Another exhaust recommendation thread

[shinjyo]

I had watched and listened pretty much all the nsx exhaust youtube video and some several times. Most of the exhaust threads have been a while and some of the videos are not available anymore. My 95 is completely stock and I am looking for an exhaust that is slightly louder than stock and hopefully no drone. This is what I had found, please feel free to correct me if I made mistakes. I really like SOS exhaust, heard they are quieter than GTLW, but worry about the little drone, might pick something from 1-5 if I can find any.

Can you guys help me to confirm my findings?

1. Comptech Exhaust (I think it's Gen II now), quiet, no drone
2. Tubi Exhaust, no drone (very hard to find and $$$)
3. ARK DT-S, louder than comptech, still quiet, no drone
4. RS-R, some say it sounds very similar to Tubi, no drone
5. HKS Exhaust, don't know if it drones, but definitely quiet
6. DC Sport Exhuast, quiet like HKS, not sure if it drones
7. SOS/Centrall Enduralite exhaust, louder than above, drone a little bit around 2000 to 2500 rpm
8. RM Exhaust, similar loudness to SOS, drone
9. Angus Exhaust, loud, have a great character sound, drone
10. ARC Ti Exhaust, loud, have a great character sound, drone (lightweight but $$$)
11. Propseed Exhaust, loud, have a great character sound, drone
12. Pride V2 exhaust, loud, great sound, drone (very popular choice)
13. Taitec GTLW, very loud, high pitch sound, drone badly at least to me (very popular choice)
14. GT-ROM, loud, popular choice for great sound
15. GruppeM, not sure if it is loud or not, great sound
16. Magnaflow, loud, great sound
17. STMPO Messiah exhaust, super loud, not sure if it drones
18. GTone verion x.x, F1 sound (very popular choice)

And again, the term "drone' really depends on your own perception. The sound character and loudness also depends on if you have headers, test pipe, high flow cat, engine cover modification etc. Everyone's priority is different, some like hp gain, some like sound, some like weight reduction etc.

I definitely miss something (like Dali, Taitect JGTC, GT 009), but those are on the very loud side which I didn't pay too much attention to them.
What do you guys think?

 

[BB]

My GruppeM definitely drones at lower rpm, but at higher rpm it screams like a high revving Japanese super bike. It is very loud under heavy acceleration, but not very loud when driving like a granny. You can control the sound quite easily when you want it to be quieter. Sounds as good as some Ferrari's, but not as good as F355. I feel it may very well be the best sounding exhaust ever made for the NSX.

Regarding the drone.... you get used to it over time. A long time ago I found it annoying, but today I'd probably miss having the constant deep/low tone there if it were suddenly gone.

 

[davidf]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/192564-Rare-RSR-exhaust

These rarely pop up for sale. I have one now. They have "ZERO" drone. They have a decent sound and build quality is top notch.

 

[Zoom]

My Toda Ti exhaust is also top notch, no drone, refined sound, but it's $$$$

 

[RYU]

Most, not all, of the loud exhaust will drone. I could write a novel why but in general, this is true. Therefore the rule of thumb goes both ways... Loud usually means drone. Quiet usually not. There are some exceptions like my valvetronic exhaust but its an active exhaust not a passive one like all of the ones you mentioned above. Another exception is where that particular exhaust filters or amplifies exhaust frequency between 100-120hz which is the range of the annoying cabin "drone". As you said, cats, test pipes, etc affect the volume and the frequency filtration range of the exhaust.

HKS has no drone in virtually all configurations that I've tried.

You should really look into the KSP exhaust.

 

[BATMANs]

I have a bespoke STMPO that is modular after the Y-pipe. No one else has this STMPO or a design that I help STMPO that I know of.

This allows me to swap out just the sections for cats, Magnaflow muffler and test tubes.

With the Magnaflow there is NO drone at all which is typical of Magnaflow (one of the heaviest straight through muffler due to the type of material and the amount of material).

With the cats ONLY there is drone.... tons of it. But that was expected.

I haven't installed the test pipes only yet.

 

[BBVNSX]

+1 on KSP!

You should really look into the KSP exhaust.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

I can tell you the RM drones very load. Got rid of mine after a year, it was too much drone for me.

 

[shinjyo]

I can tell you the RM drones very load. Got rid of mine after a year, it was too much drone for me.

Thanks, I will make the edit.

- - - Updated - - -

Most, not all, of the loud exhaust will drone. I could write a novel why but in general, this is true. Therefore the rule of thumb goes both ways... Loud usually means drone. Quiet usually not. There are some exceptions like my valvetronic exhaust but its an active exhaust not a passive one like all of the ones you mentioned above. Another exception is where that particular exhaust filters or amplifies exhaust frequency between 100-120hz which is the range of the annoying cabin "drone". As you said, cats, test pipes, etc affect the volume and the frequency filtration range of the exhaust.

