Exhaust advice

[97sean97]

Here's whats up i just turned 18 graduation is around the corner, i have two jobs. and my check engin light is on. That damn orange light has somthing to do with the cadilatic converothingy.

any way my old man said it is the last thing he will help my pay for to fix my car. and he is going to pay half so money is not a big issue, still got to be realistic. any way whats the best way you great guys know of to do a new exhaust sistem. and i dont need headers its a 1.5. do i need a custom exhaust on a 1.5 i dont konw, but i am going to get one. a loud one if i can the kind that will piss my girlfriend's x-army ranger dad off.

[bogey883]

I just got mine done not too long. Also have a 1.5. I got an HKS muffler..got hooked up for a good price. Had a shop named Exhaust Tek do it here in Cali.

Basically to make it loud I had the muffler put on and the center muffler, which is called the resonator if i'm not mistaken, taken out. So I have straight piping all the way back from the cat. My car is hellllla loud. I can be heard a few blocks down and it pisses my neighbors off all the time since I live in a small neighborhood.

Becareful though. I was an idiot. From what I hear, removing your resonator is illegal and will prevent your car from passing any type of smog inspection. I have not yet tried smogging my car..this is just what I've been told. If you are going to do this, save the stock parts. I didn't think I'd need them since I had a smog hook up but the dude moved shop out of state so i'm left with nothing.

if money is of any issue, check on ebay. my friend got his muffler off there for his old bmw and they're pretty decent. you can probably come out spending less than 50 bucks and welding it on shouldn't cost more than 35.

Good luck!

[turbonium959]

From what I hear, removing your resonator is illegal and will prevent your car from passing any type of smog inspection.

Removing the resonator has nothing to do with smog inspection. Removing catalytic converter, will. I am very surprised that in California exhaust shops still exists, considering the strict regulations you have. Removing resonator will only make your car louder

97sean97, if you want a loud exhaust just to piss somebody off, that is not a very smart idea. All you really need is a universal canister-type muffler off of eBay, you know, the one with 4" tip and all. That will be loud as f*ck, and you don't even need to go to an exhaust shop to custom make a cat-back exhaust, waste of time and money. Also, removing resonator will make your car louder, but not that much, and if you have automatic tranny, it will give you a hell of a headache on trips longer than 5 mins. Lastly, don't be expecting to gain any power. It is VERY marginal, even if you do have the headers (custom made), the high-flow catalytic converter(custom fit), cat-back(custom made), and the muffler(custom fit). So, in the long run, you might be able to achieve the goal of pissing the guy off, but at the same time you will spend a lot of $$$$$, and also increase your chances of getting pulled over and dealing the with cops. Goodluck.

[97sean97]

i didnt mean to make it sound like i wanted to piss him off, i just want the ability to. i am a nice guy and would never go out of my way to piss anyone off. i just get to get a new one so i think i will do somthing bogey said.

i tried putting the tip thing on. i got one from auto zone. its cool. but the stock pipe has a factory one welded on. just cheap spot welding. so i cant get the new on. but it doesnt matter i am getting a new pipe and the tip can go on it

[turbonium959]

i didnt mean to make it sound like i wanted to piss him off, i just want the ability to. i am a nice guy and would never go out of my way to piss anyone off. i just get to get a new one so i think i will do somthing bogey said.

i tried putting the tip thing on. i got one from auto zone. its cool. but the stock pipe has a factory one welded on. just cheap spot welding. so i cant get the new on. but it doesnt matter i am getting a new pipe and the tip can go on it

Oh, I didn't mean to offend you. I kind of sensed it, that you meant it as a joke. However, with exhaust, once its on, its on. Its going to be loud, and even if there is a silencer, it won't do you much. I used to have one, and it was nothing but a headache.

[beetle_orange]

i am starting to have problems with the resonator, i fear that there is a hole. i am thinking of getting one from a junkyard or having a universal one put in or just have a straight pipe. can anyone share some thoughts?

turbo, is it really that loud not to have the resonator?

[pigeon]

i am starting to have problems with the resonator, i fear that there is a hole. i am thinking of getting one from a junkyard or having a universal one put in or just have a straight pipe. can anyone share some thoughts?

turbo, is it really that loud not to have the resonator?

this is what your car will sound like with no resonator... and a "straight through" muffler (and low compression, but we'll ignore that for now...)

http://www.stagefourmotorsports.com/vidclip/z5exhaustrev.mov

and this is what it'll sound like a wide open throttle @ 6000 rpm in third gear, with no resonator and an aftermarket straight thru design muffler...

http://www.stagefourmotorsports.com/vidclip/protegestraight.mov

[beetle_orange]

not that bad, since i dont plan on changing my stock muffler mine should still be pretty quiet. am i right?

[pigeon]

i've never actually heard a car with no resonator, but an oem muffler... so i couldnt give you an honest answer

[bogey883]

I actually spoke to the mechanic who did a complete tune up (200 bucks) on my car this morning. He also told me removing the resonator will not harm smog but the cat will. So I guess i'm on the safe side.

In my opinion, removing the resonator does make it louder. It gives it more of a "roar." Having this on an automatic does suck because it drowns out your tunes and what not. But I've become used to it by now. Plus, the silencer on most mufflers do nothing. At least it didn't do anything on mine. I removed because i didn't like the way the exhaust looked with it on.