I've been brainstorming ways to get my ILX to look a little more sporty, by getting rid of the 'hybrid' hidden exhaust look. I read a post in this forum that inspired me to do the following:

First thing I did was tape of the area with some painter's tape and then I measured where the intended exhaust outlet was going to be.

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Started cutting the bumper with a dremel tool (cutting tip).

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After roughly cutting the bumper in the intended shape, I began sanding down the bumper until I got just the exact shape I wanted.

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I then cut the exhaust pipe where it bends down with the dremel tool (metal cutting tip).

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I then installed a bolt-on exhaust Tip (DC Sport EX-1011).

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Took off the painter's tape; finished product. Enjoy!

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Two things:
1) awesome work!
2) you might want to wrap the edges of the bumper with heat resistant tape so it doesn't melt or make the whole a bit bigger...you'd be surprised how the bumper reacts to exhaust heat.

 

Go back in there and round those edges out!

Good work. Definitely doesn't look like I thought it might. I'd say to avoid issues with heat and possible rubbing on bumps you might smooth the hole a bit more and take I back like a quarter of an inch.

Excellent entry to the forum too! We were all debating this!

 

Sorry to post twice, I need to ask..

Did this help relieve any of the exhaust sound in the cabin? Especially at lower RPMs like 2-3k where there is a lot of bass?

 

This is awesome! I love the finished product. Thanks for sharing!

 

Looks good, but I am a perfectionist and would have rounded out the hole a little bit more. One of those things probably no one would notice but it would bug me.

 

I will say this is very inspiring.. You got me over here measuring and sketching out different sized half oval and half circles lol

 

daaamn, that's clean

ILX reppin hard.

Debadge her.

 

I love the fact you were brave enough to do this!

My input.. cut the hole slightly bigger, then grab some Trim-Gard

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-16-x-50-U-Style-Black-Door-Edge-Molding-Guard-/261192832151?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cd04e5497&vxp=mtr
There are lots of Trailer products that are very flexible that you could use to make it look super clean!

 

I guess I might try this if I find a shop brave enough to do it...or if aaron is willing to help

 

Hooyah veteran!

 

Maybe if you black out the bumper...

 

Like the others have said; go back and make it a bit more cleaner.

that trim guard looks like it will do the job

 

I was researching that last night too.. Vinyl would probably be the best route.

 

Looks awesome! I agree, would look good blacked out

 

Yeah black it out! D

Don't be a noob and have someone else cut yours out. Just do it!

 

I don't have the tools...I'll ask aaron if he can help

 

Buy a $9 mini hack saw, and a cheap rounded file of some sort (or maybe even sandpaper wrapped around a coffee mug).

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-1...5#.UXrjWrW85Bk

 

Every once in a while you gotta get those feet wet, even if it's a pool full of piranhas.

 

That is so poetic

 

That pool full of piranhas is irreversible...look what happened with the sway bar

 

looks nice man! I wonder what style would make it even look more sporty, maybe dual exhausts?

 

I was thinking about doing duals myself, just waiting to get a can of touchup paint. My thoughts were to grab the trim-gard stuff in black, sand it down and paint it to match as best as possible then use it to round the holes off.

 

Any ideas where you would put the Y in the pipe?

 

My thoughts were to purchase a muffler such as this...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BORLA-PRO-SX-PERFORMANCE-STAINLESS-EXHAUST-SYSTEM-2-5-INLET-DUAL-2-5-OUTLET-/300892936582?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item460e9dd986&vxp=mtr#ht_740wt_928
It would be roughly the design of the Neon SRT4's exhausts...


The piping will not be as large as the 3" piping shown in the picture above and it will most likely run closer behind the bumper. I don't have a trailer hitch on my car so there is more room than previously pictured on the other exhaust thread. I figure for mounts it's just a quick plate and pop rivet through the floor by the spare tire. That's not bad at all. My previous car was a cobalt and I pop riveted battery trays in the trunk when i upgraded to bigger batteries.

 

Hmm.. Might work. Need some Hangers added.. My only thought is you'd lose that black plastic cover and the piping may show under the bumper.

 

Thank for the positive reinforcements! It took alot of mental effort to make that first cut, but once it was done, there was no going back.....so it was ok from then on.

I see you guys are perfectionist, lol! The pictures I posted are actually really up-close and personal...You really can't see any imperfections from a normal point of view. But, I took your guys advise anyways and I went back in there to better round-off and enlarge the size of the hole just alittle.

IMHO, the pics don't do it much justice. In the pictures the exhaust looks rather small in comparison with the ILX's back side, but it looks good in person. The beauty of this mod is that you can pretty much put whatever size tip you want (you can even change the entire muffler if you want). I went with a 3 1/4 outlet, although I was thinking of going as high as 4 inch (and I might do it in the future).

Duals would be nice, and I thought about it, but it's just way too much work for me.....and way more expensive. This mod only cost me the $24 for the tip.

Trentimus - The exhaust sound within the cabin is the same.

I've already driven 300 miles with the new mod, and I see no adverse reaction to the area that I cut. I will be putting touch-up paint to the exposed areas as soon as I receive it.

I'll keep you guys updated!

 

In for updates!

 

Can't believe I missed out on this thread from the begging. Oh well.

Nice to see my suggestion of a exhaust cut out+tip made it onto someone's ILX! It looks great too! About the dual exits.. I don't believe it can be done. Easily that is. And yes, I am GREATLY let down by that.

2012 Civic hybrid underbody (same platform/ chassis as ILX = should be roughly the same layout)


Rear ILX under body.


As you can see, the ILX is tight under there. Doesn't look like much room for a second pipe coming off a Y piece. You could do a RDX/ Neon system, but then you run the risk of not finding mounting places or not having room for it to fit under the bumper with out it dragging and hanging to far down:



A few flavors for ideas on a diffuser look(all of them look good):






Keep us posted! So glad you went through with this, and one day when i get a ILX, I'll be doing the same. Till then I hope I see some others try it out.

 

I can't really tell of the depth perception from the pictures... I will get the car put on the lift at the body shop this week and see.

OP,

Car looks awesome! Thank you for inspiring half of us to look into this more!

 

Another area where the factory let us down. This car begs for dual exhausts.

 

those are some great photochops! Good luck moving forward op!

 

You're so brave! Looks good.

 

just noticed that your debaged as well... looks very clean!

 

Kudos to the OP, glad someone finally took a chance on this. I've long bitched about the hidden exhaust trick, but now that I see the single tip, it doesn't look so hot. Maybe it's that god awful rear lip kit, but this car deserves the dual tip treatment. It's a shame the underbody makes this such a chore. I think even a dual tip on a single can would still look ok. But that rear lip kit; just looks like zero effort/thought went into that design. Reminds me of the older Corolla S, just tacky and looks like garbage. Anyway, props on the effort.

Maybe you could go another mile and put a dual tip (on one can) on for us

 

I am trying incredibly hard to make an oval template that is 5" wide and 3 3/4" tall to fit this exhaust tip.. Anyone have any tips on drawing a proportional oval?

 

What I have come up with so far, I want to bring the edges out about 1/2" and have a sharper cut off at the bottom to match better.. Any advice would be appreciated. Here is the template flush with the tip:

 

I like the single outlet, it makes more sense for 4 cylinder cars. The idea of a quad outlet is awesome, but IMO the motor lacks to have it.

What size tip is that???^^^

 

It's a Borla rolled tip, 2.5" inlet w/ 4.25" width and 3.5" height.. IF I am remembering correctly.

 

You guys are making this seem like it's a tough endeavor. Wondering if a body shop will be a good place to go take the car