[Euro] Mugen Exhaust Impressions

[Chris_F]

I bought my mugen cat back exhaust system yesterday and thanks to the guys at centrax auto (www.centraxauto.com.au) it's now installed.

The first thing i noticed is that the exhaust is quite light - the titanium mufflers responsible for this more than anything. The diameter seems fairly similar to stock - i've been told its about a 2.3 - 2.4" system. The bends also seem smoother and it was easy to tell it was a well made exhaust.

I got it second hand so it was a bit dinged up and a bit dirty, but most of the important parts were in fine condition, and i got it for a fairly good price so i was happy.

the exhaust before it was put on:
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5515/mugencl98wg.jpg

Installation...

the exhaust hangers needed for this exhaust are slightly different and although the stock ones work i went out and bought a couple of these...

http://www.designenergy.com/jtso/Images/Exhaust%20hanger.JPG

(image source: http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2694 (http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26948)8 (http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26948))

there are 2 of these holding the back section of the muffler on the stock system but the 2 front ones are a different design (3 holes) and seem much softer so i decided to have them replaced and the exhaust now seems to hang a bit sturdier.

Sound/loudness...

The exhaust has a deep throaty growl... or maybe "grumble" is a more appropriate description. The tone/resonance is also "unfarty" which i liked.

volume wise i'd say its 2 or maybe 3 times louder than stock - it's not super loud but you definitely know it's there, not that it's a bad thing but it may be a bit annoying for some.

Power...

I didn't think it'd make much difference but suprisingly it did. The throttle seems much more responsive now and generally the engine just seems to rev more freely. I found the biggest difference to be around 2.5k-3k rpm and upwards into the mid range. At full throttle the power difference is still noticable but more noticeably at partial throttle the engine just seems that little bit more responsive.

Appearence...

I'm gonna wash my car and get some pictures up asap - stay tuned :D

[Tobster]

From all the dynos of cat-back exhausts I've seen, most people seem to be overly concerned about the peak power outputs and forget to look at the torque curves. To me, they all seem to suggest that a cat-back provides a good torque boost in the mid-range, so I'm not surprised to read your comments.

Do you have any means of recording a sound clip?

[Chris_F]

From all the dynos of cat-back exhausts I've seen, most people seem to be overly concerned about the peak power outputs and forget to look at the torque curves. To me, they all seem to suggest that a cat-back provides a good torque boost in the mid-range, so I'm not surprised to read your comments.

Do you have any means of recording a sound clip?

Yea i've noticed that too... peak power isn't everything - this exhaust has definitely improved the "feeling of power" and im very happy with it because of that.

And yea i'll see if i can get a sound clip up - can anyone suggest a site that i could host it on?

[stephen8512]

hahahaha
chris hats off to u man
funny thing is, i just paid for my GREDDY EVO2 exhaust today!!!!!!
lol and its gettin shipped over from the states and should be here (hopefully) by 24th (xmas eve) heheheh

chris, PM me if u want a site to host ur sound clip. i'll do it :D and once i get my greddy installed, i'll upload the sound clip for that too!

damn man! congratulations!!!!!!! mugan exhaust. *jealous!!!!* hehehehehe

btw chris, where did u get that rubber grommit from? ive been readin on acurazine about that too and i saw a post for that as well. where can we source one here?
and how much did this exhaust set u back? if u dont mind me askin? :D

[Chris_F]

hahahaha
chris hats off to u man
funny thing is, i just paid for my GREDDY EVO2 exhaust today!!!!!!
lol and its gettin shipped over from the states and should be here (hopefully) by 24th (xmas eve) heheheh

chris, PM me if u want a site to host ur sound clip. i'll do it images/smilies/icon_cheesygrin.gif and once i get my greddy installed, i'll upload the sound clip for that too!

damn man! congratulations!!!!!!! mugan exhaust. *jealous!!!!* hehehehehe

btw chris, where did u get that rubber grommit from? ive been readin on acurazine about that too and i saw a post for that as well. where can we source one here?
and how much did this exhaust set u back? if u dont mind me askin? images/smilies/icon_cheesygrin.gif

haha stephen, was waiting for you to pop your head up :p - believe me i was super happy when i found it for sale second hand.

Greddy Evo 2 is a good exhaust too and should fill up the exhaust spaces in the mugen kit really nicely :thumbsup:

i'll probably get a sound clip up tomorrow along with pictures, i'll send you a pm when it's ready to go - will be cool to ahve a comparison between greddy and mugen sound wise.

