Poll: How do you choose your exhaust?

Just wanted to get a feel for what everyone likes to see in an exhaust system, since there aren't many choices out there...i know most people are getting them custom done. Since you have the freedom of lego building the system together, what do you choose? Discuss!

[U]Points to discuss:[/U]

[B]*Looks[/B] (uniqueness, JDM crazy style (Huge tips), Conservative oem look, Bling factor, titanium burnt tips? etc)

[B]*Sound[/B] (Deep tone? Quiet, like oem?)

[B]*Performance[/B] (Doesn't matter? neutral? who cares? yes i want more HP!!)

[B]*Quality [/B](TIG weld only! What is tig weld? high polish only! etc)

[B]*Cost[/B] (willing to pay for a quality system, or must be cheap b/c i'm cheap?)



I'm going to try to post a poll, so hope it works!~
Discuss your choices if you feel like it in a post on this thread. I'm interested to know what everyone thinks!

For me,
I would go custom all the way to the muffer.  The muffler has to be polished.  The tone has to be OEM quiet at idle since it is a luxury car but I want the V8 to Roar once the RPM's pass 2-3k.  I have a really nice system on my pontiac grand prix GTP.  3 inch pipes, no resonator and a high flowing cat down to the mufflers.  The mufflers are Borla and the exhaust is quiet at idle all the way til you punch it.

Thanks for the relply!

I see a lot of you did the poll, but no reply. Sound wise, what do the rest of you like? stock sounding? Loud?

I trying for a particular sound kind of like a louder version of the G35 and Z's I love those OEM exhuast notes.

Just looks for me...I don't plan to mod my rear bumper anytime soon so I'm trying to make a list of single tips that look nice and unique (not just a can). I'm not picky about whether it's performance or stock with a tip, as long as it's not a random eBay APC piece of tin :\

I don't want a loud car, that's just asking for trouble. Besides, a stock NA 1.5L is not an awesome sound.

I've always gone with sound on my exhaust. I've never really felt much of a performance gain when doing a full exhaust system. And when I mean sound, I don't mean an obnoxious loud kind of sound, I like something that sounds smooth and agressive at the same time. That's probably what I will do when I get my GS4/LS4.

i hate 1.6l honda buzz....

i pick my exhuast for sound..i like it relatively quiet at idle, but loaded deep, throaty sound. hate if they get raspy up high. I have 3" from header back into a Apex'i N1 muffler on my current 2.4l 240sx....and i love it.

1st I choose which one I want by the size of the opening on the rear bumper.

2nd The style of it.

3rd is the sound but if no one has one i can listen to I say heck with it as long as im happy with 1 & 2 above. 

I had 2 sets on my car and the only true way to see which one I liked better was put it on test fit.

BOTH look great off the car but only 1 of them :drool:

I first consider looks since I want something that will compliment my vision of my car, so the size of the muffler the modification factor and the tip shape and material mean a lot. Then comes the sound...... is there truly anything that will make a G35 VQ35 motor sound bad? hahahahaha I like it above the stock OEM sound levels but not so much that you sound like a big rig hitting the Jake brake hahahahaha Then of course performance even if it's a little. All of these factors must also tie in to what friends recommend and think! Their suggestions help and sometimes make you notice things you might have overlooked!

I've got a van, so I just want a nice tig welded, stainless 304 exhaust with a nice long tip. I don't need hp, I don't need tone, it could be quiet as a mouse for all i care.

i go for looks first, the exhaust has to match my car/body kit...then price comes into mind.

[QUOTE=RaCinStylez;60098]i go for looks first, the exhaust has to match my car/body kit...then price comes into mind.[/QUOTE]

racinstylez, I never even got a glimpse of your exhaust.  which one are you running and will it fit early LS models?

I go for performance then looks.

wouldn't u think looks and quality would be the same..
if it looks good, its probably good quality..

most people can tell that lets say a Junction Produce exhaust muffler
looks a more quality(looks better) than a Magnaflow or dynomax..

i dunno, just my 2 cents.

[QUOTE=|crash|;60177]racinstylez, I never even got a glimpse of your exhaust.  which one are you running and will it fit early LS models?[/QUOTE]

Havent got it yet, just waiting on its arrival from Japan...hehe

[QUOTE=gh0st;59697]i hate 1.6l honda buzz....

i pick my exhuast for sound..i like it relatively quiet at idle, but loaded deep, throaty sound. hate if they get raspy up high. I have 3" from header back into a Apex'i N1 muffler on my current 2.4l 240sx....and i love it.[/QUOTE]

Unless your car is turbo'd that has to be obnoxiously loud. had friend with the same setup except Blitz Exhuast and it was stupid loud!

i had a 3.5 inch gp-sports into a 4.5 inch muffler. it was loud, but the KA makes a sound that is different from any other car, and i loved the way it sounded.

