I recently ordered a Dynomax resonator part # 24215 for a stage 3 exhaust modification, as posted by justnspace here, and when I shake the part, it sounds like a small piece of welding fell off in there somewhere and is shaking around inside. Will this mess with my exhaust sound? I don't want it to sound too overly raspy and noisy, so if having that little piece floating around in there will mess with the sound I want to return the resonator and replace it for another one. Anyone know?

 

Won’t make a difference at that point. You’d only here it rattling if it was quiet and up close, but when installed at that point, you will not hear anything.

I had that 12” Dynomax on my stage 3. It was a good setup. Zero drone and good dry, throaty sound.

I would see if you can get the 24234 instead of the 24215. Same thing, but I let outlet is 2.25, same as stock pipe. So less welds and less chance of leaking. Not an issue if you have a good shop tho.

I’m currently running a vibrant 9.5” in place of the Dynomax. It’s a little mellower and deep, vs the dry hollow tone of the Dynomax. Lemme know if you want clips

 

I won't say no to clips!
I hadn't gotten any responses on the post for a few days so I already initiated a replacement on the original #24215 part and just got another 24215, but if your clips impress me and I can afford to get your 9.5" and return the new #24215 then maybe I'll do that!
I drool over clips of some of the RV6 True Dual setups and XLR8 or ATLP setups, but even if it was available and in stock it would be far more than I'm able to spend.

 

Ok going to give you a little more than you asked for. I’m a nerdy guy and like to be scientific as possible, hence I have 3 clips shot at basically the same distance away and location, at the same time of night.

This is stock vs stage 3, where you would delete the mid muffler and replace stock resonator with 12” Dynomax. Great improvement, best bang for your buck.

This is stage 3 before/after deleting the 3rd cat. I enjoyed this, it gave the car more purr in the tone, but barely any volume gain. Still no drone and definitely not overly loud. The best way I can describe it is when you say vooom vs vrrrooom, this mod will accentuate that “rrrr” sound in the tone. I like it when I’m downshifting to a stop. In terms of money, it should cost the same as doing a stage 3 since the number of welds and cuts is the same, so you could save yourself time and money by doing this along with the stage 3.

Onto what you asked for. 9.5” vibrant vs 12” Dynomax. The reason I included the 2 vids above is because I only have clips of the vibrant with the 3rd cat deleted, so wanted to give an apples to apples comparison, and not vibrant + 3rd cat Delete vs Dynomax with 3rd cat present.

If you found the Dynomax too raspy, or growly, you will like the Vibrant. It gives a nice clean tone that mellows out the Dynomax. (90-95% volume compared to Dynomax). Again no drone here.

From here, if you wanted an even more dry/throaty sound that’s little louder than the 12” Dynomax, you can try the 6.5” Dynomax 24250 (which I have clips on my channel). Even more throaty/ raspy? stage 4 with no resonator. Sounds dope in tunnels, admittedly, but quite raspy (not that it’s a bad thing)

if you want something a little more deep and mellow and smoother, than the vibrant, you can try the 8” Cherry Bomb 87521 in place of the resonator.

the 5 setups above should never get you pulled over for noise, and neighbours shouldn’t care. It’s noticeable, but definitely not loud.

now if you want to play around with the rear mufflers, you can get a good boost to volume by swapping one of the rear mufflers with the mid muffler you will delete. . I really liked it, but there was this one mildly droning spot at 2.5k that got in the way of everyday driving.

feel free to ask away any other questions. I spent a boatload of money so you don’t have to ;-)

the aftermarket exhausts are great, but I couldn’t justify the 1500-2000 price tag. Though, hehe, I probably spent the same with all these mod experiments lol.

 

Also to add, the 4 resonators are similar in price, with about a $25 gap between cheapest (Cherry bomb) and priciest (vibrant). Go with what sounds best to you, that $20 will be nothing in the long run with a setup you love.

