New to board. Question: What is the best chip tuner/exhaust/mani for

[brad2000s]

I don't want anything that is going to really lose any low-end torque or put my car at mechanical break-down risk, but a little more power would be great! Also, not really interested in running over 91 octane because 92 and above is really tough to find.

Lastly, I've heard good stuff about Dansk for being almost identical sounding to PSE '03 (and above)--but perhaps with some power increase and not nearly as expensive as PSE. What do you all think about exhaust/mani options? I for sure don't want a resonance issue that I've heard many exhausts have, but I am not that concerned about power increases (just don't want to lose power either). Really, I am most concerned with sound/quality and supporting some more tuning down the road.

Thanks,

Brad

[atmorris]

I don't want anything that is going to really lose any low-end torque or put my car at mechanical break-down risk, but a little more power would be great! Also, not really interested in running over 91 octane because 92 and above is really tough to find.

Lastly, I've heard good stuff about Dansk for being almost identical sounding to PSE '03 (and above)--but perhaps with some power increase and not nearly as expensive as PSE. What do you all think about exhaust/mani options? I for sure don't want a resonance issue that I've heard many exhausts have, but I am not that concerned about power increases (just don't want to lose power either). Really, I am most concerned with sound/quality and supporting some more tuning down the road.

Thanks,

Brad

That's a tough ask. Almost anything you do to significantly alter the sound is going to result in the exhaust being, or seeming, noticably louder. In a cabrio, even a little louder is VERY noticable. There is very little between you and the sound after all.

For example, I recently installed headers and a muffler manufactured by iA. The muffler design is very similar to the ones advertised on eBay for $800 - $900, or sold on www.topspeedauto.com for $800. I am undecided on whether I will keep it or not. It sounds B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L, especially from the outside of the car. It has a very throaty rumble at idle, and sounds just plain BAD (in a good way) when I get on the throttle. In that respect I got exactly what I wanted. The trade off however, is that the exhaust is noticably louder from inside the car. Top up / top down doesn't matter, it sounds the same. Now, I expected it to be louder, I'm just not sure that I expected it to be so noticable from inside the car. You can still conduct a conversation in a normal tone of voice, so it isn't THAT loud, but it is low frequency tone and believe me is IS noticable. I think that a lot of people mistake this for resonance, it isn't. Resonance is a strong sonic effect that produces vibration as well as sound and occurs only under specific conditions. This is just a deep, rich, exhaust tone and it takes some getting used to.

There is an exhaust mod you can do to your stock muffler that might be closest to what you are looking for. It is inexpensive, and sounds a lot like the PSE according to the writeups I have seen. It involves running a set of mandrel bent 1" SS tubes from the muffler inlet tubes, around to the sides, or top, of the muffler outlet. In escence your just allowing a small portion of the raw exhaust to exit without passing all the way through the muffler. I'm not sure that this significantly changes the back pressure picture one way or the other, but it does accomplish a slightly throatier exhaust note without introducing any resonance issues. Whether or not it is enough of a sound change depends on what you are after. Keep in mind that the addition (or not) of headers will add to the sound changes as well.

Take your time researching it. Try to find cars that have the equipment your interested in, that way maybe you can hear the setup first hand, and maybe even be able to arrange a checkout ride. Good luck in your quest. :thumbup:

[brad2000s]

I don't want anything that is going to really lose any low-end torque or put my car at mechanical break-down risk, but a little more power would be great! Also, not really interested in running over 91 octane because 92 and above is really tough to find.

Lastly, I've heard good stuff about Dansk for being almost identical sounding to PSE '03 (and above)--but perhaps with some power increase and not nearly as expensive as PSE. What do you all think about exhaust/mani options? I for sure don't want a resonance issue that I've heard many exhausts have, but I am not that concerned about power increases (just don't want to lose power either). Really, I am most concerned with sound/quality and supporting some more tuning down the road.

Thanks,

Brad

That's a tough ask. Almost anything you do to significantly alter the sound is going to result in the exhaust being, or seeming, noticably louder. In a cabrio, even a little louder is VERY noticable. There is very little between you and the sound after all.

For example, I recently installed headers and a muffler manufactured by iA. The muffler design is very similar to the ones advertised on eBay for $800 - $900, or sold on www.topspeedauto.com for $800. I am undecided on whether I will keep it or not. It sounds B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L, especially from the outside of the car. It has a very throaty rumble at idle, and sounds just plain BAD (in a good way) when I get on the throttle. In that respect I got exactly what I wanted. The trade off however, is that the exhaust is noticably louder from inside the car. Top up / top down doesn't matter, it sounds the same. Now, I expected it to be louder, I'm just not sure that I expected it to be so noticable from inside the car. You can still conduct a conversation in a normal tone of voice, so it isn't THAT loud, but it is low frequency tone and believe me is IS noticable. I think that a lot of people mistake this for resonance, it isn't. Resonance is a strong sonic effect that produces vibration as well as sound and occurs only under specific conditions. This is just a deep, rich, exhaust tone and it takes some getting used to.

There is an exhaust mod you can do to your stock muffler that might be closest to what you are looking for. It is inexpensive, and sounds a lot like the PSE according to the writeups I have seen. It involves running a set of mandrel bent 1" SS tubes from the muffler inlet tubes, around to the sides, or top, of the muffler outlet. In escence your just allowing a small portion of the raw exhaust to exit without passing all the way through the muffler. I'm not sure that this significantly changes the back pressure picture one way or the other, but it does accomplish a slightly throatier exhaust note without introducing any resonance issues. Whether or not it is enough of a sound change depends on what you are after. Keep in mind that the addition (or not) of headers will add to the sound changes as well.

Take your time researching it. Try to find cars that have the equipment your interested in, that way maybe you can hear the setup first hand, and maybe even be able to arrange a checkout ride. Good luck in your quest. :thumbup:

Wow, thanks for your well thought out response. I appreciate the info. I think I am leaning towards the modification of the stock exhaust. It is probably the cheapest and most suited to my tastes. I heard that ppbon (Pedro) of ppbb.com made that mod and a lot of people like it and feel that it actually might make some power.

Thanks again!

Brad

[atmorris]

Yes, that's the mod I was referring to. I have seen a lot of positive comments on it. Based on what you are looking for, that's probably a good place to start. Inexpensive, a moderate change, little or no impact to powerband, etc.