New exhaust 2 1/4"
#72
11-12-2005, 07:12 AM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
Two full tanks down since I did the exhaust and so far I am still VERY happy.
The noise which I said existed seems to be mostly cabin noise, from the outside it is not loud at all.
When I can control myself I can get 60-65mpg driving like a hybrid owner, when I drive like a normal person I get 54-56mpg.
Hybrid driving: 2-5mph under the posted speed limit, no a/c, slow starts, and long rolling stops.
Normal driving: 5-10+mph over the max posted speed limit, a/c, 3 pax's, competitive starts, and rolling stops.
Hard to pin down a huge gain since I drive it like a mad man but when I drove it like this before I got mid to low 40's and now.......
Clif
The noise which I said existed seems to be mostly cabin noise, from the outside it is not loud at all.
When I can control myself I can get 60-65mpg driving like a hybrid owner, when I drive like a normal person I get 54-56mpg.
Hybrid driving: 2-5mph under the posted speed limit, no a/c, slow starts, and long rolling stops.
Normal driving: 5-10+mph over the max posted speed limit, a/c, 3 pax's, competitive starts, and rolling stops.
Hard to pin down a huge gain since I drive it like a mad man but when I drove it like this before I got mid to low 40's and now.......
Clif
#74
11-13-2005, 07:46 AM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
UGLY!
Let me set the mood:
4 people
full tank of gas
a/c on (the intire time)
Texas Hill Country for 103 miles (actually drained the btry on 2 occasions)
48.4mpg
I was traumatized by it at first then after I thought about it I was pretty happy. I drove at or above the speed limit the whole time. I also have been experimenting with the cruise to see what kind of differance it makes, yesterday I ran it every chance I could. The exact same route we took yesterday my wife and I took solo (don't remeber the fuel level) and got 54.6mpg as an average.
Clif
Let me set the mood:
4 people
full tank of gas
a/c on (the intire time)
Texas Hill Country for 103 miles (actually drained the btry on 2 occasions)
48.4mpg
I was traumatized by it at first then after I thought about it I was pretty happy. I drove at or above the speed limit the whole time. I also have been experimenting with the cruise to see what kind of differance it makes, yesterday I ran it every chance I could. The exact same route we took yesterday my wife and I took solo (don't remeber the fuel level) and got 54.6mpg as an average.
Clif
#75
11-16-2005, 08:07 PM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
I was talking about your overall odometer... as in how many miles you got on the car...
Well, the trip to boston didn't happen... I was gonna take a friend of mine and he was gonna pay for my gas and lodging but he decided to use his flyer miles on his visa to get a plane ticket.... I guess I'll have to plan a trip of my own...
on the other hand, I got the muffler yesterday in the mail so I'm looking to putting it on this weekend and see where that takes me.
Nice info on the current mpg's though.
Well, the trip to boston didn't happen... I was gonna take a friend of mine and he was gonna pay for my gas and lodging but he decided to use his flyer miles on his visa to get a plane ticket.... I guess I'll have to plan a trip of my own...
on the other hand, I got the muffler yesterday in the mail so I'm looking to putting it on this weekend and see where that takes me.
Nice info on the current mpg's though.
#76
11-17-2005, 10:05 AM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
Overall I am just at 13,500, I keep my sig up to date minus in between miles. As you know I am interested in your results compared to mine.
The cold air is kicking my miles azz, I am struggling to get in the lower 50's the last few days with the temp in the 40's-50's. I read it would make a difference but never figured it would make this much of a difference, overall I am getting 6-8mpg less.
Clif
The cold air is kicking my miles azz, I am struggling to get in the lower 50's the last few days with the temp in the 40's-50's. I read it would make a difference but never figured it would make this much of a difference, overall I am getting 6-8mpg less.
Clif
Last edited by Duc; 11-17-2005 at 10:09 AM.
#77
11-19-2005, 02:09 PM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
Well, I just brought back the car from the shop... it's in the next town over so I had to drive about 15 miles in flat backroads.... all I can say is GOD ****!
before the mod I was struggling to keep the Instantaneous Gauge above 20 when accelerating from a complete stop and it usually took me about 15 seconds to get above 40mph before I let off the gas pedal and my IG went back up... now it takes much less time (or at least it seemed to me that way) and the IG never fell below 20. Once I was over the 40mph mark the IG never fell below 40, in fact, it seemed to fluctuate between 80 and 50 at speeds between 45-60mph. I know it was a short trip but I was also able to test Cruise Control and it kept a steady 55-60 in the IG at 55mpg, sometimes it would spike at 80 on the IG. The sound is definetly there but it seems to be only or more noticable at lower speeds, 0-45mph, then at higher ones...
One question I do have Duc is the vibration of the car... It seemed to me that the car vibrates a lot more now then before.... when I got home I left the engine running and looked under the car. The pipe was visably vibrating from the cat all they way to the muffler. I asked the guy to hook the pipes with braces instead of soldering them on as to your advice but I didn't really checked how the pipe was attached to the body of the car... is there anything that can be done to it so that it won't vibrate as much? perhaps some type of plastic absorvers or maybe even using more clamps along the pipe to get it steadier?
