I hate being that person because I know where are a million threads on this, but I wanted to start a new one. I have a base model 2004 Tl with 200k on the OD. I have a stage 3 exhaust with a dynomax race bullet muffler (the 24215 12 inch body).

First question I have: is there a j pipe available for purchase that has unequal length runners? I have a whole bunch of buddies with Subarus and I am very jealous of the rumble they have front their unequal length headers. I know the 3G doesn't have headers per say, so that directed my attention to a j pipe with such characteristics. I know that staged exhaust isn't supposed to sound like a $1'200 cat back exhaust system, I'm just trying to do some investigating as to what others have found.

Secondly, with an exhaust already at stage 3, would a j pipe with the same count of cat converters as OE sound good, or would a j pipe with 1 less cat sound good? I'm not one for the rasp in our exhaust systems. I feel like the noise of the rasp doesn't blend well with the styling of the TL.

I like the way the stage 3 exhaust sounds, sometimes I do wish I had a bit more volume.

Off topic, I am extremely happy with my car. I bought it almost 2 years ago with 182'000 miles on it and now it'd about to turn over to 197'000 miles. I've continued synthetic oil changed, as per the old owner, every 3'000 miles, along with the 3X1 transmission fluid change with every oil change. My complains about the car are as follows; the heat soak I experience in the summer, quiet intake and exhaust noises and the lack of 6 speed manual goodness.

I appreciate the input you guys! I've already scoured the internet and all I can find are j pipes with equal length runners. Something makes me wonder if there were a j pipe with the characteristic I'm looking for, if the sound it would produce would be any good or not.

 

Another contemplation of mine is whether to put in a test pipe in place of the 3rd cat or not. Logic tells me that taking out that cat would allow a little more noise since there is less resonance in the exhaust system, but I don't want to have any CEL's. I feel like no mod is worth a CEL. Just an after though.

 

There are jpipes sold that have longer runners that extend past the cat so you dont have to buy a test pipe. Im not sure on the unequal length part, but its not going to give you a rumble, i didnt even hear a difference when i got my jpipe( with cat removed). You will get no cel. And as far as heatsoak search the following terms. CAI, UCM,TB bypass,IM spacer. I have All those mods done except for ucm and let me tell you my intake manifold doesnt even get warm. If you want loudness you cant beat aem v2 intake, under wot it roars.

 

I believe the RV6 V3 has equal length pipes, but someone could correct me if I am wrong. Regardless though it is considered a "long tube" design and completely eliminates the 3rd cat. Its a nice jpipe fitment and quality is very good. Im not sure how a jpipe with 3rd cat delete would effect sound on a stage 3 modded exhaust, but on a stock exhaust that I have experience with you can barely even tell you changed anything. There is very minimal changes. No difference in actual volume, but a slight change in tone at some RPM's. Performance wise I didnt notice a difference on my auto type s or my manual type s. I eventually just went back to stock and the car seemed like it gained some low end power back. Again, this is just my opinion and experience.

 

All TL J-pipes are going to be equal length, there isn't a lot of room under the TL engine to change the length. There are two different designs, one that is a V1, short j-pipe and keeps your 3rd cat and V2 that is longer and removes your 3rd cat. The third cat is only for emissions and if removed will not set a CEL/MIL light because the first two cats are what have the oxygen sensors on them, none on the third. As for the rumble noise goes, we have a V6, not a 4 cylinder boxer engine. The boxer engine is a very unique engine design where the engine is flat and the pistons go in opposite directions of each other. There is nothing you can do, change length or anything to get that sound out of your tl unless you do an engine swap, got it! Taking out the third cat will not really give you any rasp because you have two cats still(your main ones) and it will change the exhaust note very slightly. Just make sure you have a resonator on it, if you take out the front cats then you'll get lots of rasp. As for power, a J-pipe is larger in design will increase flow, flow is good. The factory J-pipe is flattened and restrictive where the two banks pipes meet, this is bad! So a J-pipe is beneficial in many ways especially when paired with a V2 design and the third cat is deleted. That cat is just a restriction when your going for power. This is also true about your first two cats. It you remove them and make the entire exhaust system have less internal resistance you've got more power and exhaust you can push through it. So yes, a J-pipe is good. Will you FEEL the power... not necessarily. You would see a few HP increase at different RPM's on a dyno. If you want a loud ass intake, then yes, put on a CAI. You can also take out your resonator and see if that makes it loud enough for you. There is a thread about it and it makes it louder. Lastly, every engine has heat soak. Don't be worried about it unless your taking it extreme and tracking it and building a motor for the drag strip. If all your cooling system is working and the engine temp is correct, I wouldn't worry about a daily driver. Pop the hood on any car that's been driven, its going to be hot. Any questions?

