Best exhaust that's not TOO loud...??? - Honda Prelude Forum

23109VC · 03-13-2002, 07:59 AM

Hi everyone.

Just curious...what is the best exhaust out there for the Prelude...with these factors in mind..

1)Cost
2)Noise
3)Real hp gains

basically, stuff like Mugen is out....I know everyone will say it's the best..but it costs WAY too much for me to justify..so the expensive stuff is out. I'm talking about kits in teh $400-600 range max. LIke the Tanabe, Greddy, DC, Apexi, etc etc etc.

SEcond, I don't want something that sounds like I have open exhaust, I can't be setting off car alarms as I pull into my office parking lot and have my boss thinking I am some boy racer. I want my car to sound fixed up, mean, fast, etc..all the "cool" parts of having exhaust...but it can't be super loud.

Third, if the exhaust isn't going to actually make my car faster...then I don't want it. Meaning..if you put one on your car and then you had to psychologically convince yourself that your car *might* be a little faster...then you dind't get any power. I want an exhaust that you bolt on and then say...yeah, my car IS faster.

This last requirement may be a tough one to fulfill. It does seem like on newer cars, like ours, exhausts don't do a lot for power..but I dunno..maybe there is one out there that will gvie a noticeable power gain...****, I remember back in high school...I'm 29, so this was in 1989 or so....I had a first gen RX7...pretty slow by today's standards...I bought a RAcing beat full exhaust. holy ****.. that thing added so much hp it wasnt' even funny. now I know that kit removed a cat, included a header, and rotaries and Honda VTEC motors are totally different...my only point being, when I bolted that kit on...it was like night and day ...no kidding. the kit was rated as being good for about 20hp..and it was. 0-60 improved at least a full second with that one mod....

anyway..enough rambling about the "good old days"....

Is there an exhaust out there that I can pick up for around $500-600 that won't blow out my eardrums, WON'T DRONE on the freeway (I hate exhausts that drone in 5th at crusiing rpm), won't knock my neighbors pictures off their walls as I drive by...and will actually make my car faster..enough so that after I bolt it on, go for a test drive and run the car through the gears, I will actually say to myself..."hey, cool, my car IS actually faster..I can feel the different".

if I have to go to a dyno to find otu I gained a whole whopping 2 horsepower....I'm not interested. there are a lot of cool toys I could buy with $600...believe me....

like a new PDA, a new suit, a plane ticket to some cool place...

let me know..you guys have all had a lot of experience with different exhausts..you know if my goals are realistic or not. let me know.

thanks.

TurkeyZ · 03-13-2002, 09:29 AM

I don't know if you can pick up an exhaust that will give you as much gains as you want.........since you have an intake..you might get maybe 5 hp. The only exhausts I would recommend for you to get if you don't want it loud is the Thermal R&D or the Apexi World Sport. The World Sport is by far the quietest, and your intake will probably be louder, but the Thermal is a bit louder. Both sound great as I have heard both and own the Thermal. The Thermal is nice and deep, yet not too loud. Both are less than $500 (I believe) and I would recommend either one. So I hope I could help a little...............

JoeW · 03-13-2002, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 23109VC
SEcond, I don't want something that sounds like I have open exhaust, I can't be setting off car alarms as I pull into my office parking lot and have my boss thinking I am some boy racer. I want my car to sound fixed up, mean, fast, etc..all the "cool" parts of having exhaust...but it can't be super loud.

You're only choice here in my opinion would be the Mugen exhaust. The Thermal resonates badly in the cabin and if I could do it over again, I'd spend the extra $400 on the Mugen catback.

Quote:

This last requirement may be a tough one to fulfill. It does seem like on newer cars, like ours, exhausts don't do a lot for power..but I dunno..maybe there is one out there that will gvie a noticeable power gain...****, I remember back in high school...I'm 29, so this was in 1989 or so....I had a first gen RX7...pretty slow by today's standards...I bought a RAcing beat full exhaust. holy ****.. that thing added so much hp it wasnt' even funny. now I know that kit removed a cat, included a header, and rotaries and Honda VTEC motors are totally different...my only point being, when I bolted that kit on...it was like night and day ...no kidding. the kit was rated as being good for about 20hp..and it was. 0-60 improved at least a full second with that one mod....

This is a 4-banger (no offense intended, I love my lude!). I doubt any exhaust gains on our cars will hold a candle to larger, more powerful engines that feed off of high performance exhausts. (again, my opinion..I could be wrong!)

Quote:

Is there an exhaust out there that I can pick up for around $500-600 that won't blow out my eardrums, WON'T DRONE on the freeway (I hate exhausts that drone in 5th at crusiing rpm), won't knock my neighbors pictures off their walls as I drive by...and will actually make my car faster..enough so that after I bolt it on, go for a test drive and run the car through the gears, I will actually say to myself..."hey, cool, my car IS actually faster..I can feel the different".

Then you don't want the Thermal. The Thermal catback drones like there's no tomorrow on the highway. It is not as bothersome in city driving, but it is still very noticeable. Aside from that little bit of info, the Thermal catback is wonderful (Looks good, good gains, dual tips!)

I hope this helps you out a little bit on your quest for a new exhaust. If you don't want to go the Mugen route, I'd suggest looking into the Tanabe DTM or the Apexi WS (I can't vouch for these as I haven't heard them in person except the Tanabe on a 4th gen - it sounded good but I'm not sure if it was the DTM model). Dual tips are always a plus in my book though!

shik0me · 03-13-2002, 09:54 AM

I think people have noted that an exhausts with a straight-through design give more power (although as others have pointed out, gains are minimal at best) but the tradeoff is noise.

