So I just bought a 95 Del Sol Si on Monday, and I’m pretty happy except for a few things (which is to be expected on a 20 year old car).

Most of the things I can fix easily and cheaply, but the one thing I don’t like is that it sounds like a ricer and has kind of a rough idle.

Under the hood is a huge Spectre intake filter (red in color), and the muffler is a huge pipe, looks to be like 4" or possibly 3.5".

I’m not sure if any of this is affecting mpg, since this is my first full tank (I’m about 90 miles in and roughly 3 quarters of a tank left, if the fuel gauge can be trusted).

Do you guys think this Spectre filter and/or the muffler is a contributing factor to rough idle? What can I do to make this much quieter?

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

To make it quieter, install a factory correct air filter black box&tubing. Also, install a factory correct exhaust. OEM-style replacements dont cost alot

 

Wow, thanks for the super quick response! Do you have any specific suggestions of OEM-style replacements?

And would this affect mpg at all?

 

so the millennium falcon finally broke down huh?

 

Ha ha. Nope, I'm just healing my broken leg, so I'm grounded at the moment.

 

You can just take the car to a muffler shop and tell them to fabricate an oem equivalent system. Chances are they will probably have to replace the exhaust piping.

 

Sounds expensive. This isn't a killer for my use of the car, it's just something that irritates me.

Any cheap alternatives? I've been reading up just now on Spectre intake filters, and I guess they aren't too bad. If I just bought an OEM muffler on ebay or Amazon, couldn't I just put it on myself? (I'm not that mechanically inclined, but I can do basic things like swap out headlights, change fluids, etc.)

 

Hmm, looks like this might work?

 

If the cat is still intact and has a flange you should be able to install a full OEM exhaust system but most muffler shops will just weld everything into one piece. You'd have to look under your car to verify if you even have a flange to bolt an OEM muffler up to.

 

My car was the same way when I bought it. I was able to trade my aftermarket exhuast for an OEM one plus $40 on his side

as far as the intake, you may find someone who might be willing to trade straight accross for a stock one. I can assure you, once you get an OEM exhuast, it will be quiter, even with that aftermarket intake.

 

rockauto.com
You can find most of them there for cheap.

Otherwise, I'm sure some dumb kid near you will HAPPILY trade his OE exhaust for rice-a-roni.

 

Gotta love dumb kids