88 prelude si exhaust

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

sleepercrx90

New Member
i just bought a 88 prelude si with the b20a5, and i love it. i installed a new timing belt, water pump, cam seals, and crank seal, so now its ready for some aftermarket mods.

its got a short ram intake but the exhaust is stock. i am looking for a fairly loud exhaust sound with a raspy tone. does anyone have any advice on what to do, and what sounds good. should i keep the resonator and cat, or should one or the other go. by the way i just ordered a 4.5" tip muffler, so that will also go on.
thanks
 
The Cat and resonator should be left on there for smog/emission reasons.

Why would you want a loud exhaust? I don't know where you are from, but most often they are just cop magnets, not to mention they get annoying after a while.
 
do u even have a prelude, im looking for good advice on exhaust, your not telling my anything i dont already know

are you looking for a performance exhaust system, or just the sound? cus you can get the sound by cutting some holes towards the back if thats all you want.... as to a performance system, i dont know
 
Whether I have a Prelude or not doesn't make a difference. You don't have to be a Prelude owner to put an exhaust on a car.

Put whatever you want on the car. "Loud and raspy" may be what you think is cool, but to most others, it's rice. But at 16, I guess you know everything you need to.

Another noob that will give nothing but attitude to anybody and everybody on this site...
 
are you looking for a performance exhaust system, or just the sound? cus you can get the sound by cutting some holes towards the back if thats all you want.... as to a performance system, i dont know
yeah, i already cut a hole in the piping in front of the muffler, and it gave it some deep sound, but its not quite the sound im after, do u know how taking out the cat or resonator would affect the sound?
 
Whether I have a Prelude or not doesn't make a difference. You don't have to be a Prelude owner to put an exhaust on a car.

Put whatever you want on the car. "Loud and raspy" may be what you think is cool, but to most others, it's rice. But at 16, I guess you know everything you need to.

Another noob that will give nothing but attitude to anybody and everybody on this site...
thanks for the advice
 
yeah, i already cut a hole in the piping in front of the muffler, and it gave it some deep sound, but its not quite the sound im after, do u know how taking out the cat or resonator would affect the sound?

couldnt tell you, I dont have very much experiance with exhaust. I just know that when my exhaust started to rust through, it sounds awesome..... to me! :D
 
so you just want an exhaust system so your car will be loud?

get the Nopi #1 cat back system, its cheap & loud

btw, you are a ricer.....
 
yeah, i already cut a hole in the piping in front of the muffler, and it gave it some deep sound, but its not quite the sound im after, do u know how taking out the cat or resonator would affect the sound?

You cut a hole in your exhaust pipe to make your car loud?

You = Rice

Now that that's out of the way, what size is the inlet on the muffler you ordered?
 
hey be easy on me, i was bored and didnt have any money.

anyway, it has a 2.5" inlet

Alright then, well what I would do next is, take your muffler to an exhaust shop, and tell them you want a custom exhaust system using the muffler. Usually I'd recommend a 2.25" exhaust for an N/A Honda, but since yours is a 2.0 liter and your muffler has the 2 1/2" inlet, I'd probably just go with 2 1/2" pipe. They may give you a choice between stainless piping and aluminum piping. If you're willing to spend the money on stainless, then go with that. It won't rust out. Tell them you want a full 2 1/2" exhaust from the cat back, and that you don't want any resonators in it. This should give you a smooth-flowing exhaust that's also decently loud and throaty sounding.

If you can't afford an entire system, then you can just ask for the resonated portion of the exhaust to be removed and replaced with straight pipe. If your state does inspections, then you'll want to keep the cat converter. If they don't, then you can replace it with a test pipe, but you'll have to buy it and install it on your own. The shop probably won't want to mess with the cat converter (unless they're shady and you pay in cash).

So yeah, in review...

Best option: Have entire exhaust pipe replaced with straight 2 1/2" pipe from the cat converter back, and finish it off with the muffler.
Other (not so good but still loud) option: have the factory resonator replaced with straight pipe, and have the muffler welded on to the factory exhaust.
 
Alright then, well what I would do next is, take your muffler to an exhaust shop, and tell them you want a custom exhaust system using the muffler. Usually I'd recommend a 2.25" exhaust for an N/A Honda, but since yours is a 2.0 liter and your muffler has the 2 1/2" inlet, I'd probably just go with 2 1/2" pipe. They may give you a choice between stainless piping and aluminum piping. If you're willing to spend the money on stainless, then go with that. It won't rust out. Tell them you want a full 2 1/2" exhaust from the cat back, and that you don't want any resonators in it. This should give you a smooth-flowing exhaust that's also decently loud and throaty sounding.

If you can't afford an entire system, then you can just ask for the resonated portion of the exhaust to be removed and replaced with straight pipe. If your state does inspections, then you'll want to keep the cat converter. If they don't, then you can replace it with a test pipe, but you'll have to buy it and install it on your own. The shop probably won't want to mess with the cat converter (unless they're shady and you pay in cash).

So yeah, in review...

Best option: Have entire exhaust pipe replaced with straight 2 1/2" pipe from the cat converter back, and finish it off with the muffler.
Other (not so good but still loud) option: have the factory resonator replaced with straight pipe, and have the muffler welded on to the factory exhaust.
thanks for all that. i think ill go with the 2.5 inch pipe ran back from the cat to the muffler, with no resonator.

i might get a test pipe and put it on just to see how it sounds, but it will most likely be way to loud, so ill just leave the cat stock.
 
thanks for all that. i think ill go with the 2.5 inch pipe ran back from the cat to the muffler, with no resonator.

i might get a test pipe and put it on just to see how it sounds, but it will most likely be way to loud, so ill just leave the cat stock.

Sounds like a good plan! :thumbsup:
 
Back
Top