Exaust questions

I have been looking on ebay at performance mufflers and i was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of these mufflers on ebay. Some of the prices are drastically low and was wondering if anyone has tried anything exaust wise cat, muffler, header. If so, how happy are you with the results nd does it matter which muffler i get if i am making my own exaust as long as it is a 4 cly performance muffler and what not?

they are cheap mufflers so they will sound good for the first hour then they will get all raspy. if you want a good deep sound, get a name brand like greddy or thermal

Where can i get the best deals on name brand mufflers and exaust parts. and is the raspyness with just the muffler or cat and headers too?

just a quick Q whats the team lonely drivers about? it took me to a search engine.

i have had an obx 4-2-1 stainless 2 piece header and high flow cat for about 5k miles and so far so good

i had one of those ebay fireball mufflers that i got for 30 bucks when i had my old mazda. surprisingly, it sounded better then alot of others that i've heard and didn't sound raspy at all. maybe i just got lucky.

Also, what is the difference from 4-2-1 and 4-1 in Hp or performance. Is one better than the other?

Also, what is the difference from 4-2-1 and 4-1 in Hp or performance. Is one better than the other?
From what ive read a 4-2-1 is better on a sohc and 4-1 is better on a dohc. anyone else heard this? correct me if im wrong

Is more back pressure good for the sohc cause of the low end torque that it has?

raspy sound usually come from the muffler or a lack of a cat.

a 4-2-1 is made for more lower and mid range tq, 4-1 is made for more top end power. dohc vtec motors are good motors for the 4-1 header.

i always say the more free flowing the better. gives your more hp but they say you lose alittle down low tq.

tldrivers.net, check it out

backpressure is a trickey subject some people think none is best some think you need some, personally i think you will need some backpressure. if you do a search i think there was a thread about this a few months ago also they have talked about it on homemadeturbo.com you may even want to google it to find articles i,d find em but right now im tired

I heard the sohc has good low end torque so should i stick with the 4-2-1 with high flow cat from ebay and a name brand muffler?

I heard the sohc has good low end torque so should i stick with the 4-2-1 with high flow cat from ebay and a name brand muffler?

not too sure you want to call it good low end torque :wink: but for what youre doing a 4-2-1 header high flow cat and custom exhaust should be fine. Thats what im doing to my car. BTW hope you dont have to pass emissions because the ebay high flow cats might as well be a test pipe.

no emissions to worry about!!!! should i just run a straight pipe instead of a cat? and what do i do with my 02 sensor if thats the case?

no emissions to worry about!!!!
cool me either right now im running without a cat and when i get my custom exhaust it will be eBay high flow or test pipe :smokin: o2 sensor will be fine it is before the cat

What do you mean by test pipe? Straight pipe?

What do you mean by test pipe? Straight pipe?
yeah test pipe straight pipe same thing

ok just making sure. where do i put the 02 sensor if i do that?

the high flow cats come with a plug if you dont have one at the cat but if you stay with your stock manifold stock location is fine if you get a header it will move it to cyl #4 or the collector so either way your fine

o2 is before cat. i dont thing removing the cat is a good idea. you destroy the environment for what, a few hp. like that few hp matters. stick with a cat and dont destroy the environment

to add to civickiller, test piping also makes the exhaust loud and annoying.

whats the deal with hi-flow cats anyway, do they still do the job, just more efficiently, or are they just like a plain piece of pipe made to look like a cat. i've never really been clear on all that.

would aftermarket exhaust systems not also be bad for the environment? the full ones would come with a hi-flow cat if im not mistaken..

correct me if im wrong.

most exhaust systems are cat back so they dont hurt the environment.

gotcha, thanks for the info. thats good to know

Ok so what do i need to do now? 1. name brand header or ebay header? is there a defferance in that 2.stock cat or aftermarket ebay cat? 3.Name brand muffler. also on the 89 crx hf there is no pipe between the header and cat if i up grande do i need to put a pipe between header and cat in this case or adapt it to fit right onto the header or does it matter

