rommeeeezy

Anyone in the Central Valley California area with an exhaust setup I can hear in person? I honestly hate any type of drone with a passion.

rommeeeezy

I guess just to be a little more specific, I'm really interested in hearing a difference between just a Resonated and Non-Resonated Apexi (or any other brand) Midpipe. Curious how much the resonator tones down the sound. I'd rather keep the back section stock as I actually quite enjoy the stock look. And it comes off a little more unassuming on the street just parked.

V8Brah

@rommeeeezy @Meraki Autoworks I'm working with an aftermarket company that is releasing a brand new IS500 cat-back exhaust soon. Out of respect for their privacy I won't reveal much more until they're ready. All I'll say for now is that good things come to those who wait. In other words it sounds better than RR Racing, Apexi, and GThaus.

AmbyBomb

I have an unresonated GTHaus midpipe and I think a resonated midpipe with the stock mufflers would be too quiet.

jororo

100% agree on liking the stock exhaust tips.

From my research, resonated midpipes are about 2 dB quieter than non-resonated. Good news is it doesn’t sound like non-resonated versions drone much if at all.

But for me the deciding factor in ordering a resonated midpipe was instead down to personal exhaust sound preference. I’m in the minority, but non-resonated midpipes have a metallic raspiness at the upper RPMs that I’m not a big fan of, and a resonator eliminates that raspiness. Things will be 2 dB quieter though.

Another reason I went resonated is still hoping a nice valved axleback exhaust option hits the market that keeps the factory exhaust tip look. With louder mufflers the resonated midpipe will help avoid even more raspiness. Or will just install inline electric exhaust cutouts after the resonator for an almost open pipe experience.

Midpipe is supposed to arrive in next 2-3 weeks so I’ll post some before & after videos.

rommeeeezy

Well that's awfully tempting... care to share at least an ETA? Assuming it's within the calendar year, but is it good things come to those who wait 3 months, or longer than 1 year? haha

rommeeeezy

yeah, I've never had a resonator in my last few exhaust setups (most of them were just midpipe swaps, with 1 full catback). However, all the cars I've owned before have been turbo'd (barring my very first car). And the turbo already muffles some exhaust noise.

I'm also leaning towards resonated, I just don't want to waste the money on one if it's just marginally louder than stock.

Bechtold

I had an exhaust on a Subaru Legacy GT Wagon that was not resonated. It was so freakin' loud you had to yell at the passenger to be heard. That was out in about a week or two.

jororo

Did a dB test before ordering as had the same fear.

Measured from 3ft away, the stock exhaust was ~86 dB at 4500rpm. Apexi says their resonated midpipe is 93.1 dB and non-resonated is 95.7 dB at 4500 RPM. No idea how far away Apexi measured the dBs.

Both midpipe approaches eliminate the secondary cat, which adds ~7 dB, and the non-resonated midpipe also eliminates the resonator giving another 2.6 dB.

Choice is really whether or not to give up that 2.6 dB in exchange for a different sound profile. Plenty of YouTube videos of non-resonated and resonated midpipe GS-Fs and RC-Fs to get a feel for different sound quality (just have to filter out the video’d cars that also have an aftermarket axle back).

I can’t speak to the non-resonated drone issue, but from what I’ve read it’s not really that big of a deal in normal use.

AmbyBomb

I don't notice a drone. The engine is so loud that I find it drowns out the exhaust even with the non-resonated midpipe.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

GTHAUS exhausts in stock ready to ship.

Apexi should be ready to ship in about 2 weeks. Get your pre-orders in for this!

-Josh

rommeeeezy

Anyone try to just chop off the Resonator on this car? I've seen a bunch of videos and threads over on the RC-F forum about either doing a resonator delete or a secondary cat delete (essentially just having an exhaust shop weld up some pipe in either section). I feel like that's essentially what the midpipe is doing and it'd be for much cheaper, and always easy to weld back on.

MYIS500

This. I am thinking of keeping the stock exhaust and doing the cutouts I located. I can control how much the valve opens from none to wide open. Stopped by an exhaust shop who does performance exhaust. He said placement is going to be the key. The size of the cutouts limits where they can go and not protrude below the cars clearance specs and where they do not interfere with the body or other chassis components. Basically he said, buy them and we will see if we can find a place for them because just because you find a place where they can fit does not mean that is where they should go. I am thinking hard about taking the chance. The cutouts are very high quality and a lot cheaper at $500.00. Have to think hard about it. The GThaus and Bazooka are very very nice. Basically they are performance mufflers with built in cutouts with set parameters. The plus is I keep my nice stock mufflers and tail pipes. Have to think about it hard, really hard.

MYIS500

Can someone tell me the diameter of the stock exhaust midpipe and rear pipe. I was told 70mm and also 2.5inches. 70mm is 2.75 inches. Need to know if I order the cutouts. I am thinking I am going cutouts. GIDDYUP!

AmbyBomb