Can any one tell me the differences if any between the 91-94 Exhaust and 97 Plus Exhaust
Was the late model exhaust less restrictive?
Was the late model exhaust less restrictive?
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91-96 Exhaust VS 97 Plus Exhaust
- Thread starter dvkim
- Start date
dvkim,
Yes, and yes! I'm not sure if by "exhaust" you mean just the muffler or the whole system, but in either case the '97+ exhaust on the 3.2 liter motors is less restrictive than the one used on the original 3.0 engines. As I'm sure you've read on the FAQ, the main difference between the two exhaust systems lies in the fact that the 3.2 liter engines come from the factory with headers instead of an iron manifold. In addition to the larger displacement, this improvement in the exhaust system is one of the reasons that the 3.2 engine makes more power than the 3.0.
Your post caught my attention because I have upgraded my '91 to a stock 3.2 exhaust system (except for the catalytic converters).
I added the 3.2 liter muffler first because a) my original one had a dent in the bottom from the previous owner, b) I didn't care for the looks of the oval exhaust tips, and c) the newer muffler is painted a dull black color on the bottom at the factory which helps it blend into the back of the car better than the older muffler. The newer muffler I put on my car came off of a '97 (or '98, I can't remember) and installed without any trouble (just bolted right up). I wasn't really expecting any performance gain from it, but after installing it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a) it has a slightly deeper sound to it, especially at lower RPMs and b) the throttle response and eagerness of the car to accelerate seemed noticeably improved. I've never dynoed my car, so I don't have any numbers to share, but it definitely "felt" better.
Later, I managed to come across a set of factory 3.2 liter headers from a ’00 NSX and put these on the car. I decided to go with the factory headers because, though some of the aftermarket headers may make more power than the factory headers, they also cost quite a bit more. The factory 3.2 headers installed on my car without any trouble, but two significant modifications were required to make them fit and work. The first obstacle (the hard one) lies in the fact that the circular shaped flange with two bolt holes on the header pipe (after the collector) won’t match up to the rounded triangular flange with three bolt holes (duh!) on the old style exhaust pipes. To make it fit, the new style flange was cut off of the end of the headers and an old style one was welded on (with the appropriate length of piping): voila, fitment problem solved. The second obstacle (the easy one) was the fact that the location of the O2 sensors on the headers is slightly different than that of the original exhaust manifolds. To make it work, the O2 sensor wires just had to be extended by a small amount so that the sensor could reach the new location. Once that was accomplished, the original O2 sensors plugged into the headers without any issue.
The performance difference from the factory headers was much more significant than that of the muffler. The car got a nice little bump in power, throttle response and eagerness to rev seemed improved yet again over just the muffler, and though I wouldn’t say it’s that much louder, the engine note seemed to take on a more “pronounced” sound… It’s hard to describe, but it just sounds fuller or richer and definitely better! Again, I don’t have any dyno numbers to share, just what I felt happen with the car.
So that’s been my experience with the two exhausts… hope this helps answer your question!
Yes, and yes! I'm not sure if by "exhaust" you mean just the muffler or the whole system, but in either case the '97+ exhaust on the 3.2 liter motors is less restrictive than the one used on the original 3.0 engines. As I'm sure you've read on the FAQ, the main difference between the two exhaust systems lies in the fact that the 3.2 liter engines come from the factory with headers instead of an iron manifold. In addition to the larger displacement, this improvement in the exhaust system is one of the reasons that the 3.2 engine makes more power than the 3.0.
Your post caught my attention because I have upgraded my '91 to a stock 3.2 exhaust system (except for the catalytic converters).
I added the 3.2 liter muffler first because a) my original one had a dent in the bottom from the previous owner, b) I didn't care for the looks of the oval exhaust tips, and c) the newer muffler is painted a dull black color on the bottom at the factory which helps it blend into the back of the car better than the older muffler. The newer muffler I put on my car came off of a '97 (or '98, I can't remember) and installed without any trouble (just bolted right up). I wasn't really expecting any performance gain from it, but after installing it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a) it has a slightly deeper sound to it, especially at lower RPMs and b) the throttle response and eagerness of the car to accelerate seemed noticeably improved. I've never dynoed my car, so I don't have any numbers to share, but it definitely "felt" better.