4-1 headers are more meant for dohc vtec motors such as the B16, B18c, H22, etc. as well as larger displacement non vtec motors such as the H23 and B20. It also depends on the cam choice. If you were going to run a stage 3 or 4 cam from whatever brand, then I would still suggest a 4-1 on the SOHC VTEC's as well. Also, i wouldn't recommend going any bigger than the 2.25 inch outlet on the header for Non vtec B18's and SOHC's.
I would get a 2.25 inch high flow cat and then 2.25 inch piping all the way back (mandrel bent is a MUST!). Then get yourself a muffler with a 2.25 inch inlet.
The brand of the muffler doesn't really matter. It's just that the more expensive, better brands are constructed better and last longer. Sound quality is subjective because every person likes different exhaust tones.
My advice is to get whatever muffler you want, but you are going to get the quality you pay for meaning the ebay stuff might need to be modified to fit, may rust faster, and may not look as good.

But whatever you do, make sure you keep your exhaust the same size all the way thru out. It's totally stupid to get a 4-2-1 header with a 2.5 inch outlet, keep the stock 1 3/4 inch cat, then get 2.25 inch piping with a 3 inch muffler. I see it done all the time and doing this doesn't create that much power because it will screw up the exhaust velocity and the scavenging process.

Thanks for the help man. i think i have a good idea of exactly what i need now. apreciate it

4-1 headers are more meant for dohc vtec motors such as the B16, B18c, H22, etc. as well as larger displacement non vtec motors such as the H23 and B20. It also depends on the cam choice. If you were going to run a stage 3 or 4 cam from whatever brand, then I would still suggest a 4-1 on the SOHC VTEC's as well. Also, i wouldn't recommend going any bigger than the 2.25 inch outlet on the header for Non vtec B18's and SOHC's.
I would get a 2.25 inch high flow cat and then 2.25 inch piping all the way back (mandrel bent is a MUST!). Then get yourself a muffler with a 2.25 inch inlet.
The brand of the muffler doesn't really matter. It's just that the more expensive, better brands are constructed better and last longer. Sound quality is subjective because every person likes different exhaust tones.
My advice is to get whatever muffler you want, but you are going to get the quality you pay for meaning the ebay stuff might need to be modified to fit, may rust faster, and may not look as good.

But whatever you do, make sure you keep your exhaust the same size all the way thru out. It's totally stupid to get a 4-2-1 header with a 2.5 inch outlet, keep the stock 1 3/4 inch cat, then get 2.25 inch piping with a 3 inch muffler. I see it done all the time and doing this doesn't create that much power because it will screw up the exhaust velocity and the scavenging process.

I agree with most of this.

I recommend getting a silencer if you go the custom route, especially if you have sohc. So that would be: 4-2-1 header, 2-2.25" hi-flow cat, 2-2.25" pipe, 2-2.25" silencer, 2-2.25" pipe to muffler. You'll want a stainless steel muffler and aluminized pipe. Mandrel bends will help some and make sure the welding is quality.

Okay, now for my disagreeing part... the difference between 2.25" and 2.5" collector to cat is hardly anything worth noticing. I made the mistake of going 2.5" exhaust with hi-flow cat and then downsized back to 2". The cat was expensive and is still in good shape so I left it. Eventually, I may go back to a 2" hi-flow cat. I had a Thrush turbo muffler with all 2" piping but it dented so I replaced it with an Arospeed RS Racing stainless fart can that with a straight through exhaust sounded really loud. 2.25" pipe was added to match the muffler inlet where the stock muffler location would be (from far away doesn't look so bad but up close doesn't look so great). Anyway, the sound is better with the silencer as well as better throttle response. I'm sure it's better to have all the same size pipe but honestly I doubt I'd see a difference so I'm not going to worry about it.

If you run a straight through exhaust and your car sounds raspy your engine is fucked up some how...