Dynomax had good quality, but was blown away by the finish and construction of the vibrant. Plus it’s stainless steel.

cherry bomb was really inferior quality and the paint was chipping off after a week but would have been fine if I had it welded on.

cutting the section of pipe from the mid muffler to the 3rd car, and replacing with a straight pipe with a resonator attached should cost no more than $150-200. Tenth of the price of those full exhausts. And you will not have drone

 

Thanks a ton! So you're saying the 9" Vibrant is actually quieter than the Dynomax 12" 24215? I love the way it sounded, but my initial impression was that it sounded louder than the Dynomax. And then you're saying the 8" Cherry Bomb would be a bit deeper, mellower, and smoother, but would that be louder because it's shorter? I am slightly concerned about too much noise because I drive a little faster than I should and I don't want to draw too much extra attention to myself. Plus I don't want to piss off neighbors and whatnot, especially getting home late at night. But once again, thanks! I may consider returning the Dynomax to go with the Vibrant or maybe even the Cherry Bomb depending on what you have to say about it.

 

glad I could help!

from all these setups, don’t worry you are not going to be too loud. It’s not something someone will hear a street away. Only if they are nearby, they would notice. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone look back when I’ve approached so it’s not loud.

rolling back home in the night or just cruising, I promise nobody will get upset. Even cold starts in the cold weather are not loud enough to annoy people in their homes.

As long as you have the rear mufflers, they do a good job of keeping low-mid range sound down. These resonators will only slightly change volume, and mainly change texture/characteristics of the tone. The loudest 6.5” DM was maybe 10% louder than the quietest at most.

I initially went with the 6.5” Dynomax because the 12” was too quiet for me. It was a good volume when I swapped it. I thought the 8” CB and 9.5” Vibs would be a perfect match and did choose them thinking they’d be louder. If they are, then it’s marginal. The tone difference is apparent though. In cabin, they are noticeably quieter because it’s a smoother cleaner tone without that “rrrrr” I mentioned before.

so my current exhaust is the 9.5” Vibs stage 3, but will add an electric cutout after it when I want to be loud. Otherwise, the vibrant is perfect for daily driving and cruising. You can hear it a little windows up, but is not loud and exciting when pushed. I would say the Dynomax is louder at the top end when you’re pushing it, but again not overly loud to land you in trouble.

is your current setup stock? And which of the sound characteristics did you like (ignoring volume for now).

 

Also I would suggest wearing earphones/headphones for the best representation. or even listening to the clips in your car’s speakers I found was best!

 

My current setup is all stock where it matters. No performance mods yet, I might do an aftermarket air intake someday when I have some extra money and some extra time to install myself. Mechanically, I've been more focused on making sure maintenance is fully kept up with and buying good tires. Right now I have Pirelli Cinturato P7 all season plus tires and I have been very happy with them but they are wearing out a little faster than I was hoping they would. Probably just my driving habits, though.

As for which resonator I like best for a stage 3; I like the Dynomax 12" #24215 but I do think I like the way your 9.5" Vibrant sounds just a little better. After hearing what you have to say about the build quality on the cherry bomb, I think I will forget about that one. As much as it pains me to return the Dynomax again, I think I will probably do that and get a Vibrant. I might be using the wrong terminology here, but I think the Dynomax has more rasp, and for my particular setup I don't want much rasp. That vibrant has such a nice, deep, mellow sound.

 

Nice, you are right. the Dynomax is more high pitched with not much bass, while the Vibrant does add some low-mid for an overall deeper and cleaner tone.

cheapest I could find was on Amazon, for all of the resonators. I am in Canada though.

since your setup is stock, I would suggest doing the stage 3 at once to save money. I would call a few local places to get a good quote and send them the below pic

If you want to lessen that texture/growl/rasp from my Vibrant clip, maybe you would like keeping the 3rd cat in place. (setup 1 above). Would make it slightly less loud and slightly less texture. (Compare that 3rd cat delete comparison I posted earlier yesterday. It’s there, but is subtle).

