends were beautiful, the rear piece that goes under the axel and connects to the muffler is very poorly designed, and was not used on my car.

Daemione

Do you have any pictures? What did you do to replace it?

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sharkcohen

All I could do to replace it was have the shop that was installing it bend up a new piece that fit properly, and unfortunately they only do crush bending. For the amount I ended up spending on his exhaust and installation, and then not even being able to use all the pipe, I now wish I had instead spent a little bit more and ordered a full 2.5" Brullen exhaust that would have been bolt on. Also, I think it is fair to note that he didn't send me either the resonator or muffler that he had promised. I would have sent everything back for that alone, but it would have been a huge hassle for me, me being in CA and him in FL, so I just ate the loss. I know others have reported successful business with him and are happy with his exhausts, and I don't know how his exhausts fit on other cars, but unless he has gotten his act together and has had the rear section redesigned to fit better, I seriously suggest not purchasing an exhaust from him for a 5th gen.

On an incidental note, I'm very happy with the Magnaflow products, and although I didn't get the ones I was supposed to get, they do sound good and seem to perform well. I would use Magnaflow products again.

I could take pictures, but what would you want pictures of?

92H22A

I am currently out of town, but when I get back I will look up the part # for the muffler I purchased. I think if I redo it, I will go for a universal and mate a nice dual tip on the end.

shark - Sorry to hear the problems with KTeller's exhaust piping. The final axel back piece for me wasn't a perfect match for my car either but was close enough that the exhaust shop was able to use it. The place where I did run into problems was with length of the muffler that I purchased. The muffler + tips were a little too long to mate perfectly with the final axel back piece of the piping and not stick out beyond the rear bumper. The place in the piping where it dips down to go under the rear axel and then comes back up to meet the muffler overlapped too much due to the length of the muffler.

daemione - Let me know which resonator you decide to go with, as I might try to replace mine as well. Thanks.

AccordSleeper

imo, i wouldn't waste my time going custom. i did and 3 years and about $1,000 dollars later i'm very happy with my apexi ws.

btw, i had a thermal muffler, which is made by magnaflow, it was loud. even with a big resonator i still think it will be loud, mine was like 16 inches.

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Daemione

I was just wondering if you had pictures of the ill-fitting piece, or pictures of where the problems were.
I haven't seen (or heard) an affordable off-the-shelf system that I would want on my car. All the ones that might be quiet enough are either too expensive or too restrictive (mugen & apexi ws).

I've heard from just about everyone that their magnaflow customs are loud, but I've never heard a report from anyone using longer than a 14" resonator, nor anyone who used the 6" round universal as a resonator vs. the 4" round. In fact, with the 27x6" resonator, I'll actually have more resonator than I have piping . . . .

With the parts I have in mind, it should be about $400 installed (assuming 75-80 for installation). So I realize that I'm not saving much money, but in the absence of an acceptable pre-packaged option . . . . **shrug**

Of course, hearing that KTeller8's piping doesn't fit all that great doesn't bode well for the project. Are the necessary bends "normal" angles? In other words, would it possible to use two 90 degree ($9.79 each) & four 45 degree mandrel bends ($8.29 each) from JC Whitney?

That's about $53 for the bends, and I'm sure whatever shop I find to put it together could supply the straight lengths for a marginal cost. Might be more labor, though . . . .

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AccordSleeper

will the 6 inch round resonator fit??

i guess that would bring the noise down quite a bit whether you used the 4 inch round or 6 inch,but then who knows how it'll sound.

the ws for me, seems to work. the low end feels stronger and the top end feels about the same. all this with a quiet refined sound, that most hondas don't have. it makes me feel so good.

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99SHinPa

I'd have to go look...if I remember right, I got the big 28" x 4"round resonator...(i'm at work and don't have the paperwork with me...) I do have 24" x 6" round, and it wouldn't clear. Too much width in the tunnel, it would have had to be dropped to fit, and Honda's are too damn low to begin with... I also did the street muffler. The shop said, shouldn't be loud. WRONG! Now, stepping back a bit, I had the exhaust done w/o the resonator at first...bad choice. So I got the biggest resonator I could fit, and it helped. Just not enough... Now I'm in the boat that you don't want to be in, which is what to do now? I've been keeping my eye's open for what I can replace the muffler with. One of the guys that I know that has a 6-series beamer built his exhaust with a dynomax universal, and capped it off with a supertrapp. The advantage of this is like the silencers of the N1 mufflers...just quieter. Problem is space... I don't think we have enough room for that... so as far as what the options are... I've yet to find them, but doing what you're looking at right now will be DRONING. Trust me on that...

