gsclifton

iTrader: (2)

I have been doing some reading on exhaust systems for the TSX. Back in the day, I had a Greddy SP on my Civic. That was in '95, and it was somewhat loud. I really liked the appearance, but not the noise. On my first Accord in '97, I had a 5Zigen cat-back. It was even louder, and I was not as fond of the looks of the can or the tip. On my 2000 Accord, I left the exhaust stock.

I have been looking at the Comptech for the TSX since it closely resembles the OEM system and it supposed to not be as annoying on the sound.

Did anyone get a sound clip of their Competech yet? Any other suggestions for something that is not obnoxiously loud (like a pissed off weed eater or bee) and does not look like an aluminum trash can under the bumper?

I personally like the stainless appearance under the rear bumper. I also like the dual cans. But, I am not looking to advertise by sound especially or "large-than-life" appearance that I am running an after market exhaust system.

Any advice would be helpful before I shell out close to $1k on some product that I will end up disliking after the installation.

sauceman

I was thinking about this too, and I was wondering if there was a way to figure out how to make a custom exhaust that would 1. rid the resonator, 2. have a 2½ diameter for the single-pipe section, 3. have mandrel bends and 4.find a way to reduce dramatically the sharpness of the Y for the two mufflers.

If the pre-muffler section could be done right, I would be willing to bet gains would still be very respectable, even welded back on to the stock mufflers.

Am I talking out of my ass here, or does it make sense?

NJtsx

You are making perfect sence and i will be beginning this project in a few weeks. i am keeping the stock mufflers and removing the resonator having a custom bend and weld of a new Y-pipe, 2 1/2 inch pipes, and even a custom fabricated 4-2-1 header. Little MONSTER GARAGE madness(hahahhah). A custom job would be the best route for OUR setup. The exhaust is already considered tuned and perfect for the car. You have to keep the balance of the twin look. But with my injen CAI, Hondata(future), VTEC adjustments, better fuel management, and a custom less restricitive exhaust, custom stainless headers, lighter wheels(volks for my birthday!!!).....i am hoping for 35hp gain to the wheels and some sufficent torque changes.

KJLite

a cheaper solution might be to just cut off the 2 rear mufflers and put up 2 new high flow mufflers. the stock resonator, should keep the rice away, and you'll have the flexibility to add whatever tips you like.

still doesn't solve the problem of remaining pipe though.

gsclifton

iTrader: (2)

I called Jotech yesterday and talked to Kenny Tran about an exhaust decision. He said to sit on the the exhaust for right now until the after market can catch up and provide a variety of products. Also, he said he had yet to install any exhaust on a TSX, yet, so he could not comment on the Comptech other than that they are proud of it (ie the cost)! I am going to wait for a while (couple of months) before I make a purchase. Kenny has built 4 different cars for me, so I trust the judgement.

I like the idea of replacing parts of the stock setup, but keeping the stock mufflers though. I am just going to try and be patient.

Stokeless_TSX

i wouldnt keep the stock mufflers they arent straight through. they have too many baffles causing too much back pressure. i have a custom set up one of these days i wont be so lazy and ill take a pix and post it up on here.

tmalzahn

I have the Comptech header and exhaust. I cannot compare it to the stock sound as I had my dealer install the system before delivery.

However, it has passed the mother-in-law test (she rode in the car and did not complain). It is a bit noisy during warm up (it resonates at 1300 rpm), but after that, it is just a mellow sound. Don't get me wrong, you can hear it, but it is not annoying on the freeway and it does not sound "ricey". I would compare it to my friend's 330i Sport sound - perhaps turned up just a bit.

Also, I have only 600 miles on the car, so no dynos yet. I will do one in March when it warms up a bit and I have about 2500 miles on the car.

-Tim

NJtsx

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tmalzahn
I have the Comptech header and exhaust. I cannot compare it to the stock sound as I had my dealer install the system before delivery.

However, it has passed the mother-in-law test (she rode in the car and did not complain). It is a bit noisy during warm up (it resonates at 1300 rpm), but after that, it is just a mellow sound. Don't get me wrong, you can hear it, but it is not annoying on the freeway and it does not sound "ricey". I would compare it to my friend's 330i Sport sound - perhaps turned up just a bit.

Also, I have only 600 miles on the car, so no dynos yet. I will do one in March when it warms up a bit and I have about 2500 miles on the car.

-Tim [/
if you dont mind me asking...how much did you pay for your "complete comptech kit"?

KJLite

i think i know how to avoid that ricey, weedeater exhaust sound. it all lies in the diameter of the tip. if you ever notice, all those ricers have at least 4" tips. the tsx looks like it has a 3.5-4.5" tip, but its a false tip, the actual diameter is more like 2.5"

many of the aftermarket mufflers sell silencer adapters which mearly plug into the exhast tip, to effectively decrease the diameter of exhaust tip.

i think it has to do with physics and sound wave and frequency of sound exiting pipe. i'd have to look it up in an old textbook to get more details.

if my reasoning holds true, buy some nice straight through mufflers, and weld on some reasonable tips, or better yet reuse the stock tips. you should gain noticeable power and sound without the rice sound. i plan to do this come spring time.

i'll post pics and audiop if no one beats me to it.