Funnily enough i just walked into the shop next to centrax, mr. muffler and said "do u have these?" and they go, "yep here you go 5 bucks each" - so yea just a random local muffler shop should have this part (i got the impression that they were very common parts to have in stock)

sent you a pm with the price (dont wanna advertise how much i paid haha)

[stephen8512]

chris, awesome awesome buy mate!
mugen exhaust + tein ss coilovers, rims.......man ur car is really comin along nicely
hahaha still cant believe there was a mugen exhaust lyin around in oz!!!
when u can, get some ass pics with the exhaust on! :D
:thumbsup:

[Chris_F]

yep pictures to come in the next couple of days - aka_NSX had it for sale in his signature... im suprised no one else saw it. It was about to be shipped down to sydney aswell! but i nabbed it while it was still up in brisbane haha - i almost feel bad for not letting you know about it and buying it for myself coz you got the whole mugen thing going alrady

[stephen8512]

hahaha nah its cool mate!
dont feel bad. prob better suited to ur car as its gonna be used for track. any other exhaust would have been crap. and since mugen is titanium, it reduces the weight. not a lot but nonetheless it would be a lot lighter than ur stock OEM.

[yfin]

Awesome review - many thanks. Keep us updated with impressions

[Sulley]

can i get a pm of the price??
sweet mod! congrats!
i wanna hear how it sounds like.

[Chris_F]

i just came home from a movie... and some speed bumps at the cinemas caused me a bit of trouble. This exhaust hangs a few centimetres lower than the stock exhaust and on lowered cars like my own you have to be really careful. I think that's why it was so dinged up when i got it haha.

sulley, pm sent. Hopefully with a bit of help from Stephen a sound clip will be up in the next couple of days :) - pictures to come aswell

[stephen8512]

hahah dinged it already? ouch.....not good not good
lol i always mutter "not good not good" when i scrape my front (its not all the time mind u....just sometimes.....rarely these days cuz ive gotten use to it)
then i'll have 2 things to worry about..my kit and my exhaust. ARGH.

[Chris_F]

haha man it was already pretty F%#$n dinged when i got it. the parts that are dinged shouldnt really affect the performance in anywy tho so all is good... and it's impossible to tell when it's on.

but yea... .your gonna have to be very very careful with your car

haha when i scrape with mine i just scream a few profanities then im on my merry way :p

[Tobster]

hahahaha
and once i get my greddy installed, i'll upload the sound clip for that too!

It'll be good to hear another clip.

There are clips of the Fujitsubo, Comptech and GReddy exhausts available at http://homepage.mac.com/tonecool/Files/FileSharing20.html

I'm looking forward to hearing the Mugen to compare.

I haven't ever been able to find a Tanabe sound clip...

[spoondc2]

You got a nice cat-back exhaust :-D
I like the tone of it, deep and nice :thumbsup:

[genk-jomblo]

yep pictures to come in the next couple of days - aka_NSX had it for sale in his signature... im suprised no one else saw it. It was about to be shipped down to sydney aswell! but i nabbed it while it was still up in brisbane haha - i almost feel bad for not letting you know about it and buying it for myself coz you got the whole mugen thing going alrady
Did you buy it from Laski ? I think his mugen is being shipped from japan.

PM sent btw.

[Chris_F]

You got a nice cat-back exhaust :-D
I like the tone of it, deep and nice images/smilies/thumbup.gif

haha how do you know that? - you see me somewhere?

genk-jomblo, pm responded... ah yea i did buy it from laski it was second hand from japan

[stephen8512]

chris,
just a question
i plan to DIY my greddy evo2. just wondering, did u see the work going into the installation of ur mugen exhaust? wat sort of tools u need? cuz i have the general tools like spanner, socket wrench, car stand, etc. would u need a torque wrench? or any other tools?
and is it hard to install and hard to loosen/tighten the nuts for the exhaust?

[raz05]

stephen8512,
Baboo has fit the cat-back for me b4, it takes about 1.5 hrs to do it. For what i have seen, u don't really need a torque wrench if u are strong enough. The nuts are pretty tight, WD-40 will help to loosen the nuts.

Chris,
congratulate with ur purphase, can't wait to see the photo and sound clip of ur new cat-back system.

[Sulley]

it was a 25 min job with 2 man working on it when i got mine installed at a shop.
seems that it only requires the basic tools.
Jack up the car
remove the stock exhaust
bolt on the new exhaust.

They fitted on a gasket between 1 of the exhaust joints as well as added a layer of some blue paint like liquid between the joints before fitting it on. No idea what it is, didnt ask.

if you have good tools, probably wouldnt be a problem getting the existing nuts and bolts off. No torque wrench was used..

