Alright, first off I have to say I love the sound. It isn't much louder, but its deeper. The sound is comparable to the Infiniti FX but not as loud. There is one problem, however, and that is the 2500-2800 RPM rev range. If I am sitting with the car in neutral, it sounds nice. If the car is moving, and hits that range, I hear a very weird sound. Its kind of hard to describe, but I guess its kind of like a buzzing, rattling noise, kind of like its shooting the exhaust out in bubbles instead of a clean, fluid motion.

Since you guys know about cars more than me, I need some advice. I took it back to the place and the guy gave me a hard time. The mechanic was extremely rude, the one who did it. I think he just hated me because I was white, and told the owner things that I didn't say. The owner told me he did what I asked, they checked the welds (no leaks), they checked that metal thing the put in to hold the exhaust (not too tight, not too loose). I asked him to take a ride with me so he could hear it, but he basically told me that even if he heard it he wouldn't do anything.

Luckily, before the deal was done, I had him write down that if I was unhappy, within a year, he would replace the resonators for $25. Still, I love the sound, its just during one range that I hear this "tinny" sound described above, which leads me to believe there might be a problem, even though none was found. And I don't want to put them back, because I like the exhaust, and because if I do I would basically be giving this guy $90 and getting nothing in return.

Ugh, I can't believe I tipped the mechanic 5 bucks, he was such an asshole. The owner I could at least talk to, but it was a bad experience.

What do you guys think the problem could be? Could it just need to be broken in? The owner said the pipe needs to get some carbon in it. /shrug

 

Sond clips for us? especially with 2500-2800?

 

Just adding;

When he cut the original exhaust off, it was held on by what appeared to be a steel cable, instead of a metal bar. He used a metal bar instead of a cable. I might have seen it wrong, but it looked like a cable to me. Incase you don't know what I'm talking about, its the piece that is used to hold the center of the pipe up, in the stock and new one, so it doesnt sag. Instead of cutting it, he sprayed something on it that basically melted it in the center. Don't think that would make much of a difference, it just was cool how he sprayed an areosol to weaken the metal.

 

I'll see what I can do.

 

i do hope that it can be broken in...but it seems like the flow of air might be too strong...hey i'm no expert on cars but from what you described i think there is an imbalance in the fuel and oxygen thats why its making that sound at that range...

i think pics would also help in giving us a better idea of what you had done...so pls post em if you have em

 

I don't have pictures of the install. Its just a pipe replacing the pipe with two resonators on it. I'll try and get a sound clip.

 

Basically they took the pipe on the catback with two resonators on it, cut it off, and replaced it with a new pipe. A few people here have had it done so I thought maybe they would be able to provide fedback.

Can you explain your idea a little more? What kind of fuel and oxygen imbalance? And why would it be at just one RPM range and not worsen as I rev higher?

 

it was just a wild guess..like what i said i'm no expert in this...but from what i know there should be a right mix in the oxygen and fuel for it to burn properly and efficiently...i use to race,(drag race) and back then my car had carburators in it...it had the webber 45 carburators...and there is this part of the carburators that my mechanic would tweak. he would adjust it so that the aire flow would just be right...a little off and the engine would sputter when you rev it...so i was thiking that it might be similar to this...i hope that helped...

 

Yeah but this is an exhaust system. Why would it mess up the amount of oxygen entering the engine? Once the combustion takes place, it shoots it into the exhaust, and awaits more air, or something like that. The only difference now is that the exhaust is moving into the mufflers faster.

Not drilling you or anything, just trying to figure out whats wrong with my car .

 

OMG...dude i feel like such a dumb ass....i was thinking of the CAI...not the exhaust/muffler...was thinking of intake..lol....my bad dude...

 

Why would you do that Gale? Any specific reasons, or just for the sake of sound?

 

Just the sake of sound... same reason as everyone else. It does improve airflow as there is less restriction, but I think the HP gain would be minimal (probably not over 1 or 2 if any). The sound is awesome, it really is, except for that one specific range... and I think I'm the only one with the problem. It isn't too loud, but it isn't non-existent. Before I modded it the exhaust was so quiet that you could only hear the engine, which is good for some people. This gives the car a little but of a meaner sound, but not like a rice-rocket fart cannon sound. Like I said, it is similar to that of an Infiniti FX in its tone/depth and overall sound, just not as loud.

As for the sound clips, my camera is busted, so I'm going to use a friends. His is out of batteries, so I'll be able to take the clips in a few hours. I'll have them up tonight.


Hah, thought you were making that mistake

 

Anyway, those of you who have done this mod, how did you have the pipe held up? Did they use a piece of metal from that rubber ring or use a steel cable?

 

I just left the car alone like most people do

 

It probably needs the resonators back to take that sound out. Resonators are tuned for a reason, and you most likely stumbled on one of them.

Mike

 

I had an exhaust w/ no resonator I put one back in and noticed I gained power back in the low end by a good amount and also for some odd reason have been getting about a lot better gas mileage. I don't remember what it was before the exhaust at the first run though.

 

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that what you're hearing is resonance at that frequency. I did this several months ago and had them put the resonators right back because of that noise. This raspiness was very evident at about 1.5k,2.5k,and 3.5k. The first time I drove it, I kept looking around for that honda with the fart can cause that's what it sounded like to a lesser degree. My expectation in removing the resonators was to get a soft mellow tone at crusing and a mild aggressive note at acceleration. Obviously I didn't get it. My next plan is to replace the rear mufflers and we'll see what happens.

