Exhaust Options

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Exhaust Options

Post by Hopkins »

I've discovered that one of my tailpipes has rusted through, so I suppose it's time to get a new exhaust! I'm not interested in more noise at civilised rpm, but more at the top end shouldn't be a problem. This is not a priority - I'm just making a point about my preferences! I have noticed that the stock set up has a sight drone under load between 3k and 4k rpm so it would be nice for that to be quieter. It seems to me that weight is probably one of the more significant properties of an exhaust. I've noticed that they are usually either stainless steel or titanium. Is aluminium sometimes used?

So, I suppose I'd like a decent quality light and quiet exhaust. What would my best options be? Thanks!
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by jondkent »

I think lots of people here will say get a Racing Beat exhaust, which would fit your requirements nicely but it's over £700. Sometimes PZ catback are up for grabs, which is what I have. These are usually in the £100-150 mark, obviously secondhand.

All depends on your budget. Avoid Toyosport/Japspeed as these will be way too loud for you I think.



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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by 13Black »

Aluminium is never used. The melting point of it is quite lower than EGT and it would probably sag at best.

Racing Beat is probably your best bet for lacking drone - they are pricey and somewhat subdued, decibel-ly speaking (YES IT IS A WORD).
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by delta0 »

The lightest exhaust is likely to be inconel as you can go very thin but I’m not aware of any of those for the RX8. Ryan Rotary has a titanium exhaust and also has options of a valve (for some additional weight) to allow you to control the amount of noise. Otherwise you may need to describe a bit more about what you want. At the moment the racing beat would suite as louder than stock and lighter (especially with the high flow cat). There are a lot of other lightweight options and sound qualities available. You may have a certainly sound you are looking for and a budget as well.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by warpc0il »

Hopkins wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:42 pm
the stock set up has a sight drone under load between 3k and 4k rpm
You're driving the car wrong if the engine is under load at those revs.

Try driving at least one if not two gears lower for that road speed.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Hopkins »

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd always assumed that, given the name, Racing Beat would be loud :).
warpc0il wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:17 pm
You're driving the car wrong if the engine is under load at those revs.
Not at all! Part of the reason I love it is because it is perfectly capable of cruising at motor speeds with relatively little noise, but I can nail it around country lanes if I choose to. While it is true that, about town, I'll usually change down sooner, the use case where 3-4k is maintained under some load is on major roads, often dual carriageways, where you're in traffic doing between 60 and 80mph up and down mild undulating hills. At those speeds, 6th gear is between 3 and 4k, and the engine has more than enough torque to cope with the changes in load. The drone vanishes on the downs and appears on the ups.

I realise that this is a minor criticism, but when everything else about the car is so good, it sets a high bar :).
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by New Duke »

Hopkins wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:15 pm
Thanks for the suggestions. I'd always assumed that, given the name, Racing Beat would be loud :).
warpc0il wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:17 pm
You're driving the car wrong if the engine is under load at those revs.
Not at all! Part of the reason I love it is because it is perfectly capable of cruising at motor speeds with relatively little noise, but I can nail it around country lanes if I choose to. While it is true that, about town, I'll usually change down sooner, the use case where 3-4k is maintained under some load is on major roads, often dual carriageways, where you're in traffic doing between 60 and 80mph up and down mild undulating hills. At those speeds, 6th gear is between 3 and 4k, and the engine has more than enough torque to cope with the changes in load. The drone vanishes on the downs and appears on the ups.

I realise that this is a minor criticism, but when everything else about the car is so good, it sets a high bar :).
I think that Warpc0il was saying that giving it any significant gas in that 3k-4k rev range is driving it wrong, and that's the reason for the drone. The car can cope with the changes in load... but that doesn't mean that it should have to. (Apologies if I interpreted you wrongly there Dave).
So in the example you gave, you'd be better off changing down into 5th for the uphill, maybe even keeping it there and benefiting from engine braking on the downhills. You'd really only want to be in sixth in that example if it's flat terrain and minor engine effort. Exhaust drone eliminated... assuming your tailpipe doesn't have a hole in it.

