Rate Your Exhaust

jpit

With all the exhausts available now I wonder if those who have purchased one wouldn’t mind rating them in a few categories on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest).

Exhaust HFC? How Loud: Accel - Cruising Sound Quality Performance Fit

For example:

Ansa Berk 8 5 6 5 3

kdo2milger

maybe create a poll to make it a votable rating system...

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JoeD

Asking people to rate the volume of their exhaust on a scale of 1-10 is about as scientific as measuring with a micrometer, marking with chalk, and cutting with an axe. It's so subjective that you're not going to come up with any conclusive data.

What's loud to one person will certainly not be considered loud by another, and vice versa. Some people think that these cars are too loud inside stock.

I say 7.

spearfish25

Hence why I made the "call for decibels" thread. Really took off...think I was the only one to post a reading

B1nks

^^ I would have liked to have posted on that one but haven't and probably won't just because it isn't a top priority of mine PLUS so many people have my exhaust someone is bound to do it for me haha.

I don't like my F.I. exhaust/BERK HFC combo..just sounds bad to me and is too loud and drones from 2-3k

JoeD

Not everyone has a sound-level meter nor is anyone going to buy one just to post the results in your thread. Even then, a simple dB figure can not be easily correlated to sound-output due to the scaling of decibels. The difference in volume between 80 and 85 dB is not the same as 85 and 90 dB, as I'm sure you know. Therefore, even if you compiled a list of the dB readings for every single exhaust-system on the market as consistently and scientifically as possible, it wouldn't do much good to the average member. Let's not forget about differences in pitch and tone that decibels don't account for, too. One exhaust might be unbearable and another could be quite pleasant even if they provide they output the same level of sound.

There is no better way to compare exhaust-systems than to hear them in person.

spearfish25

They cost $20 and you can even get cheaper ones on the App store for an iphone. People are buying $1500 catbacks, $20 is not a lot of money. Heck, people can walk into Radioshack, buy one for an hour, get the readings and return it. And sure it's not ideal, but it's at least somewhat objective. I'll give people more credit on this website...I think many folks go out of their way to help others with minimal benefit for themselves (maybe some rep points )

And since one person will never be able to do this unless they spend thousands traveling the country, some decibel readings may be the most objective measure we get. Otherwise we'll be rating our exhaust loudness by ear with a scale from 1-10...

JoeD

Sure. From the popularity of your thread, we could see how well that turned out.

You do realize that there are gatherings more commonly known as "meets", right? These can range from somewhat impromptu meet-ups on a local level in a parking lot somewhere (parking lot pimpin, loitering...call it what you will), drawing in a little more than a handful of cars on a weekly or bi-monthly basis, or every so often a regional meet which can draw upwards of 50 cars depending on location. It is more likely that people who attend these "meets" would be considered enthusiasts as word is spread through forums. Therefore, you can count on over 75% of these cars being modified in some way, providing you with all the combinations of modifications you can think of for you see, hear, and ride in.

Check it out sometime.

spearfish25

I have yet to see another 370 in chicago, let alone one with a FI, Stillen, or GTM catback. There aren't even 40 FI catbacks roaming the world yet!

spearfish25

Does this mean you're going back to the FI catback alone and getting rid of the HFCs?

Denny McLain

In a nutshell the Stillen is a bit louder for my personal taste but others on several occasions have told me how they liked the way the car sounded. Two people followed me and stopped me just to say how much they liked the way it sounded. (have headers and high flow cats) If you keep a light accelerator pedal and the engine below 3000 rpm, the sound is very reasonable. Go over and it's louder than my particular tastes warrant.

My personal feeling is virtually all the aftermarket exhaust system will be very close performance wise. If you really think about it, they are 2.5 inch mandrel bent tubing, dual resonators and dual mufflers. Some eliminate the resonators but at what penalty? Loud doesn't necessarily mean more power and on two occasions we dyno tested my Corvette (stock and heavily modded) regarding open headers vs dual 3" exhaust system with resonators and mufflers showing absolutely no power difference.

Think things like X-pipe vs H-pipe, 2.5 vs 3" exhaust, etc. are way overrated as header design is also.

Bought a super expensive ($2K) set of stepped tapered headers with merge collectors that the mfgr said would produce 20 hp over conventional headers. Nope. The car dynoed the same as my cheap Hooker Super Comps bought from Summit.

Called Larry Meaux who writes dyno simulation software and whose heads have 28 NHRA records. According to Larry, it's hit or miss on header design with some designs working a bit better on some engines and the same design on other engines not doing anything. In all his years of building race engines, he has never seen over a 1% hp difference in output from header design.

Stillen quality.....sucks, but they are pretty cheap as compared to others. After the hassle of making them fit, I'd not buy them again.

spearfish25

Sounds like you have a lot of experience with Stillen products. Did you struggle with their other products or just their 370 CBE? They claim they've fixed some of the installation issues. I'll find out this weekend when I get mine...

Liquid_G

I'm in Chicago south burbs.. bone stock still though..

spearfish25

I plan to have a Stillen CBE installed Saturday. We can meet some time if you're interested in hearing it.

NeedforZ

Yeah I was really looking forward to seeing some results. Even though not totally scientific its much better than people's subjective opinion. I don't want to throw down cash on an exhaust when I have no idea how loud it is. Pipes that are too loud will be a deal killer for me no matter how good it sounds at low RPMs.