Seriously Exhausting 33

[J_Red33]

Yeah cheers for that little bit of advice mate, it's kinda what I've been thinking could happen & yeah the JUN B.L mufflers that he uses are meant to be top notch Japanese mufflers, so we will see. Going to have a good chat to him when I get there to figure out exactly what I want, but a hot dog type resonator is an option too.

[Munna1]

I have a HKS super dragger on my r33 sounds great without been to loud

[J_Red33]

Well I've just driven home from the exhaust shop & I'm not so happy right now. The system is on, but it's got wayyy too much bass for my taste, so much so that it seems to kill the top end tune.

I'm definantely going to have to go back to them to get it soughted out. I'm thinking that the resonator they fitted wasn't big enough, (only a hot dog type job). So now I've got a 33 that's friggen not only bassy but much louder than I wanted. I think I'll be asking them to fit a really big one if that'll shut up the bass, if that works I'll be happy, but right now not so impressed.

Any other comments on what can be done would be appreciated.

[RaseR]

Arrrrggggh, I feel for you mate - I had the same thing with my first car (a barina of all things!!), I firstly had a dual-tip aftermarket rear muffler that was kinda loud, but died off at high revs / highway speeds...perfect....Then I went for the full sik 2" system, extractors and hotdog resonator, was told it would be just as quiet.....ended up with this tiny little car that was far louder then it ever should have been (ie. it was slow!), and droned like a mofo.....I didn't really care at the time, but a barina was hardly going to attract the wrong kind of attention and I wasn't driving it much.

Get them to sort it mate, shove a decent sized oval middle muffler in there.....Or, for instance I notice the HKS super drager exhaust which is supposed to be quietish for a cannon style yet still retains awesome flow has both a hotdog and an oval muffler to keep the noise down...it's an option anyhow.

Let us know how you go, hope it at least looks awesome!

Edited May 12, 2006 by RaseR

[J_Red33]

You just about hit the nail on the head for how this system sounds at the moment, droney & bassy all the way up to about 3&1/2 grand. From there it's starts to get what would probably be best described as a mild mechanical howl, which is really nice.

Went back & dropped in on them again after work today, & guess what the first thing was he said we could do? Yep a dirty great big oval muffler . He was a bit surprised it was that bassy, but I get the impression he hadn't done a 33 system with this twin pipe muffler, since most go for cannons.

So I'm booked in again this coming Friday which means I'll have to put up with it for about a week. If a centre muffler kills the bass but keeps the top end note I'll be really happy. Will keep you posted.

[RaseR]

Hmmm, yeah sounds like the bigger resonator will solve your problems....check the below pic of the CES exhaust, it uses a twin pipe rear, and a decent sized middle to achieve 89dB output.

How's the rest of the system though? You've used a BATMBL split front/dump, which cat? ...and lastly - how was the power increase?

Let us know how you go!

Edited May 13, 2006 by RaseR

[J_Red33]

Yeah I haven't got it dyno'd or anything yet, will have to wait for a while to do that.

First gear wheel spins are just a matter of feeding it enough a reasonable amount juice now just about no matter what the revs. You had to give it a fairly good push on the throttle before from lower speed for it to spin (I've got 265's on the rear).

I got BATMBL's split dump & CATCO 3" cat (Mark at ET liked it more than the dump pipe). Boost comes on a couple hundred RPM earlier, nothing drastic, the main gain is up the top end. Where it just seemed like reving it for the sake of it before it now seems a lot more willing to hit the limiter. Mid range has definantely improved too, low end not much different, but from comments I've seen of others when they've fitted a larger exhaust on this seems to be the norm.

Will post some photo's up here once I've got it all sorted out.

[J_Red33]

Well I finally got the centre muffler fitted today. A nice big 3 inch Magnaflow centre muffler. It did cost me an extra $320 though (ouch!), wasn't charged for the labour though.

The car is a hell of a lot quieter now, prehaps just a tad too quiet now, but from what I'm told the more mods you do, the louder it gets again anyway, so I can live with that.

I've got to get used to having a quiet car again. It still sounds good when you rev it, but doesn't quite have the gutsy growl it had before. It is a compromise so I guess you can't have everything. Once I'm used to it, it should be better anyway. Hopefully with a few mods the high end will become a bit stronger. Will post some Pics of it up soon now that it's finished properly.

I can say this much though, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. Ended up spending about $1465 for the cat back, though that includes fitment of the entire system. Probably about the same price as a Kakimoto system only with a different look to it with the twin, so it was probably worth the effort that way in the end.

