Need help before jumping in...

[XtoZ]

I'm starting to look into mods for the CR-Z. I'd like to mess with the exhaust/intake, but I'm a little overwhelmed/nervous.

With my MINI Cooper S, I did a "one ball" mod, which sounded great and gave me performance gains along with a really good CAI with heat shield. However, after the exhaust mod, the CEL would come on and off because of the O2 sensor. Also, even before the CEL came up, she ran rich. I'll make a point here though, this small mod gave me enough horsepower/sound to please me. So I'm looking for something similar without the problems.

I want to make sure I do this correctly. I don't want it running rich or lean. I don't want to dirty up an O2 sensor either. I don't need anything fancy. I won't be making this a speed demon like the MINI (too much time and money for increasing the chances of speeding tickets lol). So while performance gains would be nice, I pretty sure I don't want headers, mid pipes, down pipes, etc.

What I'm thinking of doing, after much reading here, is buying a spoon filter for the existing intake box. I think it's the best choice and relatively cheap. Exhaust is another question. I'm not sure if I want a cat -back or an axle-back. I know what they mean, but I'm not entirely sure which would be best for me. I'd like a throatier note, but I also don't want drone. Couple in the fact that I don't want rich/lean issues, and I hope everyone here can understand my hesitation. And I'm assuming just a new muffler would be stupid for the price since you don't see performance gains for a similar price as an axle-back, right?

Ugh, sorry, my head is spinning here. Any help would be appreciated .

Also, just as a shameless plug. If anyone is willing to help out with springs:

Anyone in Ohio?

[northbridge]

General info:

Intake side:
Intakes on this car arent loud (i've had two different ones). The MAF sensor will prevent the car from running too lean or rich as it adjusts the car for the additional airflow. You will notice a power gain or at the very least improved response from the throttle. If youre only getting a drop in filter you will notice a increased sound, a bit better response and some MPGs

Exhaust side:
The second cat has an o2 sensor BEFORE the cat. There is no problem with leaning out even if you replace the second cat with a test pipe. If you replace everything from the second cat all the way back, the exhaust will be loud. If you leave the cat on and just replace the rest of the exhaust you will be quieter (but not quiet). You stated that you dont want to remove the cat but i was just giving info.

An axelback will change the sound of the exhaust - makes it more sporty and deep but shouldnt drone at all. The HKS muffler i had sounded great.

Catback is a different story altogether. They will all sound different. In general - larger pipe yeilds more performance but also more sound and drone potential.

Hope that helped.

[XtoZ]

Thanks man. I just noticed K&N makes a drop in filter. It's washable to boot, unlike Spoon's. Is it a good filter or should I just stick with getting the Spoon drop in?

Regarding the exhaust, it sounds like an axle-back is what I want then. Although, I'm interested in the test pipe thing you were talking about. How would I got about that/cost/what does it look like installed?

Thanks man, really appreciate the help!

[dripkit]

K&N filter has had great reviews from forum members and is a fraction of the cost of the Spoon.

K&N Air Filter?

[northbridge]

a few members here have used the K&N and they all like it. I havent seen a negative review yet. I'd go with that one.

A test pipe removes the second cat before the exhaust midpipe. P2R ($250), Noblesse and AJR ($1xx) make one (along with a forum member who can also make one for you). I think that overall the AJR is the best one as far as cost etc. The test pipe (also called a downpipe on this forum) will make any axelback you get louder though.

[XtoZ]

Originally Posted by northbridge

a few members here have used the K&N and they all like it. I havent seen a negative review yet. I'd go with that one.

A test pipe removes the second cat before the exhaust midpipe. P2R ($250), Noblesse and AJR ($1xx) make one (along with a forum member who can also make one for you). I think that overall the AJR is the best one as far as cost etc. The test pipe (also called a downpipe on this forum) will make any axelback you get louder though.

So if I got a downpipe and left the stock exhaust on, would that help performance/sound wise?

[northbridge]

The P2R pipe was dynoed at 5hp and like 10tq or something like that (AJR dyno is still pending i think). It would increase performance for sure. The exhaust would get a little deeper if you left it stock but it should be an incremental change. Not much more sound.

[lldsandsll]

the P2R downpipe is mandrel bent and the other one is crush bent, that's why the pricing is different. mandrel bending is far superior, but without seeing the results of the dyno for crush bent pipe, it's hard to say how big a difference it is on our car.

i got the P2R full cat back exhaust and i love it. i get about 2 MPG more than normal, and i like the sound it makes.

[northbridge]

AJR, Noblesse and P2R are mandrel.
The one you can get from a forum member is crush bent (but the bends are super mild so it doesnt matter as much as it would for a midpipe for instance.)

just for clarification (for the OP)

[lldsandsll]

ahhh, my bad