Exhaust theory: shop-built custom vs. manufacturd

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confusatron

Senior Member
So, I was thinking, if you have two identical inside diameter pipes, one steel, one stainless steel, two high flow cats, and two equal size resonators at the exact same point in the exhaust system, and two identical straight through tube mufflers at the end, from a physical perspective, you have an identically performing exhaust.

Depeding on where you go in terms of muffler shops, this could cost you from $300 installed where I go, to $600 installed where I used to go. Now assuming that you could find a good muffler shop like the first one, and if you didn't mind possibly replacing a section of rusted piping after a few years for less than $100 or so, then you'd be getting almost exactly the same performance and sound from the custom built system as from the manufactured system. I only say "almost exactly the same performance" because if you have welded bends as opposed to mandrel bends, you might lose a fraction of a horsepower due to the microscopic impedance to flow.

Any comments?
 
I have yet to hear a "custom pipe job" exhaust that matches the sound quality of a Designer system such as Apexi, Thermal, RSR, Tanabe, Greddy, HKS, etc. . . . .

Also, custom shops dont "mandrel bend" their pipes, instead they use a pipe kinker which slows up the flow of the air >>> not alowing the exhaust to effectively flow the same ammount of air as a designer system using the same diamiter piping.

Designer exhasuts are cheep anyways. As long as you are not getting an Invidia system or one of those really overpriced ones, a good Greddy/Apex/Thermal exhaust will run you $500, wont rust, and will sound much better than a kink'ed pipe with one of those pepboyz mufflers.
 
my header-back exhaust has mandrel bends(complete 1 piece piping; built by some muffler shop around Burlington, NC.) you just have to look around. i have a cheap muffler on right now, sounds decent, but way better than the Apexi N1s. im sure itll sound better when i get a magnaflow muffler on there.
 
I have a muffler shop custom 2.25" exhaust on my 1990 V6 Camry, and that mutherfucker sounds like a V8. Smooth, deep, and not an ounce of fart can sound. It's really an intimidating sound, too bad it's coming from a stodgy looking camry. :)

The point of this thread was only to ask the question, is the manufactured system better enough to warrant the high price tag, and the answer is, depends on what aftermarket system you buy. I suppose you could swing a deal where you didn't really pay more or much more than the muffler shop job, so I guess it's just a coin flip.

The biggest mistake people make though, with the custom jobs, is that they think that straight pipes with no resonator will give them a good sound. It will at first, but with no resonators, you basically have loud sound, almost all the time. Which gets really really tired quick. There are times when I wish I had an on off switch for the sound.

For my Civic, I still haven't decided which way I'm going to go. I can get a catback Magnaflow system from ebay for like $400 shipped. I'm tempted. Gotta get the CEL code checked out tomorrow though first. My hunch is it's the VSS because the tach works, but the speedometer isn't registering. And the speedo worked with the previous engine. Will be jumping that brown terminal in the morning. I've also been tossing around the idea of buying a G-Tech meter, so I don't have to drive all the way out to bufu Indiana to the US 41 raceway to get ETs and that crap.
 
Originally posted by confusatron@Sep 4 2005, 02:15 AM
The biggest mistake people make though, with the custom jobs, is that they think that straight pipes with no resonator will give them a good sound. It will at first, but with no resonators, you basically have loud sound, almost all the time. Which gets really really tired quick. There are times when I wish I had an on off switch for the sound.
[post=549400]Quoted post[/post]​


This is why im trading my exhaust for a stock Si one. :lol:
 
i build complete stainless steel mandrel bent exhaust systems. Better than an exhaust shop? yes by far. As good as a manufactured system? prob not quite due to the fact that i dont R&D every exhaust sstem i build before i build it. I like to think that the systems i build are as close as it gets to being as good as a bought system, without actually buying one, or spending all that much money. Like i said everything in the entire system is stainless, right down to the hangers and the wire that i use to make the welds. Most systems usually do for around 300 so i figure its a very good alternative to spending all the money and buying a manufactured system
 
Originally posted by Cashizslick@Sep 2 2005, 10:57 PM
I have yet to hear a "custom pipe job" exhaust that matches the sound quality of a Designer system such as Apexi, Thermal, RSR, Tanabe, Greddy, HKS, etc. . . . .

Also, custom shops dont "mandrel bend" their pipes, instead they use a pipe kinker which slows up the flow of the air >>> not alowing the exhaust to effectively flow the same ammount of air as a designer system using the same diamiter piping.

Designer exhasuts are cheep anyways. As long as you are not getting an Invidia system or one of those really overpriced ones, a good Greddy/Apex/Thermal exhaust will run you $500, wont rust, and will sound much better than a kink'ed pipe with one of those pepboyz mufflers.
[post=549093]Quoted post[/post]​

i have a shop in my town that mandrel bends, i think they are the only ones in my town
 
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