Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

What's up boost heads. I am looking into getting a 3" catback for my turbo setup. I am not looking for anything loud and would rather have the quietest setup a turbo car can be while still taking advantage of the 3" outlet a turbo application requires. I am trying to avoid those raspy canister mufflers and I've narrowed it down to two setups:

1) Complete Thermal R&D 3" Catback (B130-C130)
2) APEX'i WS2 80mm (156-A010) muffler with a 3" exhaust pipe kit from KTeller (https://kteller.com/product/3-stainl...st-piping-kit/).

The APEX'i route is a little more cost effective but I need to get flanges and hangars welded. Either way, it's going to the exhaust shop to get a high flow cat fitted and I'm probably going to add a Vibrant resonator to tone it down a bit regardless of which setup I choose

This is going onto my Integra R. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

Cant go wrong with the Apexi setup.

I had a very quiet 3" setup on my car in the past. It was custom made. It had the normal long resonator in the pipe coming from Cat, another resonator in the elbow before the muffler, and the muffler was a Vibrant 3" straight through. It was great.

The more resonators the better.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

I had the 3" stainless Kteller kit welded up with two Magnaflow resonators, and it was too quiet for my liking anyways, until the wastegate opens with open dump tube. So I went down to one resonator.

I think if you use this kit with a 3" resonator in the long straight section under the car, with any muffler on the back it will be very, very quiet.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

If you're aiming for having it quiet, then go with the KTeller route.

You can fit a Vibrant ultra quiet resonator, as well as one of their shorter bottle resonators, within the pipe. Then obviously have a muffler at the tip. That would make for a very tame/quiet setup, especially if your dump tube is recirculating.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

My car is n/a, but I've got the kteller 3" pipe and I think its a good bang for the buck.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

Apex'i route over anything kteller, four to the low quality muffler baffle design and fitment for earlier model Hondas

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

Thanks for the feedback all

Unfortunately APEX'i does not offer a 3" WS2 catback setup so I went with the APEX'i WS2 80mm universal muffler. Instead of paying an arm and leg for an exhaust shop to fabricate me someting (I was quoted $400+ for mandrel bent tubes alone) I am planning to get the KTeller 3" stainless steel exhaust piping kit made for a DC2 chassis and have that fabbed with the APEX'i WS2 80mm muffler. The only other exhaust piping kit I can find my for specific application is from "TruBendz" so my options seem very limited. Was going to go with KTeller (just for the piping kit) but should I reconsider?

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

You're right. There was no full exhaust, but the muffler itself is what counts the most. If you must do a combo, this would be it.
if you were to do full exhaust, thermal R&D would be the one... Still over kteller

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

Was going to get the 80mm Apexi as well paired with a resonator and either kteller or trubendz prevent 3" mandrel piping. Only other option I see out there currently besides Thermal is Greddy, the Greddy has a resonator Thermal does not. Anybody have any experience with Greddy's kit? I'm 50/50 on getting Greddy vs the pieces together Apexi system.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

I've been running a Thermal R&D setup for 14 years and its been great. Nice and quiet (except for the open dump tube)

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

Sounds like the Apexi 80mm (3") muffler has a 15" case and others report that it won't fit in the hatchback... I'm now leaning towards the Thermal or Greddy. Thank you.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

I went with a Thermal R&D 3" catback paired with a Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator and I couldn't be happier!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I bought the catback system for the 2/3 door Integra (https://thermalrd.com/products/1994-...atback-exhaust). The kit was complete and super nice. However my only complaint was it was not a simple bolt on affair. I had to have the muffler shop modify the axle back portion of the piping since the muffler was not angled correctly where it was pointed slightly towards the passenger side (see pics). The muffler hangers also had to be cut and repositioned but I am happy with the results now.

​​​​​​​
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/honda-t...e87625f6bb.jpg
Catback installed as-is; angle is off
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/honda-t...6cccd8c615.jpg
fixing the hanger placement
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/honda-t...ae76a2c161.jpg
hanger fixed
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/honda-t...a93f866766.jpg
angle of muffler is fixed


If you change your mind I have the Apex'i 80mm turbo muffler BNIB that I have no use for now that I have the Thermal catback.

Re: Looking for Suggestions: 3" Exhaust for Turbo apps - APEX'i vs. Thermal R&D
 

If I can physically fit it I would be potentially interested. I need to see if anybody has been able to make it fit yet. Greddy may be the easy button, 3" and includes muffler and resonator.