Daemione

Would you mind double-checking those measurements? Magnaflow doesn't make a 4" round longer than 22 inches, nor do they make a 24x6" round one. BTW, I'm referring to the body length of the mufflers, not the overall length (piping can always be trimmed/lengthened to taste . . .)
Well, I need to take more precise measurements - I didn't crawl all the way under the car (wasn't on jackstands). But from what I could reach/see, I'm pretty certain the stock resonator was a solid 6 inches in diameter with an inch or two of space around it - probably more if you don't mind taking out the heatshields. I don't see any reason why the 6" (or even 7") diameter universals wouldn't fit.

And I think I've asked you before, but where are you at in NH? Any recommendations on someplace to put an exhaust together? As of now, I'm looking at the local Meineke place, I haven't really heard anything bad about the one in Lebanon here.

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Enhanced

If you are buying just the muffler I would have a shop do all the pipe work. It is much cheaper than what you are saying. My shop can do it for 75. That is just what I would do. You do waht you want.

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Daemione

Mandrel bent? I can't even imagine how far I'd have to drive to find a place that does mandrel bending. Probably Boston area. Any savings quickly disappear when you have to shell out $40 in gas to get to the place.

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99SHinPa

Sorry...those sizes were total length, not acutal muffler length...But I'll verify that tonight... If you want the 6" one, I have a brand new one sitting in the box...never used! :-)

AccordSleeper

i'm in atkinson, on the border with haverhill, ma and right next to salem, nh.

i got my work done in plaistow, NH at Skips Custom exhausts. they do good work, but kinda far to drive. maybe look into manchester or concord.

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92H22A

I got pn 14815 with round tips. Its the SS street series with the mirror finish...which I now realize is a waste. It's a 5x8" oval and 14" body length. I measured a stock prelude (4th gen) muffler and the tips were around 7" so I went ahead and got the 7" tips vs the 4". That coupled with the body length of the muffler made the entire muffler a few inches longer then stock, which posed problems for me.


That sounds like a pretty good setup to me. Just one word of warning that I kind of dislike from my setup. The spacing between the 2 dual outlets on the muffler I purchased has a lot more seperated look then stock (a look that I don't really like). I have 2.5" inlet and 3" outlet tips, so assuming the same style muffler, the empty space between your 2 2.25" tips would be even more noticeable.


As far as the shops go, if you go with Kteller's mandrel bent piping, I would go to a shop that will work with you on the custom piping. A lot of shops around me (i.e. Meinekie) won't even think about helping you or working with you if you don't buy the piping (and other stuff) from them. All I heard was how my 4 banger didn't need 2.5" piping and mandrel bent is completely useless and I wasted my money. Obviously, your local Meinekie could be different.


On the resonator issue, I guess what I would really like would for some exhaust flow / sound acoustic expert to come in here and say that x size resonator is better then y size resonator for blah blah reason, or a 6" diamater resonator is better at suppressing higher/lower frequencies then a 4" diamater, or one big long resonator is better then 2 seperate resonators because of this reason or that reason.

Any exhaust flow / sound accoustic experts wanna chime in?


For what its worth, I am pretty happy with my custom system, I think I just need to tweak it a bit to make it more to my liking.

Daemione

That's a good point - I'll have to check on that.

Quote:

On the resonator issue, I guess what I would really like would for some exhaust flow / sound acoustic expert to come in here and say that x size resonator is better then y size resonator for blah blah reason, or a 6" diamater resonator is better at suppressing higher/lower frequencies then a 4" diamater, or one big long resonator is better then 2 seperate resonators because of this reason or that reason.

My thoughts exactly . . . . That's the kind of stuff I was hoping to get out of the Magnaflow rep. I obviously set my expectations a little high on that front.

You bring up a good point - would different length/diameter resonator's dampen certain frequencies better than others? It kind of makes sense, but who knows? Maybe a combination of 2 different size/length resonators would offer a more mellow sound. **shrug**

I'd really like to avoid a trial & error approach to this.

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AccordSleeper

^don't worry about the spacing, that's the same style that the Thermal R&D set-ups have. if you like that look then you'll be happy. i know i liked my dual tip look much better than the apexi WS.

the idea of 2 16 or 18 inch resonators sounds pretty goods since you can have more length of resonator.

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