Falcon

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)

Rotaryman13b

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

Dramon_Killer

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 .

Falcon

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.

Falcon

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?

YucA

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...

FCmaniac

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.

ILUVMY88CABRIO

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?

Falcon

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?

wanta be boosted

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.