Apexi WS, Apexi RS, Tanabe Hyper Medallion, Tanabe G-Power Medallion, and RSR exhausts seem to be quiet from what everyone has said about them. The Thermal Stealth is loud to some, moderate to others.

If you haven't already done so, try a search for "quiet exhaust", "Apexi WS", "Thermal exhaust", and "tanabe hyper". I think the results will give you a lot of feedback.

I just searched for "Tanabe DTM" and that doesn't seem to be a quiet one, FYI.

MiKeYsLuDe · 03-13-2002, 10:01 AM

well i got the hyper medalion full cat on my lude...which wus around 5 bills total...but dey discontinued dat...the hyper medalion is quiet sounds nice i would recommend u gettin dat...iono the mugen exhaust is like 9 bills...if u wanna spend dat much den go for it

shik0me · 03-13-2002, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MiKeYsLuDe
well i got the hyper medalion full cat on my lude...which wus around 5 bills total...but dey discontinued dat...the hyper medalion is quiet sounds nice i would recommend u gettin dat...iono the mugen exhaust is like 9 bills...if u wanna spend dat much den go for it

The Hyper is discontinued? I thought it was just the G-Power.

Mike95lude · 03-13-2002, 01:25 PM

Sean,
I'd look at the A'PEXi WS....it wont gain very much in power, but as far as sound, loudness is completely NOT an issue with this exhaust. The exhaust also looks very clean and is honestly probably the classiest/maturist one you can get for your car. You might want to seriously consider it due to these reasons AND it is very cheap. You can find them for under $400.

Another exhaust I have no personal experience with but based on looks and design, I'd say look also at the Thermal R&D Stealth exhaust system. It should be a lot quieter than the regular Thermal Classic systems that people seem to think is too loud.

HTH
-Mike

23109VC · 03-13-2002, 01:30 PM

thanks for all the info.

it bums me out that exhausts really don't do a lot for our cars.

I LOVE my Prelude...but they just don't respond well to performance mods. I mean, we can always put on forced induction, or nitrous...but that's a big $$$ mod.

Little 4 bangers just don't do well with exhaust mods.. I mean they don't make big power...

My first two cars were rotaries.. I had a first gen RX, then later I had an 87 RX7 Turbo II. The turbo II, holy ****, did that thing respond well to bolt ons. I only added a "drop in" filter..you know teh one that goes in teh stock airbox, made by K+N, then I added a high flow cat, and a downpipe to replace the precat. that was IT. That car flat out moved....

I used to routinely waste modded Eclipse Turbos...I raced plenty of NA Fixed up VTECs and kicked the crap out of all fo them. then it blew up....the only car that kicked my butt was a V8 Trans am..I know...what was I smokin' to race that guy...

the low end torque was great!!!

oh well, it was an old hunk of junk though...

My prelue is clean, handles 100 times better, and looks better in mh opnion. it's clearly a better car. I just miss that rush of power fromt eh turbo...

oh well...

next car will be somethign faster out of the box...

thanks guys.

maybe I"ll hold off on the exhaust, unless I find someone sellin a cheap used Apex WS....if it's under 400 new it should be dirt cheap used...maybe 200 or less..

shik0me · 03-13-2002, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike95lude
Sean,
Another exhaust I have no personal experience with but based on looks and design, I'd say look also at the Thermal R&D Stealth exhaust system. It should be a lot quieter than the regular Thermal Classic systems that people seem to think is too loud.

HTH
-Mike

Just FYI, there is only the Stealth system (dual tip) for the 5th gen. Again, loud to some, not too bad for other people.

MCLude01 · 03-13-2002, 02:24 PM

I have a raven stainless. Its the midas brand...I know its not a brand name but my buddy works there so I got a 300 dollar pipe for like 99 bucks .....not bad......however it is just a muffler so I don't know what a full system would sound like. I' not a fan af the big 3 inch exhausts...I don't like the way they sound and I don't like the way they look....mine looks kinda like the stock exhaust just bigger openings that are rectangular oval in shape..oh yeah..it blings also..very shiny......love the way it sounds....deep and loud but not too loud none of that high pitch engine clattery noise.

DYI01 · 03-13-2002, 02:26 PM

Whats up Sean havent talked to you in a long while...

Anyways, what u want is an exhaust that you can throw a silencer in if its too loud and take it off when u want to feel like a boy racer. With that in mind, The greddy EVO is a pretty damn good exhaust, looks good and does maker power. My Friend Smitdog HAD the Apexi RS cat back, itwas a piece, it lost him power. My SS would pull him at highway speeds, when he switched to EVO, he pulled me like he should (this kid can drive his ass off

) Back to the silencer, what i have heard quite a few people do is buy an Apexi Silencer and drill a small hole in the bottom of the EVO tip and the Apexi silencer fits right in. This is good because the Greddy is not a incredibly loud exhaust but it rumbles with a very deep tone, but not as nearly as loud as my N1

. So when you throw the silencer it will drop the sound considerably. The downside of having the silencer in though is that it may loose some top end power, because the silencer restricts air flow, but it wont be loud anymore.

Sean I would also recomnd a set of pullies, these will always help. Low end TQ and gain in the top end too, Maybe even a header. All these mods will compliment your AEM nicely.