i've searched the site but havent found exactly what i wanted. what do you guys think the best downpipe, midpipe, and catback combo would be? i dont care about the soundor looks, just the quality and the hp gains. thanks in advance.

 

You probably will care about sound eventually, as these cars are very loud with the exhaust opened up. Until that time, a 3" downpipe from one of the many vendors combined with a 4" downpipe-back system from HKS or one of the other huge systems will probably give you the greatest gains.

Then after you tire of the noise, let your car sit because it is too loud to drive (determined by either the cops, your cup holder [wife/girlfriend], or yourself), and want a quiet exhaust that still gives good flow, there seem to be a few good options. You can keep the downpipe, combine it with a muffled midpipe, and a Racing Beat or M2 dual-tip catback. That gives a reasonable sound level and looks nice and subtle.

-Max

 

well said Max.

I don't have a midpipe but I love the sound quality and looks of my exhaust (3" downpipe with RB dual-tip). It's not too loud, has a nice tone, and flows well. As far as performance, I doubt most of the much louder cat-backs give much more of a hp gain. I dyno-ed at 240 rwhp with only a downpipe and cat-back and I'm only getting 7 psi after 6k. (time to start tracking down that small boost leak, or could also be clogged cat, but doubt it)

 

I have a M2 DP, Mind-train MP, and a Racing Beat CB. I love the combo, it is very tame until you open it up. A friend of mine has the canister type exhaust, N1 Duel, DP, and a MP with the Borla XR-1 muffler welded in. It is a little more quiet than mine but still sounds good.

 

I have a 3" Dp with combined with the HKS 4" titanium racing exhaust (4" midpipe included) and this definitely sounds the meanest.

 

I have a trust non-canister exhaust and intake...waiting for the ecu now...but the car has a deep throaty sound.

 

3" DP, Random Hi-flow cat, Apexi N1 Duals. Pretty damn loud when you are on the throttle, but at least it doesn't drone or resonate. Very good HP gain IMHO. When I got rid if the stock main cat and replaced it with the Hi-flow I swear it was like bolting on 20HP. I don't have any dyno numbers to back that up, but my seat-o-the-pants dyno says 15-20 HP. What?, did you say something? Did I mention loud?

Frank

 

if you really dont care about sound level or looks, id say just get yourself a downpipe and leave everything off from there back. then you will have a better flowing system than anyone else on this forum!

 

i switched my n1 dual to rb dual to quiet things down...although there was a noticable difference it is still loud. The fact is if you run a mp the car will be loud. But it is worth the rwhp in my opinion. Get a rb or m2

 

I love my exhaust setup and recommend it to everyone.

I'm using ATR's 3" stainless steel downpipe, stainless steel midpipe, and A'pexi GT Spec Exhaust. I love the way my exhaust sounds so does my girlfriend. The silencer from the GT Spec works extremely well if you want to lower the db.

 

RX7 RAGE... any video clips of ur full exhaust?? =)

 

I have a high flow cat, pfs exhaust, and 3"dp and I've lost a noticeable amount of my hearing by driving my car long distances. The constant loudness of cruising did it....

 

As an acoustics engineer, I don't think this was the cause. The drone of constant cruising is of pretty low frequency and is really not that loud, all things considered (with a hi-flow cat). Now, if you had your stereo turned up loud to get over the exhaust droning, that I would believe.

Sorry to hear about your loss though. I think many people here running a full open exhaust are going to learn the hard way later in life. I won't even mention the countless multitudes regularly running their car stereos over 100 dBA....