I liked that dry rasp, so in hindsight I would have just got the whole section from before the 3rd cat to after the mid muffler cut in one go, maybe put the resonator in place of the mid muffler instead of stock res location.

I would also check and see if you have a flex pipe leak. Mine was leaking and made me crazy. Spray some soap water on it with engine running and you should see bubbles if it is leaking.

 

I'm thinking seriously of just deleting the rears and keeping the mid and the reso....then if I don't like it play with the reso Clips I've heard seem to have a deeper tone with that type of set up

 

well that setup will be loud. Not deafening or obnoxiously loud, but getting there. Could attract unwanted attention, but it for sure will provide a loud deep tone. Expect a fair amount of drone in the lower RPMs though. If you want just plain old bass, this setup will give you that. The mid muffler and stock resonator really do kill any sort of high pitched or mid-high frequencies, so keeping them on and taking off the rears will give you tons of bass and a deep tone.

If you want some texture to your tone, you’d have to play around with your resonator like you said you would. An alternative would be swapping the mid muffler with one of the rears. Still a nice deep tone but not as loud and barely drones.

 

Here is a thread from a guy here, not sure if he is still on the boards though... https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p.../#post16768547

or you can can go right to the video that got my interest...

 

I found the Vibrant part #1790, but it's 12" long, not 9.5". Just want to confirm that it is the correct part. I think I want mine to sound like yours in the video with the Vibrant, so I guess I'll need to get the 3rd cat deleted too. This won't mess up emissions or anything, will it? I'll still be able to pass inspection?

 

No problem, 1790 is the right part. 12” overall, but the “resonating” area is 9.5”. Extra room for fitting over your stock pipe, so you’re good!

As for the 3rd cat, nope! You are good to go. It’s not monitored so no check engine light or anything. Emissions will still be passed. I believe the extra cat actually made it a more eco friendly car than the civic of the same year!

if you live in an area without salt on the roads, you could unbolt the cat off instead of cutting it. But for a near 20 year old car, I doubt that would be the case.

if you’re happy with the the clips I sent you and you don’t want to tweak it by making it quieter or more warm, then definitely go for it! It’s a great setup IMO.

another option you could go for is clamping the resonator, if you have any lingering doubts. I actually have clamps on mine in case I wanted to change later, but think I will be keeping this setup with a cutout.

 

I got my Vibrant resonator in today. I am absolutely floored by the quality compared to the Dynomax resonators I was sent when I ordered the 24215. I've attached some pics for reference. The Dynomax is not pictured because I already returned both of them, but the first one they sent me had some of the worst welds I have ever seen, and this is coming from someone who took welding in high school; ie: I've seen some bad welds. The second one had fine welds, but they're all filthy and covered in machining oils and shit from the manufacturing process. The sheer quality and presentation of the Vibrant parts really shows that Vibrant cares about and stands by their product, and that's awesome.

As for my setup, I plan to go ahead and delete the 3rd cat when I get this put on and delete the mid-muffler. I'm super excited. I wanted to get it done today but there weren't any muffler shops open (it's Sunday).


Box for the Vibrant resonator 1790

Welds on the Vibrant resonator 1790

Vibrant resonator 1790

 

I was also blown away by the Vibrant quality. Almost mirror like finish and literal perfect welds. The 2 Dynomaxes I had were fine, like your second one. No real complaints from my side honestly, as they were fully functional and go under the car. The Cherry bomb was way worse in overall quality appearance, but again it would go under the car and the welds were good enough not to leak so fine functionally.

High five man, exact same setup lol, you will be pleased, I’d say. I made a cold start clip just for you, I was wondering if you needed some convincing to take the leap of fate and show you it wasn’t that loud 😂

It shouldn’t make a difference, but if your exhaust guy decreases price by number of welds, you could put the vibrant where the mid muffler is
Stock: —3rd cat—Resonator—Mid muffler—
Try: WELD—3rd cat—Resonator—WELD—Vibrant-WELD—
instead of at the resonator
WELD—3rd cat—WELD—Vibrant—WELD—Mid muff—WELD.

