what's a good Quiet 3" exhaust?

Turbo and Supercharger discussion
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what's a good Quiet 3" exhaust?

By teal_dx
- Fri Mar 23, 2007 8:53 pm #3568 I decided 3" is the way to go. even though my downpipe is 2.5" I'll put a 3" to 2.5" reducer on the catback. Then down the road if I ever upgrade the turbo or DP, I can keep my exhaust.

The important factors to me are
1. flow
2. quiet

So I've been looking all around... ebay is cheap ($200-$300) but I don't want to go that route. every generic exhaust from ebay I've heard sounds like crap shortly after when the packing burns out. Plus a lot of them that appear to have a resonator are really just a hollow pipe :thumbsdown:

Then I was on kteller.com pricing a custom system since I can weld mild steel with my MIG. For the piping kit (no muffler) , I'm looking at $330 for a 3" cat back w/ 18" resonator, and 3" to 2.5" flange, and hangers. Then I'd have to spend at least another $100 on a muffler... plus shipping all of this stuff...
Figure I'm going to end up at least $450 for a full 3" mild steel exhaust that I can weld & install myself (st save a few bucks)

Then I thought, if I'm gonna spend $450 on a mild steel 3" that I have to weld myself... why not spend a little more and buy a complete stainless catback from a good company!

So I'm looking for 3" high flow catback, nothing raspy, I like quiet as possible. What are some good options?
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By ChicagoMike
- Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:08 pm #3569 Something maybe like HKS would be worth looking into.
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By ohDirka
- Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:51 pm #3572 from what i hear HKS is the way to go...
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By Mike
- Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:49 am #3586
A'PEXi U.S.A wrote:The WS Exhaust series is the A'PEX answer to the ultimate street muffler system with all around performance. The canister is made of the highest grade polished SUS304 stainless steel while the mandrel bent piping consists of high temperature, titanium particle coated mild steel. This muffler has always been the standard for aftermarket street exhaust systems. The oval canister houses a newly designed rolled tip for an extremely high class finish. Interior construction has been fine tuned for even more low to mid-range power. Countless magazine dyno tests have proven the WS exhaust to be one of the best all around exhaust systems on the market. As always, all A'PEX cat back exhaust systems come complete with all necessary hangers, nuts, bolts, and gaskets.

The World Sport muffler is for the performance enthusiast who has more on their minds than just pure power. This system is designed to provide excellent low and mid range power without excessive noise. The sporty, yet elegant look is made possible by using a polished SUS 304 stainless steel muffler, 60mm titanium particle powder coated mild steel piping, paired with a 100mm (3.93 inch) polished tip. Robotic TIG welds along with precise hand crafted welds ensure maximum longevity and performance. The WS system possesses all of the motorsports passion and intensity associated with A'PEXi products. This system is ideal for the daily driver car of an enthusiast, or for vehicles that want the high class sporty look without the noise.


Looked into that for you man, did some reading. I'm definatly a fan of apexi exhaust, and especially their world sport series. Many individuals i know have gone this route and are very pleased with the results. My great personal friend Matt, who drives a silver EK with a b18c 98 spec, turboed his car and he had 100mm catback apexi ws2 exhaust.

Simply amazing how his car pushing 330 horsepower to the wheels has little to no exhaust sound, all you can hear both outside of the car and inside of it while driving is the motor/turbo/bov.

If you go this route, i cant GARENTEE you will be 100% happy, but I can atleast give my $.02 that this set up is definatly great and should be carefully considered.

Also if you check other sites and aswell as apexi's homepage, you must beware that alot of the large turbo set up down pipes/cat back exhaust set ups are not completely designed for civics. Example being something like A'pexi's GT downpipe, its great for a turbo set up car, but in this case it is only made for Skylines, Silvias, Eclipes', and Evolution8's.

Good luck to you though. I'll be going turbo D soon, but not this summer. Hoping for summer 2008 or 2009 at the most.
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By eg-civic-racer
- Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:30 am #3613 iv heard some good things about DC. My mate has a system on his b18 Aerodeck, nice and quite but when giving it stick it gives of a great sound.
Plus the fact there mandrel bent so its a great flow of gases. And they give a nice touch being hand mig welded?
Good luck
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By teal_dx
- Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:15 pm #3720 I looked into HKS and there's one thing I don't like...

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their piping runs below the LCA instead of over like the stock exhaust does. :x

So HKS is off the list :( I was looking at Thermal Research & Development and they look to have a nice 3" catback. No resonator, but people have said they aren't too loud and they bend over the rear LCA. I really like their exhaust tip too (not huge):
Image

Image

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(the back of the muffler was painted by the owner)

They aren't cheap though, new I found them for $575 shipped. Thinking about going for a used one in the $400 range.
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By ChicagoMike
- Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:31 pm #3730 What get you nervous about the HKS going under the LCA? You have clearence issues out there??
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By teal_dx
- Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:45 pm #3732 yeah Ohio roads suck ass. and pulling into my development I pretty much have to go at a 45? angle at 1 mph because there is a curb but it has a slope. my other car has a low exhaust and it scrapes there a lot. I need to rent a jack hammer one night :twisted: a jack hammer with a silencer :P

I'm going to keep researching though. I've also heard good things about Magnaflow not being too loud.
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By ChicagoMike
- Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:59 pm #3734 Just an idea.....

Why not just purchase the HKS muffler and run custom bent piping all the way back. I'm sure a shop would bend you some 3" piping, and it'd probably be cheaper than buying the full exhaust.

Thats basically what I did. I bought a Tanabe muffler and just had a shop run my piping. The muffler cost me $225 and the piping was $50. I got a good deal on the piping though, figure it might be like $100-$150.
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By teal_dx
- Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:03 pm #4483 I posted a want ad on http://ohiohondas.com and someone about 1.5 hrs away has a 3" Thermal R&D catback W/ RESONATOR for an EG hatch. Picking it up tomorrow for $300 :D :D :D :D :D

Well worth it to me, I can just bolt it right up and not bother with welding & fabrication. I'm sure it would ba an all day project for me to weld a k-teller kit since I'd have to scoot around under the car w/o a lift.

She's slowly coming together :thumb:

By Ambiguous
- Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:43 pm #24333 im goin with an apexi ws2 3" when my project comes together...its real quiet and nice tone
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By thedaemon
- Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:08 pm #24339 The HKS exhaust does the same thing for the Ford Focus. Insanity. I guess HKS thinks everyone drives 4x4 style?
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By Sire
- Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:27 pm #24343 Nice find teal!!! :woot:
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