Building the Perfect Exhaust

How do you build the perfect exhaust? That’s a great question and I think it differs for every build. Sometimes you want the world to know you are coming. Sometimes your going for the stealth look. And sometimes you are trying to be a bit more sophisticated.

Which ever is case, there are definitely some things we don’t want our cars to sound like. Fart cans come to mind. Raspy, wheezy, and annoying. Anything aftermarket on a Mustang sounds terrible. They all have a rattling sound and damn are they loud. A Mustang is one of those rare cars that actually sound their best with the stock the exhaust. But I digress….

I typically like something that has a nice deep tone, but isn’t too loud. I’ve been pretty lucky over the years and have had some pretty decent setups. I have a cheesy little axle-back muffler on my xB that I currently love. It sounds great and looks the part. It’s made by DME and was $99 off of eBay.

I have had a difficult time building something I like for the Prelude. When it comes to piping we don’t have much of a choice. The ONLY option is TruBendz off of eBay. They offer a great product at a great price. It allows you to pick the diameter of the pipe and will work with any resonator and muffler. My first go around was with a 2.25″ pipe, 12″ Vibrant resonator, race cat, and OBX Duel Tip muffler.

It looked great and I thought I built something that would perform and sound awesome, but after a few break-in miles I was far from thrilled with this setup. It wasn’t terrible, but didn’t feel right or sound right. After my first trip to the dyno, the tuner said my exhaust was too restrictive and it was time for another change.

This time I went with another TruBendz piping kit. This time I went larger. 2.5″ diameter. No cat, no resonator only a Vibrant 2.5″ Inlet Duel Tip muffler.

Sound improved, but louder and power seemed to improve. Dyno numbers proved that (there were other changes, as well). However, there is an issue with the muffler. It’s black. I wouldn’t call it ugly, but I also wouldn’t call it attractive and on a white car with aluminum wheels, no window tint the black just doesn’t go with anything. As I said earlier, it’s definitely louder. It’s definitely something I could live with, but I would prefer something that is a little deeper and quieter.

So I’m back researching mufflers once again. I have given up on duel tip mufflers. I always wanted to keep them because Preludes always came from the factory with duel tips, but it really limits what’s available. I have long since admired the Accord featured in this issue of Honda Tuning.

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1404-1992-honda-accord-ex

He’s running a Apexi WS2 cat-back system. I like the way the muffler looks against the white car. And after reading countless reviews and watching this sound clip on YouTube of Apexi WS2 on a straight-piped non-Vtec Integra I have made up my mind. I sounds and looks awesome. Time to order one.

What’s your favorite setup? Let me know in the comments below!