custom 2.5" Magnaflow exhaust

[ElementZOE]

i have been wanting to pull the trigger on an exhaust for my E for some time now. as i was cleaning up a couple of weeks ago i found my Injen SRI in the back of a closet. i had issues with this intake but could not remember what the deal was at first. anyway, the Injen SRI has been installed for over a week now and the issues i had are no longer there, meaning i probably didn't tighten something down correctly and it was sucking air. moving on. stored behind my Injen intake i had some brand new exhaust parts still in the box for a car that i sold and forgot about. yesterday i had them installed by a local muffler shop and i am digging it.

i installed a 24" Flowtech Red Hots glasspack as a resonator, a 24" Magnaflow universal offset/offset muffler and black Ractive 8"L x 6"W x 2.5"H oval tip.

when i first start it up its a little loud but it soon goes away. i have not noticed any power increase at all though. i was not able to get it up to 70 on my way to work today, but it seemed somewhat quiet at 60 or so. i am not sure what the dreaded drone everyone talks about, but i do not hear it. i can hear the exhaust (over my Grabber AT2s) while driving at normal speeds but it is not loud. when it does start getting a little loud, my AUTO trannny shifts into a higher gear and its quiet again so thats good. i will try to get some pics and video soon but its raining buckets in Seattle right now. i really like the look of the tip. the factory tip was the only part of my car that i really hated. it sounds similar to what i have heard on video from E's with the muffler removed but can't be sure.

pics/video coming soon....

[Audiophyle]

Right on, Ive been itching to redo the exhaust on my E too. Reset your ECU to see the gains in performance from your new gear.

Im on the fence betweeen a 2.5" or 3" myself (plan to turbo eventually), but have plenty of time thanks to a mile long list of other projects ahead of it.

Good to hear you are not experiencing any drone, thats been my biggest fear. At what cruising RPM are you hitting this loud point? (& what RPM is the tranny upshifting at)

[eyecarvether4iam]

Audiophyle, if you are going to go turbo in the future, go with 3". You will see a little low end power loss in stock form, but will not have to redo things later down the road. You will also get much better top end out of the 3" even in stock form.

[ElementZOE]

Originally Posted by Audiophyle

Right on, Ive been itching to redo the exhaust on my E too. Reset your ECU to see the gains in performance from your new gear.

Im on the fence betweeen a 2.5" or 3" myself (plan to turbo eventually), but have plenty of time thanks to a mile long list of other projects ahead of it.

Good to hear you are not experiencing any drone, thats been my biggest fear. At what cruising RPM are you hitting this loud point? (& what RPM is the tranny upshifting at)

i reset the ECU but still have not seen a performance increase. if anything i feel as if i have lost low end power. while i have no concrete proof of this, i live on a huge hill and it felt like i had more power before installing my intake and exhaust when going up that hill everyday.

maybe i did not reset the ECU properly. i disconnected the battery, removed the ECU/FI fuse, waited 15 minutes, let the engine run for 15 minutes, turned the engine off, then turned the key to the on position.

as far as the cruising RPM, it starts at 2k and usually shifts at 2.5k to 2.8k. i hear it more starting off from a stop, but its not loud at higher speeds on the interstate.

[ElementZOE]

[eyecarvether4iam]

Looks great!!!

[ElementZOE]

Originally Posted by eyecarvether4iam

Looks great!!!

thanks! i am still testing things out to see if MPGs have changed at all and if performance changed too. i would recommend to anyone doing a custom exhaust to get an offset/offset muffler. the exhaust pipe from the CAT does not go in a straight line and the offset/offset muffler cuts down on the bends of the exhaust pipe. the guy who did my exhaust quoted me more until i showed him that i had an offset/offset muffler because it was less work he had to do and took less time.

[Audiophyle]

That setup looks great, tailpipe hanging out the back looks like what it should have all along.
I think you do have drone, just your auto gearbox is saving you from it. I am planning to run a side exit just in front of the rear tire, and will plan ahead of time to tune & install a Helmholtz resonator alongside the muffler. In theory it should eliminate drone, but we all know how well things translate from theory to practice. lol

Originally Posted by eyecarvether4iam

Audiophyle, if you are going to go turbo in the future, go with 3". You will see a little low end power loss in stock form, but will not have to redo things later down the road. You will also get much better top end out of the 3" even in stock form.

Yeah, I know. I ran 3" on a turbo SOHC a few years back, and that was almost a liter smaller in displacement. (1.6 @ ~280whp)
I just worry about that time between exhaust & turbo install, nothing worse than a very loud slow car.

[Eww-an E]

Looking good there ElementZOE.

[eyecarvether4iam]

Originally Posted by Audiophyle

Yeah, I know. I ran 3" on a turbo SOHC a few years back, and that was almost a liter smaller in displacement. (1.6 @ ~280whp)
I just worry about that time between exhaust & turbo install, nothing worse than a very loud slow car.

Agreed on the loud slow car. The proper setup for the 3" seems to be 18"+ long resonator(I have seen many people use the magnaflow round canisters) and an oval muffler about the same length. The round muffler is supposed to stop drone, and the oval muffler(having more packing material inside) does more of the noise reduction. You could also use a resonated tip as well.

Sorry for the thread jack OP... That was me...