Rate Your Exhaust
 

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

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

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. :tup:

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

^^ 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

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.

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...

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. :tup:

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!

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

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.

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...

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

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

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.

Bought under drive pulley, Gen 3 intake, headers and exhaust from Stillen.

The under drive pulley was great. Headers OK quality, but a bitch to put on (would not recommend) ending up having to buy two new 02 sensors and two weeks for my hands to heal. The intake install was good but with a slight symmetry quality issue that you can't see, but the exhaust was a royal PITA.

Guess my biggest issue is the exhaust was not a true bolt on and did need quite a bit of tweaking that include cutting and rewelding to get it to fit properly. Not something your average person could do in their garage as the quality does seem to vary. Craps game, fits OK for some but a bitch for others. The slip joints with U-bolts is not what you would expect from a quality exhaust either.

My strong recommendation is to take the exhaust to a good shop where they are used to making them fit. They do it all the time, have the tools and it's no big whoop for them even though I had to take mine in twice and still will hear a few strange noises at times.

The next issue is instead of taking responsibility for the quality issues and offering solutions, Josh denied there was an issue and tried to blame me for the install as being the problem. This really rubbed me the wrong way and trust me.....this is not my first rodeo at hot rodding cars. Expect a few issues as they are always there, but also expect an honest answer and a little support.

Just got a spam Stillen e-mail this morning telling me I have two more days to get the super duper deal on Stillen exhausts. Sounds to me like they are pretty desperate to sell them as I'm not the only one whom had issues.

Let's hope my experience goes better than yours have. I have an experienced shop installing the exhaust on Saturday. If they have problems, then there are likely still design problems with the exhaust. I'll be eagle-eyeing everything as well!

My bet is everything will go OK.

If I had known what I was getting into I'd have taken it immediately to a shop and not even bother trying to **** with it myself. There really is a difference between someone who does this everyday and someone who does it every 2-5 years.

Mine's been absolutely fine. I upgraded the Cheezy "U" clamps with some T-Bolts though. No issues, no rubs, no fitment issues. Sound is perfect and I will not be going to HFC's or headers for that reason. Car runs like a beast and I'm coming from a modded '08 Corvette. Nothing else needed until I get tempted by a supercharger kit....

http://images47.fotki.com/v1499/phot...MG_1657-vi.jpg

Where did you get those T bolts? I wouldn't mind picking some up for the install Saturday just to improve things without going back later. Also, what size did you buy?

Ended up ditching the U clamps and had the shop weld the slide tubes. The shop felt the same way. The guy said: "at least they could have included some nice bands instead of the chincy U clamps."

Also it's the high flow cats that really makes one loud. The first thing I did was the high flow cats that dynoed 12 hp addition, but honestly wasn't prepared for the difference in noise. Under 3500 rpm the stock system with cats pretty much sounds stock, over 3500 it's a real surprise in the difference in noise.

T bolt clamps McMaster-Carr
Page 255...Shipping is usually only a day or 2...YOu want some to fit the 2.5" pipe.... YOu might be able to find them locally too (Napa etc)

http://images105.fotki.com/v443/phot...MG_1656-vi.jpg

Did you go with the 316 SS sized 2 5/16 - 2 5/8 (part 5204K12)?

OH DAMN! That place is about 20 minutes away from my house. I love it.