Waiting to hear back on your feedback!

 

I can't find anyone who will delete the 3rd cat, man. Everyone is telling me it's illegal to delete a catalytic converter and they won't do it 😭 I'm this close to just pulling the trigger on doing it without deleting the 3rd cat but I'm worried it won't sound quite as aggressive as I want if I don't delete the 3td cat.

 

that’s annoying. Not sure why they would care if you pay cash for this.
next thing I would try is to deny that it is a cat. Tell them it’s a resonator or something and insist. Show them the cats are in the engine bay (which they are) and that the 3rd cat is something different.

im sure you will find someone who will do it. Maybe send them a picture of the underbody and before wasting your time, see if they will delete the things you want gone.

BUT the 3rd cat doesn’t make a ton of difference.
itll be about 5% quieter and have a more smooth tone, granted it won’t have the full growl I get, but you will have some. So if absolutely nobody will touch the car, you can still get it done and get within 90% of my sound

 

So apparently NC (where I live) is super strict on this when it comes to inspection. Supposedly there is a visual inspection of the underside of the car, and all the places I have been calling won't delete cats because of some concern there. I'm paranoid that if I get someone to take it off, there will be an issue with the inspection and I won't pass. I can't take that chance. I've been in a situation before where I needed to pass inspection on my only vehicle and it wouldn't pass, and I didn't have the money to do what needed to be done for it to pass. This car is my only vehicle and I don't want to put myself in that position again, so as much as I hate that I won't have as much growl, I think I'm gonna leave the 3rd cat in. I hope to find a shop to do it either tomorrow or Thursday.

 

that is indeed disappointing. Sorry man.
here are a few solutions I can suggest:

1) gutting the cat (basically removing the restrictive material. Makes cat hollow inside, so from the outside it will pass visual inspections. And emissions will be passed anyway since it has another 2 pre cats. Can do this at the shop (if they’re cool) if not doing it yourself is quite easy to cut your pipe and get access. Clamp it back and then have the exhaust shop do its thing.

2) read up on your local laws thoroughly. Still can’t? Could try taking off the cat yourself with a saw and clamping a pipe in its place until you go to the shop the next day. Is a lot of work though.

3) keep the cat for your peace of mind. The exhaust will still sound good, has most of the characteristics like I said. It will ensure there is zero engine drone even with everything closed and no music. Can be more comfortable for daily life.

4) do a stage 3. -mid muff, switch resonator with the Dynomax 24215. Dynomax is inherently more “raspy” and “dry” which gives that roar. Since you are not getting all the roar from 3rd cat delete, you are adding it back in a way with a Dynomax.

You have the clips. Scroll above, see if a stage 3 sounds better than my current setup, minus some volume and rumble.

 

I ended up getting it done without bothering with the 3rd cat. I've been sitting on this for long enough, and I had the opportunity to take it into a shop today. I'll post the clip I took right after getting it done to show the sound; It doesn't sound quite as good as yours IMO, but I'm still happy with it.

 

Well, you got that done, glad you like it. Sound is always a little different when recorded, and yours does sound pretty close to mine, so no worries there.

expect the sound to change over 10-15 days. Subtle, but the system gets used to the new part and it matures in a way. Always changes in a good way

 

can you drop a link for the Vibrant you're using please. I get a couple different results.

 

Vibrant 1790 2.25” inlet/outlet, 9.5” body length.

im in Canada and cheapest was on Amazon

 

Saw this tonight...in case someone in the future is looking for yet another comparison.

 

^^they've done more mods than just the "stage 3 modfiication".

 

BLACK TLS SETUP RV6 Precat Deletes RV6 J-pipe Ultra Quiet Resonator Magnaflow rear mufflers Dual tips

RED TLS SETUP STOCK CATS STOCK J-PIPE DYNOMAX RESONATOR ALL MUFFLERS DELETED

BOTH SETUPS HAVE STOCK SIZE PIPING

That's what they posted anyway...