jhc

Agree with Trav's Gemini setup. There's still a strong used market for this exhaust.

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

I would have gone HKS, the only reason I don't like the stillen is it's heavier than stock. Certain exhausts there it a market for but people now want the loud stuff. I couldn't sell my borla for $200 so I threw it away.

AJ2003

I did check HKS since I had it on my Talon and liked it, but after listening to videos I just liked the Stillen one better. Didn't like adding weight, but figured I'd notice the sound more than the difference in weight. Was a hard choice.

RENFRO

iTrader: (1)

Great part about exhausts is they are relatively easy to change! I've had several in my ownership and have enjoyed each one.

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

I agree with the sound thing 100% just like saving weight when possible. HKS has 3 different exhausts, I'm not too much of a fan of the Hi-Power but I do like the Sound Master and the Twin which I have (similar setup to Gemini)

AJ2003

I wasn't aware of any HKS other than the Hi-Power. Any time I searched for HKS exhaust that's the only one that came up. I was actually surprised I didn't like the sound of it since I was originally going to get that one. Although I do like the polished SS tips of the Stillen better than the titanium tips on the HKS so I guess it worked out (other than weight). Guess I should work on driver weight to even it out.

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

Not very common seeing the others, only videos I was able to scrounge up were the HKS promotional videos and those are hit or miss. Nobody runs the others outside of Japan cause those 2 are JASMA approved, I took a gamble on mine cause it's their most expensive and I bought it without major reference to sound. Good thing I liked it. My favorite for this car is still the Fujitsubo, I wanted to get my hands on the Super Ti but it's discontinued.

jhc

So when I went FI, I decided on the Fast Intentions TD made to order for $1500. Once broken-in
sounds amazing (Z1 test pipes) but serious drone 1800-2000 rpms, like cannot talk to someone.

With few straight lines for adding resonators, I'm searching for MD ART pipes. Z1 says, "Order now, when they start production again you'll be 1st in line."

Not what I was expecting...

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

MD is backed up from what I've heard you can try another vendor or one of the copycats out there.

AJ2003

Son is trying to convince me to get rid of cats when we put exhaust in. Not ready to go that far yet.

After I put the exhaust in, I will have new intake, exhaust and plenum spacer. For those of you that got a tune, is it worth it with just those modifications? I don't plan on doing any more changes to the car. Didn't know if a tune would make that noticeable of a difference or if I should just reset the ECU? Thanks.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

come on, join the no cat club. on my nissan it wasnt bad, the corvette with long tubes, no cats, and e85.... .smells like heaven (or a drunk homeless guy) to me

AJ2003

Not sure I want to take out/reinstall cats every year in order to pass the PA yearly emissions test. Don't always keep it under 5,000 miles/year to get an exemption sticker to not have it done (which the state still charges you for). Maybe sometime down the road. Even though I don't plan other modifications, I'm sure that will change.

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

I think it would be worth it to get it tuned for a few reasons - you'll be maximizing your modifications to their full potential (otherwise, why bother?), you'll also prevent it from running too lean, and you will like the way it pulls post-tune. There are threads out there documenting gains and increases in hp/tq with zero modifications with only a tune.

AJ2003

Thanks. Sorry, guess I should have looked through "tuner" thread before asking.

Heel Til I Die

iTrader: (2)

No need for apologies. A lot of people modify and don't tune it afterwards if you're just putting on some bolt-ons to make it sound better. Generally, you can wait until all your "breathing" modifications are finished and then tune afterwards, but since it sounds like you're about done, I would say go for it now. If you change your mind and get wild in the future, you can just get it retuned and you won't have to pay for the uprev license again - just dyno/tune time.

AJ2003

I'll look at doing the tune in the near future. See per UpRev's site, since I have a 2003 I need to purchase a Innovate Motorsports wideband data logger for an additional $400. Lucky me.
Before the tune, is it worth resetting the ECU (using the accelerator pedal reset or unplugging the battery) or will the car adjust to the mods over time without a reset? Thanks.

jhc

Here's an idea-
Since the vehicle is "strictly off-road" you can take the stock cats off, gut them and reinstall. You're guaranteed to pass the visual and exhaust sniffer.

The gotcha is you'll need an UpRev tune to turn off the CEL which is likely. Also highly recommend angled spacer,don't bother with CAI, they're just induction noise.

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

I agree with tuning, I have dual WB on my 2004. As far as intake if you don't have one yet I recommend Stillen.
Turning off CELs may soon be obsolete, as EPA keeps cracking down on that front. APR removed stage 2 tunes for VAG vehicles and Cobb also has just removed the ability to remove CEL or turn off monitors. Because of this I'd stay with HFC if anything.

DarkZ03

iTrader: (11)

I don't believe in the factory reset beyond disconnecting batteries, never done it, never will. I've had 7 intake setups and several exhaust setups as well, so been there done that.

AJ2003

I do have a Stillen intake. And Z1 plenum spacer. Didn't do the reset when I put the spacer and intake on last year, just did the battery disconnect.