Help On Picking Out An Exhaust Kit

[DTDLex]

Hey all,

Was just browsing through the Lexus websites and found this great forum, hats off to it's members and moderators.

Anyways, so the reason I've been browsing is that my brother has left me with his 1992 SC400 (traded him my 1993 GS300 for it, did I come up?)

The car so far has an K&N air filter and 18" C5 rims.

I'm looking to add a little more performance on it.

In the future, hopefully I'll have enough money to add a body kit and a supercharger (forced air?)

But right now, I'm looking to invest in an exhaust system.

Been leafing through these pages, but I'm so unfamiliar with exhaust terms that it's hard to keep track of.

Went to intellexual and heard some of the noises that these exhaust make. I kinda like the ones that Rod Millen and Borla put out.

Are these the ones that are referred to in his videos?

1) http://www.rodmillenstore.com/sc_400/exhaust.htm

2) http://proficientperformance.com/Merchant2..._Code=BOR-11401

Now, are these two similar except for the sound they make?

I know the RMM are around $700 and the Borlas are around $500

They both have dual mufflers/tips? or do I have to buy two sets to make it look similar to my oem?

I read on proficient performance that the borlas are a cat-back, and someone in here said that the rod millens are axle-backs? (is that correct?) What's the difference in terms of performance/look/usefulness later on as i add the turbocharger?

lol, i'm pretty inquisitive, i apologize in advance.

but last question (and most important)

the sound of these exhausts

i heard the videos on intellexual and like both of them, are they consistent with your guys' experience in real life?

i have pretty picky neighbors, so i don't want to annoy them coming home late wiht a very loud exhaust (my bass bothers them enough)

i'd like a deep, consistent sound (not the metallic clingy sounds of greddy), but prefer it to be quiet (i realize that it'll be louder than stock) possible for when idling into/out of my garage.

do either of these fit the bill, or are there any other suggestions?

PS, i've posted this in the FAQ too, so if you've had to read it twice, i apologize

well, thanks in advance

danh

[Lexual]

Hey I have run the borlas on my car and have had some friends run RMM. RMM was a little louder but less deep then the borlas. The thing to note with either of these exhaust systems is if you don not rerun new piping you dont get much noise at all which may be perfect for you if you want a little more growl without waking the neighbors. I have given up on both of those and have started playing around with different setups on my own. I am currently running 2.5 inch pipes from the cat back with an h pipe and 2 magnaflow mufflers that fit perfect, I even put on the orgnial tips. I dont really like the sound myself :( and it is getting replaced soon but feel free to take a listen http://students.uat.edu/jusbrand/lexus/photos.htm it is a pretty big file so be patient but it will download

[DTDLex]

thanks for the response

if i decide to go with the borlas now, can i add new piping in later? by piping, do you mean replacing the ones that came with the borlas (essentially only using the mufflers?) or the other stock piping before that is before the borla kit?

[DTDLex]

also,

you remember where you got your borla kit?

best i could find it for is around $500 shipped

i haven't done much work myself on cars, but i'm hoping that the borlas are easy enough of a start that i can do it myself? what do you think.

i've been told that shops don't charge that much to instal exhaust ($50-$100), but i'd hate to have other people do everything for my car.

danh

[DTDLex]

Lexual,

your borla kit was a cat-back, yes?

the local shop i'm talking to right now claims that it's an axle-back

is he bs-ing me?

http://proficientperformance.com/Merchant2..._Code=BOR-11401

the borla website and the link above claims that they are cat-backs

i might just order it from the website and have somebody install it or try to do it msyelf. just wanted to know if he was trying to rip me off

thanks,

danh

ps, sorry for the triple reply on my own post. hehe

[Lexual]

Mine was rear axel back, however i bought mine from a private party, he had bought it and then crashed his car. I dont know if he just didnt give me everything or what but it was cheap so i didnt complain.

I would buy from tm engieers they are cheaper plus they can tell you exactly what you get:

http://www.tmengineering.net/performance/e...make/lexus.html

shoot them an email before you order and ask what you get with it.

[STOKED]

I too was interested in the Borla's due to their throaty sound, however, the price was too steep. I just ordered dual Magnaflows with custom tips and will be getting them installed later this week. I can let you know how it turns out if you are interested.

[prix]

Lexual: Have you nothing better to do? Kidding! I listened to the sound byte...fun!

