Matt W

A credible shop in the city I am in (probably the only shop in this town that will take your catalytic converter off) has done redone my friends whole exhaust on his Grand Prix with 3 inch pipping and my friend supplied the mufflers, he only charged my friend 200.

I currently have the Jpipe but want to do get some different mufflers, since I am going to be in there I am going to have him do a true dual exhaust system from the pre-cats to the mufflers (no catalytic converter of course) with 2.25 inch pipping. I don't think anything bigger will fit and it just gets more expensive for bigger pipping.

The guy quoted me "around 200" on the phone but he was busy and I don't think he understands this is a true dual not a fake dual. I estimate its probably going to be the "around 300" dollar range which still sounds good to me.

Here is what I need your guys opinion on?

1. Should I go for an X-Pipe, H-Pipe, or Straight-Pipe system?

I have been reading a couple of things that say X-pipe or H-pipe are the best ways to go because it will help equalize the pressure and help to make sure you don't end up with a raspy sound. It looks like RV6 is doing X pipe for the TL Type-S. Does anyone have an RL with a true dual setup that can shine some light on this? Or do any of you guys have any opinions on this?

2. What mufflers should I go with?

I have only seen a video videos of custom exhausts on the Acura RL. One person did 2nd Res delete and Magnaflow 14829. I think that is what sounded best to me and might be what I go for.

I also saw that Blazing GT had done a custom exhaust but I have no idea what mufflers he was using or if he had a true dual, etc.

What exhaust do you guys think i should go with?

Here is a picture I found in one of the threads for a pipe that was never released, I will have him use this as a reference.

oo7spy

Ambiguous did a true dual which I think would be considered an H-pipe. It's in his build thread.

I would think that if you are going to do straight pipes, you are going to add a lot of spud from that alone. I personally would opt for a much quieter muffler than the Magnaflows. The RL has the capability for pretty low notes but a fart can under the bumper would ruin that very quickly.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

What do you want it to sound like?

I think a V6 with a magnaflow and no cats will sound like shit at high RPMs.

Do an H pipe and get a quality muffler, there are plenty of sound clips here to help.

Matt W

Okay, sounds good on the H pipe, here is what the RL sounds like with keeping two of the resonators and magnaflows, im not sure what you guys think of this.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Sorry dude that's definitely not for me.
But I'm not driving it.
V6's, import or domestic just do not produce a good sound with out a good muffler set up.

Matt W

Apparently Ambiguous did an X pipe, I've done a little more reading. I guess H is better for sound and X is better for HP gain.

This is ambiguous'
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n.../RL/K-0691.jpg

oo7spy

Not my taste for my car. I would venture to think that someone who pulls their entire interior to soundproof their car would have some appreciation for an exhaust that accentuates the RLs sound and doesn't whir.

When the stock RL is up to operating temperature and is taken off slowly from a stop, the first gear note is great. Low and powerful. After hitting 3500 RPM it's gone. Then the valves open up, and the engine sucks a lot of air. Get an exhaust to accentuate the low RPM and an intake that lets it scream.

Remember, it's a Japanese V6, not an American V8.

oo7spy

He has a picture with the camera looking through the pipe. For some reason I was thinking the pipes never combined their flows.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

ok, instead of pissing on your idea I did some searching....

Check out this note:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...98AWz44Q#t=31s

here is the thread: http://atl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=762078

just for fun here is some inspiration LoL

http://wwww.acurazine.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=375861

Matt W

What do you guys think of this?

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

LoL @ "hit em up partner, do what you got to do"

You have to admit that sounds better and less is more.

Matt W

Yeah haha that part was pretty good, its hard to find videos that will actually show how a custom setup on an RL will turn out.

I think these are the mufflers the guy from the video had bought since he said it was 2.25" piping back to the mufflers.

Matt W

Yeah Im kinda scared to do mufflers and not know what its going to sound like. Hopefully somebody who has already done this on the RL can give me advice.

