Yeah like i said deep down you are right, here in france cruising is either at 110/130kmh (4k5rpm) or 80kmh but Mostly 110kmh. And 1k for a exhaust is quite a lot for juste esthétic and sound. But a car is a waste of money it s just to build it how we like.
at first i really wanted the skunk2 still thinking a lot about it but maybe will go to a HKS dual or single seem more bearable

 

Hi Senretsun,
Here in California we also have smog rules that are enforced. You have to pass a smog inspection every two years and if the car fails it cannot be licensed. The inspections cost about US$75 and the results are forwarded electronically to the state department of motor vehicles, (DMV), at further small cost. Our cars have OBD2, on board diagnostics, version 2, to check a lot of things real time and the smog inspection accesses this data.

Another 'improvement' is to remove the catalyst and replace it with a 'test pipe' which is both illegal, and causes the exhaust to be louder. If the cat is missing that will cause a fail of the smog inspection. There is no performance benefit to remove the catalyst but many owners still believe there is, with absolutely no evidence to the contrary. Most test pipes have a threaded port to install the second oxygen sensor, which usually produces a check engine light since the exhaust is now not treated by the missing cat.

There is also a thriving business of stealing catalysts and selling them on the black market for the precious metals they contain. One of the most popular car for this is the Toyota Prius. You can buy and have installed a 'cat guard' to prevent this or at least slow it down some.
Larry

 

Perception is reality. I plead guilty.

That's why we all pulled the air filter off Mom's car in high school to hear the power. Merely induction noise, not real power, but it was kool and made us smile! As adults we (or at least I) put a K&N or other "cold air" intake on our S2000s. We knew there would be no measurable power gain but the noise made it seem like there was more. And it made us smile. Easy wrenching (thank you, PB Blaster) got us an aftermarket exhaust which really amped up the sound! But often so loud neither we nor our neighbors smiled.

As far as I'm concerned the S2000 is all about smiles. Maximize yours.

-- Chuck

 

2 antifoulers, first one screwed into the secondary O2 bung, 2nd one drilled out and screwed into the first one, O2 sensor screwed into that ... no CEL with no cat

No emissions check where I live. We do have to do safety inspections every other year and I think they are supposed to say something if they notice the cat is not there ... but if I am going to a shop for inspection that I think may care I can always swap my old Berk back in it. Takes a about 10-15 minutes.

I got a K&N cheap from a fellow autocrosser. Clears up space in the front of the engine bay and sounds neat, that is about it. I run a PLM header with a test pipe and stock exhaust modified so I can swap the rear section for a turndown (aka no mufflers) for the track or autox.

 

There is also the Remark single exhaust. Have not heard one in person but a few have posted about it. It has an adjustable resonator that has 3 levels of sound.

 

Udapte : i ordered an hks hi single seem loud enough for my liking but still liveable great look and sound like a motorbike like we said is all about look and sound and it does the job. But yeah i saw the remark exhaust but im from france and no resseler has it so it must be shipped from the US and it will cost almost 2000 euro i don't think it worth that much, but it does seem a really good exhaust

 

I had the single exit invidia q300. It was pretty loud without the cat. I put the cat back on and it was still pretty loud. Could be the fact I’m getting older, 20 year old me would have loved it. I would love to find something more tame, but I ended up leaving the test pipe on and installed the factory exhaust. I do wish it was a bit louder.

 

I bought my 02 AP1 with some eBay headers, Berk HFC and straight pipe. It sounded pretty raspy at higher rpms and droned like crazy. Bought a revel medallion to replace the straight piped cat back recently and kept the HFC and headers on. Sounds amazing now. Not obnoxiously loud, but you still get a good amount of noise when you step on it.

 

I have an 08 with the same Revel Medallion exhaust and EVS Tunning HFC. I like the sound, not to loud, drone isn't to bad.

 

Perfect amount of noise and drone. Any more it gets annoying on longer road trips