I can't say the system is EXACTLY what I wanted, but it's a hell of a lot closer than I would have been if I'd just got a bolt on system. That's me though, fussy as hell. Maybe I'll have to learn how to use a welder for next time so I can do it myself

[nuffsaid]

Wow for that kind of money you could have gotten a great and quiet Fujitsubo exhaust, and not many branded exhausts can compare to the quality of those.

Nonetheless, you got what you wanted which is good!

[J_Red33]

Wow for that kind of money you could have gotten a great and quiet Fujitsubo exhaust, and not many branded exhausts can compare to the quality of those.

Nonetheless, you got what you wanted which is good!

Yeah well the Fujitsubo's were an option, but as they were only single pipe I wasn't interested. I did find out they did make a twin pipe version, but only in limited numbers. Had they still sold one, that's what I would have gotten.

Still with a custom system my car is more individual than it would have been, & I like that very much.

As far as the note is the loudness is concerned I'm starting to get used to it now. It is just a bit louder than standard from inside, enough that when you are listening to music at a moderate level & you give the throttle a squeeze that you can hear it clear enough to hear the note & know what kind of revs you are doing, but nothing more, which is just nice.

The car also seems to have more power than when it was first put on too. A few good drives I think have flushed a lot of the crap out of it (there was a lot of metal shavings in the dump & cat when I got it) & allowed the air to flow more cleanly. 2nd gear power slides out of corners are also easily at hand now, even with the 265's on the rear (though the rubber is almost due for replacement).

Very happy with the increase in torque & power.

Edited May 29, 2006 by Electro

[RaseR]

Hey Jared,

Glad to hear you've ended up with a great system at the end of the day. Goes to show what difference a good middle muffler makes to the noise output!

The power/torque increase sounds very promising also (ie. can't wait for mine to arrive).

Did you go for a Catco 'metalcat' style cat from BATMBL as well as the split front/dump?

Now, where are the pics?! I need to see how great the larger twin pipes look.

[J_Red33]

Hey mate, yeah I'll get some Pics of it on the weekend & post it up on here. The pipes aren't really all that big on the outlet, maybe 2 and half inch, but it looks neat.

I did use BATMBL's pipe & cat. Mark & the guys at Exhaust technology loved the CAT, but they were notably quiet about the dump pipe, which was a bit odd. Biggest criticism that it got was that it sat too close to the underbody of the car & he had to try hard to keep it away to that it didn't hit.

When I looked at the pics of the old type dump BATMBL was selling I noticed that it dropped down a bit further before curving back up to where it bolts on to the cat, so I'm kinda wishing I'd gotten one earlier & had the older type.

1 of the guys also said that the add on pipe which slots into the turbo looked a bit small, but from the pics BATMBL sent me of 1 stuck in an R33 turbo body, as long as the piping is the same as the 1 he sent photo's of, you can't fit bigger anyway.

I was probably a little dissapointed with the quality of the job done too on the dump. It looked a bit rough in some places & there was some weld spatter that was never cleaned off from the inside of the pipe properly & a tonne of fine metal shavings inside. From the outside though it looked fairly good.

I'm probably being fussy but that's me, details details.

Anyway will get those pics on by the end of the week

[RaseR]

Hey Jared - that's very interesting, did you go for the mild steel or stainless dump/front? As I recall they're made by different companies....not sure if they're working from the same design.

So, did they bracket the front/dump to the body somewhere to keep it in a lower position, not hitting the body?

I remember the 3" pacemaker front pipe (adjoined to an HKS split dump) I had on my old '32 had that downward curve you mention and then came back up near the end join with the cat - the fit was perfect.

So now I don't know whether to go with the BATMBL design or not, damn spannners - always flying into the works....at least I know the cat is really good.

Anyway - I await your pics!

[J_Red33]

Hey guys, I've finally gotten around to posting up a couple of pics of my system.

As far as the performance is concerned I can't really say how much of a difference it's really made at the moment as I now have a vacuum leak somewhere, but the improvement was substatial.

I've gotten a chance to really get used to the way the system sounds now (my hearing has returned ) & I'm really happy with it. It's a fairly quiet cruiser now & you can listen to music without it overpowering it, but if you want to give it a bit of stick, you know it's there The magnaflow muffler was worth every cent.

The tips on the system probably stick out a bit further than I wanted & the muffler was set on a 'slight' angle (mainly for optimum flow) but it looks good & is that bit more unique for it. Fitment of it is rigid as since they used every 1 of the original mounting rubbers that is in they system, nice & high too.

Have a couple more pics I may post up soon

[RaseR]

Hey Jared,

I reckon that's a great result, understated but different. Looks almost like a stock fitment from the back which is also a good thing, no unwanted attention!

I see what you mean about the front/dump being quite close to the body...the angle of the cat-converter flange makes it especially noticable - still if it's holding together and doesn't knock on the body, then it's fine.

