OneOhNine27

LMFAAAAOOOOOOO!!!!!

Sometimes I forget Sarcasm is a thing, because I work with a buncha wet blankets....

SlowTeg

Nice build thread!

Definitely one of the best organized and laid out I've seen! I ought to spend more time perusing this section of the forum. Nice to see another fellow staggered s2k track goer. Just curious what your reasoning for not moving to a square setup is, or is that planned in the near future?

andrewhake

Thanks! Yeah I have been planning on moving to a square setup for awhile, but I really wanted to get familiar with the car on a staggered setup so I get a real representation of the actual difference when moving to a square setup. It is possible to go much faster than most people realize on a staggered setup, it's just harder to be consistent I think so it is very good training. I actually already have a set of square setup Wedsport TC105N and some new CE28Ns on the way.

andrewhake

boosted180sx

TougeHorseman

Can't wait to hear this! Tomorrow!

andrewhake

I decided to sell all my Circuit Garage parts to whiny kids on Facebook and Instagram and luckily I was able to get enough to buy back all of my Amuse parts before they were replicated. I had a change of heart on April 2nd and decided I just wasn't ready for the hardcore world of pretend time attack cars.

Amuse Euro Single exhaust installed



Finally had some time to bring the exhaust into BlackTrax to have it installed. I wanted to bring it into the shop because I was told by Amuse and the distributors that there would be a good chance that the exhaust would hang very close to part of the 06+ passenger side tunnel. Initially the first section of the exhaust before the first resonator set very close to the lower 06+ exhaust tunnel, the little perpendicular resonator that sticks out the side was very close as well as the piping directly after it. I had Aki at BlackTrax modify my J's test pipe to give better clearance in that section. The rest of the exhaust had no issues fitting on an 06, with plenty of space in and around the subframe and lower tie bar. The modification to the J's test pipe worked very well initially (and the welds looked as nice as the original J's welds, thanks Aki). It was essentially just slightly changing the angle on the rear flange so when everything was tightened up the first section of the exhaust would hang low enough to not be so close to the exhaust tunnel. We took the car out for a test drive and everything seemed to be fine with no rattles even though part of the exhaust was still pretty close to the exhaust tunnel as you can see in the next photo.



I took the car out and put it under heavier load and around some corners and all still seemed to be fine with no noticeable contact of the exhaust and the exhaust tunnel so all seemed to be well. I went down to my car a few hours later in the garage and fire it up and I noticed a very slight rattle that was obviously coming right below and to the left of the passenger seat where that piping sits close. So as was initially mentioned by Amuse and distributors I think the best course of action is to apply some heat to that little corner and give it a few good wacks to give the exhaust the small amount of additional clearance it needs. It is pretty clear that on the 06 the exhaust tunnel on the passenger side is just simply lower than on the earlier models. Likely to make room for the seat weight sensors, and hey, it can't hurt to have your passenger slightly lower in the car I guess. I think we could also slightly modify the hangar on the exhaust that is close to that section and we may look into that first as it may be an option. If that doesn't work I will be giving that part of the car a good wack with a hammer. Obviously not ideal but was exactly as expected. I don't really mind doing it because I just don't treat this car as a museum piece and I don't really see any downsides. I don't like the idea of making the exhaust hang lower to sacrifice ground clearance. We might just be able to play with the hangers on that section so it sits a little more to the right but we'll see how it goes.

But enough of that, let's get into some other details.



The stock AP2 exhaust weighed in at 56.5lbs on my scale. That is 40.5lbs saved total with the 15.8lb Amuse Euro-S. (Rounded up to 16lbs to account for rubber hangers not on it when I weighed it).



The stock AP2 cat (with no heat shields) weighs 9lbs. The cat heat shields are attached to my J's test pipe. The test pipe weighs 3.7lbs (rounded up to 3.8 to account for the bolts I didn't weigh with the test pipe.) So a savings of 5.2 lbs there and 45.7lbs saved total with the exhaust and test pipe. This is definitely noticeable while driving the car. It is subtle but definitely noticeable when really moving the rear end of the car around. I haven't measured yet but visually the rear of the car definitely looks to be riding slightly higher now, so I will probably be adjusting it down a bit. Removing this weight from the rear, should provide just the slightest amount of additional rear damper travel as well technically since there is less weight hanging over the rear end of the car. As usual I'm splitting hairs but some one has to.

