Exhaust Recommendations

[derendila]

Hi all,

Been looking at loads of youtube videos and forum posts for the past few hours and still can't decide what exhaust to fit onto my MR2. There's a ton of exhausts being sold yet not a lot of videos showing the sound of these exhausts. Has anyone got any recommendations? If it helps, I'm definitely prioritising sound over performance gain.

Ideally wanted only a catback exhaust as I'd like to keep the catalytic converter OEM, unless there's a reasonable benefit in terms of sound to justify spending the money on a sports cat (hopefully some of you can answer this from your own experience)?

Thanks in advance!

[Ardent]

hello and welcome.

either the in built search or google. but search for something along the lines of exhausts all of them.
An old dusty thread. probably little if anything in terms of sound though.
Best sounding to me is still the oem tte, but does come with its own issues.

[Gibla]

Nothing definitive from me, but compared to OEM 2 items stick out

1) TTE backbox < unavailable for years, but still highly sought after as gives a deeper bassier exhaust note

2) Zero < various components eg exhaust manifold , midpipe , backbox these are available albeit very expensive , but are probably(imo) the best 'off the shelf'' exhausts you can buy. 

note ''off the shelf'' in this case means ordering, paying + waiting for 3-4 weeks whilst it's made!

[Alex Knight]

@Gibla

Are you forgetting TRD?

[Gibla]

@Alex Knight

Truthfully, I consistently mix up TTE and TRD products, so maybe my entry in reply #2 could well be wrong ... dunno 

[Alex Knight]

@Alex Knight

Truthfully, I consistently mix up TTE and TRD products, so maybe my entry in reply #2 could well be wrong ... dunno 

TRD = Japan
TTE = Europe

Basically.

[Ardent]

2) Zero < various components eg exhaust manifold , midpipe , backbox these are available albeit very expensive , but are probably(imo) the best 'off the shelf'' exhausts you can buy. 
 

They are expensive but very high quality that fit, work and will last. Which on balance represents good value for money.

Buy cheap. Buy twice.

[Petrus]

unless there's a reasonable benefit in terms of sound to justify spending the money on a sports cat (hopefully some of you can answer this from your own experience)?

I have been swapping and reswapping several exhaust combination and even fabricated my own (non)muffler.
Currently running a decat and the below mentioned Amuse.

The OEM cat is a véry effective muffler mostly because the 2 - 1  has a restriction. The main benefit of a sports cat is the delete of thát restriction.
If you think of changing the OEM muffler, I would pérsonally prefer fitting a non restrictive 2 - 1 collector on the OEM cat. If power is a non issue than simply leave the OEM cat pipe.

As to mufflers you already have a lot of advice.
I wanted an Amuse Titanium JDM street legal and it took almost 5 years to find one at sort of affordable money. Nóóó regrets because apart from a very cool sound it also runs literally cool, véry cool.

[derendila]

I have been swapping and reswapping several exhaust combination and even fabricated my own (non)muffler.
Currently running a decat and the below mentioned Amuse.

The OEM cat is a véry effective muffler mostly because the 2 - 1  has a restriction. The main benefit of a sports cat is the delete of thát restriction.
If you think of changing the OEM muffler, I would pérsonally prefer fitting a non restrictive 2 - 1 collector on the OEM cat. If power is a non issue than simply leave the OEM cat pipe.

As to mufflers you already have a lot of advice.
I wanted an Amuse Titanium JDM street legal and it took almost 5 years to find one at sort of affordable money. Nóóó regrets because apart from a very cool sound it also runs literally cool, véry cool.

How much more does the OEM cat affect sound in comparison to a sports cat? Is the difference large enough to justify spending more money?

[derendila]

Nothing definitive from me, but compared to OEM 2 items stick out

1) TTE backbox < unavailable for years, but still highly sought after as gives a deeper bassier exhaust note

2) Zero < various components eg exhaust manifold , midpipe , backbox these are available albeit very expensive , but are probably(imo) the best 'off the shelf'' exhausts you can buy. 

note ''off the shelf'' in this case means ordering, paying + waiting for 3-4 weeks whilst it's made!

I was heavily considering zero exhausts until I searched up videos of how they sound and quite literally 'zero exhaust' videos came up.. has anyone got a link to a video showing off sound as I haven't been able to find one myself?

[Gibla]

I was heavily considering zero exhausts until I searched up videos of how they sound and quite literally 'zero exhaust' videos came up.. has anyone got a link to a video showing off sound as I haven't been able to find one myself?

Sadly, I dunno to one, but after 2 complete full Zero exhaust installations you definitely won't be disappointed at any aspect re noise levels,quality or additional power production
just as a note Zero now offer single or dual exit for the 1zz, all of my installs have been with the dual exit+ I'm more than happy 

[Petrus]

How much more does the OEM cat affect sound in comparison to a sports cat? Is the difference large enough to justify spending more money?

As I wrote it is not the cát that muffles but mainly restriction in the collector which is there for this purpose.

The difference between OEM cat and decat pipe is about halving the noise level.

I would in your case, with the output not being the priority, go for a Zero muffler on the OEM cat.

[Ardent]

@derendila

appreciate this does not really help as more engine than anything, but...

Zero sports cat and twin exit muffler on a tte turbo car. So not the most fair comparison.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AjKQRUlKMbdShMFgE_bjMAkzNZBP8A?e=1gjK8j