Later, I managed to come across a set of factory 3.2 liter headers from a ’00 NSX and put these on the car. I decided to go with the factory headers because, though some of the aftermarket headers may make more power than the factory headers, they also cost quite a bit more. The factory 3.2 headers installed on my car without any trouble, but two significant modifications were required to make them fit and work. The first obstacle (the hard one) lies in the fact that the circular shaped flange with two bolt holes on the header pipe (after the collector) won’t match up to the rounded triangular flange with three bolt holes (duh!) on the old style exhaust pipes. To make it fit, the new style flange was cut off of the end of the headers and an old style one was welded on (with the appropriate length of piping): voila, fitment problem solved. The second obstacle (the easy one) was the fact that the location of the O2 sensors on the headers is slightly different than that of the original exhaust manifolds. To make it work, the O2 sensor wires just had to be extended by a small amount so that the sensor could reach the new location. Once that was accomplished, the original O2 sensors plugged into the headers without any issue.
The performance difference from the factory headers was much more significant than that of the muffler. The car got a nice little bump in power, throttle response and eagerness to rev seemed improved yet again over just the muffler, and though I wouldn’t say it’s that much louder, the engine note seemed to take on a more “pronounced” sound… It’s hard to describe, but it just sounds fuller or richer and definitely better! Again, I don’t have any dyno numbers to share, just what I felt happen with the car.
So that’s been my experience with the two exhausts… hope this helps answer your question!
Thanks for your feedback. I'm thinking of adding a late model header/exhaust to my 94'. Can you tell me who did the intstall?, and how much I should expect to pay for the used parts, and labor?
dvkim,
I have all the work on my car done at NSX Modified in Huntington Beach. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend them; they really know the cars!
As for the costs, let's see... The hardest part is finding a set of used stock headers. I paid $350 for mine, but it took me several months of looking (and waiting) before I came across a set. The install for the headers was about that much as well as some welding work is required and quite a number of parts have to come off of the car (read: somewhat complicated). The muffler was much easier to find as people seem to get rid of those pretty often. I think I paid around $150 for mine and had it installed for like $50. As I mentioned before, the muffler install is very simple as everything just bolted right up on my car.
Hope that helps!
I have all the work on my car done at NSX Modified in Huntington Beach. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend them; they really know the cars!
As for the costs, let's see... The hardest part is finding a set of used stock headers. I paid $350 for mine, but it took me several months of looking (and waiting) before I came across a set. The install for the headers was about that much as well as some welding work is required and quite a number of parts have to come off of the car (read: somewhat complicated). The muffler was much easier to find as people seem to get rid of those pretty often. I think I paid around $150 for mine and had it installed for like $50. As I mentioned before, the muffler install is very simple as everything just bolted right up on my car.
Hope that helps!
Alternatively, you could also buy the header, cat, and exhaust from a 1997+ and plug the secondary 02 bung and avoid the welding requirements.
Cheers,
-- Chris
------------------
Revolutionize your NSX with ScienceofSpeed
www.ScienceofSpeed.com | [email protected] | 877-863-4520
Cheers,
-- Chris
------------------
Revolutionize your NSX with ScienceofSpeed
www.ScienceofSpeed.com | [email protected] | 877-863-4520
Apart from price differences, what would be the performance difference of say taking an early model NSX and changing the whole exhaust plumbing (header straight to the muffler) to a '97+ spec
or
just bolting on an aftermarket header like a comptech unit and retaining everything else stock?
I'm curious because at one point I considered doing option 1 but decided that option 2 was easier to accomplish.
Regards,
Ryan
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NA1 NSX-T
- Comptech Headers
- NA2 Brake Upgrade
- Eibach Springs
- Bilstein Shocks
- Zanardi F&R Sway Bar
- '02 OEM Wheels
or
just bolting on an aftermarket header like a comptech unit and retaining everything else stock?
I'm curious because at one point I considered doing option 1 but decided that option 2 was easier to accomplish.
Regards,
Ryan
------------------
NA1 NSX-T
- Comptech Headers
- NA2 Brake Upgrade
- Eibach Springs
- Bilstein Shocks
- Zanardi F&R Sway Bar
- '02 OEM Wheels
I'm going to have the late model(3.2L) headers, and Exhaust installed! I'll let you guys know what I think. I'm sure I'll feel an initial difference.
