FJ Exhaust Shoot-Out Results!

[OmniFocus]

That will help alot of people get over the "while ur at it, why not" mentality.

What's wrong with that mentality? With the price of a FocusSport flexpipe, you can't go wrong!

[MichaelXi]

Good point, I didn't include the stock decibel meter readings. I'll append the article, but in the meantime, here they are:

Decibel @ Idle: 61dB
Decibel @ 3K RPMS: 71dB
Decibel @ 4K RPMS: 77dB

If I noticed correctly, the top aftermarket systems were louder at 3k than at 4k.
Interesting how the stock #'s compare.
As OutaFocus pointed out, I can't believe how people are all worked up over a split of LESS than ONE HP between the front runners. It really does come down to price, quality, tone, and looks.
I LOVE the Bosal tone a dozen times better than MBRP or Borla. Volume and Tone are two different things, and many seem to think that loud is somehow good. Loud is Worthless if the Tone isn't pleasing.
The Bosal is medium volume, with a silencer available for those who want it, and the TONE is Wonderful.
From MY reading of the results, FocusSport and Bosal are the only real choices, with Magnaflow being a distant Third.

[NY BLACK ZX3]

BTW, if you click on the dyno for each exhaust, it will tell you at the bottom what size piping was used. That's where I got my info from.

Also, I agree tone and sound are diffrent. Bosal makes a really good system, I wish either they or Focus sport made one for the SVTF. But they were not options when I purchased mine about a year ago.
I know MBRP is a quality system with nice gains at a good price. Some people just can't deal with the sound...whimps

[belacyrf]

BTW, if you click on the dyno for each exhaust, it will tell you at the bottom what size piping was used. That's where I got my info from.

Thanks I missed that...

Ok so for all of the 2.5" is always better crowd just keep in mind this difference:
Borla 2.5"
Max Power: 116.9
Max Torque: 123.3

HKS 54mm (2.126")
Max Power: 116.6
Max Torque: 123.0

And they dynographs are almost identical as far as power curves. So I'm thinking there is more to design than just diameter

That's quite a difference in diameter, yet the power numbers are very very similar!! Bigger is not always better.

Here's the over-all power to diameter run-down
ATR - 2.5"
Max Power: 116.5
Max Torque: 123.3

Bassani 2.25" (sorry Michael.. I had this marked as Bosal)
Max Power: 115.3
Max Torque: 122.2

Borla 2.5"
Max Power: 116.9
Max Torque: 123.3

Bosal 2.25"
Max Power: 116.4
Max Torque: 123.0

FocusSport 2.25"
Max Power: 116.7
Max Torque: 123.6

HKS 54mm (2.126")
Max Power: 116.6
Max Torque: 123.0

Magnaflow 2.25"
Max Power: 116.2
Max Torque: 122.7

MBRP 2.25"
Max Power: 116.4
Max Torque: 122.9

Pacesetter 2.25"
Max Power: 114.5
Max Torque: 121.4

RM Racing 2"
Max Power: 114.2
Max Torque: 121.4

Vibrant 2.25"
Max Power: 116.2
Max Torque: 123.1

[MichaelXi]

WAITAMINNIT!!!
Time to Proof-Read your post.
You've got TWO sets of Bosal #'s, and the First one is DEFINITELY Incorrect!!!

[140orbust]

Ok so for all of the 2.5" is always better crowd just keep in mind this difference:
Borla 2.5"
Max Power: 116.9
Max Torque: 123.3

HKS 54mm (2.126")
Max Power: 116.6
Max Torque: 123.0

And they dynographs are almost identical as far as power curves. So I'm thinking there is more to design than just diameter

I have a Borla 2.5 but what I think is just as telling as bigger is not always better is countering the argument that you need FI to use a 2.5 exhaust. I bought Borla because of the quality and sound/tone.

It is nice to see that there isn't a loss of power due to less back pressure....... on my slightely modded ride.

[belacyrf]

WAITAMINNIT!!!
Time to Proof-Read your post.
You've got TWO sets of Bosal #'s, and the First one is DEFINITELY Incorrect!!!

Sorry Michael, I fixed it.. the first one was Bassani

[FordFocusDanielSan]

[QUOTE]

Ok so for all of the 2.5" is always better crowd just keep in mind this difference:
Borla 2.5"
Max Power: 116.9
Max Torque: 123.3

HKS 54mm (2.126")
Max Power: 116.6
Max Torque: 123.0

And they dynographs are almost identical as far as power curves. So I'm thinking there is more to design than just diameter

im just saying that you can use a bigger piping w/o heavy mods or FI & still keep your low end power

[bustonit]

Well it's pretty interesting to see how really close the popular systems really are. Great job! The decible readings are great to have as well. I wonder how loud my MBRP is with the FC cat and flex......

[Penguini66]

Great job Ron and all who helped(Including the companies who sent in the exhaust systems).

And I have to say that the little extras you did really make the test worthwile. The "Installer Rating" especially. Plus the short notes about each system made for an interesting read.

However, it would be nice to see all the results in tabular form on the last page. But I imagine that's something you've probably already thought of.

I'm still surprised that the 2.5" Borla did as well as it did. From what I've read here on the jet over the past few years, I had pretty much succumbed to the fact that a 2.5" would have been too large for a N/A motor. But I guess when you think about it, a company like Borla probably isn't going to make a 'bad' system. They chose 2.5" and designed the system to work. Out of all of the companies on the list, they've probably got one of the more all around well known names. At least in my circle of friends/enthusiasts. And a well known name over many years usually isn't just hype.

