I spent the entire day yesterday getting the pipe on. First off I had no jack or stands so I went to pepboys and bought a $30 jack and stand kit. Unfortunatly it only lifted the car off the ground high enough for me to barley fit. All four tires were still on the ground. Frist i got the car up and realized that i did not have the correct size socket to get off the head pipe bolts. They are 17mm and require a deep socket. So I went to the parts store got the wrench and took off the front end of the down pipe. Then when I got to the back bolts I found that they were a different size 19mm. So I got a ride to the store to get the wrench. Upon returning I found that the bolt was frozen so tight I could not get it off. So I bolted everything back and went to a friends for help. By this point it was dark out so I was working by flashlight. One of my friends neighbors was able to break the bolt after the cat free by pushing on it with his foot. I was too afraid to do it. Then I just had to unbolt the front, The O2 sensor was in a impossible position to unbolt, so I just cut the wire half way. Then I sliped off the rubber hangers and had the old pipe was off after like 6 hours. Then I found that the bolts in the old cat were all rusted so I went to the hardware store and bought 2 new bolts and used them, this made putting it back on 100 times easier. I removed the O2 sensor and put it in the new pipe rebolted everything and then rewired the O2 sensor, its only 4 wires. So now i have the downpipe with stock exhaust and it does not sound so great, I am just waiting to get my axle back from RRM.

Nick

 

do you feel a differnece in power?

 

oh yeah I can, in 1st i can get it up to 4.5k and mivec so fast now with the CAI and downpipe...the sound off the pipe is so loud i cant hear the intake any more, I am kinda afraid I might get pulled over its so loud.

 

1. next time get a set of sockets (all sizes)
2. why are you not afraid of letting somebody else break the bolt with his foot, if he broke it vs. you broke it it's the same thing

-joe

 

That loud, huh?
Is it like annoyingly loud... I'm not worried about being pulled over but I am worried about wanting to shoot myself in the head while driving due to the noise...

 

That wouldn't worry me...I have a nice clear and loud stereo system...hehe

 

what about when you drive normol?

 

Like any part of the exhaust, it only really gets loud when your revving high and at WOT.
I would presume then if your keeping your rpms low and not flooring it there shouldn't be that much of a difference in volume.

 

It sounds good and its not that loud, I mean its loud but I dont think its annoying, I like the sound. Makes it sound like a world rally car and it makes your car feel and sound faster haha

 

The downpipe deletes the cat right? If the cat goes byebye, so does a lot of the sound deadining of the exhaust system.

 

good, if it sounds almost normal at low rpms thats what i want ,so i can scare the hell out of the handas when im in full wot hahaha.

 

He probably wasnt afraid of breaking anything, he was probably afraid that he would kick the car off the jackstand and have it fall on him, and in that case, I would rather it fall on a friend than me! haha

 

Somebody should make a soundclip of the exhaust with the downpipe and axleback. It seems like it gets annoyingly loud. Somebody on here added a second resonator to combat the noise.

 

haha.. good point

-joe

 

I posted this a month ago and thought you'd like to see it again:

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Herez my experience with exhaust installs/mods.

First I installed a RRM downpipe (1.5 hr install) with stock muffler because they were out of the axel back. Let's just say that was the WORST sounding exhaust I've ever heard!!! At about 4,000 rpm's, the stock exhaust would rattle sooo bad I was purposely shifting early to avoid it. I believe there was some power gains, but I was too embarased to step on it much.

About a week later they got the axel-back in so I picked it up and installed it (about 45 min install). Car sounded killer when you would start it up with a deep rumble in the idle. BUT... I never knew a 4-banger could be so freakin' loud!!! Without the CAT and the Magnaflo muffler, I sounded like a NASCAR (no kidding!!!). I had one of my friends sit on the porch while I punched it around the neighborhood, and he agreed, too loud!

My solution was to take it to a local speed shop and he suggested a 24" Magnaflo resonator. He assured me that I would lose no more than 1-2HP. So I had it welded into the stock pipe and damn, what a difference! Still sounds good when you start it up and screams when you really stomp on it. And with casual driving is louder than stock, but very pleasant and it doesn't feel like I lost any power.

The best part is that my CIVIC SI friend said that it sounded better than his Skunk2 exhaust and that it wasn't too ricey!!!

Total cost was kinda exspensive, but you get what you pay for:

RRM Downpipe - $289
RRM Axel-back - $299
resonator + install - $99
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