Help Me Decide

[Jon_Purdy]

Hello everyone. I thought I had decided on what I wanted to do with the exhaust but like an idiot I kept reading and now I am confused. My car is a daily driver that will probably never see the race track or drag strip, just the occasional "spirited" street drive. That being said, would long tubes w/high flow cats be a good investment? I'd like some performance gains but not if it means being obnoxiously loud. Right now, I don't have plans on getting a S/C but that might change in the future. Here is what I have in mind at the moment, please correct me if if doesn't make sense.
Kooks Long Tubes w/High Flow Cats
Installation & Tune from Brenspeed
Also, what are your thoughts on a cat back system? Fewer bends has to be better, right? If so, I was thinking of adding the Borla Cat Back system as well.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,
Jon

 

[scramblr]

Well, you can't go wrong with Kooks or ARH along with a couple others. Going to Brent is a good move, his tunes are great. You'll get a good kick from the LTs, definitely worth it, even for street driving. When you mention the Borla's I'm assuming not the Stingers. That's what I have and you probably won't like it since you don't want your car too loud. Haven't heard much about their other ones. I hear the Zoomers are pretty mellow for DD until you get on it. You may also want to consider going with an H pipe vs the X. You'll lose a couple hp's but you won't notice it. The benefit for you would be the sound since it won't be as raspy as the X. Kooks just came out with the H, so Brent may not have it yet. Either way, it's a good move and Brent will treat you right.

 

[marcspaz]

Well, if you are not planning on racing, then what ever you do is going to be motivated by personal opinion on what looks and sounds the best for you while getting a bit more zoom out of the go pedal.

If you go with long tube headers, Catted X-pipe / H-pip, and a cat-back exhaust, you will pick-up about 20 HP on an naturally aspirated s197. It will be louder than stock with a nice tone, but you will be spending over $2,500 P&L.

There are a lot cheaper ways to do it. Cat back is a good idea, but unless you plan on competing in heads up racing and you want to get every drop of power out of the car you can, I would say no to the LTH setup.

Get a CAI, Tune, and Cat back exhaust. Maybe some Under Run Pulleys. You will get 30+ HP, get a nice tone, and spend $1000 to $1500 instead.

 

[Jon_Purdy]

Thanks for the quick replies. More food for thought.

Jon