Anyway, the RB exhaust is considered the quietest of the aftermarkets but is still louder than stock as recently discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=78035&p=1173921&hil ... t#p1173921

You're probably better off getting a good condition used stock back box, that'll sound much better than one which has rusted through and be quiet.

Or just get an air intake that's so loud it drowns out any exhaust \:D/
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by mi60o0 »

My set up is aem intake. Street port. Rb dual resonated decat plus miltek Pettit cat back is not noticible up tb4& after 4K is screaming I love it
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by warpc0il »

New Duke wrote:
Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:03 am
Hopkins wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:15 pm
Thanks for the suggestions. I'd always assumed that, given the name, Racing Beat would be loud :).
warpc0il wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:17 pm
You're driving the car wrong if the engine is under load at those revs.
Not at all! Part of the reason I love it is because it is perfectly capable of cruising at motor speeds with relatively little noise, but I can nail it around country lanes if I choose to. While it is true that, about town, I'll usually change down sooner, the use case where 3-4k is maintained under some load is on major roads, often dual carriageways, where you're in traffic doing between 60 and 80mph up and down mild undulating hills. At those speeds, 6th gear is between 3 and 4k, and the engine has more than enough torque to cope with the changes in load. The drone vanishes on the downs and appears on the ups.

I realise that this is a minor criticism, but when everything else about the car is so good, it sets a high bar :).
I think that Warpc0il was saying that giving it any significant gas in that 3k-4k rev range is driving it wrong, and that's the reason for the drone. The car can cope with the changes in load... but that doesn't mean that it should have to. (Apologies if I interpreted you wrongly there Dave).
So in the example you gave, you'd be better off changing down into 5th for the uphill, maybe even keeping it there and benefiting from engine braking on the downhills. You'd really only want to be in sixth in that example if it's flat terrain and minor engine effort. Exhaust drone eliminated... assuming your tailpipe doesn't have a hole in it.
That's exactly what I meant :thumleft:
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by ChrisHolmes »

I and a friend both have Toyo cat backs with a ghetto decat and neither is particularly loud which I put down to the ghetto decat allowing some early expansion of the exhaust gas when compared to a smaller diameter sports cat or straight pipe.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by bigpete8 »

Similar to the original poster think my exhaust will give up the ghost in the near future (next APR MOT if not before) as now had to replace a hanger and patch hole after back box.

I do kind have have the opposite question - does the catback exhaust make much of a difference to performance?
My current one is Toyo style and think it could be less intrusive at some cruising speeds and wouldn't mind something quieter if it didn't blunt performance.
There is no way I'll be spending 700+ quid on Racing beat or similar, but have seen there is a Klarius system that looks very OEM like.
Anyone got one on / any comments on it?
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by PeteH »

I doubt you would notice a difference in performance, and I'm sure it would be quieter than the Toyo. Just remember that the Karius will be mild steel, so the whole thing will start rusting from the moment you fit it.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by bigpete8 »

Will blend in nicely with the rest of the underside....
Bizarrely my current one has very rusty pipes but must have stainless boxes as they look new if you wipe them over.

Might have to get quotes from local garages to fit as don't fancy trying to do this on my driveway!
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Dr. FrankenRex »

The Klarius is just OEM spec, so will sound and look exactly like OEM (or thereabouts anyways).

As Pete said, this means it'll rust nice and quickly - that said, it'll be cheaper than a stainless item.

