Power vs. Sound

[squidward]

Clearly both are important but what was lacking that drove you to upgrade your exhaust?
A- Performance
B- Sound

[addertooth]

upgrade which? Engine, intake, or (most likely) exhaust?
I didn't like the anemic sound of the stock exhaust. But my exhaust choice was largely driven by eventual power goals and maintainability. Exhaust which breathes well frequently sounds good as a bonus.

[squidward]

Originally Posted by addertooth

upgrade which? Engine, intake, or (most likely) exhaust?
I didn't like the anemic sound of the stock exhaust. But my exhaust choice was largely driven by eventual power goals and maintainability. Exhaust which breathes well frequently sounds good as a bonus.

Oops sorry, I meant exhaust.. seemed to delete that word in my edit lol

Anyway, your first statement indicated you said sound was lacking.. But then you said your goal was power. So let's say your new exhaust yielded an additional 15HP. If it yielded absolutely no sound improvement would you have been satisfied and settled?

[addertooth]

I am a substance over form person, so yes. But this isn't my first performance rodeo, Sound can take away from power, but enhance power rarely has a bad impact on sound.

[Me!]

My Exige sounded like a Porsche, and that is why I upgraded my exhaust! Let's face it, for the Elige the only reason to replace the exhaust is for sound and to add lightness because I haven't seen anyone who got power gains with a new exhaust.

[squidward]

Originally Posted by addertooth

I am a substance over form person, so yes. But this isn't my first performance rodeo, Sound can take away from power, but enhance power rarely has a bad impact on sound.

Gotcha.

BTW, it's okay to vote both. Hence the checkboxes.

[addertooth]

Me!,
Look at the difference (hp and hardware) between the katana2 kit, and the katana265 kit. It is hard to get much HP difference with exhaust on a normally aspirated engine, but the difference can be bigger on a supercharged car.

[Me!]

Originally Posted by addertooth

Me!,
Look at the difference (hp and hardware) between the katana2 kit, and the katana265 kit. It is hard to get much HP difference with exhaust on a normally aspirated engine, but the difference can be bigger on a supercharged car.

I don't consider the headers and CAT to be the exhaust (most people only replace the cat back exhaust section here)... I would agree that a new tune and better headers / cat delete will give you more power though.

[addertooth]

I don't consider decat and headers to be a "cat back exhaust" (catalytic converter and back), but they are definately a major part of your exhaust system. Many would say the most critical areas of exhaust power loss are the headers and cat/decat. However, for those *just* changing the cat-back, sound would be the principal reason, as few real power gains are realized with just a cat-back system. If you look at my signature, you will see the whole exhaust system was upgraded.

[Me!]

Originally Posted by addertooth

I don't consider decat and headers to be a "cat back exhaust", but they are definately a major part of your exhaust system. Many would say the most critical areas of exhaust power loss are the headers and cat/decat. However, for those *just* changing the cat-back, sound would be the principal reason, as few real power gains are realized with just a cat-back system.

Don't forget that I lost about 20lbs by getting a new cat-back exhaust! I mean you are right about the power... But I would say 75% of the people here haven't touched the cat or headers due to legality issues / smogging and the high prices of aftermarket headers.

[holmz]

Originally Posted by addertooth

I don't consider decat and headers to be a "cat back exhaust" (catalytic converter and back), ...

Since the header are forward of the cat and the cat itself is not behind the cat, then you would indeed be correct.

[addertooth]

Sorry for the obviousness Holmz, I just wanted to deliniate the elements of the exhaust with clarity. It worked into the discussion where power gains were found in the entire exhaust system. The root poll question centered around "did you change your exhaust for power or for sound".

[Me!]

I also should mention that by simply adding headers and removing the cat will only give you minimal gains (if any) unless you have a tune to take advantage of it... So I guess if it is exhaust work only we will only be getting sound and lightness. If it includes the tune we will get much more out of it!

[XHILR8N!]

First things a kid does to a first car is a sound system and exhaust.

I had a Spitfire back when I was about 20. Took an ice pick to the muffler. Bliss! For free!

[holmz]

Originally Posted by addertooth

Sorry for the obviousness Holmz, I just wanted to deliniate the elements of the exhaust with clarity. It worked into the discussion where power gains were found in the entire exhaust system. The root poll question centered around "did you change your exhaust for power or for sound".

I know you were doing that, and it was gentlemanly of you to word your post the way you did.
I (also) am not sure how sound makes performance.
It is like red lip stick, or spats... Just decoration, and only suggestive of performance.

I would rather work the header and the muffler, and leave the cat to void fines.
There is no disgrace in a semi quiet car especially if the performance is there.

[RBH]

For me it was both power and sound. The OEM exhaust was holding the car back and since I upgraded, the car opened up. Also, it sounds better too

[driftwood]

I did my 'decat' setup for power (less restriction)... altering sound was merely a byproduct of my setup (however i do run a 14" resonator to avoid an unbearable drone but it still drones a bit)

[Drew09]

Honestly, my #1 reason was the look. I fell in love with the CGT exhaust when I worked for Porsche, so I bought the larini se exhaust for the elise because it is very similar looking. Of course the sound is a big plus.

[squidward]

Interesting. Didn't occur to me the aesthetics department but it makes sense.

[ewalberg]

if someone made a quieter exhaust i would probably buy it. If it could also offer power i would likely have to buy it... none available that i'm aware of so still stock.

I've never heard an elige that sounded anything like any porsche... any kind of stock elige usually sounds like a toyota econobox with a fart can exhaust on them to me... sounding like a porsche would not be so bad imho.