Why don't you go custom? You can get anything custom for under $500, and there is absolutely no difference between a custom one and a brand-name. Your just buying the brand-name...

 

Get a custom ss catback and spend the extra money you saved and use it to engrave your favorite brand name into your exhaust. Voila. Or go used and upgrade some parts, just stick with the already bent ss pipes and geta new cat, res, muf, etc.

 

oh man, as much as i would like to go custom, i do not know of any shops here in MD that can do this for me. i'd have to order every part, cat, resonator and muffler to fit...

the problem is, however, my exhaust is completely stock from the day the car was born. it's rusted and corroded so i need something that will resist that. also it would be easier to just order something.

although custom sounds like it would be what i need, the GT Headers from Kspec will likely be 3-flange w. dowpipe, so I will probably also have to replace the exhaust to a 3-flange and have a high-flow welded in.

true, the pricetag is the name... and the performance gains from an exhaust aren't that different... but it's one of the corners of speed. i'd rather pay the price than to spend time trying to deal with the problems of customizing an exhaust. wouldn't you agree?

 

There are probably 5,000 shops in Maryland that do it. I live in RURAL VA, and there are three shops that do SS Mandrel around me, and god knows how many press benders. Ask around dude.

You get a Stainless Steel custom catback, the exhaust will outlast your car, unless you take a hacksaw to it. Stainless steel won't corrode easily. You get mild steel, it won't corrode until five years from now, even with all that Maryland sand and salt you guys get for snow.

For my GSX and Tib, I dropped the car off, came back later in the day and it was done. You make an appointment and its done. It really only takes an hour or two to make.

 

i tried looking up some shops... you think the yellow pages might have some custom exhaust shops?

how much did it cost you? thanks for the insight. the stainless steal will def. outlast the car.

 

2.5" press, stainless steel, cost me $150. That was for the Tib.
3" mandrel, stainless steel, cost me $300. That was for the GSX.

Those prices are without mufflers, just piping. If you can go to any car meets or ask around at body shops I'm sure they can point you to a shop.

 

As usual, you are DEAD WRONG HAMSLICE.

When you buy a NAME BRAND (A good name brand, like MBRP or APEXI), you are getting a item that is usually designed on a CAD system first, flow tested, and DYNO'd. They usually have a very clean route in them.

When you buy a local CUSTOM EXHAUST, you usually get a bigger diameter copy of the stock exhaust. No dyno's, no testing, no nothing.

Big name companies have their names and respect for a reason.

 

You don't have to get a copy of the stock exhaust, most people go that way, but if you wanted you could get them to make a pipe with 50 bends in it if you wanted, or get it to follow the path the Apexi takes.

Dude, its an exhaust. Its a piece of pipe. Nothing more. "Smooth Route?" Any mandrel-bent is going to be perfectly smooth inside. The only reason they dyno and test exhausts is to show results to make the consumer happy and want to buy it.

 

Smooth route = STRAIGHTER.

Yeah, right, most folks out there will go to whatever shop and tell themthey want a custom exhaust. 95% of them will get a overbored copy of the stock exhaust.

And as I said, flow testing.

 

hmm...i see your points. both make a little sense... i think the major companies try to get the least amount of backdraft and most even amounts of flow probably more than customs. but can tim or mussa back us up on this? maybe someone who has had their exhaust customized?

it might just depend on the shop too!