 

Nice Response Baller, I wanted a Jpipe also, just not sure about it?
$-to-HP ratio.... I bought and installed a CAI, also have stage 3 but also want more power? any other ideas? UD pulley? for quicker off the line? what do you guys think for more power, I know ppl say turbo, super charge, etc...lol

 

Stock J-pipe vs XLR8 V2



Much more free flowing, longer runners help torque. Unequal length runners won't get you the sound of a boxer engine, but the design of the XLR8 j-pipe will make power. Gain in the midrange is very noticeable (no more light bog after the 2-3 upshift on my car), zero loss on low end and pulls harder on top end too. Don't know about other's experiences but mine has been very positive. Lot of gain for not too much money. FWIW, XLR8 has a dyno on a TL-S stock except for an AEM intake and gains were 19 hp and 30 lb-ft with their V2 j-pipe. Only independent dyno I've seen is the V2 XLR8 j-pipe vs the V1 XLR8 J-pipe (owner thought he had the stock j-pipe from what I understand) and a 3rd cat test pipe. Gains were 10 hp and 9 lb-ft on a 3.0 Accord V6. So for those who think its the removal of the 3rd cat that make the power with a j-pipe, that's wrong. Plus the quality of the pipe is excellent. Nice welds and merge, good fit too.

My car is still pretty quiet at idle but at least I can now hear my engine running when I stand behind my car. When I get on it, above 3000 or so my car is a bit louder and sounds great as it heads north of 4000 rpm. No rasp and my car is quiet at freeway speeds.

 

I want that..... lol..... So it replaces the 3rd cat?

 

Yes, the V2 j-pipe is as long as the stock j-pipe and 3rd cat are.

Just a bit of advice...a lift will make installing one a lot easier. Much easier to break bolts loose that have been subject to 1000s of hot/cold cycles (even if you don't live in the rust belt) while standing than laying on your back. And nuts are on the soft side, so have really good sockets so you don't round the edges of the nuts. We used 16 point (if I remember right) sockets and a lot of liquid wrench. On a Texas car with a pretty pristine underside.

 

Sounds gd, thank you

 

You don't really want a unequal length jpipe. Does it sound unique? Sure. Is it good performance wise? Not as good as equal length. I believe unequal length can cause some type of heat issue and exhaust wave issue that's not good if not tuned. Read about it to make sure.

 

Lol geez, you sure you didn't install nitrous at the same time? I have had a jpipe on two different TL's of mine and didn't feel any difference at all.
Install is easy even without a lift. Since I have installed and removed a jpipe twice now I can have the job done in less than an hour in my garage. All bolts came off easily.

 

I have 06 AT
RV6 HFPC
Test Pipe for 3rd cat
ATLP Base non res

No rasp no drone nor rasp. With stock front 2 cats, drone was bad but HFPC reduced it
Highway is much better, I guess because with a slight gas, car moves enough to go faster.

My stock J-Pipe might have e leak after this winter, it might as it's seen from the flange but not sure what to get. So many of you say so much stuff.

RV6 or XLR8v2? I say XLR8
2 pipes connecting all the way further out on RV6 just doesn't make my mind right. I don't know, not an expert but I say takes more time for both air to connect with each other and produce faster flow.

JTS97Z28's experience has kept me leave the J-pipe to the end in exhaust mods or whenever my stock J-pipe goes bad

Oh and scared that if I will get rasp after a J-pipe
and
not installing a resonator to that beautiful ATLP catback
Just can't decide, it sounds perfect right now

 

I've been modding cars since the late 70s, and other than the dual exhaust on my Cutlass (stock single exhaust set up was horrendous), I've never felt as much improvement doing an exhaust mod. And from what I've been reading here and on v6performance, the XLR8 V2 pipe gives the most gains.

 

hfpc has LESS drone than stock cats? hows that possible? stock cats are the most restrictive and quietest

 

I feel like most gains from j-pipes are because of the 3rd cat removal. Because i believe the stock j pipe is 2.5 inches, while the stock exhaust is 2.25

 

your feelings are wrong!!!
lol, just by replacing the third cat with a straight pipe doesnt yield very high gains...maybe 2-3 at the most.


p.s. if you bend a valve and only run on 4 or 5 cylinders, you too, can have the sound of a boxer engine!!
lol ask me how i know!!

 

Stock ones were choked

 

I wouldn't bother modifying your near 200K engine, since the life of that is probably won't make it another 50,000 miles without serious engine overhaul.

Begin on some maintaince or a new engine installed.
Wear and tear modifications

* CV boots, axles, engine mounts, springs, struts, gaskets, adjusting valves, tensioners, ac belts, pullies, spark plugs, transmission, etc.

The fun stuff to make the car last longer past the 200K mark.

Aftermarket comes after a healthy engine to support the gains.

 

^what? i bet his engine is healthy.
engines dont die once they hit that magical 200k number...

