I installed mine last night (magnaflow center and bullet muffler). it clears the heat shield no problem but it is kinda close to the driveshaft. im gonna have to listen with the windows down to make sure its not hitting anything.

I do have 1 problem though if anyone has an idea about it. After i changed the exhaust out i can no longer boost past 10psi. any idea on what could have caused this if all i did was change out exhaust?

 

Yup same piece mentioned by Armen (OP). I had zero clearance issues.

 

Doesnt make sense. This should not hurt boost any way but help it if you upgraded from a cat.

I think coincidentally you might have developed a boost leak.

Which downpipe are you running? I had a lot of clearance from the driveshaft tested with Buschur downpipe and Turbo XS downpipe.

Was it by as much as you were looking for?

 

yea thats the only thing i can think of also. never did a boost leak test before so guess i got something to do this weekend. im pretty sure though i must have knocked the IC pipe by the exhaust probably.

i am using a buschur 3 inch downpipe thats attached to an epm o2 dump housing. the epm housing does bring the exhaust down a tad more than stock if i remember correctly. on my drive to work i would only hear a little rattle coming from underneath but after looking i think it only the downpipe touching the sway bars under neath so im gonna get some slightly bigger spacers.

 

It's funny how changing one little thing can make you fall in love with your car all over again.

I just did this mod - it actually took me the whole day haha - tools weren't fitting, bolts weren't coming off, old bolts didn't fit the magnaflow's flanges, on and on. Then I stopped to watch the Cavs game.

Anyway, I'm SO impressed with how much quieter the car is. I didn't QUITE notice it at first (first time the car was on in about 2 weeks, idling on cold engine in the garage), but after I finally pulled the car out I noticed just how much quieter it is.

I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. On my old set up, 5th gear @ 45mph was louder than 4th gear at 45mph now. It's like each gear has gone up one gear (so down, in sound) in terms of sound volume. The sound level I put my stereo at for normal driving on the old set up is now sufficient for me to have on the highway. The primary sound I hear on the highway is no longer the exhaust, but tire noise. Idle is quiet now to a point of actual decency. I think it's important to note that my previous exhaust setup wasn't all that loud to begin with; it's just that much quieter now.

Also wanted to mention that I have zero creaks, rattles, squeaks, anything in my car - I had one squeak from an aftermarket stereo wire set up but I got that taken care of last month. I can't describe how much of a joy it is to be inside my car again driving it around - not for the power, the handling - but just for the simple fact of having a little peace and quiet like I would in a normal car.

Old set up: Tanabe DP 2.75", Cobb TP 3", Buschur catback and magnaflow 7"

The only thing changed was the test pipe, switched out to a 6" magnaflow can with a flange on each side. Clears the heatshield with no problems. Had to some finagling due to a long O2 sensor (from spark plug antifoulers attached) you'll see what I mean - the next time the car is up I think I will just purchase an angled O2 sensor. Below are pics:









In conclusion: If you're like me and willing to trade 3 horsepower for a little peace and quiet - this is the solution for you. In fact, this is the solution for ANYONE looking for a quiet exhaust for their evo.

a BIG thanks to BluEVOIX for helping me out when I was running into this or that. SO glad I stumbled upon this thread, and good luck to all!

 

Thanks for posting pictures.

That pretty much should show approximately how much clearance you have with the driveshaft for those that are concerned.

 

So I am unsatisfied with the decrease in sound by adding a muffler inline before the megan muffler and have decided to go back ot stock catback piping, i've lost my stock muffler though.

Is there any way my stock piping can be welded to my megan catback? Will that decrease the sound substantially?

 

What Diameter muffler did you choose to run in the center?

 

5"

 

Blueevoix, you mentioned before that you tried a vibrant oval and that did not quiet your system down much. I have ams tbe with a 4" resonator. Do you think the magnaflow oval that road race engineering sells in placeof the vibrant can will quiet a exhaust down?

 

Well that's about .5" diameter of packing material loss from a 6" . I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make. But not too great.

However I think your problem is the Megan muffler in the rear. Those do not quiet the exhaust noise very well. I'm pretty sure if you replace that rear muffler you would quiet down substantially.

 

Its hard to say.

I've had the RRE stealth exhaust and that was not quiet. Yes the muffler was quite large and it had 2 resonators, but resonators dont quiet an exhaust as much as people think. They are mostly for changing the tone and reducing rasp. As for the muffler, it just wasn't a quiet oval muffler.

The issue with my vibrant setup was I used the Bullet Muffler in the center. The Bullet is a very great muffler for a race setup because its light and some what does the job. But it doesnt reduce sound as I would like it to. Having said that the Vibrant might have been quieter with a 6" center as I did here. But how much I down know.

As for the RRE muffler. Its possible that the particular muffler model is not very quiet. Not all oval mufflers are created the same. Some are more densely packed, some have more area vertically not just horizontally etc.. but so far the round 7" magnaflow is pretty quiet with 6" center.

When choosing a oval muffler its true that the sides (horizontal) have a wider area to absorb sound. But the vertical area is cut down to barely nothing. I would choose an oval muffler that has at least an inch of horizontal area. Example: Cobb was very quiet with a oval muffler. Comparing that to vibrant muffler, the upper and lower space was wider to hold more sound suppressant material.

But just realize that those JDM style muffler dont muffle very well. So if you want to be really quiet by adding a center muffler, you would have to replace the rear Megan, Ebay, Jun BL, Greddy, etc... type mufflers.

Here take a look at my vibrant I used notice the vertical surface area from the inner pipe.


Now compare to these mufflers: Notice how much thicker they are vertically to potentially hold more packing material.






Here was my RRE stealth. It was kind of thick vertically but I'm guessing it was not packed very well because the casing felt so hollow and didnt quiet the car as people claim.

 

i saw all the different set ups going on.. i didn't post pictures of the tip but i think buschur's looks the best by far - and fits my jdm rear bumper PERFECTLY

 

Nice write up and info. Def helped me out with my exhaust set-up.

 

i've been following this project for LONG time and finally pulled the trigger. instead of 6 inch diameter magnaflow, i went with 5 inch magnaflow part 12867 for increased clearance. my original setup is buschur magnaflow catback with hollowed out buschur HFC . definetly made a difference in noise; though not as much as i hoped. i'd say a step quieter but i was hoping two or three steps quieter (almost stock as people kept claiming, without a doubt much louder then stock still)

it may have to do with my hks 272 cams and my car idling at 1200rpms but my car at cruise or idle isnt as quiet as OP's video. maybe my expectation built up over the several month but i was sorta disappointed. my personal review is its a great mod to do but dont expect a miracle.