The fascia is different on the '04.

RR, is the drone prevalent in certain rpm ranges? Is there a drone in the crusising ranges? Destiny said there were spots where the exhaust was loud, but no drone.

 

This is a semantic problem - a drone or loud? What's the diff? I call a drone an engine resonance in a limited bandwidth (RPM in this case), that happens at less than WOT, in every gear. it is not oppressive, but everyone's perception and interpretation will be different, and I like to give full disclosure. I also must protect my hearing, hence the ear plug comment. It did not imply intolerable noise, just good sense.

Everyone who has heard the car gets a hard-on for it; that red car in the Mugen sound clip sounds anemic compared to my car - is it the recording, the new Mugens ystem, the 2.2L, the ambient noise at the site of the recording masking the real tonality? All of these things play into it. I think you have to buy on Mugen's rep, or wait to hear one.

 

I have heard Kekoa's close up and it sounds great, but that was outside the car. I just don't want the drone at 3500-4000 rpm and high heat conditions.

 

Maybe for $5 he'll let you sit in it and decide for yourself - or was that not possible at the time?

 

He was leaving. Now that he has moved away I will have to look for another local set-up. He would do anything for $5.

 

that's a hot exhaust!

 

Hey RR,

I just wanted to say thanks for the great write-up. If you could get some digital shots of this exhaust on the car that would be awesome! Do you need any special tools to install this?

Thanks
Chris

 

THe new Mugen exhaust looks just like Invidia???

 

I was just alerted to this excellent write-up by RR. I'll add that my impressions of the exhaust were the same for my '00 (2.0 liter). The tone was deeper with a drone at around 3-4K RPM. I suspect that the lack of a Helmholtz resonator may have something to do with this. In all, I like the exhaust and to paraphrase cdelena, who recommended the exhaust to me back in the early days of S2Ki, it is the mature choice for an aftermarket exhaust. It's not too loud, nor too raspy. Plus you save about 21 pounds of weight over the stock system.

Here's a photo of the Mugen vs. OEM system:

 

RR, this is an excellent writeup on your impressions of the new exhaust. I hope my prose and style, for my writeup of my Amuse if it ever arrives, can emulate some of your skill in conveying the desired message.