so i found out today that my stock exhaust on my prelude has not one, but two leaks in it. i figured this would be the best time to get an after market cat-back system, and i was thinking about going with Apexi. i'd like Mugen, but i dont have $950+ to spend. another option is going to some local shop, having a custom set of pipes bent and just getting a mugen muffler. if anyone can give me their opinions on either of these ideas, or even a better idea, that would be great!!! im on a poor man's budget of about $600...

 

are you going for all out performance or do you care about the noise?

 

i'd really like a nice sound, but nothing that's just annoying.

 

I have the Thermal catback on my 93 VTec, I love the sound.

 

what kind of price tag came with that?

 

If you don't want to spend the money for cat back, just go to your local shop and they should be able to set you up with full exhaust for under $500. Tell them what size pipe you want (2.25" is a good rule of thumb) and have them mandrel bend it to your exact specs. Buy the muffler you want, high flow cat (have them make you a test pipe for "days at the track" ) and all of this should be no more than $500.

 

that's what i was thinking of doing, so im glad someone else backs me up

 

My local exhaust shop does a 3" mandral bent catback and magnaflow muffler for $395. Obviously you are not going to want 3", but I'm sure you can find a shop that can do 2.5" for about the same price.

 

i would give kteller8 a pm.
he can hook you up with an awesome exhaust setup

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SKDRCR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would give kteller8 a pm.
he can hook you up with an awesome exhaust setup </TD></TR></TABLE>



I got my Thermal Classic for $457 shipped to me. I LOVE it. I painted the canister high-temp flat black too. Not as noticeable. Looks good.

 

i picked up a used apexi N1. love it. looks great. it is loud as hell tho so be prepared. most people think i am running a testpipe too. it's smooth down low and little raspy up top. seems to be good gains too for an exhaust. hope that helps

 

what kind of sound typically do the custom piping ones make? Lets say you have custom piping with a Apex'i muffler on the end, what it sound just like the cat-back Apex'i exhaust or does it have a better or worse sound. When I say better I mean a lower and quieter noise, I do not mean loud and high pitched.

 

the full piping from the shop does tend to give it that "deeper"/"throatier" noise. Sounds excellent

 

yeah i got my exhaust custom piped at a shop...my exhaust is extreme deep but sounds really good and i paid only like $320 total with all new piping and having a muffler welded so it is a good route.

 

Don't waste your money on a cat-back thats $600-800. I can't believe they get anyone to buy that ****. Even if you must have stainless pipe, you can get that at most quality shops for less than the cat-back cost. Plus the benefit of having the optional "test pipe" Go to a shop for sure. I had mine redone just before my recent tune and went with 2.5" from the header back, no cat, no res, with a borla canister. It sounds awesome, very deep, but quite loud. I'm thinking of adding a res to take the edge off the noise level