Ok, as some of you might remember, I was changing from the older angled tip Injen true dual and wanted a little more mellow exhaust. I was going to go Borla, but was steered to the Tanabe Super Medalion Hyper by many individuals both on and off these boards.

I purchased from Intense Motorsports the exhaust and a Tanabe y-pipe. Thanks Darren!!!

Old setup:
Stock headers
Stock cats
Injen true dual, no H or X pipe angled tips

New setup:
Stock headers
Stock cats
Tanabe Y pipe
Tanabe Super Medalion Hyper

Total removal/install took about 2 hours by myself on ramps. Everything lined up perfectly. After install I drove around for about an hour to burn off the oil that is applied during manufacturing. Man that stuff stinks. The exhaust came with a notice stating that the new muffler material, Advantex, will smoke for up to 2 days while it burns in. It stopped smoking after my 1 hour drive, but I can still smell it a little bit.

My impressions:
Sound -
Injen-Loud, intimidating, throaty, droned on highway, in-cabin noise high
Tanabe-Refined, deep, exotic, no drone, in-cabin noise almost non-existent unless WOT.

Feel -
Injen-Very open upon acceleration, rougher engine revvs, had trouble shifting smoothly through 1st and 2nd gears (despite having driven manual for 15 years)
Tanabe-Very tight, precise, smoother engine revvs, trouble shifting smoothly is now gone.

Performance (butt dyno style) -
Injen-very open and willing give me everything up top. Seemed to lack low end (below 2500 rpm).
Tanabe-May have lost a hair in the top end, but low end seems more responsive. Engine seems to rev more freely (not sure why, going from dual to single)

Look-
Injen-younger tuner look, polished mufflers, but non polished tips, huge 4" angled tips
Tanabe-More refined, mature look, polished muffler and tips, semi-stock appearance due to 1 muffler in stock position, huge 4" tips

Thanks to everyone who helped me choose this exhaust. I am very happy with the end result.

 

good write up man. I'll be waiting for pics.

 

Awesome -- you can't beat tanabe quality

looking forward to pics

 

Here are the Injen Super SES True Dual pics.
#1 was at the dealer when I bought the car.
#2 was with my cell phone camera a couple weeks ago.

 

Here are the Tanabe Super Medalion Hyper pics, not the best since it's overcast......









Mid-Pipe:


Y-Pipe:


Tip:

 

nice!!!!!! thinking about Tanabe for my Z when i get one

 

If you are looking for an exotic note, subtle under 3000 rpms, and semi-stock look - This is the exhaust to get. It's not 'silent' by any means, you can definitely tell it's aftermarket, but it's non-intrusive, exactly what I wanted. The Tanabe Medalion Touring is even quieter.

Wired 24/7 - I agree, the quality is top notch. I wish Tanabe would make headers and HFC's to round out the entire exhaust.

The only mishap I had was a sheared bolt installing the new exhaust. It was my fault though. The exhaust came with stainless hardware, but I went after them "strong like bull" style at first. After the first bolt sheared off, I learned quickly how tight to go. I will revisit the bolts in a week to make sure nothing loosened upon settling in.

 

The exhaust looks very clean.
How quiet are these exactly?
My buddy with IS350 has one and it's not much louder than the stock exhaust(which is the point of the new Tanabe exhaust series)

 

According to tanabe, super medalion hyper is under 95db on an otherwise stock exhaust system.

For reference, their most quiet exhausts are under 93db

 

Thanks for the info.
BTW, is that Haruhi on ur avatar lol

 

Yep.... and a "hello" to Clare as well

God I hate being a nerd sometimes.

 

Thanks, unfortunately I can't give you a reference compared to stock since I bought the car with the Injen on it. From what I can tell (about the stock exhaust), when you get on it, you can tell it's aftermarket. It is quiet (I assume similar to stock) when at idle or cruising.

I've gotten 2 compliments on it in 2 days. Even though the tips are the same size as the Injen, these just look bigger. I guess because they are coming straight out.

On a side note, I threw in my Cannonball Run dvd last night and I would swear that my car now sounds like (or very similar to) the Lambo Countach during the opening credits. Now if only I can get my car to move like that........

 

I've heard that exhaust on a twin turbo Z. Very nice quality. Deep low growling pitch that seperates itself from the rest. I liked it a lot. Good choice.

 

<drool>mmmmm, twin turbo</drool>

Thanks man. I am very happy with it.

After 2 days of burning in the Advantex material, it seems a tad more open up top, a pinch louder than the first day, but still just as sweet sounding.

 

i also have the tanabe super hyper medallion and tanabe y-pipe. it sounds really cool. when the car is warmed up it is quiet like stock. but when you first start it up it's just sweet. here are some pics .

 

gismo - looks sweet on a DB!!!

 

Awesome choice. Loving mine as well....i had to post a pic too Great review especially coming from a true-dual owner moving to a non-true dual

 

Hey BaT, how is it with the intense power y-pipe. is there really that much of a difference in y-pipes? I was going to get the intensepower y-pipe, but darren said they were on a 3week back order, so i ponied up the extra $$ for the tanabe.

 

I live next to the guy who just bought that car (used in the movie), and believe me, your Z would smoke it.

 

Really? What happened to that poor Lambo? They made it look so fast in the movie!!!