I FINALLY got the Apexi WS exhaust in last. They were on back-order from hell. So I got up early and took off for the shop to get them put on.
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy. The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it. Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone, half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe. Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home, about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2 sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not, then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more "seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy
Took about two hours, roll in - roll out, cause the shop was real busy. The fit was perfect. Looks like stock from appearance. The tech did not mention if he had any trouble with the y-pipe so I will assume that there was no need to force it in. I did have him to remove the right rear tow hook cause it would be banging the muffler. I paid $150 to have them both installed. They kept asking me if I had gotten a price when I called, like they really didn't know what to charge. If I had been devious, I would have dropped the quote.
So I hopped in, hit the key, let the alarm lock the doors (long story), and then cranked her up. The first thing I noticed was that the drone was gone, or rather moved back to where the muffler is. For those that don't know, I let my wife drive the car one sunny day, and she ended up getting stuck on one of those parking poles cause she thought she could make it over....don't ask. Ever since then, over a year, the exhaust has droned from 1500 up.
Anyway, the exhaust note is nice and deep, with a little burble to it. Pulling out to the street I really didn't hear/notice much. I guess I was so accustomed to having a drone. But as I gave her some gas, the note came out like a lion. I was warned that the y-pipe would add more noise to the equation, but I didn't exactly expect this much. The note is half drone, half added power/torque, and is back at the muffler, not at the y-pipe. Also, there is no bees in the can symptoms that others have noticed, even if there were a couple very small gaps in the flex section. I had heard that the exhaust was very quite, and that the intake might drown it out. I was kinda concerned that it may be too quite for me. Well that fear was shattered.
In traffic I didn't notice anybody giving me nasty looks of the typical ricer with the grapefruit launching exhaust, so it must just be the muffler. Two things I did notice. There ws an awful lot of smoke coming out the muffler. But being that it is brand new, I assume that it is just the packing material in the muffler being "seasoned." By the time I got to the beltway, I didn't notice the smoke, but there was a faint scent. The second thing I noticed was there was a slight banging feeling coming the center console, like the cat was loose. When I inspected that area, I didn't notice anything that was real loose, and as stated above, I had the tow hook removed, so that should not be it. It only appears when the road is rough. I will have it tightened up or shimmed next week.
Now the good stuff. When I cranked it up, I noticed that the tac jumped higher than it normally did. When pulling from a stop under light throttle, she picks up steam alot faster then she used to, and revs up much quicker. Better breathing does it again. When I plant the loud pedal, the slush box downshifts, the revs jump almost in an instant, and they are held longer. I am going to chalk that one to the y-pipe. Torque is now a monster, and pulls hard up into the 5k range. Very nice. When I got home, about 25 min. later, there were no CE/idiot lights showing, so the O2 sensors didn't seem to mind the new hardware. I haven't done a computer reset yet cause it toooooo hot outside now to get into the console to do it properly. I may just do the cheesy reset via the a battery overnight. All in all a good buy.
In conclusion, the only concern would be the added noise. I heard somewhere that it gets quieter as it breaks in. Is this true? If not, then I can live with it. I may get the silencer for the tip. It is the muffler that is droning, not the y-pipe. Now I heading out to add some more "seasoning" to the muffler and to go to the parts yard to see what is in new. Happy motoring!
Lovejoy