Here is what BlazingGT did, don't know what his setup is though.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Blazings ride sounds tough, hear that rasp? Thats a typical V6 for ya.

Again its all in what you want to hear.. he is a great member and has a lot of clips and I'm sure you can find the details.

Matt W

I've made some diagrams that I am going to take in tomorrow and get estimates. Since I still have my pre cats I am not going to do any resonators for now and just go straight to the mufflers, I am also going to have them make it so I can bolt the old exhaust + first set of resonators if need be.

Here is my diagrams of the stock versus true dual.




Probably a couple more bends than shown in my picture but I want them to get a rough idea of what I want so they can give me an accurate estimate without guessing.

253RL

You might want to keep a set of resonators to avoid rasp and drone.
Couple of my vids with added tanabe mufflers j pipe pcds and pulley. I kept all 4 resonators but could probably get away with 2 and not be too loud.

db22

I would rather the car have a lot of power and sound like it doesn't than have a car that sounds like it has but doesn't.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

You want to keep the length of the pipes even, otherwise the sound and power will be off. In that picture the pipes arent even. I did see you said the picture was missing bends though

If you REALLY feel the need to get true dual, I say get the quietest muffler you can find with two vibrant ultra quiet resonators (one on each side).

Also I'd check to see what kind of steel piping the shop is using, if everything is mandrel bent (not crush bent), and what kind of welding (mig or tig) they are using. The price is a little cheap, not sure where you're located though

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

This is where everyone is different, a few HP is not worth sounding like the honda civic beside me on my daily commute.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

db22

The Civic that you refer to is the same one that is expanding and contracting with the sub frequency so the boom from the "go-faster" exhaust only serves to enhance the resonant frequency of the two.

Matt W

Ah thanks you are right, I guess I will have him do it like in the first picture but with the X-Pipe added. I just bought the mufflers. Went with Borla Pro XS mufflers, I watched a bunch of different videos of mufflers on Acuras and I settled on this. I was going to do the ones that the guy had in this video for his TL but I couldn't find the part number and it looks like he still had his cats.


I am going to be doing regular aluminum pipping, that is what is on the car now and I don't want to pay twice as much for stainless...its not something that I am going to see anyway. I talked to him today and he said it would be 300-350 depending on if I wanted it broke up into different segments like what was shown in my first post.

I think I am going to order new resonators as I don't know how well the stock ones are going to do after looking at the video of the guy with magnaflows on his RL.

Any suggesstions on the exhaust tips?
http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/borl...-pro-xs-40357/

Matt W

Here are the tips I think I am going for, what do you think? They are 2.25 to 4 inches.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/IMM-577588

Here they are on a IS250

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

make your next one a double.

253RL

Vibrant ultra quiet resonators and tanabe medallion mufflers and it will sound like that TL!!

vletnguyen

iTrader: (1)

i was thinking of getting a custom axle back with magnaflow muffler and quad Ti tips. Would look like the tl-s quad tips but in burnt Ti .
The magnaflow xl muffler took out the drone/rasp of my evo 8 with turbo RFL turboback (yes RFL means Real F*&king Loud)

http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/universalsatinxl.asp

maybe when the temperatures drop a little more and it stops raining i'll play with the care more (take measurements)

vletnguyen

iTrader: (1)

resonators help quite a bit also. i ordered from http://www.roadraceengineering.com/exhaustparts.htm
many many moons ago.

Matt W

I like the vibrant ultra quiet resonators but they are so damn expensive when you need two of them lol. I am trying to avoid using any parts out of the stock exhaust but I might have to use the stock resonators.

253RL

I have two s2000 resonators removed from both my s2000 past and present they are same design as the vibrant ultra quiets and muffle quite a bit just YouTube s2000 res delete and listen vs bone stock s2000 25$ each plus shipping costs, I was going to use them on my RL if I ever removed the 4 stock resonators but like the way it sounds so I'm leaving it. Lmk

Matt W

Damn wish I would have saw this to late now everything is ordered. I actually spent the whole day researching this to make sure I was getting what I wanted so wow I am behind on schoolwork now lol.

