Hey, I was talking to a friend and he said to spend the money and get a Greddy Evolution exhaust.. but my main concern is money. They have good mufflers on ebay for between 30-60 bucks. So I'm thinkin custom catback.... but If I go that route, Should I get 2.25 inch tubing, or 2.5". My only mods so far are 16 Enkei's wrapped in 205/50/16, and ebay cold air intake with a high flow K&N filter. I called around for custom exhaust with 2.5" piping, and one place said 180. Would that include a high flow cat converter? Do I need a high flow cat converter for the catback exhaust? Are high flow cat converters for a base lancer DOT legal? If i got one and it wasn't, id want a bolt on so when inspection comes around I could take that thing off. Let me know!
-N1te

 

careful with the ebay mufflers. they sell for low/little money, but some sound horrible and some just fall apart from the inside. get the 2.25inch tubing for all motor. you dont really need a high flow cat for the basic bolt on's. it'll just be extra money spent for a VERY minimal gain. $180 sounds kind of expensive.... they probably just meant the pipping. i guess it depends on the area you live in though. around here you can get custom pipping done for $80-$100 if you look around. of course some people will try to ripp you off, like the quote you said above.

 

You should also make sure you get the same sized piping for both your exhaust piping and the muffler itself. Also check to see what metal they're using and what kind of bends.

I wouldn't go with anything other than stainless steel piping as mild steel and even aluminized steel tends to rust over time. And mandrel bent piping will cost you more but will give you true diameter piping throughout the whole exhaust, where press bent piping will have some areas that get pinched to less than your specified exhaust size.

And as for pricing, we have a shop locally that does catback piping for around $100 depending on the piping size and how many bends it takes.

 

Ebay has all kinds of mufflers, which ones are good?

 

i got my muffler off ebay over two years ago. it sounds great and is still holding up very well. theres a pic in my profile.

 

i'm not sure. maybe ask petey pab what brand/company his muffler is? maybe ask some local people that have delt with ebay mufflers? i'm just saying be careful which one you choose. like i said some sound EXTREMELY horrible, or some just rust and fall apart right away. just giving you the heads up.

 

if you're doing it at home, you can use mild steel- just coat it with some high temp paint (1200 deg engine paint, the exhaust gasses get well above 900deg coming out of the header). Stainless is a biatch to weld. The aluminized is supposed to be good for about 5 years- you just grind away the aluminum in the area you're going to weld.

For bends that are less than 90 degrees, you can use good ol' crimp bends - the flow characteristics are remarkably similar to mandrel bends for bends 60deg or less. Once you get near 90deg the flow is severly hampered by the crimp bend. But that's all academic because the only shop near me that carries exhaust piping only carries mandrel "U" bends and straight sections.

A local speed shop that's been around for a while shouldn't charge too much for a custom catback. The shop I get most of my stuff from is a 'Merican muscle shop that's been around since like 1974 and they have had some great recommendations for shops that work on imports. I'd stay away from that new "tuner" shop that just opened- they NEED to make money to pay for all that overhead, the older shops tend to have lower overhead because they've paid off most of that equipment.

I'd encourage you to take care of the intake, headers and downpipe before you tackle the exhaust sections. Fabbing a 2.25" mandrel bent downpipe greatly increased throttle response and feels much smoother, too.

 

I highly dout that the greddy exausht will do much I would check out the OBX B5 muffler which sonds like no other muffler, its deep and your ride will never sound like a honda. Save the money you would end up spending on the greddy and use it toward a better MOD like forged rods or pistons which will show you a difference.
But thats just me I have an OBX B5 and love it, but any who I just that I would drop that info by.

 

Engineerboy,
So are you saying to get headers and a downpipe before at catback exhaust?

 

^ it totally up to you. i purchased/installed my header (kamikaze) before i bought my cat back exhaust. either way your good. i'm sure most would agree that you'll get more performance out of the header though.

 

The header and downpipe will probably net you better gains (the header will for sure) than the catback will. Especially with the RPW header/downpipe combo that wadadl had dyno'd at a 17whp gain.