 

I have played with the exhaust on cars that were somewhat similar and basically your experience is in par with what I have found. The exhaust system is very much like a musical instrument. As you change the configuration you are going to have different sounds. The resonators tend to bring the exhaust pitch up a bit so taking them out is making the car a bit more deeper sounding. The resonators do offer some back pressure but not that much. Without the resonators you tend to get what I call flat spots at certain frequencies that make the car sound kind of blaaa. On one of my cars the humidity in the air has a dramatic effect on how it sounds. The methodology of hanging the exhaust also can change the sound. The exhaust system can go into resonance at certain frequencies. The engine is firing at a certain frequency, the resonators change that frequency and the hanging exhaust system has a natural frequency. It all counts at some level. I don’t think there is any downside to what you did if you like tradeoff in sound. It is pretty hard to a consumer to really tune the exhaust at the same level the factory could.
This stuff about the O2 sensors I don’t put much credence in.

 

Here are sound clips. Inside and outside I am just revving it, so you don't hear the raspiness.

Exhaust sound from inside.

Exhaust sound from outside.

Drive-by sound.

On the third one its kind of hard to tell what the raspy sound is if you never heard it before. Basically as the car is passing the camera you hear it. It sounds "alright" from outside, but from the inside it sounds weird. You'll understand if you listen closely. For some reason the camera kind of mutes all the ambient noise, thats when the raspy sound comes on, and you can distinguish it that way.

 

The car has a nice beefy sound to it. Can't hear any raspiness, just a "roar".

The Seekers of Beer website is interesting too. Too bad I don't drink

 

 

I would also say that it might be exhaust resonance. It sounds like its raspy or it drones at certain rpm ranges because the resonators that used to "tune" or "control" the sound has been removed.

Of course, since I don't have first-hand experience at this...take it as just that...(a guesstimate).

 

Galeforce --

You have resonance, as mentioned above -- there is no question about it. The whole purpose of the resonators, clearly, is to eliminate the untamed frequencies of the exhaust tones -- part of the deal w/ resonators is killing some high-end power, but the back-pressure they add creates some nice low-end torque.

There is NO way to remove this b/c you'd have to engineer a piece of metal piping that would perfectly capture the frequency of the "popping" that would insert b/w the catalytic convertor and the muffler y-pipe. If you're like me, you'll pay that $25.00 in about 2 weeks when you're sick of that noise and go back to stock.

 

Some people wonder why companies like Comptech charge so much money for their products .. such as headers and what-not .. alot of the R&D money goes into eliminating raspiness and resonance from their exhaust products (b-pipe, headers & down-pipe... etc.)

 

You talking about your car or mine? Its hard to hear the raspiness in the video, but inside the cabin when you get to the rev range it sounds horrible. My friend (the kid talking/filming the video) was with me all day today, even when I got them cut out. We love the sound, but we laugh everytime we hear the noise. Its horrible.

Heh, the SoB site is a guild for World of Warcraft... I run a few gaming community websites, this one is just in its early infancy though. Chose the name because we're just going to have fun in the game instead of roleplay or anything, and the acronym is SoB :P

 

Why would it only make the sound when I'm moving though? Damn, if I get the resonators put back in, that'll be a waste of 90 bucks. (65 for removal, 25 for replacement).

 

Very rich sound... Sorry, from my end, I just cannot feel any weird or abnormal noise... I'll try to use another speakers tomorrow.

 

Why dont you put 1 back in?

 

The sound is very hard to pickup. In the first two videos, I am just revving it, and you don't hear it unless the car is moving. In the third video the part when you only hear the exhaust and the engine sound disappears for some reason, that is the raspy sound. Doesn't really sound bad in the video, but it sounds bad in person. Did you like the sounds in the video?


I'm afraid there might be something I don't like when I do that too, and then I'd have to pay even mroe to get the whole system back in.

 

Why didn't you record the car from inside while it's moving if that is the only time you hear the noise?

Sounds pretty nice to me although I think I'd like it a bit lower until I really hit the juice.

 

i dont know watt i am doing wrong but i cant seem to see these clips. i see the picture but it doesnt PLAYYYY

 

Because all of those clips came out shitty. You can hear it outside too.


Make sure you have the latest quicktime plugin.

 

The $65 is a sunk cost; it's gone no matter what you do next. Instead, think of it as a good use of $25 to make your car not sound like a clapped out Accord with a grapefruit shooter.

Mike

 

I agree the $65 is lost. I just wish that they fucked up and it wasn't just to be expected, that way it can be fixed and sound good during all RPMs. The exhaust sounds awesome everywhere except 2500-3000.

 

You did it cheaper than I did. I had a '90 SHO that I put a 2.5" cat-back on. That was $600. The increased power was OK, but it made the car sound like a huge weed-whacker. It cost me another $300 to buy a new stock cat-back, and then I took a $300 bath selling the cat-back. I ended up out $600 and same as I started, but it was well worth it to spend the money to fix it once the mistake had been made.

Mike

 

Well I didn't by an aftermarket cat-back. I just had the resonator pipe cut off and a straight pipe put on.

 

I've heard on the 2nd gen forum that the 1st resonator, the long skinny one should not be removed but the muffler shaped one is all good. Try some searching on the 2nd gen and poss Acura-CL.com for some more help on what to expect w/ just the 1st 1 back on. I have a vested intrest in the outcome as I plan on having a 6spd soon. (even more reason to have a good exhaust note.)

 

Hmmm, definitely interested in that information. Yeah, there are two resonators. There is the long skinny one and the big ass muffler one. Would you mind providing me with more information.

 

ya PM this guy he's done it all to his tl

 

Yeah I read this on a thread too. Lost the person who wrote it though. Props to them;