I'm still buying all the parts for my exhaust, the cat-back section is yet to arrive (end of July).

I actually skimped a little bit on the cat-converter - I wanted the style you have, but ended up going one of BATMBL's big-body 3" ceramic cats (highest flowing on the market until the 'metal' style came out)...it was so cheap through his group buy too.

Substantial performance improvement you say?....Oh yeah!

[eMsta]

Hey jared,

The pics look great! Finally got to see the batmbl goods connected to the car.

Did they have to alter the dump/front pipe for you? Would it have been a major problem if it is sticking to the underbody? I have ordered a set for my car - and I am still looking for a suitable cat back - what cat back are you using?

thanks bud

[J_Red33]

Hey Jared,

I reckon that's a great result, understated but different. Looks almost like a stock fitment from the back which is also a good thing, no unwanted attention!

I see what you mean about the front/dump being quite close to the body...the angle of the cat-converter flange makes it especially noticable - still if it's holding together and doesn't knock on the body, then it's fine.

I'm still buying all the parts for my exhaust, the cat-back section is yet to arrive (end of July).

I actually skimped a little bit on the cat-converter - I wanted the style you have, but ended up going one of BATMBL's big-body 3" ceramic cats (highest flowing on the market until the 'metal' style came out)...it was so cheap through his group buy too.

Substantial performance improvement you say?....Oh yeah!

Oh yeah it fire's now, when the other it's got (intermittent power loss that I'm trying to figure out, maybe a air leak) isn't causing trouble. I did say before that it doesn't seem to have as much trouble reaching the rev limiter, but let me rephrase that; It loves the rev limiter . The top end is that much stronger now that I think the thing has at least another 500 revs to go before a gearchange when it hits it.

Given the mechanical mods to be able to cope with higher revs the engine would do it and more without any trouble at all.

Hey jared,

The pics look great! Finally got to see the batmbl goods connected to the car.

Did they have to alter the dump/front pipe for you? Would it have been a major problem if it is sticking to the underbody? I have ordered a set for my car - and I am still looking for a suitable cat back - what cat back are you using?

thanks bud

No the didn't have to alter it, but they had to be very carefull when they bolted it up that it stayed as low as it needed to be to clear the underbody of the car.

It would be a problem if it did touch the body of the car as the exhaust would bang & clang with chassis, engine movement, & bumps on the road & would drive you mad quite quickly.

My cat back system is custom made with a Magnaflow Stainless steel centre muffler, JunBL Stainless Steel twin outlet rear muffler & all stainless piping. Sometimes to get what you really want it's what you have to do. If you don't like the sound of a bolt on, you can't just take it back to be fixed like I did when I had the system fitted without the centre muffler first time. It probably did cost more but was worth it

[JaiJai]

I got a kakimoto on my s1 r33, already had it from Japan. Its nuts.... its soo quiet but deep more you feel than hear! When I bought the car it was this old japanese dude so he wanted something quiet but with high performance. all my mates are wanting to source one. they are pure quality but are extreamly hard to find. I still havnt herd of one place in queensland that stock the whole range. Another is dont be scared of getting the bigger 3.5' they still sound quiet as hell until you open up at 5500 then youll hear it!

The only thing is that the mid muffler is a little too quiet for my taste as well...going to get a hotdog done but not sure of what options I have???

[J_Red33]

Yeah I saw a 33 with Kakimoto on it 1 day (noted earlier in this thread) & it was really bassy at idle, but seemed to be dead quiet (too quiet) once on the move.

For me your comments justify going custom as you are going to spend more money customising it anyway. Be very carefull what you do when modifying your system, take your time in deciding.

Talk to a couple of installers & tell them exactly what you are looking for. I have a feeling from what you've said to go from a full-on centre muffler to just a resonator may be a bit too much, but this also depends on how much of an effect your rear muffler is having. Won't be easy.

As for going to 3.5 inch, I couldn't justify the extra cost of it. I have a friend (who also has been on here from time to time) who has modified his RB to the point that it's putting out 450KW at the wheels & it still only runs a 3 inch system, mufflers & all. For me that kind of grunt is still a very long way off. If you're making a race car maybe it's worth going bigger, but for most people 3 inch on the street is pleanty.

Edited June 30, 2006 by Electro

[Michael_1882]

Hmm i'm looking at doing an exhaust, and i was speaking to a guy who does exhaust systems for rally/race cars, and recons a 3 or 3.5' trubo back is what everyones after, however a 2.5' turbo back will give you much more troque, he recons the 3' vs the 2.5' will see teh 3' with an extra 3rwkws howver the 2.5 will see you with an extra 50nm of tourque.

Any body heard somthing along these lines before?

Michael