[stephen8512]

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~stephen.lee/Misc/

go here for the sound clip of Chris_F's mugen exhaust!
i must say, sounds VERY VERY nice!!!!!!! a lot like the greddy ehxuast!!! nice deep tone without sounding like a fart can. on top of that, its a MUGEN!!!!
:thumbsup:

[spoondc2]

haha how do you know that? - you see me somewhere?

genk-jomblo, pm responded... ah yea i did buy it from laski it was second hand from japan

:p I was there on the day you remember?

[spoondc2]

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~stephen.lee/Misc/

go here for the sound clip of Chris_F's mugen exhaust!
i must say, sounds VERY VERY nice!!!!!!! a lot like the greddy ehxuast!!! nice deep tone without sounding like a fart can. on top of that, its a MUGEN!!!!
:thumbsup:

Hey it sound even better now :thumbsup:

[genk-jomblo]

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btw ... sooooo tempted with new exhaust now .. :P

anyone got skunk2 exhaust clip ?

[genk-jomblo]

its workin now ..

Damnnnn it ... damnnn goooood ... I want one .. I want one .. haha

[aka_NSX]

Chris_F: the MUGEN sounds good, i'm glad u happy with that :D
please post some pics with the MUGEN on the car

cheers
Laski

[Chris_F]

images/smilies/tongue.gif I was there on the day you remember?

oh true - i didn't know you were on this forum


chris,
just a question
i plan to DIY my greddy evo2. just wondering, did u see the work going into the installation of ur mugen exhaust? wat sort of tools u need? cuz i have the general tools like spanner, socket wrench, car stand, etc. would u need a torque wrench? or any other tools?
and is it hard to install and hard to loosen/tighten the nuts for the exhaust?

yep i watched most of the install... general tools would do the trick no worries (i think your questions already been answered by other people) haha - but i'd go to your local place and just get it installed its a quick job and shouldnt be more than say 50 bucks max to install... if its a good place they'll use a torque wrench etc and youll know it's very secure


Chris_F: the MUGEN sounds good, i'm glad u happy with that images/smilies/icon_cheesygrin.gif
please post some pics with the MUGEN on the car

cheers
Laski

i'm so glad i read your signature haha - ver happy with the exhaust, thanks :thumbsup:




pictures tommorrow hopefully - we just got a new 8.0 mega pixel camera too so ill see if i can use that

[msnealo]

u don't really need a torque wrench if u are strong enough.

Torque wrench's are to stop you over tightening nuts not to help you tighten them.
You may set the torque wrench to say 100Nm and when you get there it will "click". Without it you may end up tightening to any figure up to your strength.

[aka_NSX]

i plan to DIY my greddy evo2. just wondering, did u see the work going into the installation of ur mugen exhaust? wat sort of tools u need?and is it hard to install and hard to loosen/tighten the nuts for the exhaust?

i know its not hard to install DIY, u only need some socket wrench but since u need to work under the car, u need a proper stand otherwise its very dangerous, and u r lucky ur car is new otherwise most of the old car the nuts already a bit rusty, u need to be more carefull to unlosse them, i think chris right just take it to exhaust shop or take it to Hannys Performance in Smithfield(97255115)

cheers
laski

[spoondc2]

oh true - i didn't know you were on this forum





LOL i appears in all the honda forums in the world :-P

[Chris_F]

the exhuast seems to hang very evenly - i'm really happy with it and even happier with it's performance and sound :thumbsup:

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/6955/mugenrear6un.jpg

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1172/mugenrear21tx.jpg

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/4417/mugenrear39sn.jpg

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8123/mugencloseup0qe.jpg

[stephen8512]

noice!
the diameter tips doesnt seem that mucb bigger than the OEM
use some brasso or somethin to polish up the muffler and it should like bling!
:D

[Chris_F]

noice!
the diameter tips doesnt seem that mucb bigger than the OEM
use some brasso or somethin to polish up the muffler and it should like bling!
images/smilies/icon_cheesygrin.gif

yea the tips are the same size as oem... even the piping isnt too much bigger - but hey i guess mugen knows what they're doing and i like it that some people can't tell that its an aftermarket exhaust. haha no one in my family could pick it till i told them.

no bling for me... ill probably just leave them dirty haha (nah maybe ill clean them)

[PNR888]

Hi Chris,
Long time no see. You got new toy again for your Eurio... good stuff man.
Look like we need another meet/cruise to showcase your new mod.

hey, becareful with those speed humps, you dont want your mugen exhaust end up like your lower arm bar..

[Chris_F]

Hi Roger,

yep another cruise is defintiely in order. I'll be away till mid january though.. so maybe sometime after then?

believe me now i'm paranoid about speed bumps haha

[Ferrarista]

That sounds very nice, kudos on the job well done