Also, congrats to FocusSport. Although I've never bought anything from them, I've always respected their products simply from the word of mouth here on FJ about their products and the way they do business. This test just hammers that point home. Then you take into consideration this test on just their exhaust:
Overall Quality: 4.5 of 5
Weld Quality: 4.5 of 5
Packaging Quality: 4 of 5
Installer Rating: 10 out of 10
Then you take in to consideration that theirs is one of the most affordable systems out there and its a no brainer.

But now if you really look into what the overall test showed as far as performance. Out of all the top systems, no one single system really out performed another. So when searching for an exhaust system, the other "little extras" that Ron and the crew did really make the difference.

Now, who's to tell what the results would be if this same test was performed on a heavily modded car. Maybe that slight torque advantage of the FS system would be magnified. But we all know that its not that simple. The entire intake/engine/exhaust works as a system. But if it were my money, it would be FS all the way.

[Qdoba Addict]

The Borla isn't a true 2.5" exhaust, it crimps down to 2 1/8" according to this post by CTZX3: Borla Crimp

[Penguini66]

The Borla isn't a true 2.5" exhaust, it crimps down to 2 1/8" according to this post by CTZX3: Borla Crimp

You learn something new every day.

[MichaelXi]

The Borla isn't a true 2.5" exhaust, it crimps down to 2 1/8" according to this post by CTZX3: Borla Crimp

Can that be verified or is it word of mouth?
I trust CTZX3, I'm just asking if he just HEARD that, or if it's been measured?

Personally, I don't care either way, because I don't care for the Borla TONE OR Volume.
Still I'm curious, as this may affect what others can take from the results.

[Hal]

Excellent Job, Ron. Thanks to all involved in the project and the participating manufacturers.

The results show that all the manufacturers have all done their "homework" and the real differences are in "fit and finish" rather than performance.

A word of caution about the sound readings: If you are planning to make further modifications to your exhaust system, it would be a good idea to find someone with similar mods and listen to their car. As I found out the hard way the increase in sound level as you add parts is not directly proportional. In other words, adding a header may increase the sound level of one system by 3db and a different system by 10db.

[Blu_by_U_withmyZX3]

WOW, Great work Ron. Thanks for sticking with it, and with us, as I know that a lot of us got a little impatient (me included). It was worth the wait though. Great job, it looks very professional too. I cant wait for another shoot-out. How about an Intake shoot-out

[03´ZX3]

Thanks for the info. It helped a lot.

Considering I just ordered a FS 4-2-1 race header, FS flex, and a FS exhaust with ceramic coating and stealth option, earlier today. All for $836 shipped.

[BUR_ZX3]

speaking of..... when are we gonna have the Race Header shootout?

And the intake shootout.

like seriously.... I'd love to see more of this happening. Find a guy with a stock Zetec still... get the intakes:

AEM
BOMZ
FS Cool Flow
Volant
Iceman
Injen


As for race headers:
FocusSport 4-1
FocusCentral 4-2-1
Pacesetter
JBA race (although I've never seen it.. just rumored)
Who am I forgetting?

But honestly... like we could do this on our own... assuming we could find a dyno that would give us the time...

[bugshack]

Interesting that Flowmaster diddnt submit one of their American Thunder systems for testing. I will never buy another one of their products. O and who cares if the Borla crimps down, what ever it takes I say Go Borla!!!

[Ray]

Who am I forgetting?

Kamikazi

[cen]

and the FS 4-2-1

[microtonal]

Great comparisons and data.


Couple of uncertain items:

The decibel meter brand used was not mentioned. Not all decibel meters have a flat response(treat all frequencies equally).
Depending on the frequency of the exhaust tone, the meter can give better readings for some freq.than others if it attenuates a certain frequency band that is outputted by the exhaust.

If would of been nice if they could of also measured the frequency of the measured tones at the measured RPM's to see which one had the lowest tone and which one had the highest tone and at which RPM.

[eurozx3]

Thanks for the test, the results are interesting. I am kind of surprised that Trubendz did not participate in the shootout considering they are a sponsor.

[Andy Smith]

It's too bad there was no Apex'i in there. It has the same muffler design as the HKS with larger (60mm) 2.4ish inch piping. That probably would have dominated all by .3whp like i guessed. I feel bad that Ron did all these tests to show 2whp difference. People will gloat about that but say they dont want the 4whp from an UDP? Strange stuff this [FJ] sometimes

[nitetimebolher]

Was the Focus Sport Exhaust that was tested with the Stealth Option? or without? If without, how much power loss would it be with the stealth? I'm asking this because I currently have the magnaflow catback w/FS race header and it's just too loud.

[Phillip]

speaking of..... when are we gonna have the Race Header shootout?

And the intake shootout.

like seriously.... I'd love to see more of this happening. Find a guy with a stock Zetec still... get the intakes:

AEM
BOMZ
FS Cool Flow
Volant
Iceman
Injen


As for race headers:
FocusSport 4-1
FocusCentral 4-2-1
Pacesetter
JBA race (although I've never seen it.. just rumored)
Who am I forgetting?

But honestly... like we could do this on our own... assuming we could find a dyno that would give us the time...

SVT header.

Now my questions:

What weighting was used (I'll assume A)?
How far from the car were the readings taken?
Were they under load or no load?

This is so when I do some SPL readings I can post apple to apple.