[QUOTE=hahajoey;60395]wouldn't u think looks and quality would be the same..
if it looks good, its probably good quality..

most people can tell that lets say a Junction Produce exhaust muffler
looks a more quality(looks better) than a Magnaflow or dynomax..

i dunno, just my 2 cents.[/QUOTE]

not really, b/c the "looks" category isn't if it looks good, its more "style" of exhaust. Whether that be Titanium burnt tip, single walled, double walled, tips, etc. An exhaust can physically look good, like a full Titanium muffler from APC that sells at pep boys :p but i wouldn't trust that quality!!!

[QUOTE=chris_lum;60722]not really, b/c the "looks" category isn't if it looks good, its more "style" of exhaust. Whether that be Titanium burnt tip, single walled, double walled, tips, etc. An exhaust can physically look good, like a full Titanium muffler from APC that sells at pep boys :p but i wouldn't trust that quality!!![/QUOTE]

i honestly beg to differ.. look at the "titanium" style tips at pepboys
versus one from lets say FUJITSUBO or HKS..
theres day and night type of differences.. the craftsmanship of the welds.
the material they use. the way the edges are. the polish, etc..

u can't tell me you wouldn't be able to pick apart from a
pepboys "racer/tuner" muffler from a name brand like blitz or tanabe.

[QUOTE=chris_lum;57967]Thanks for the relply!

I see a lot of you did the poll, but no reply. Sound wise, what do the rest of you like? stock sounding? Loud?[/QUOTE]

I'm working with a Lincoln LS so its only natural to want to have some kind of V8 rumble. I cant get much more then 300 hp out of this thing sad to say so my pipes aren't big at all even my tips. At idle the car sounds smooth, deep but smooth, then at high RPM's it sounds like a nice V8. I actually keep my tips tucked away so they cant be seen, I think this will add a cool affect to this car in particular when its dropped especially since I don't have big pipes 
( kinda sleeperish), if I had an Import or something I think it would definitely be the other way around tho.

[QUOTE=hahajoey;60395]wouldn't u think looks and quality would be the same..
if it looks good, its probably good quality..

most people can tell that lets say a Junction Produce exhaust muffler
looks a more quality(looks better) than a Magnaflow or dynomax..

i dunno, just my 2 cents.[/QUOTE]

No,no,no..:smiley:  You see many people swear by Magnaflow and alot by Junction Produce but they are completely different crowds that they target. For instance ( I hate magnaflow by the way ) Magnaflow has a crowd that don't care about the looks, they want sound/performance/durability, from what I gather by its following it achieves all 3 while usually leaving looks aside.

Now Junction produce has wonderful quality/sound/ "VERY GOOD LOOKS", for the crowd it trys to please. 

So basicly it all depends on what you are into, just because a brand dont look good dont mean that its not good its just on a different level.

But you can pic out some crapy brand by looking at them. If any ...of...this...makes...sense....:confused:

[QUOTE=hahajoey;60870]i honestly beg to differ.. look at the "titanium" style tips at pepboys
versus one from lets say FUJITSUBO or HKS..
theres day and night type of differences.. the craftsmanship of the welds.
the material they use. the way the edges are. the polish, etc..

u can't tell me you wouldn't be able to pick apart from a
pepboys "racer/tuner" muffler from a name brand like blitz or tanabe.[/QUOTE]


ok so maybe i used a bad example, but my point was, you can't seriously think b/c it looks good it IS good can you?? thats a SUPER old saying that goes, "Can't judge a book by it's cover!"

I know you've heard of that one right?

But anyway, it's  not a big deal. When i meant looks, i mainly wanted people to vote/comment on what STYLE they like, and likewise, for quality i wanted people to vote/comment on if Quality is a large factor in choosing the exhaust . But you have to weigh each factor against each other, b/c everyone wants the highest quality, but at what price are you willing to pay for example?

So in the end we are talking about different things.

I'm a fan of a good appearance with the power to back it.  Now, appearance in my book means looks and sound together, and let's face it; more people see our cars while they're moving than when they're parked unless you're participating in car shows for a living.  For the average person (myself) as long as it looks clean, soudns great, and isn't obviously robbing power (think 3-in fart can on a Civic) then it looks good.  

What I'm looking for with my exhaust is a snug-fitting reworking of the exhaust line and replacing those tired resonators and mufflers with something tough, tucked in out of sight, and sounding smooth but powerful.  Not loud necessarily, unless I'm in my power band and stepping on it.  Tips?  Well, it looks good so long as it matches the body but it should be a clean look; those tips should be noticeable but not teh first thing you notice.  :smiley: Think of it as a crack of some hottie's butt.  Are you staring at the ass or the crack?  I can tell you what I'd rather admire.  Crude example, but it translates more accurately.