HKS has no drone in virtually all configurations that I've tried.

You should really look into the KSP exhaust.

Do u know by any chance if the SOS exhaust is considered loud or quiet. I think the GTLW is way too loud for me if that is for comparison.

 

[RYU]

Do u know by any chance if the SOS exhaust is considered loud or quiet. I think the GTLW is way too loud for me if that is for comparison.

SOS makes quality products but i've never heard that exhaust in person.

Since you're in SoCal you should come out to one of the NSX meets and hear these various exhausts in person.

- - - Updated - - -

EDIT: you're talking about the Cantrell Endura lite. That is a copy of the Taitec GTLW. The sound is very similar but the Cantrell has a slightly different tone (less hollow) vs. a GTLW.

 

[Jinks]

I have a taitec jgtc paired with a supercharger and dc headers. I love the sound so much, but unless I keep the car over 4,000 rpms the drone is just terrible. At 6,000 rpm think of a mustang/high revving sport bike. It rumbles and screams in vtec. I am about to yank it out though and bolt on the ct gen 2. Drone makes long trips unbearable. Also, no matter how much you spend on an exhaust, in my opinion the ct exhaust has the best tips. They look high quality while everything else just looks like a cheap tip made in Taiwan. That is the same reason why I cut off the tips from my taitec exhaust and welded on magnaflow double wall resonated tips. The exhaust tips should be robust. Not just a 1/8" thickness and just a larger version of the exhaust plumbing pipes.

 

[S2G-Unit]

I have a DC sports exhaust & for me it's perfect. It's actually very quiet when driving normally, it get's a bit louder but nowhere near uncomfortable when accelerating harder.

I love it because to me it's tips look stock & the sound is not some overly loud ricer sound (which I would only have if I took my car to the track)

 

[SoloNSX]

I have CT headers and CT exhaust. It's very quiet under 4k rpm. To me, it's almost how the nsx should have sounded stock. Cruising on the highway is very comfortable, no drone at all. Can listen to music and talk to a passenger without any problems. Has a nice tone, almost has a slight rumble to it. It screams in the higher revs but still not all that loud. I personally like my cars a bit louder, so I got Angus resonated test pipes to wake it up a bit more. That helped, but even with the test pipes the car is still hardly any louder when under 4k rpm. Slightly disappointed but man does it scream up high. I would highly suggest this exhaust if you want louder than stock yet comfortable. The only disadvantage, if you even care, is its weight. It has a large muffler section which makes the total weight not much less than stock IIRC. But you'll find that more often than not a quieter exhaust will weigh more.

I'm hoping to sell mine in the next few months and have a custom aluminum exhaust made. Pricing it out, if you purchase parts yourself and find a good exhaust guy that won't rip you off, you can have a custom exhaust made for this car for less than the price of the majority of aftermarket options. Being custom, you have more of an option for how loud you'd want it and how you want it to look. Seems like the better option to me, I don't care about having "x" rare brand name exhaust or whatever.

 

[nsxspdfreak]

Here is a video of my 91 na with Pride Headers, Resonated Test Pipes and Pride V2. Absolutely no drone. Very loud when you get on it, yet very comfortable to drive around town and on the highway. You will never want to drive with the windows up again! Unfortunately I couldn't sustain full throttle into 3rd gear at the 6:25 mark due to a issue with the vtec oil pressure in the front head causing the ECM to cut rpms. It's since been fixed and I hope to make another video soon, but this will give you good idea of the sound.

 

[Lostbuckeye]

Exhaust sound is a personal preference. I like my Neighbors so I didn't want it too loud and minimal drone. IMO they all drone and everyone has their own tolerance level on drone. I've had people riding in both cars say that they were impressed that my exhaust didn't drone though, I could hear it. That's what I mean by minimal. On my first NSX I had Pride V2. I got a lot of complements on the sound and the drone was at a lower rpm (2000 to 2300) and even that wasn't bad. My current NSX had Angus AP-X on when I bought it. I loved it's sound and the drone was similar to the Pride exhaust, small low RPM window and even then it is tolerable. And it works well with the twin turbos that I had installed a couple years ago. Though, it's a little quieter I still get complements on the sound and questions about the brand. The way I look at it, if the sound you hear from your exhaust makes you want to listen to your car more than your stereo, it's a good one.

 

[NetViper]

I have heard the tubi and it does drone, similar to the pride.

I've had an anytime, jgtc parallel, jgtc lightweight, comptech gen one and 2 and a pride v2. I liked the gen 2 comptech. It was still on the quiet side. The gt lightweight was horrible. Sold it in a month. I liked the pride, the only reason I sold it was because its not great for a sc car. The anytime sounded fantastic and didn't drone but good luck finding one.

Now I use the jgtc parallel. Almost no drone and I love the sound. Might be too loud for some.