crazycanuck
07-17-2008, 12:14 AM
I installed a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust one week ago today, and here are my findings.
Sound
As many of you know, this exhaust isn't the obnoxiously loud ones you hear on the street. Idling, it's not that much louder than stock other than the occasional rumble. On the highway, you can barely hear it while cruising. I am the lone car enthusiast among my group of friends, so having an overly loud exhaust will have them shy away from me giving rides.
The sound really comes on in first gear; indeed giving the entire engine a deep mellow tone. As if the car is purring; I can't begin to describe how beautiful it is to my ears. Switch to second, and the tone mellows out even more and drones on at 2500 RPM. Let go off the pedal and the sound gradually disappears. If you drive a stick (I don't), you can really get creative and create some music with this exhaust.
The above being said, don't get the false impression that this exhaust is a wimp compared to the other competitors. It will let you know it's there at all the right moments. I realized how loud it is when driving through a tunnel. The whole tunnel filled with my exhaust sound, and did it ever sound sweet. It took me a while to clue in that it was my car. To the untrained ear, you can easily mistake it for a higher end car. Yes, a higher end car, not a modded shitbox. Same goes for underground parking lots!
Power
Given the recent heat in the past week, I can't give a clear definition of power. I often find my engine struggles to keep the wheels turning under extreme heat. There are on and off times when the car is quite light on its feet (at night), and other times when I really struggle to accelerate (rush hour in 33+ heat). Overall however, I do believe performance has increased.
I have an intake already, and the dead spot between 1st and 2nd was already reduced. Now there is virtually none. It goes from 1st to 2nd with no trouble, and I can keep the car in 2nd until 60km/h without feeling the engine breaking hard. Once you hit high speeds, the extra HP gain definitely helps out and I often forget I'm hitting 140 since it just slides into that speed so easily.
Fuel consumption
So there has been lots of talk about hi-flow exhausts, and straight pipes reducing back pressure; therefore reducing the amount of work the engine needs to do to pipe the exhaust fumes out. Less work means less fuel.
Maybe it's the way I drive when I get a new mod, but I haven't noticed a big gain in fuel efficiency. Granted, there are times when I ride 2nd all the way into 100 just so I can hear the intake + exhaust. And granted I tend to accelerate hard just so I can get a feel for the car. But nothing too excessive, and definitely no where near all the time.
I average about 450 - 550 KM per tank depending on how many times I start the engine and how much highway I drive in a week. This week, I've been running around a lot, so I had to turn off and on my engine a lot of times. As well as driving city streets a lot more. It's not fair to say that the exhaust is not helping, since this week was just a bad test overall.
HOWEVER, if I was to drive the way I did this week without the exhaust. I'd average around 400KM before I have to fuel up. But then again, there's a lot more factors to consider. There's nothing scientific about the way I test for fuel efficiency; take this with a grain of salt.
Issues
None so far, other than the huge amount of condensation I noticed under my car today when the A/C was blasting. My theory is that the exhaust fumes are hotter, and coming out faster; thus explaining the larger quantities of condensation. Feel free to chime in on this if you disagree. I personally didn't notice condensation at all driving around last summer.
Conclusion
Overall, I'd give this exhaust an A+! For all of you who want a well rounded sound, nothing rice sounding, nothing pretentious, civilized, pretty and affordable. This would be my recommendation.
Sound
As many of you know, this exhaust isn't the obnoxiously loud ones you hear on the street. Idling, it's not that much louder than stock other than the occasional rumble. On the highway, you can barely hear it while cruising. I am the lone car enthusiast among my group of friends, so having an overly loud exhaust will have them shy away from me giving rides.
The sound really comes on in first gear; indeed giving the entire engine a deep mellow tone. As if the car is purring; I can't begin to describe how beautiful it is to my ears. Switch to second, and the tone mellows out even more and drones on at 2500 RPM. Let go off the pedal and the sound gradually disappears. If you drive a stick (I don't), you can really get creative and create some music with this exhaust.
The above being said, don't get the false impression that this exhaust is a wimp compared to the other competitors. It will let you know it's there at all the right moments. I realized how loud it is when driving through a tunnel. The whole tunnel filled with my exhaust sound, and did it ever sound sweet. It took me a while to clue in that it was my car. To the untrained ear, you can easily mistake it for a higher end car. Yes, a higher end car, not a modded shitbox. Same goes for underground parking lots!
Power
Given the recent heat in the past week, I can't give a clear definition of power. I often find my engine struggles to keep the wheels turning under extreme heat. There are on and off times when the car is quite light on its feet (at night), and other times when I really struggle to accelerate (rush hour in 33+ heat). Overall however, I do believe performance has increased.
I have an intake already, and the dead spot between 1st and 2nd was already reduced. Now there is virtually none. It goes from 1st to 2nd with no trouble, and I can keep the car in 2nd until 60km/h without feeling the engine breaking hard. Once you hit high speeds, the extra HP gain definitely helps out and I often forget I'm hitting 140 since it just slides into that speed so easily.
Fuel consumption
So there has been lots of talk about hi-flow exhausts, and straight pipes reducing back pressure; therefore reducing the amount of work the engine needs to do to pipe the exhaust fumes out. Less work means less fuel.
Maybe it's the way I drive when I get a new mod, but I haven't noticed a big gain in fuel efficiency. Granted, there are times when I ride 2nd all the way into 100 just so I can hear the intake + exhaust. And granted I tend to accelerate hard just so I can get a feel for the car. But nothing too excessive, and definitely no where near all the time.
I average about 450 - 550 KM per tank depending on how many times I start the engine and how much highway I drive in a week. This week, I've been running around a lot, so I had to turn off and on my engine a lot of times. As well as driving city streets a lot more. It's not fair to say that the exhaust is not helping, since this week was just a bad test overall.
HOWEVER, if I was to drive the way I did this week without the exhaust. I'd average around 400KM before I have to fuel up. But then again, there's a lot more factors to consider. There's nothing scientific about the way I test for fuel efficiency; take this with a grain of salt.
Issues
None so far, other than the huge amount of condensation I noticed under my car today when the A/C was blasting. My theory is that the exhaust fumes are hotter, and coming out faster; thus explaining the larger quantities of condensation. Feel free to chime in on this if you disagree. I personally didn't notice condensation at all driving around last summer.
Conclusion
Overall, I'd give this exhaust an A+! For all of you who want a well rounded sound, nothing rice sounding, nothing pretentious, civilized, pretty and affordable. This would be my recommendation.