The only real performance hit on a standard RX8 is the weight... OEM exhausts are fairly heavy items, whereas the stainless ones do tend to be lighter.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Hopkins »

Further to my original post, I realised that there was a factor that I hadn't considered... My own curiosity. For that reason, I am drawn towards the Racing Beat exhaust... Actually, I wonder if there is anyone near me who could take me out for a quick spin... I shall request this on another thread!
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Dr. FrankenRex »

As detailed in the other thread, have a chat with Carl from RRP. His exhausts are cheaper (a bit at least) and also available with a lovely little switch to give you an option of loud or quiet :D
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Hopkins »

The switch sounds fun, even if it niggles me as "something else to go wrong"! I'll check out his page in more detail.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Boston Rotary »

Hopkins wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:22 pm
Further to my original post, I realised that there was a factor that I hadn't considered... My own curiosity. For that reason, I am drawn towards the Racing Beat exhaust... Actually, I wonder if there is anyone near me who could take me out for a quick spin... I shall request this on another thread!
I might not be exactly close but i'm running a RaceBeat catback tho i do also have a dual res and an Aem but it's a very nice sound :)
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by RenesisRaceBuggy »

13Black wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:55 pm
Aluminium is never used. The melting point of it is quite lower than EGT and it would probably sag at best.
You can use it for the silencer skins if you really want to save weight. Both my silencers on the buggy were aluminium skins and end caps.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by 13Black »

Splitting hairs there :D to quote Stephen Fry from earlier this year: "I believe one of the the greatest human failings is to prefer to be right than be effective".

The context being substantial weight saving using it for the whole system. Technically, sure, you probably could, but it's not a good idea.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by RenesisRaceBuggy »

Well, if we're splitting hairs, the silencers are most of the substantial weight in a full system ;)
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Rostyghost »

I've tried:
1. OEM box with original cat.
2. OEM box with decat pipe
3. PZ exhaust box with original cat
4. PZ exhaust with decat
5. Toyosports box with original cat
6. Toyosports box with sports cat on it.

Out of all these, PZ exhaust box with original cat was the best of both worlds, as it had nice, mature exhaust note @ 5k rpm onwards, and it wasn't noisy at all at speeds from 1k - 4k rpm. Decat wasn't making huge difference, it's just smell that overshadowed even a bit more lively throttle response.

Saying that though, I have Cobra Sport exhaust box coming over next week. We'll see if it will satisfy my picky demand for a nice exhaust note. If it goes well, I'll try to mate it to magnaflow sports cat.
I don't expect it to be quiet, but after viewing a few videos I think it will be good enough to drive in the city without feeling like a chav in a corsa with fisted exhaust box on the back and throaty enough to enjoy some motorway driving without radio on.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by CTID »

GSB had a racing beat cat-back on his R3. That was a very good sound but totally acceptable at low revs, nothing that'd annoy the neighbours unless you tried to.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by New Duke »

bigpete8 wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 12:08 pm
Similar to the original poster think my exhaust will give up the ghost in the near future (next APR MOT if not before) as now had to replace a hanger and patch hole after back box.

I do kind have have the opposite question - does the catback exhaust make much of a difference to performance?
My current one is Toyo style and think it could be less intrusive at some cruising speeds and wouldn't mind something quieter if it didn't blunt performance.
There is no way I'll be spending 700+ quid on Racing beat or similar, but have seen there is a Klarius system that looks very OEM like.
Anyone got one on / any comments on it?
Seems like you aren't going to get a 'better' catback than the Toyo without laying down some serious money. Personally I think Toyosports parts are ludicrously good value for money. Just buy another and turn the heavy metal up louder :lol:

My Toyosports midpipe alone is 20db approx louder than stock :whistle: But it pops beautifully on every 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th upshift. All for £70. :inlove:
Hopkins wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 4:34 pm
The switch sounds fun, even if it niggles me as "something else to go wrong"! I'll check out his page in more detail.
RRP do sell a regular (non-active) catback which is lovely, sounds great and is cheaper than the RB one, as nice as that is. It's well worth a look.
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Re: Exhaust Options

Post by Ninja_Freak »

Still loving my Active Exhaust and Decat Dual Resonator from Rotary Revs.

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