Installed Tanabe Medalion Touring - have some concerns
 

After years of debate I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a Tanabe Medalion Touring exhaust.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...a596d9d3eb.jpg
All bright and shiny

The installation was straight forward, although I twisted off the upper stud at the Cat. I drove the broken stud out and replaced with a bolt and nut, no big deal.

I am a little disappointed at the fitment. The drivers side tip is perfectly centered, but the passenger side tip is off to the left a little. I loosened all the connections and wiggled things around, but this is where it wants to sit.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...ff6c2f7134.jpg
Drivers side, looks good

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...bbdac8bc39.jpg
Passenger side - off to the left


After the installation I started the car and immediately had concerns. Wow this thing was loud !! I took it for a short drive and it had a mind numbing booming from 2K to 4K then it quieted out nicely. I drove it for about 1/2 hour, returned home and was seriously thinking about selling it on Ebay.

I drove it the next day and it was considerably better. It's not my imagination, my wife noticed that it was quieter also. I've probably got 3 hours of running time on it now and it seems to have quieted down a little bit more, but I still find that the 2-4K engine range is tiring. After driving for an hour, every time I start from a stop the run from 2 to 4K is boomy and obnoxious.

I know this kind of thing is subjective, and one person's loud is another person's quiet, but the jury is still out on this exhaust for me.

I will say that outside of the 2-4K range the Tanabe is absolutely perfect. Once on the highway and not under load there is a quiet, pleasant exhaust tone that I like. Strangely, the higher the engine RPM's get the quieter this exhaust gets. And there is no doubt that engine load is a big factor on how boomy it is from 2-4K RPM. After driving for a while I find myself trying to do slow accelerations between 2-4K to avoid the booming. That just isn't right in an S2K...

My car is 100% stock, no test pipe or HFC.

Does anyone else have an experience like this, and can I expect the Tanabe to continue to quiet down after I drive it some more ?

My exhaust has been on the car since 2005 and it's entirely possible there have been changes in the design or construction since then. Seems all affordable aftermarket exhausts have some drone in that band. I certainly notice the noise on startup especially since we back all our cars into the garage. And it quiets down as the exhaust heats up (for reasons I don't understand).

Your experience matches the experience I had with the Invidia Q300 and I did more than just "think about" selling it. :) Replaced with the Tanabe Medalion Touring which does not exhibit the same noise level but the Q300 was "headache loud" and the Medalion Touring naturally seems quieter by comparison -- never was able to compare it to OEM.

I'm running a Berk high flow cat (passed Ohio smog 3 times) and the car is Gernby tuned. Not sure either of those affect the sound.

I think you can bend reform the hangers on the muffler and adjust the hangers (there's a couple of ways to fit the 3-hole hangers) for a more centered fit at the bumper.

Noise is always subjective. My wife think the car is LOUD!

-- Chuck

If the Tanabe Medallion bothers you, go back to stock, there's no other exhaust in the aftermarket segment that will make you happy.

Consider uk mod of stock exhaust. My suggestion is to go small, since you aren't trying to cheaply mimic a super loud aftermarket system, which is what it sems most that do uk mod are after.

Most of those guys do 38mm or 44mm bypass pipe. I suggest for you to go 1", 25mm. If that is still too loud, I can show you how to dampen it significantly. Can tune to your preference.

With this mod to uk mod you can go quieter, but not louder. But you also don't want to use it to make a large change in volume. In other words, don't just go 38mm assuming you can make as quiet as you want from there. Start close to where you think you should be.

The mod involves cutting a slice in the uk bypass pipe and sliding in a stainless washer with center hole drilled to a tuned size. Experiment with larger and smaller holes. Use hose clamp to temp hold in place. Once it sounds perfect driving around in all situations for a while, lock washer in place with weld or even just use jb weld. Washer fits so tightly into slot not much to seal.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...a5e1ca72ca.jpg
Here is how mine fits' you can see before the older exhaust I had melted the right side tip. I can tell you it's the best exhaust I have heard on an S2000 it's very quite compared to others no drone and opens up well.

This is a real Tanabe Revel Medallion Touring not a remake. Can't beat the OG

Maybe it's manufactured differently under the Revel brand? I'm not sure. Many reported no drone and fitment is spot on, which was all under the original Tanabe brand. But from OP's picture, fitment is obviously not spot on, and so is the drone.

I also got a Tanabe (under the new Revel brand) for another car that I own. It's a stock car, and the exhaust produced a pretty bad drone in the lower RPM cruising range. Prior to getting this, I was thinking about getting it for my S2K, but now I will definitely not consider it anymore.

PS I also noticed on the box (under the now Revel brand) that it no longer indicates it is made in Japan anymore.

Might want to look into a Fujitsubo if you are looking for a "gentleman's exhaust", you will have no trouble selling the Revel if needed. Good luck.

Oh, I'm liking that idea !! If needed I could block the whole thing off with a solid slug.

Thanks for posting your idea, looks like I'm off on a new adventure

Fujitsubo is your best choice if you could still find one to buy in North America, or maybe a used one. I've been using it since 2003 and no drone at all.

For the uk mod mod I used a sawzall to cut a slot half way through the uk bypass pipe. Then I bought stainless fender washers from Lowes. Used the ones with smallest hole available, 5/16" I believe. Washer OD matches uk mod bypass pipe OD, in my case 1.5". But you could use larger washer and grind to size.

Even if you find washer with OD that perfect matches your uk pipe OD, you still have to grind it to fit. Need to grind half the diameter of washer to match uk bypass ID. The washer OD ends up with a sort of keyhole shape.

The sawzall slot ends up being just smaller than washer thickness. So you have to hammer and large channel lock pliers force into place. That's a good thing, as it means it won't come loose, rattle, makes better seal, etc.

But you still need to use a hose clamp to hold in place, as once exhaust heats up washer can still fall out (don't ask me how I know!) If you need to remove one to try a different hole size, you can hammer the edge with a screwdriver to get it to slide out a little, then grab with vise grips and wiggle it out.

Once you're good with sound level, weld or jb weld in place.

Or just keep the hose clamp so you can retune for special occasions, etc. You'd want to add something to seal the slot along with the hose clamp for such long term use. Like maybe some