Okay, my thoughts on exhaust systems have just changed dramatically (Apex dual N1 exhaust = $1000 +/-) And from what I hear on the forums here, is that the Racing Beat is the be all end all of exhaust systems.

Now my question is, why can't you do one yourself? Go to a muffler shop and have them bend up your own cat back exhaust and add straight through designed perforated mufflers in the rear? Could this work (given the shop uses mandrel bends), and if it does... will I be rice?



Any help on this would be greatly appreciated (budget won't allow for more than an air intake right now)

well, here in silicon valley there are several shops that will build custom exhaust systems for ya. so it is possible to do so. Like you said you need to find a shop that has a Mandrel bender. Plus you might have to supply the flanges that willl bolt on to your exhaust manifold or turbo. Find yourself a High Flow cat that can withstand the high exaust temps from a rotary and your in business.



As far as "would it be rice??" I'd have to say no! It's a custom built exhaust system, Ricers only do bolt on. I'd say so long as you don't use a muffler with a tip that could be used as a football launch your okay.



just my opinion



greg

As a general rule if its custom work its not rice. Although then you get those lamborghini flip up doors and crap like that on civics :(.

Certainly sounds like a plan. Now to do it right. the Dual N1 had a simplistic approach, but I don't know why I'd have to have both pipes running side by side, and I could keep the dual exhaust look at the back too, while bumping up mid-high end HP/TQ. Now, can I even see any kind of improvements if I imitated the OEM exhaust and just used a larger diameter piping? And anyone suggest a good muffler (perforated interior pipe is a must) that's also a straight through design? Thanks for the help.

Actually, what if I used the same overal design of the N1 exhaust, with say... Apex universal mufflers? Could I essentially build (more like rip-off) Apex's N1 exhaust successfully?

on my 2nd gen NA, i had RB headers, and from the headers custom single 2.5" piping to a universal Apex N1. it was loud, but i loved it. saved a few bucks compared to the N1 catback.



also, if you want the dual look there are a few ways you can go about this. A friend of mine had his 88 NA with the RB race headers, got a custom exhaust done keeping it dual all the way to the end. he had either 2.25" or 2.5" piping from each exit of the header, one magnaflow muffler in the middle that had 2 inlet and 2 outlet, and then out to dual mufflers at the end. He used all freeflow mufflers and it was loud.



I remember racing him. We both had about the same work, just these different exhaust setups, also both had electric fans and an intake. He had his secondaries permanently open. I would beat him all the time...



Another option you could do is something like you said, keep same "style" of exhaust as stock, just with larger diameter piping. That will work perfect also.



No matter what if you have an NA S4 body, tell them to keep the small pipe that connects to the exhaust that engages your secondaries. From my experience the engine runs harder when there are functioning compared to wired open...

good advice on the ports.. when wired, you need to stay at high rpm to do anything if you know what I mean.



I dont know if this is common everywhere but there are a couple of custom exhaust/muffler shops in my area that all you do is take them any muffler(s) of your choice, tell them what size piping you want and coming from where (cat back, axle back, header back, etc) and a day later you get your car back with complete custom exhaust bolted up with hangers welded in and fitting perfectly. He even tests drives it to make sure there are no rattles. All for about $150 (for single cat back exhaust). Now the negatives would be that he does use crimp bending (which kills you the most if you have 90 degree bends) and its all one piece.. so if it goes over your axle and bolts up to the cat for example, you have to cut it to remove it but most people will not remove it so who cares...



He'll do the same thing with a cat... like take in a universal type high flow cat with backpressure pickup tube, tell him you want this to bolt up to your header and cat back... like $50.

IMO, any name brand (HKS, GReddy, Apexi, ect) exhaust is a major rip off. All you are doing is paying for the name. And if you buy one you are a sucker. That said, why don't you just buy the corksport cat back? It is less than $300, good quality, and saves a ton of weight because it is only a single exit (one muffler). Are you only looking for a cat-back? Or full exhaust?



http://www.corksport.com/content/00/...ges/716634.jpg

I'm looking for just a cat-back right now, more like designing one. I'm not going in too far with the performance mods, but a high flow cat is definately in the near future, just have to find a decent rotary designed one. If I use the stock style exhaust, just with larger diameter piping, would I see any kind of gains though?

Well I don't think you would see that much of any, becasue a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. And since you would be running the stock manifold, and cats. Then it would be restricting HP there.





And I built my own exhuast system, but it didn't go all the way to the back of the car, so it didn't cost me as much in pipeing, and I only had to use two bends (for the turn downs). So it is possible to build your own exhaust, you just have to pick the right mufflers that will stand up to the rotary. Unless you put them in the stock place at the back of the car, and then it won't matter as much.

i run a custom exhaust, stock manifold riht into 2.5 inch piping all te way backinto a single APEX'i universal DUNK muffler, its quiet at idle but opens up nicely when you hit it, sounds pretty deep at anything under 3800rpm, then it starts screaming all the way up to 7800, then i hit a brick wall and shift lol

BTW i made the exhaust myself, only paid for one 10 foot long 2.5 inch pipe(straight) i bent it myself, the muffler was free via my friend ,,,its huge with a 5 inch tip but it was free

truthfully, if i would have the NA again i would go 100% with that corksport system. You just cant beat the quality, looks, and just the total package for that price. and comparing my system which was similar to that corksport, i didnt save much. Being said i got the Apex N1 universal for $160 new, which is practically unheard of...



IMHO i would recommend the RB headers, a test pipe to remove them silly cats (when you get the test pipe done, make sure they keep that pipe that goes to your secondaries ass i said in the previous post) and the corksport system after the test pipe. That will wake you car up.



I know it made a world of difference when i got my complete system...



Also, from my personal opinion, you will get more power if you get headers and remove the cats, or atleast put high flow catsand keep your stock catback compared to keeping stock exhaust manifold and cats and putting an aftermarket catback.



When i first got my 88 gxl, i had to get emissions tested, and the original cats were gone to ****, so i took it to a local custom shop, and they put a high flow cat and 2.5" piping to replace the stock shitty cats. I couldnt believe the difference just this made. The car was still quiet as ****, but i actually felt the difference. That just made me want to get the rest of the exhaust done...

I completely forgot to mention my car, it's a '90 Turbo II. That being said, if I upgrade the piping diameter to 2.5 or even 3 inches, will I feel a little better response from the car by imitating the stock exhaust?

be carefull with boost creep, because if you dont have a fuel controller, you might head for trouble

Can anyone tell me what boost creep is? I've heard the term often, just never heard an explanation.

when your boost creeps it means your going over the ECU limit, therefore the computer will cut your fuel, at which point your car will lean out and you will hear a loud pop.

others call it boost spike...it can spike up sporatically.



i was talkin bout NA's so you could scrap that...=)



if you imitate your stock exhaust, just with larger diameter piping, thats perfect. You will have a dual exhaust high flow setup....you will definetely get power...