BTW, I paid 50 for the muffler cus I ordered 2 day shipment and 110 for the instalation. It took less then an hour.
before the mod I was struggling to keep the Instantaneous Gauge above 20 when accelerating from a complete stop and it usually took me about 15 seconds to get above 40mph before I let off the gas pedal and my IG went back up... now it takes much less time (or at least it seemed to me that way) and the IG never fell below 20. Once I was over the 40mph mark the IG never fell below 40, in fact, it seemed to fluctuate between 80 and 50 at speeds between 45-60mph. I know it was a short trip but I was also able to test Cruise Control and it kept a steady 55-60 in the IG at 55mpg, sometimes it would spike at 80 on the IG. The sound is definetly there but it seems to be only or more noticable at lower speeds, 0-45mph, then at higher ones...One question I do have Duc is the vibration of the car... It seemed to me that the car vibrates a lot more now then before.... when I got home I left the engine running and looked under the car. The pipe was visably vibrating from the cat all they way to the muffler. I asked the guy to hook the pipes with braces instead of soldering them on as to your advice but I didn't really checked how the pipe was attached to the body of the car... is there anything that can be done to it so that it won't vibrate as much? perhaps some type of plastic absorvers or maybe even using more clamps along the pipe to get it steadier?
BTW, I paid 50 for the muffler cus I ordered 2 day shipment and 110 for the instalation. It took less then an hour.
#78
11-19-2005, 07:05 PM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
AWESOME! Totally Cool! Glad to hear!
So I am not insane you could notice an definite differance the second you drove it, I knew you could but haven't ran against another to prove it.
The vibration SHOULD NOT be there, what we did was use the two stock mounts and a universal mount in addition to them to secure it. You can hang from mine and it won't budge more less vibrate/move. Take it back and have them ck it, when it is installed you should be able to wack it and it should look and sound solid.
The additional mount you can see in the pic, it is the part where the two threads/nuts are sticking out sideways/up to the R.
Clif
So I am not insane you could notice an definite differance the second you drove it, I knew you could but haven't ran against another to prove it.
The vibration SHOULD NOT be there, what we did was use the two stock mounts and a universal mount in addition to them to secure it. You can hang from mine and it won't budge more less vibrate/move. Take it back and have them ck it, when it is installed you should be able to wack it and it should look and sound solid.
The additional mount you can see in the pic, it is the part where the two threads/nuts are sticking out sideways/up to the R.
Clif
#79
11-25-2005, 10:48 AM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
So it has been 6 days what is your opinion now?
I drove the hill country (2 up @ 60mph) and 40 miles freeway (70mph) yesterday and got 59.6 overall on a 59.9 miles trip. I am very happy with that, my all time best for that trip.
Clif
I drove the hill country (2 up @ 60mph) and 40 miles freeway (70mph) yesterday and got 59.6 overall on a 59.9 miles trip. I am very happy with that, my all time best for that trip.
Clif
#80
11-25-2005, 11:10 PM
Re: New exhaust 2 1/4"
Well Duc, due to the holiday season, I haven't been using the car much lately 'cept to do little errands here and there but tomorrow I'm driving around 250 miles on it so I'll keep you posted. Gonna start with a clean tank as I haven't fueled since I got the muffler changed.
I haven't taken it back to the shop either... the vibrations have for the most part stoped though but it's a bit weird... this is what happens. If I take off and rev the engine so that it will get a good enough speed at taking off it won't vibrate. If I keep it constant at anythign over 40 it won't vibrate. However, If I try to maintain it at a constant mpg or have my foot lightly on the gas pedal it makes this kinda chuging noise that's noticably louder and is felt as vibrations. If I give it a little more gas the sound returns to normal and the vibrations are gone. A friend of mine who put in a different muffler to his honda a couple of years back said that that was normal because according to him that happens at lower rev speeds.
Also, today I heard something different. Might be the muffler might be something else but sometimes when I brake or when I put the car in reverse I feel like my right front wheel crackles against something.... Like if there was something scratching it. Another friend of mine was riding with me when this happened and he said that it sounded to him like it was the transmission. I don't remember this happening before the new muffler was put in so I don't know what to make of it. I don't think a new muffler would do anything to the transmission would it?
Finally, the last thing, and this may be something normal, but when I speed up and then cruise I hear this hissing sound comming from the car. My friend said it sounded like an airplane.... is that the electric engine charging up? as the car loses speed the hissins loses sound, when I speed up I can sometimes hear it over the ambient noise, specially at night when it's all quiet.
the mpg's have pretty much stayed in the high 30's, haven't been able to get them on the 40's but I think it's mostly due to the fact that I've been driving the car with a heavy foot. I did notice though that I had about 25 more miles on the trip meter when I got to half of the tank of gas then when I didn't have the muffler at all. I'll post tomorrow to inform how it went.
I haven't taken it back to the shop either... the vibrations have for the most part stoped though but it's a bit weird... this is what happens. If I take off and rev the engine so that it will get a good enough speed at taking off it won't vibrate. If I keep it constant at anythign over 40 it won't vibrate. However, If I try to maintain it at a constant mpg or have my foot lightly on the gas pedal it makes this kinda chuging noise that's noticably louder and is felt as vibrations. If I give it a little more gas the sound returns to normal and the vibrations are gone. A friend of mine who put in a different muffler to his honda a couple of years back said that that was normal because according to him that happens at lower rev speeds.
Also, today I heard something different. Might be the muffler might be something else but sometimes when I brake or when I put the car in reverse I feel like my right front wheel crackles against something.... Like if there was something scratching it. Another friend of mine was riding with me when this happened and he said that it sounded to him like it was the transmission. I don't remember this happening before the new muffler was put in so I don't know what to make of it. I don't think a new muffler would do anything to the transmission would it?
Finally, the last thing, and this may be something normal, but when I speed up and then cruise I hear this hissing sound comming from the car. My friend said it sounded like an airplane.... is that the electric engine charging up? as the car loses speed the hissins loses sound, when I speed up I can sometimes hear it over the ambient noise, specially at night when it's all quiet.
the mpg's have pretty much stayed in the high 30's, haven't been able to get them on the 40's but I think it's mostly due to the fact that I've been driving the car with a heavy foot. I did notice though that I had about 25 more miles on the trip meter when I got to half of the tank of gas then when I didn't have the muffler at all. I'll post tomorrow to inform how it went.
