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Urgh. I should just cut my losses and sell the Borlas…but while I love the stock mufflers back on the car and the zero drone, I also do sorely miss the cold start sound and overall tone of the Borlas, esp on WOT with the windows down.
I am gonna continue looking into helmholtz resonators and reach out to Solo about their J pipes.
This is why I haven't done exhaust, I am very sensitive to sounds. I can't do drone.
If I ever feel crazy I'll just do some cutouts and call it done. Stock when I want, then no mufflers when I wanna make noise.
This is why I haven't done exhaust, I am very sensitive to sounds. I can't do drone.
Same. I love how the stock exhaust settles down into the background with its low rumble. You hear it, but it’s not the focus. The titanium tips from the RCF *seem* to offer a little more external grunt than ours, but not too much more. I’m looking to get some and see, if anything, they look amazing. 😎
Curious if anyone knows, but do the IS500 and RC F share the same header, exhaust manifold and primary cats? Just wondering as to why the RC F sounds different than the IS500, both in stock and with cat or axle back systems.
In case you haven't noticed, yes, I'm both indecisive and ****-retentive when it comes to detail (lol). Have had the stock exhaust back on the car for past 2 weeks and I'm desperately missing the V8 growl on startup and WOT. I've done more research and decided to give the Borlas another chance, at least for 1,000 miles to see if the 2K RPM drone/humming/etc settles down. I am hoping this works because stock is killing me and I'm not gonna invest in another system since it's likely to come with its own pros & cons.
Another issues I had with all aftermarket axle-backs is that they stick out like a sore thumb from behind because they're not black coated as with stock. So before putting them back on, I gave them a flat black coat of POR15 high-temp paint. I had good luck with it in the past, lasting a couple of years before needing retouching.
I also found out during my research that Borla had a previous version of the RC F axle-back that surprisingly sounded so much better than this new version. I wonder why they changed the tone.
I ended up looking for a leak a day after my initial post of the CEL light.
Mine indeed had small leak which I could not hear. I waited until the car cooled down, then did the shop vacuum (hose on the blower side) method to find it. I plugged up the muffler tips with shop rags and used water\soap to find the leak. Sure enough there was a small leak on the driver side [so if the car is sitting in traffic not moving, i can see how it may be possible for outside air to sneak in and mess with the o2 readings]. The bolts are on there were already as tight as it can be, so either faulty gasket OR pipe just no aligned straight.
I had read other posts that some were getting CEL even with their OEM midpipe which ended up being either faulty gaskets or Mid-pipe not being aligned correctly from the factory. So I loosened the midpipe just enough to move and center the pipe as closely as I can and re-tighten, it still leaked but only very very little now [technically the passenger side had a tiny leak too, but there were no fault codes for that sensor]. It's been almost a month and 600 miles later without any issues. I even went to the local Sonics, known for their slow service, drive-up for food, left the car idling for quite some time and no issues. I hope that's the end of it, but will keep you posted at the 2,000mile mark if it reaches that far without fault.
UPDATE: I've been traveling a lot with the car this past month. I'm approaching 2,000 miles since i've re-aligned the pipes [quoted post above] and haven't had a CEL since!
Been a little MIA, but checking in after ~400 more miles on the Apexi resonated midpipe + Revel Medallion exhaust: Still very happy with it and haven't once thought about uninstalling. If you are in the camp of "want more sound than stock, and want the performance of the midpipe, but the Borla is too much," I think you'll be very happy with the ARM + Revel Medallion combo.
Every time I drove the car with the ARM + Borla, I ended up debating uninstalling the exhaust because it was just so loud... and I now find the car much more enjoyable every time I get in it and drive it. Hard to describe overall, but the nagging feeling of "is this too much?" is gone now and it's all fun every time I turn it on.
Someone asked me for revving clips and I realize I haven't had a chance to do that yet, but will soon.
08-13-24 | 10:51 AM