Here is what my setup is going to be:

Aluminium Steel 2.25 Inch from Pre-Cats. My guy has machine to do mandrel bends although he said his machine is older and when doing sharp turns it gets a little crinkle so not a big deal still going to have good mandrel bends.

These will go to an X-pipe....

After X-pipe we will be going from 2.25 to 2.5 Inch on some Aero Turbine AR25 Resonators (these are suppose to be as good as the Vibrant Ultra Quiet) and then from 2.5 back to 2.25 inch piping

After the resonators we will then go into some Borla Pro XS Mufflers

Muffler tips will be Cherry Bomb 577588 SS Tips as shown on the IS in the pictures above.

All off that cost me 352.90, did alot of searching on online stores to get the price that low.

My exhaust guy will be around the 300-350 range so this will end up costing me 750-800. I will be selling my Jpipe on here so I am hoping to get 350 shipped out of that seeing that it is in mint condition and new they are going to run you 500 shipped from RV6. That should bring down my overall estimated cost to 400-450.

253RL

That sounds awesome man can't wait to hear it, also I've heard good things about those aero res. good luck hope it sounds like you like!

db22

There are at least a couple of cars who are directing the exhaust noise back into the cabin or through the stereo, I think the new BMW M5 does this. If they give it a volume control then it would satisfy all the people who think that exhaust noise is good to hear.
There is another device available that picks up the ignition interference and translates that to an pre-recorded exhaust of the car of your choosing.
The third option is to buy a CD, better yet a DVD-A, of an exhaust recording and you can play that back anytime that you desire.
(I know, "I'm a big help).

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

db22

I beg to differ:
The objective of the twice pipes is to excreet gases at the person behind you and to reduce the noises that an unrestricted internal combustion engine makes. A stock exhaust will direct the gases and my suggestions gives multiple choices on what noises you can have inside the vehicle. I therefore conclude that my thread is on the correct route unless, of course, the objective is to make exterior noises for the benefit of bystanders most of whom may not wish to hear it. In which case I will go back 2 miles to the sevices for I am obviously full of something.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

Why are you changing exhaust diameters from 2.25 to 2.5? You're gona lose exhaust velocity by doing this. If its because the resonators are 2.5" diameter you can have the 2.25" pipe that goes in and out of it expanded where the resonator and pipes meet without having to up the piping size.

Aluminum piping will be lightweight but in my experience sounds tinny sometimes. You might be ok though. Mandrel bend is good and I wouldn't worry too much about the slight crush bend in the turns.

Otherwise sounds like the setup should sound good. Are you keeping the precats?

Matt W

Here is my main reasons for true dual exhaust and new mufflers:


5% For whatever small mpg increase I might get
5% Because my exhaust tips haven't been cleaned for over 8 years and I want a new look
30% To have a nice sounding exhaust for an equally powerful engine
60% For whatever small hp increase I will gain

I don't expect this to be annoyingly loud as I hate drone as I am driving but I want it to roar when I WOT. We will see how this works out.

Also if you guys are interested in how this car sounds with no exhaust connected to the precats this is me driving home with my original jpipe loose (shop wouldn't remove the cat could only loosen the bolts for me)

Matt W

This is what I meant by going from 2.25 to 2.5, so yeah basically what you said just for the resonators, I'm not going to have a full length of pipe or anything just 2.25 <--> 2.5 <--> Resonator <--> 2.5 <--> 2.25

Yeah I am keeping my precats for now was considering PCD but I am worried about O2 errors but I was looking in TL forums and it looks like you can use O2 sensor simulators

EL19

iTrader: (4)

Good stuff

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Matt W

Does anyone know where I can get the flanges for the part that connects to the Pre Cats? My guy says he can use the ones off of my original pipe but I would rather keep that pipe unmodified in case I need to go back.