Car Sound Quality
 

I am starting to look at my next project for my S2 RX-8 Sport, and I want to upgrade the sound quality from the exhaust. I have been looking at some other setups and watching exhaust videos on you tube but there are so many different combinations of CA Intakes / headers / cats / mid pips / catbacks / Ect….. and I am looking for the communities opinion on what worked best for you. I know some exhaust setups can increase performance and HP but most are very small gains so let’s keep the focus on sound quality and appearance.
I am not looking for a racing exhaust because I am an everyday driver (except when its bad weather then I drive my truck) so it still needs to meet whatever Illinois laws are. (Pushing the limit is welcomed) I have been looking at this Racing Beat Catback for the S2 but I am not sure how it will sound or what I should pair it with. What do you think:

RX8: Exhaust - Cat-Back Systems: REV8 Exhaust System - Twin Tips - 09-11 RX-8 -

One last thing i also don't plan on changing anything for a while until i get some higher mileage on my engine.

Thanks all for the information and input. :mdrmed:

If you want one that fits right (S1 systems need work on s2), do the Racing Beat with the BHR resonated and davesport catted midpipe since you are a DD. Else, you will get a CEL if you use racing beat and other mid-pipes.

The only cheaper exhaust you can get on the s2 is the racing beat as blacksheep said. If money is not a problem you can look into some japanese exhausts, they have many more options for the s2 over there. You can use s1 exhausts but they hang lower and you have a better chance of scraping them on many things. I think I read on here that BHR no longer offers the davesport cat. Their website only says its a 3" ceramic cat but does not give a name.

It is kind of hard to tell you to get an exhaust based on the sound when that is totally subjective. Some people love super loud and raspy while others like a deeper tone. The racing beat is a good exhaust. From what I have heard people say it is not much louder than stock until you step on the gas and then it is much louder but still with a good sound.

You mentioned wanting to keep legal in Illinois. The Illinois statute on this says "No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle". They really don't enforce that law, I never had an issue when I lived in Illinois but the law does say it is illegal. My old car had flowmaster 40 mufflers and was louder than stock for sure.

Thanks BTW

Do you have a link or where should i look for these Japanese exhausts?
Any specific manufacturers? :dunno:

By legal in Illinois i mean to not draw attention IE when in neighborhoods i want to drive through with out being pulled over for a noise complaint at lower speeds because i am an every day driver. That's all i was concerned about.

If I were you I'd get the catted BHR midpipe first, and then see if you want more sound. With the midpipe alone you'll get some gains and it will be louder, but you will have the oem exhaust tips if the cops ask any questions.

goddesshunter has the twin tip RB exhaust. Looks great in person. Ask him for some pics if you want to see what it looks like ;)

Re Amemiya super dolphin tail exhaust, not sure where to order it but another thread here states its about $2400 but I'm not sure if that includes the shipping but it should. This exhaust sounds very bad IMO but I guess some people like it.

I think r-magic might make an exhaust for it also. The thing that would worry me about ordering from Japan is if they send the wrong one for whatever reason it would cost a lot to send it back and get the right one. Check out some import sites and see what they have, it is not just exhausts out there. You should be able to find various other things for the s2 from Japan as well as they do have a much bigger s2 market for whatever reason.

Sent a message. It would be nice to listen to a video of it. :)

Yah they do look really nice but like you said i don't think they sound all that great.

It is a great company but sometimes I think it is like apple where some people just love anything they put out because it has their name on it.

Re Amemiya sounds awesome. Especially after 5000 RPM.

i like the exhaust i got from japan Trust/ greddy it has a nice sound with out being to shouty
took about a month for it to really deepen. japanparts.com sells it

You heard right. I do have the twin tips RB. I just looked through my pics and was surprised to learn I don't have any pics of my exhaust though. Something I have to rectify shortly.

I initially had the RB no res mid pipe on with the cat back system. I loved the sound of that setup. No harmonic drone at cruising range. Quite refined actually.

However anything over half throttle with a load on the engine and it gets loud. Progressively, At about 3/4 throttle and over It can get raspy. Especially in the high RPM range (7k+). Its not your typical Honda rice burning rasp though. The rasp of a screaming rotary. There is a difference. Pure love to my ears. Its not for everyone.

Most of this season I've had my oem cat on for the autox class I was in. In this setup, As mentioned before, It sounds very close to stock. Its not till around 6-7K+ where you begin to hear the difference. Even at that, its only a hair over subtle.

The only real unexpected disappointment I had with the system is the WEIGHT. I don't know for sure because I didn't weigh it, but... I wouldn't be surprised if the RB cat back weighs twice as much as the stock cat back. Needless to say I wasn't too happy about that when it first arrived.

Another thing to know about the twin tips is... They are manufactured staggered from each other. It looks really cool, however that means that the tips get FILTHY. My tips are always black and gross looking. I cleaned them several times in the beginning but it only last a couple days before they are black again. I gave up on them.

With no cat and getting into breathing fire, the twin tips (I've been told) look awesome spitting flames.

I just got a GoPro and am super excited to use it so I'll try to upload a video or two for you before I put the car away for the winter. I plan to put the test pipe back on for the winter so maybe I can get a comparison video of the 2 setups I have.

Maybe it is just a bad camera(from the image quality I would say its a goPro though) but to my ears this really does not sound that great. To each his own though, I know some people probably think it is a good sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...aik_DplA#t=70s