[Lexual]

Hmm is there anything more besides girls and cars.... i think not

ps. and the website was for a final project at school

[ikrshinji]

Hi

Anyone have the Greddy exhaust setup?

[Neo]

Have a listen here:

http://www.lexusgonewild.com/norCal_v2/V8exhaustComp.htm

I think there is an SC400 with the RMM in the competition.

[Lexual]

I was a t a sight a long time ago that had a greddy kit and if i remeber right it wasnt loud at all it sounded pretty much stock

[SKperformance]

I love the sound of a borla they make the best muffelrs for sound you can buy.

Some one was complaining int he GS section they didn;t like theres.

[Calvin L]

which exahust gives a nice power gain, but also doesnt sound TOO loud. just something that rumbles well at idle and has a deep, but not loud throaty sound. do you guys think greddy would be the best? and do all systems out there come in dual for the sc300 or single. or maybe dual on one side?

[Lexual]

It all depends on what you want to do. I have seen many single exhaust turbo charged sc300's, i am not sure why you would want dual on one side but that would be custom. Exhaust wise you can do anything you want by going to your local muffler shop. Power gains are tricky though, you wont get much power from a new set of mufflers maybe 1-2 ponies from just the muffler and then opening up the pipes to be bigger you may get 5-15 depending. But if you redo the exhaust system even though the power gains may not be huge at first that part of the car is no longer restricting power meaning other performance add ons will get you even more power.

[SPORTcoupe300]

Hey Lexual,

In your video, do you have straight pipes (with an H) running from the catalytic converter to the Magnas or do you have resonators?

Your exhaust sounds really good at just above idle, but it's not quite right at high RPMs.

[Lexual]

Hey Lexual,

In your video, do you have straight pipes (with an H) running from the catalytic converter to the Magnas or do you have resonators?

Your exhaust sounds really good at just above idle, but it's not quite right at high RPMs.

It is a staright with an H after the cats, i couldnt agree more at idel it is nice but up there i hate it, i really do. I think that is just the magnaflows, I am redoing the exhaust hopefully within the next month I will let everybody know how that goes

[SPORTcoupe300]

A guy in my area is selling the tubing off the Phoenix(Phenix?) Departure II exhaust.

I'm seriously considering it.

He wants $300 for it.

By "it" he means 3" pipes from the cat to the mufflers(so mufflers not included).

He says there's one resonator per side.

I checked with a local performance shop and they said it runs for $1400+shipping(Japan) with the mufflers.

Slap some Borla mufflers on those 3" pipes and I should get a nice roar.

What do you guys think?

[Lexual]

Not a bad price, I am getting custom bent 3" stainless steel from the headers back for $375 on my next adventure here and I am putting a set of mufflers that my friend has on his Nissan SR20 DET Engine that just sounds really deep and nice and those are only $175 for a pair, i dont know if the borlas would be worth all the extra expense if you are getting three inch pipe. Plus i dont think borlas have a three inch inlet which would kind of defeat the purpose of the 3" inch pipe.

[Calvin L]

which brands do you guys know of that arent too loud, but can come off as a pretty aggressive car? something along the low-ness of greddy? (ie. power extreme)

[DTDLex]

turns out the borla system is axle-back only (mufflers only) like the guy says. tm confirmed this with me.

so i'm probably gonna get this, and then if i get the money, add some piping later on. so you guys think $490 on this set is ok?

anybody know a good place i can get it installed in so cal? (near westminster/garden grove)

thanks for all the help guys,

danh

[Lexual]

TM is the cheapest i have seen

[Calvin L]

how loud is the borla system compared to......greddy mx?

[SPORTcoupe300]

Calvin: From what I've heard from people, the Borla mufflers sound almost stock at idle, maybe just a little deeper. At a higher RPM you can hear quite a bit more throatiness than stock.

Greddy MX on the other hand is quite a bit more in-your-face (sound and look)

DTDLex: You should just do the install yourself. It's all bolt-on. No welding required. Hardest part is getting the old muffler hangers out of the little rubber parts but with some patience it can be done.

[t0ked]

The Borlas are pretty sweet if you plan on keeping most of your internals stock (ie. not planning on going turbo on the 300 anytime soon). At idle, they sound stock, with a slightly deeper rumble. At WOT, especially if you have an intake or done the BFI mod, you'll be surprised at the growl. Nice and deep. I really can't imagine going with a louder exhaust on this car... I think it would detract a bit from it being a Lexus.