just installed new exhaust

[lldsandsll]

hey guys, just got back from p2r and had the full cat back exhaust installed. hung out with sean from p2r as well as the owner of ksk while they assisted with the install. anyway, this setup is great. see the pics (one is stock, other is the cat back). more pics/vid later.

i contemplated the less expensive down pipe which functions the same, but between the two, i would prefer piping that isn't crushed. the part is short, and we're only modding a cr-z so any difference in performance would be negligible, but my preference is piping being perfectly round and the same diameter all the way through.

with that said, mid pipe looked fantastic, and is much larger than stock. you may not be able to tell so easily from the pics, but it's about twice as thick now. this matches the piping coming off the first cat which is much wider than the stock cat back piping.

last, the muffler tip turns down, but also sits a bit more back than stock because the new muffler is smaller. when you look at the back of the car all you see at first glance is the rear valence.

the sound is great. i have a cvt so when i mash it while in sport, it remains screaming at the red line. you will hear this inside your car, it's somewhat loud when you accelerate, though nowhere near what my v8 mustang was like with straight pipes, if that comparison is at all helpful. when coasting the sound is mild, whereas stock i would say there is no sound at all, so good thing it sounds so nice. right amount of exhaust pressure. it's full and low sounding. i will make a video as soon as i can find someone to help me with it.

[northbridge]

damn it i wish i knew you were gonna be there. Im going tomorrow for the install and a dyno!

with that setup what do you think of the sound as far as raspiness? Cant wait for tomorrow!

[Whocares05050]

Exhaust looks good. Of course, a mandrel bender helps, on a cr-z, performance wont be affected with mandrel vs crush bent. the term crush bent is sometimes taken the wrong way, however. you're no losing any diameter. it isnt going anywhere. instead of being round 2.5 inches, is displaces the 2.5 in an oval shape in the bends. On a 800hp car, mandrel all the way, on a 120hp hybrid, you wont see any difference. In fact, unless you are going to turbo or s/c the car, going larger than 2 1/4 would be too much, imho, and show a decrease in power down low/mid range.

I have many cars that race at palm beach international raceway come into my shop every week getting custom exhaust. crush bent works for them. it also works for many others in the industry. but when you use galvanized piping and cheaper materials, you can sell mandrel exhaust all day in-expensive.

either way, it looks good and im sure sounds good. the more people that make products for our cars, the more routes we can all go being unique and different and mod different from others.

[lldsandsll]

totally agree with you on everything you said. i didn't mean to imply the crush would be smaller, just slightly oval as you mentioned. also, it's good to see we have people making parts in the US for import cars.

northbridge, they mentioned you would be stopping in. i love the exhaust. it's not raspy at all. sean told me to give it a day or so to break in since the packing in the muffler needs to burn off. he said the sound will soften slightly once that is done. you can smell it burning off too. i was never aware of this before today.

[kronzonly]

Very nice. Can't wait to get my mid pipe.

[lldsandsll]

oh i forgot to mention speed/power. it's noticeably quicker. in sport the tach climbs in 2mph increments at higher speeds which i don't recall it doing before. definitely a decent amount of punch added.

[northbridge]

nice. cant wait.

[stephenj37826]

With your new exhaust is it easier to keep the car in lean burn? I was thinking about getting the black label combo .

[lldsandsll]

if by lean you are referring to the A/F ratio, i wouldn't know how to tell. all i can say is that it sounds great, is faster, and when i drive it conservatively, it is noticeably better on gas. i'm not sure how the black label kit is, but i'm absolutely loving this p2r kit.

will post a vid very soon, sorry for the delay.

[northbridge]

^ ive noticed the exact same with gas mileage also. As for power after 3.5 - 4k it opens up a lot.

I also love the sound. Its not too loud outside the car but because of the battery compartment vent or whatever opening is in the hatch the exhaust sounds louder than it actually is on the inside of the car. Its def not as quiet as the HKS exhaust though which was expected. I'm still getting used to it but overall I like this setup a lot (more than I liked the HKS).