 

especially if he is using a 3k OCI on synthetic.....................ohmy talk about a waste of money

 

Well hopefully my experiences and opinions don't ruin your modding plans, but in these threads I do feel it helps to get all sorts of opinions even if they aren't exactly what you want to hear. As for the longer tubes of the RV6, IMO that's better. When I had my big V8's in my corvettes long tube headers were ALWAYS better compared to a mid or short length header for HP. I don't know the exact reason but power gains were always significantly better on full length long tubes. So with all that said it would lead me to think the same could apply here. I like how the RV6 utilizes the longest tubes possible before joining. If that's not the case in this application someone please correct me.

 

Long primaries are for low-end power rv6 wins this. Xlr8 is the best middle ground and atlp has the best top end gains. Imo top end gains are better if racing is your thing. Rv6 for dd or xlr8 for both. They all gain about the same but the gains are in different rpm ranges.

 

even then, if you line up two cars with two different pipes, the gains are so small, you wouldnt be able to tell which car had which pipe...

 

True. They all gain everywhere but the 5whp the atlp has over the rv6 is negligible. However if you build your car for high-end power then everything adds up and makes a difference.

 

Yes yes yes I agree with last 4-5 posts
True JTS97Z28, and this video shows that longer ones give low rpm power too
And again yes, I care more about high rpm even if it's a minimal difference
I don't drive below 4k if I want the power


And that video gives me though of buying an ATLP v2 J-pipe, since I have the 3rd cat, instead of wasting more money on XLR8 v2
But not sure about how good or bad clearance ATLP v2 gives

---

I kind of agree with bouncer07 too but not saying don't mod the car. When you start modding, you start taking care of the maintenance too.
Better torque, leme change the engine mounts
Replace whole exhaust
Lower, leme replace camber and then front axles, and then RSB, links blah blah blah

 

meko, whats up brotha. if you get the atlp jpipe u will feel miminal gains. i been there. im running rv6 jpipe and it is worth the money. since your hfpc'ed, just get the rv6 because the atlp wont give you any noticable gains. i use to have it and i sold it for 200 bucks. best sold ever. now if your considering something different, definately go with the v2 xlr8.

 

i actually had alot of different setup on my car. i tried everything but the xlr8 jpipes.


pcd, atlp v2 jpipe, stock cat- fast
stock precat, rv6 v3 jpipe- cool
hfpc,atlp jpipe, xlr8 3rd cat- slow
hfpc, stock jpipe, 3rd testpipe- ok
pcd, rv6 v3jpipe- pretty good
stock precat, atlp jpipe, testpipe. slow.

so i tried alot of different setups and sold many setups. it hurt my piggy bank a lot for buying, selling and buying again just to see.

richie rv6 can verify this how many times i bought his pcds, and jpipe.

 

Not much bro, was uploading a video that I just took to my thread
Look what your HFPC's turned the car in to haha
Kept the heat shields on too. Couldn't ruin the beauty of how you installed them on

I know you, trust you, I go XLR8 v2 then

 

A friend of mine has a RV6 J-pipe and RV6 true dual setup, he said he felt a slight difference in power. I currently have the XLR8 Quad Exhaust, will be installing the XLR8 V2 J-pipe soon. My stock J-pipe is taking a beating from being slammed. HAHA That's another thing to look at in a J-pipe, how much ground clearance it has. Why do I choose XLR8? To me the build quality is excellent! Full stainless steel, great welds, and built by Billy Boat(a well known quality exhaust manufacturer). They all sound relatively close, but I like the exhaust tips the best on the XLR8 overall, sits more fush with the bumper than RV6(which is at a weird angle to me) and ATLP(which is straight cut, but staggered).

 

I also have been split j pipe or not for 6 months, so I am in to listen to this thread. I just want the rv6 3rd and high flow cats if I do it...

 

Mechanic friend who helped me with my XLR8 j-pipe said its one of the highest quality exhaust pieces he's ever seen in his 30 years as a mechanic/engine builder/hot rodder.

 

I love mine....it makes me mad that I waited so long.....

 

2 months ago, I asked my buddy's race shop owner/builder which J-pipe I should get... he said





And told me I'm better off with high flow precats for $100 more

I used unpopular opinion puffin so don't kill me.. but I believe him after some CFD simulations.

 

Some race buddies don't have our modifications on their car so they will be biased!

 

off topic, what ever happen to "hytech design" ATLP V2-R?

 

^ Gotta talk to the man, all just a tease if you ask me. Nothing more out to the public but trying to show off that he was working with Hytech. Looks to me the pipe was only for his personal use.

 

They released the v2-R for the MDX a while back.

http://www.heeltoeauto.com/atlp-v2-r...roductid=66221

I asked on Facebook this past August about it coming out for the 3G. They said it was next but I got tired of waiting and just pulled the trigger at the end of December for the v2. With my luck it'll be out when mine comes in lol

 

I like this vid a lot... Well done

 

Thanks...
Here's one before HFPC but not good as the other one.
Friend was driving my car... he doesn't know the car well. Where the tones get better or burp blah blah


Have to capture a better one with a camera