Stokeless_TSX

tips have nothing to do with it. its the baffels and the design of the inside of the muffler and what sound supressing materials are being used. also its the inside diameter of the piping and muffler. the smaller the the size the less the sound. the more restrictive = less sound. bigger piping, muffler inside diameter= less restriction=more noise but also more power. you just have to find a happy medium where u get good power with out the extra noise. personally...i think comptech is garbage....way to expensive for the power that u get. i got more power from just custom exhaust and custom intake without the header than comptech got from the whole set up. and i payed less than half of the cost...

KJLite

thats what i always thought too. but why then do exhaust companies sell silencers that insert into the exhasust tips? i'm not saying the whole sound is determined by tip diameter. i think the tipplays a large part in the tone of the sound, not the volume. ie, tips=frequency, diameter,resistance=decibels

my cousin also cut a hole in a coffee can and put it around the stock exhaust tip of a friend's car. instant ricer, but not as loud

i do agree with the fact that diameter and resistance play a larger part in volume levels, but the tone of the exhasut i believe is largely determined by the internal construction of muffler and tip size.

KJLite

on to another part of exhaust. i plan on using the stock exhaust manifolds. i don't see much performance benefit to using headers and here's why. i used to have an older 5L mustang, it was only lightly modded, but i read up a lot on mods for the car. i came across a readers car who was running 11 sec 1/4 miles on stock exhaust manifolds. his reason was increased low end torque.

now a 5L V8 isn't exactly deficient in low end torque, however a 4-banger half that size has considerably less. i believe backpressure is directly related to low end torque. given the story above and the fact that turbo 4s make serious low end torque. the VW/Audi 1.8T engine makes something like 190 ft-lbs of torque at like 1800 rpms, how can an engine considerably smaller than TSX make so much more power?

this is where i am not sure, but here is my theory. the turbo blades lie close to engine in exhaust piping. at low rpms, exhaust gases must push turbo blades before being able to exit farther down exhaust system. this should give it tremendous backpressure at low rpms. the engine also just happens to make tremendous amnts of low end torque at this same rpms.

anyone with more knopwledge of exhaust and engine dynamics, feel free to comment.

by replacing the stock exhaust manifolds with headers on TSX, you will be shifting the torque and hp curves. yyou may gain 5 hp at 6000 rpm, butyou may lose 5 hp at 2000 rpm. in the end, i don't think the performance gains will be that great. essentially, with headers you should be losing low end power in exchange for more high end power. the k24 doesn't need anymore high end power in my opinion

tmalzahn

NJtsx said: <<if you dont mind me asking...how much did you pay for your "complete comptech kit"?>>

About $2100 for the parts, minimal for the installation for the header and exhaust. (I waited three months for the car, so they gave me a deal on the installation.) I am installing the rest of the parts myself. I have the Front STB on (took about 2 hours) and the rest to follow as the weather allows. Springs will be the biggest project as it looks like I will also need a rear camber kit.

-Tim

Stokeless_TSX

the silencers make the muffler more restrictive, thus less sound. if you have 2.5 inch exhaust piping and 2.5in ID mufflers and a 4 inch tip the tip doenst make the difference its the id of the muffler. with the silencer in it brings it down to about 1in ID that is why u get less sound not the tip

KJLite

if i remember correctly, frequency is inversely related to wavelength, so lower freq has larger wavelength, a larger diameter tip will allow the sound waves to effectively increase their wavelength just before exiting, therby changing the tone of the exhaust.

lesson: the bigger the tip, the more rice on your plate

virtualbong

One thing that is misleading though is that adding a silencer will not kill the purpose of having a properly setup exhaust system. If you have the correct pipes and a straight thru muffler, the silencer will not keep it from doing its job. Someone on my integra forum had posted a thread to show the dyno of a setup with and without the silencer and it was miniscule. So for those people who are worried about putting on a silencer because it will kill your performance, it really won't.

gsclifton

iTrader: (2)

WOW, talk about dragging up an old thread.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

RMATIC09

yea virtualbong is doing some searches, nice!

cmf

Yeah, but if he would have asked a question or started a new thread, someone would have said or do a search ya noob

PixelHarmony

I don't know, this is a year old. I would just post a new thread on things in the past. I hate bringing up old threads so I just post new ones

virtualbong

Damn, I'm getting hated on by doing searches, LOL. Just playin'. I'm just so accustomed now to do searches and research before making a post. I'm looking into getting a TSX in the spring and I'm looking to see if I can get a new catback along with tinting, aftermarket rims and lowering springs.

RMATIC09

hey man were happy your doing searches, keeps the forums cleaner.

What kind of exhaust are you looking into?

sauceman

He gets good rep from me for that.

Viking

IMHO it is better to keep the discussion in one thread, rather than have to read through several different threads on the same thing.

virtualbong

I'm not looking into any exhausts right now considering I don't even have a TSX yet. This is my "research" period before I look into picking one up, which most likely will be at the end of March some time. Right now, I'm liking the setup of the Greddy and Tanabe, I just love the way it fits snug to the car.