SlowlaneAZ

Haha look for a white IS500 instead. I wish I could snag a GSF.

starman703

I like Borla's pricing and have had their product on many of my cars without complaints. The one thing about Borla on the IS500, per the pictures i've seen anyway, is how much the Muffler stands out. I wish they had painted it black like OEM.

AnotherRandomNPC

Some high heat flat black paint could fix that real quick...but I agree I dont like how these aftermarket muffers stand out as-is.

SlowlaneAZ

I'm not sure if i like or dont like this look. But not sure, even though I've seen the stock muffler tons of times either on my car or online, I never actually thought the stock muffler is black. I hope you didn't just ruin it for me.

prophecywhiteis500

100% agreed. The black OEM does wonders for the look IMO. The Borla pictures of the polished muffler just made them not look right. It totally detracted from the stacked quad tips which I think are the best part of the 500 exhaust. I'm hoping Borla and other manufactures take notes from RR racings bazooka exhaust. They have their muffler black like OEM.

I'm still looking for a highly recommended exhaust thats not too loud with a black muffler. It seems every after market one has issues from too loud, too low, etc...

starman703

Same, I may be leaning towards Ark's Grip. Their mufflers are smaller oval shaped and slightly angled for a less distracting look.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

We have some remaining for this March shipment if interested!

-Josh

Pandonsf

when are they supposed to ship?

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

All preorders have already shipped out, new orders probably a couple of days.

-Josh

jororo

So my wife very much unexpectedly said it'd be nice if our IS500 was even louder. As of now it only has the resonated Apexi midpipe and stock axle back, which sounds great ... but hey, louder is better and happy wife = happy life (talk about a keeper !!!)

I've reviewed the older posts and the used one listed on here and it seems like the the Invidia Q300 axle back for the RC200T & RC350 (part # HS14LRCDR4OS) is a direct plug & play with our IS500s. Is this correct? Did see something about might need a slightly longer rubber mounting/bushing to get the exhaust tips to clear a little better, but other than that small tweak is this axle back something I can just order and install as is?

Sorry for beating a dead horse - just want to verify before ordering.

Moonman89

I am excited I ordered the Borla Axleback from my local shop. Looks like 3-4 weeks out.

SlowlaneAZ

I got confirmation mines getting delivered Monday. Unfortunately I won't be able to install it til maybe april

geckornr

Just got my Borla, set to install on Tuesday.

Honestly a little nervous with the Apexi resonated midpipe + Borla axle back... I'm hoping it's not too aggressive.

500IS

Post a before and after sound clip.

geckornr

Ok so my exhaust shop let me know they had an opening today, and it's all done and installed.

Apexi resonated midpipe + Borla S-Type axle back.


A few thoughts....

In general, when it comes to mods, I like "OEM+" looks and sounds, so nothing too aggressive. I've had Borla S-Type exhausts on 4Runners and my GX, and always found them to be a little extra growl but nothing too aggressive or loud. I loved the sound of the Apexi resonated midpipe on its own (and would say it is a perfect OEM+ sound), but considering my good experiences with Borla products, I went for the axle back for the IS 500.

When I went to pick the car up and started it for the first time, I'll be honest, I was tempted to ask them to uninstall it. The exhaust is SO LOUD and it sounded like a straight piped Charger or Mustang. No hate for folks who like that sound, but it's not what I was going for. I just wanted to hear a bit more of the V8, and my hope has been to achieve something like the LC 500 is stock.

I paid and left... on the road, it's extremely loud... but only when you're really on the throttle. At cruising speeds on surface streets, it's extremely quiet and basically stock sound. I haven't been on the highway yet. If you get on the throttle and the car starts delivering power (pedal even 1/3 or 1/2 of the way down), it is loud. Driving like a normal person, it's not bad at all and it's more aggressive, but not horrible. It's just that when you go beyond 3/10 in driving, it sounds like a straight piped American car.

With that said, every Borla system I've ever had gets more mellow after a few hundred miles of burn in. I'm going to keep this exhaust on for a while to see if the tone changes much, and I hope it does. If it doesn't, I will probably sell it and go back to just the midpipe since I loved that sound.

Random note: the tips are tucked more into the bumper than I thought they would be? Aesthetically, I think it looks really nice and I did love the stock tips too. I was worried about the Borla tips being too big or aggressive, but I'm very happy with how they look.