OEM+ Exhaust

[APBonABP]

Hi everyone!

What are the best options for an OEM-like exhaust, but with more character and maybe a bit deeper? I'm not really interested in making things louder as I have a pretty low tolerance for drone; I typically don't like to drive on the highway in any setting except Comfort.

Should I look into full exhaust options, or just something like a downpipe/frontpipe swap with the rest factory?

Thanks!

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[Baozzer]

Thermal RD would get my vote. anytime you mess with the down or front pipe you are subject to drone. Thermal as minimal drone. imo i say skip any exhaust mod and just upgrade your tips. It's what i did. i get compliments on my exhaust from time to time and i say thanks, ITS STOCK

 

[APBonABP]

Thermal RD would get my vote. anytime you mess with the down or front pipe you are subject to drone. Thermal as minimal drone. imo i say skip any exhaust mod and just upgrade your tips. It's what i did. i get compliments on my exhaust from time to time and i say thanks, ITS STOCK

Thanks! Is that only for non-Type S specs? I didn't see an option for the Type S / 2.0 T on their website.

 

[Baozzer]

My bad i didnt realize i was on the Type S section. Nah just stock for no drone. You can also pull the fuse that open/closes the flap of the exhaust to stay closed that way you can keep your engine in normal/sport with out the extra burbles. funny because its normally the opposite people want to pull the fuse when the flap is open to keep the burbles on

https://www.integraforums.com/forum/threads/diy-keeping-exhaust-flap-open-on-integra-type-s.51291/

 

[APBonABP]

My bad i didnt realize i was on the Type S section. Nah just stock for no drone. You can also pull the fuse that open/closes the flap of the exhaust to stay closed that way you can keep your engine in normal/sport with out the extra burbles. funny because its normally the opposite people want to pull the fuse when the flap is open to keep the burbles on

https://www.integraforums.com/forum/threads/diy-keeping-exhaust-flap-open-on-integra-type-s.51291/

Gotcha!

I wouldn't say I strictly want the exhaust to always be quiet - I usually have it on Sport or Sport+ when I'm driving twisty back roads - but I definitely want an OEM-like "Comfort" level of noise to fall back on when I'm on a longer highway commute, and then something with a little more character and complexity for the Sport settings, and I was curious if anybody's found a good setup for that yet.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Gotcha!

I wouldn't say I strictly want the exhaust to always be quiet - I usually have it on Sport or Sport+ when I'm driving twisty back roads - but I definitely want an OEM-like "Comfort" level of noise to fall back on when I'm on a longer highway commute, and then something with a little more character and complexity for the Sport settings, and I was curious if anybody's found a good setup for that yet.

I would think the invidia q300 would get the closest to oem with valve closed, but it will still be louder.

I'm unclear on your exact goal. Are you looking for volume increase in sport+ or just trying to change the octave as a whole?

 

[APBonABP]

I would think the invidia q300 would get the closest to oem with valve closed, but it will still be louder.

I'm unclear on your exact goal. Are you looking for volume increase in sport+ or just trying to change the octave as a whole?

I’ll check that out, thanks!

I’d say what I’m looking for is something deeper/cleaner in tone than OE but with minimal increase in volume/drone in the Comfort setting.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I’ll check that out, thanks!

I’d say what I’m looking for is something deeper/cleaner in tone than OE but with minimal increase in volume/drone in the Comfort setting.

Are you wanting it to be louder than stock in sport and sport+?

A larger pipe diameter gives a deeper note, but most exhausts also try to make it louder. I'm not sure there's anything on the market that won't make it significantly louder in valve open configurations...

That said, if you plan to tune, the valve behavior can be adjusted so you could theoretically tone down a loud exhaust by tuned valving (which is what I've done with my borla to keep sport civil and mostly drone/rasp free).

 

[APBonABP]

Are you wanting it to be louder than stock in sport and sport+?

A larger pipe diameter gives a deeper note, but most exhausts also try to make it louder. I'm not sure there's anything on the market that won't make it significantly louder in valve open configurations...

That said, if you plan to tune, the valve behavior can be adjusted so you could theoretically tone down a loud exhaust by tuned valving (which is what I've done with my borla to keep sport civil and mostly drone/rasp free).

I don’t have much of a preference either way - quieter or louder - for the Sport settings.

I am planning to tune once I can get my hands on a spare ECU to clone to (seems to be sold out for a bit at the local dealerships last I checked).

How do you like the Borla? And appreciate the insights by the way!

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I don’t have much of a preference either way - quieter or louder - for the Sport settings.

I am planning to tune once I can get my hands on a spare ECU to clone to (seems to be sold out for a bit at the local dealerships last I checked).

How do you like the Borla? And appreciate the insights by the way!

Then I'd say the q300 might be your ticket, and to kill drone even further, you could look at a resonated tip option or additional res for the specific frequency you don't like (you only have to know the rpm you hate , rest is math). Still louder than stock.

I LOVE the borla. It gets compliments at the track constantly and Borla focused a lot on changing the sound in a distinct way. The only two things that annoy me are the quality of the tips and the rasp this engine has at the vtec changeover in sport+. I plan to add a resonated tip to try to solve both problems, so we'll see how it goes.

For your application and goals, it may be too loud. The sport and sport+ are genuinely loud. Comfort is basically the new sport, and that's even with my sound deadening additions. That said, the tone in comfort is superb. Cruising it's a gentle background hum and not at all boomy or droney. I do have sound deadening additions in the doors, hatch, and rear seats. I can listen to music on volume 4 for normal conversation and still hear exhaust, music, my kid in the back. At 6 music is present over static exhaust. At 12 the music is loud and can't hear the exhaust in comfort unless flooring it where the valve opens above 5500rpm.

My understanding is the q300 is quite a bit quieter in comfort than the borla. Knowing other similar iterations, I would suspect roughly 5dB quieter and that's a lot.

 

[APBonABP]

Then I'd say the q300 might be your ticket, and to kill drone even further, you could look at a resonated tip option or additional res for the specific frequency you don't like (you only have to know the rpm you hate , rest is math). Still louder than stock.

I LOVE the borla. It gets compliments at the track constantly and Borla focused a lot on changing the sound in a distinct way. The only two things that annoy me are the quality of the tips and the rasp this engine has at the vtec changeover in sport+. I plan to add a resonated tip to try to solve both problems, so we'll see how it goes.

For your application and goals, it may be too loud. The sport and sport+ are genuinely loud. Comfort is basically the new sport, and that's even with my sound deadening additions. That said, the tone in comfort is superb. Cruising it's a gentle background hum and not at all boomy or droney. I do have sound deadening additions in the doors, hatch, and rear seats. I can listen to music on volume 4 for normal conversation and still hear exhaust, music, my kid in the back. At 6 music is present over static exhaust. At 12 the music is loud and can't hear the exhaust in comfort unless flooring it where the valve opens above 5500rpm.

My understanding is the q300 is quite a bit quieter in comfort than the borla. Knowing other similar iterations, I would suspect roughly 5dB quieter and that's a lot.

I think the hardest part about comparing exhaust setups is trying to find videos where the cars are actually driven instead of just revving them in place. To me at least, the exhaust sounds much different when the engine is under actual load, and that's what I'm most interested in hearing.

The Borla sounds really nice from what I saw but I agree, I think it's too loud for what I'm looking for.

I see a lot of folks in videos mentioning the Q300 as being very OEM+, so that's a good sign! It looks like the A'pexi setup might be similar, too? Only thing I'm not a huge fan of on either so far are the burned tips, but it's certainly not a dealbreaker.

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