Just for ***** and giggles i decided to mess arond with the exhaust on my 02 civic lx. i already have an intake, and wanted to see what it would sound like and what kind of performance. first i unbolted the catback, and kinda hung it up with some rope (away from the cat). It sounded quite nice actually, kinda deep, sort of throaty though. i thought the performance was worse. it wasnt pulling as hard as it did before i took it off. i also noticed that i could not hear it at all past 4.5 or 5k rpms as all i could hear was my intake. then getting more intreuged (sp?) i onbolted the whole exhaust right off of the header. my friend said it sounded like a boat when i started it up. it was LOUD as ****. but the performance was even worse. hooked it back up, so now i just ahve my catback off, tied off with a piece of rope so i can enjoy the sound on the ride home tonight.

so from my very straneous testing (hahahaha) i have concluded that adding aftermarket exhaust on a d17a1 will have a negative effect on the performance. i guess the car needs the backpressure?

 

did you go WOT? maybe some gains up top but you'd be running.. lean?

 

i took the muffler off of my si and lost all kinds of tourqe but it sounds great till you hit vtec then it sounds like you have a coke can full of bees and no where for them to go

 

Aftermarket exhaust?

You mean taking apart your stock exhaust section by section and using rope to hold it up is your idea of an aftermarket exhaust....You gotta be kidding me right?

 

no JDM, that was jsut a guess, ran a little more today, top end was increased, but no flippin torque off the line. i ran agaist my friend and her hetta 2.0, i used to eat her off the line and slowly crawl further away, last nite she took the jump off the line and after 2nd gear around 5,500 rpms i would start gaining again.

 

Okay now i know for a fact that the car is quicker and stronger with the stock muffler than without. I met someone else with the exact same car as i do, they also had a system in the car, and were about my size. we decided to try and figure this out. without my muffler we were about even, they started pulling on me around 2nd gear at 5,500 rpms. after i put the muffler back on we raced again, this time i was able to get a car and a hlaf on it by 80 MPH.

also on a dirtroad, if i were rolling at 25 mph then floored it, the car would start pulling nicely without the mufffler, with the muffler the car would just sit there spinning, slowly increasing speed until it shifted to 2nd. This is more then enough proof to me that it is faster with the stock muffler.

 

How about using the stockie muffler just putting a straight pipe where the resonator is?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 7thgenRS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How about using the stockie muffler just putting a straight pipe where the resonator is?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually I'd try the reverse, since the resonator has very low restriction. Replacing the chambered stock muffler with a less restricitve one (DC5 TypeS etc) should give some gains, although at higher RPM.

 

will this then lower the bottom end?

i'd like some how to keep bottom while increasing top end, i've heard a long time ago about eltronic dump pipes? is there something like this where it will keep backpressure up lower rpm then after, say 4500-5000, open it up a little?

 

^Sorry, no free lunch, passive exhaust systems really cannot do both, BUT mufflers like the JDM Type R or Apexi PS Revolution have a valving system that opens up at high RPM to even things out a little. Check out:

http://www.apexi-usa.com/produ...Num=1

I just run a silencer/baffle for daily driving (good low RPM response) and take it out on weekends (when I'm usually tearing around at 5K+ RPM).

 

Looks like it would have alot of restriction at low RPMS?!?!?

 

what is considered top end for my car? cuz i noticed at 25mpg if a neutral drop with the stock muffler the car will squeel, and if i just mash it in drive it gives a good jump. with it off it doesnt come close to even hopping a wheel, and when i mash it it pics up really slow. this is usually around 4500 to 5000 rpms but it redlines at 67500, i cna force it to 7000 when i hold it in 2.

 

In my own opinion on a 01 civic ex 1000 - 3000 is low end 3001-4500 is mid range and 4501- redline wich is about 6800 is top end.

 

tonight i was able to take it on a quieter road, i noticed an increase only after 5200 in 2nd, and it was able to get to 105 sooner, thats when i let off, but ive managed to hit 112 stock, took about a minute and a half to get there lol, but it did it.

 

I think that im just going to leave the stock exhaust from the cat back and just get a aftermarket muffler like the Apexi N1 and just have it welded to the rear section to try and save my low end tourqe

 

On my base+auto I tried the stock exhaust with a Spoon N1 axle back, compared to a straight pipe from the cat to the stock muffler.

Under about 3500 RPM the stock muffler had better throttle response. Between 3500-5000, the Spoon N1 setup came on, where as the stock setup started to feel like response was flattening. The Spoon N1 + stock B pipe didn't feel as responsive above 5000 RPM compared to my current BC Pro Spec cat back.

 

So u would recomend getting a cat back than using the stock pipes with a Aftermarket muffler?

 

^So long you know what you're getting into, mainly $500 for 5 WHP, and if it suits your kind of driving and tolerance for noise.

 

I got a every day driven car and i dont really race it cept on the weekend and thats rare cause im building money for a K20 swap but i want a Exhaust for now what would u recomend, and as long as its not deafing loud and no more than like 600 dollars ill consider it.

 

well, leavng stock exhaust and just cutting/welding the muffler will be the same thing as catback, just cheaper i think. Unbolt it, right before the cat the stock muffler has 2 12mm bolts holding it onto the cat, take it off and listen to it, it doesnt sound that bad, and its cheaper then $600 if you want it to look pretty saw off the part where it bolts onto the muffler, then cut off the muffler tip where it bends down and get a muffler tip cover, lol