Full review
Now that I have been living with Super Ti for a week, I have to say it has met all my expectations beyond what I had hoped for.
INSTALLATION
Fitment on this exhaust is, as you would expect, millimeter perfect. The hangers fit the stock rubber mounts perfectly and the flanges were exactly where they should be for the cats. Installing Super Ti was especially easy because it is so light. After bench pressing the factory clunker off of the car, lifting this titanium beauty on was a breeze. The included Fujitsubo flange gaskets are very nice, with inlaid metal rings to ensure a good seal and smooth flow. I used them instead of the gaskets that came with the cats.
NSX ready to lose 40 lbs.
Old cats off the car. Incredible how heavy they are! (22 lbs). One note- after 92,000 miles of driving, the 600-cell ceramic cores were spotless. Benefits of making sure your PGM-FI system is in top order- especially O2 sensors, MAP and IAT sensor.
The clunker and the King. One secret to the Super Ti is that it is a big muffler. Look at it compared to the stock can. As I surmised, this is the only way to achieve the frequency attenuation needed for factory-level sound quality. You also can see I am test fitting the rear bank cat.
Ready to go in- one last shot while it is still all shiny.
Old exhaust system out of the car. Time to clean it up and put it all in a box in the attic, along with the original manifolds. I'm hoarding all original parts.
Rear bank cat mounted and finger tight.
Fitting the front bank cat.
It's always a good idea when you have your car in the air to look around to check things over. While fitting the front cat, I noticed it was wet around the oil pan seal. Uh oh! Looks like I'm missing an oil pan nut. Replaced with a 6mm x 1.0 nut from ACE hardware and also noticed several other bolts were far too loose. Hopefully this will cure the issue until it is time to drop the headers and replace the gasket.
Fitment looks good. Time to tighten everything up.
I think these 100mm tips are resonated. Also, if you look closely, you can see where my old RM Racing muffler melted my valence.
DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
Idle sound is almost indistinguishable from stock. There is a slight rumble to the exhaust, but it is in the background. Throttle response is excellent off the line and there is a noticeable increase in torque from about 2,000 rpm all the way through the range. There is slightly less torque below 2,000 rpm, so I found myself giving the car slightly more gas to get it rolling. Within a few days, i had adjusted and did not notice it anymore. The big increase I felt was in VTEC, where the car just pulls HARD. I also could tell this exhaust would continue to flow beyond 8,000 rpm if available.
The sound is deep and smooth and there is no resonance or drone whatsoever, even when abruptly cutting throttle, which I have found causes terrible drone in other muffler options. Cruising at 80 mph (roughly 3,500 rpm) on the highway is quiet and just like stock. Applying throttle to pass results in a pleasing, smooth roar from the exhaust. In stop and go traffic, I find myself shutting off the radio so I can hear it go through the gears. One interesting thing I like about this exhaust is that my car still sounds like a NSX. I would say that the sound is complementary to the induction noise I like so much on this car. It is almost as if Fujitsubo tuned the resonance to fill in the induction sound. It's an amazing thing to hear. I'll try to capture some driving vids later.
And, here is the video. The idle I captured while the car was still on jack stands and was going through ECU learning. The other vids were taken today.
The last part is a surprise about the Super Ti. The meatllurgy is so pure that rather than crack and pop like a stainless muffler when it cools down, the titanium rings like a bell. Awesome!!!