Here's how the exhaust sits in the AP2 rear bumper. Quite perfect really I have to say. It sticks out just the right amount and is dead center. It should look very nice with the future rear bumper I have planned. Definitely not the biggest fan of the AP2 rear bumper with a single exhaust so I'm looking forward to getting the new one all sorted out.







Exaggerated probably from this angle, but rear definitely seems to bet sitting a little higher right?





As I mentioned I took the car for a slightly spirited drive and here are some photos I snapped while taking a break to admire the car.









I am beginning to sort of enjoy my car's new appetite for the fine leaves of California.















While out testing I also discovered a cool feature of my GoPro that I didn't know about. It can actually be setup to snap photos while you are recording video and have them saved to the card without a hitch. It is a very cool way to get some higher quality shots than it is capable in video mode. Some of which really did turn out great no matter what camera you are comparing them to. But for people uploading stuff to YouTube these make for some great high quality thumbnails for your video.









Looking at those images I bet you thought I also made a video right? I DID make a video. This one is rated PG-13F safe for children and even safe for any and all hypocritical forum viewers!

Unless you are watching on good speakers I wouldn't bother watching because you won't hear how it sounds at all. Laptop and phone speakers need not apply. Get some good headphones or speakers and give it a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8-STS8xOFI&hd=1

This exhaust sounds fantastic to my ears. If you are watching that video on laptop speakers, you aren't hearing how it actually sounds, with some good speakers the sound is quite accurate. It really sounds no different than stock from 0-4000rpm, and from there it does a nice smooth transition from engine noise to smooth crisp exhaust noise, and is definitely louder than stock but not by a large amount. Just more a change in tone. This thing really is completely without drone on the freeway at any cruising speed in 6th gear or any gear. Cruising at 70mph or so in 6th and giving it full throttle produces zero boomy bass, to the point of it actually being quieter than the stock exhaust while cruising. The sounds this makes when getting off throttle on the overrun is just pure Titanium space fighter sounds. With lifting off the throttle at high rpm driving near a wall, you get this amazing "zzzzeeeeeooouuuu!" A bit hard to describe but it can be heard well at various points in the video. I feel like there is just the right amount of low end sound. There is a tiny bit of extra low end around idle and the 2000 rpm range but everything above that is just pure crisp clean engine and exhaust sound. And the low end is much less dramatic than other exhausts. The bass you hear in the video when I start the car is a little more dramatic than it is in person, but everything else in the video is quite accurate and was recorded with a pretty decent sound setup. Hopefully as the exhaust breaks in it retains these same characteristics. Absolutely love how this thing sounds. I am not sure how much it matters, but I do have the cat heat shields mounted on my test pipe so that might have some effect on the sound.

I will be posting up a similar soundcheck video as I made before with the stock exhaust once we get the remaining fitment issue resolved (hopefully we will get this taken care of tomorrow). And maybe I will even post few unrated videos

SHG_Mike

Car sounds crisp I also agree about the ap2 bumper looking funky with a single exit exhaust. The Ap1 still looks a bit off but its much easier to make look "normal"

//steve\\

Love it! Listened to the sound this morning. Exhaust fits perfect on the AP2 rear. While it doesn't look as natural I think it looks ok. AP1 rear is definitely the more normal looking for a single exhaust and there are far more singles that look good with it. I do sometimes like the more raw track car look of the single on AP2 rear but for cleanliness it's not as nice.

I would love to hear this thing in person. Exhuasts are often hard to capture on video. Very curious about hearing an out of car video of the noise.

Trustd_1

never been a fan of canister exhausts, esp w/TI tips, but can appreciate the craftsmanship and functionality of this one. sounds pretty nice too. hope your bumper doesn't get scorched, esp w/the test pipe though.