Brand name vs custom exhaust?

[Huck]

A few years ago when I had my civic I was in a car club, and one of the members worked at the local muffler shop. I was talking to him about all the exhausts I wanted for my car and how expensive they were and he told me to come to his shop and he would hook me up. Long story short he ended up making a custom exhaust from some piping he had laying around, a 12" resonator, and a Borla muffler on for like $200. Seat of the pants dyno said that there were noticeable gains, although I had that raspy river sound (blech). So here's my question: what are the benefits of a brand name exhaust (F.I., HKS, etc) as opposed to a custom exhaust from the local guy? I mean even if you got 5 or 6 more hp, is it worth the extra $1000? I mean, I'm not gonna track my car so I'm not worried about a custom exhaust weighing a few more pounds, or it being shiny underneath the car. As long as the tips look nice and it improves performance, isn't that good enough? Or am I being stupid again and there's something I'm missing as far as quality or performance?


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[homeryansta]

sound tuning.
AND
engineered for optimal performance.
AND
quality

[Volk Z]

Well Fast intentions exhaust gains a lot more then 5 horsepower. I believe its more like 15-20hp if im not mistaken and adding some test pipes will get you another 8Hp or so plus be a 30 pound weight reduction.

As for custom vs. HKS, Greddy etc i would say it is worth the extra money unless the "custom" exhaust has done some R&D and dyno pulls to make sure you wont be losing horsepower.

You really are paying for the name and the research. Its just my 2 cents but i would say spend the extra money and get a Fast intentions exhaust with HFC's or Test pipes.

Hope that helps

[elliotty]

That is a good question and I actually asked myself the same thing during my search for an exhaust. I contacted a few custom exhaust shops in my area (Virginia) for an estimate. I was looking for a 3" dual setup for my Z. Every shop I talked to told me that I would be looking at a price at least as much if not more than the manufactured products (I was showing the shops the F.I. TDX for reference). Many of them blatantly told me that they would have to charge me more and their quality would not match the F.I. My situation may be slightly different, since I am looking for mostly higher flow with my TT setup, but I would think any N/A focused exhaust would be similar (price vs. quality wise).

I would suggest checking out the manufactured options. I have an Invidia Gemini currently that I am getting ready to get rid of and am waiting on a 3" TDX from Tony. After speaking with Tony and reading all the rave reviews, I must say I wish I had gone with FI from the start.

Hope this helps!

[Huck]

Yeah, I hadn't heard of the FI system till I joined this forum, but after reading all the reviews and hearing the sound clips of it, not to mention the awesome power gains, I would love to buy one. The problem is, I don't have anywhere near $2500-$3000 for it lol. I have no patience when it comes to this stuff, I want to mod everything right now and sometimes I have to talk myself out of doing things the cheap (read: crap) way. Also, as I said before, I came for the world of civics and 240s, where a good Skunk Racing exhaust costs a whopping $500-$600, and CAIs cost like $200. So it's a little bit hard to swallow paying 4 times as much for the same thing now

On a side note, a kid in a civic actually tried to race me the other day lol. Failed miserably.

On a second side note, this forum, and the people on it, are friggin awesome. You guys rock.


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[Volk Z]

Maybe you can find a member on here with a used set up for sale... If you want max gain with weight reduction you need to spend the money on the F.I. setup.

If you just want a little power gain and it to sound better then a used HKS or MXP would do the trick for ya.

[edub370]

Originally Posted by Huck

Yeah, I hadn't heard of the FI system till I joined this forum, but after reading all the reviews and hearing the sound clips of it, not to mention the awesome power gains, I would love to buy one. The problem is, I don't have anywhere near $2500-$3000 for it lol. I have no patience when it comes to this stuff, I want to mod everything right now and sometimes I have to talk myself out of doing things the cheap (read: crap) way. Also, as I said before, I came for the world of civics and 240s, where a good Skunk Racing exhaust costs a whopping $500-$600, and CAIs cost like $200. So it's a little bit hard to swallow paying 4 times as much for the same thing now

If you're looking to stay in that price range i would recommend Top Speed or CNT exhausts. give them a googly

although they are inexpensive, i think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that has a bad word to say about either of these systems

[vividracing]

I've done both routes. If you have a hook up at a shop, then the custom route exhaust will be cheaper. Otherwise, you're spending at least as much as a decent cat back to have one built. If you have a custom exhaust built, do NOT let them use crush bends. Use ONLY mandrel bends. Crush bends can reduce flow by 25%. And if anyone tries to use a crinkle bend on your exhaust... Hit them in the head with whatever exhaust pipe you can get your hands on, and get your car away from them!!

In order of "OMG NO!" to "Yes, please!!"

Crinkle bends:


Crush bent:

Photo: Mike Kemper

Mandrel bends:

Photo: Mike Kemper

You can see that the crush bends are similar to the mandrel bends, but the size reduces for the bend. Mandrel bends are the same diameter all the way through the bend.

[Perf.Des]

+1...Always go with mandrel bends...otherwise its pointless.

As for custom vs branded....you will lose out on the R&D and testing. Granted you are also paying for the name markup, value-added-engineering comes at a price.

A way around it is to find someone with the branded exhaust you like and have your shop custom make you a replica (yes I know its blatant copying, but it is an option).

[Huck]

Haha +1 on the mandrel bends, that's always the way to go. A friend of mine one time got those $20 crinkle pipes from Autozone and SCREWED them all together, bought a muffler at a pawn shop for $40 and slapped in on his Focus, then bragged to all his friends about his "custom exhaust" hahaha. I can't even describe to you how horrible it sounded.

[edub370]

get one thats custom made made yo!

[Huck]

That has to be the coolest thing I've ever seen!

[blak max]

I am debating on custom 3" or buy brand name and have it customized..So far I called one muffler shop and they said they wont do 3" and I called a performance shop that said it would be $150 an hour plus $100 per bend