Installed my 3" Thermal R&D Stainless Exhaust, couple questions about performance?

TurboTalon1 · Jun 30, 2002

Installed my 3" Thermal R&D Stainless Exhaust, couple questions about performance?

Well, yesterday, I installed my 3" Thermal Stainless Exhaust (Cat-back) and I have a couple questions and comments. Well, first of all, the exhaust kicks ass, really, it looks good(sorry, no pics yet, getting them developed), sounds good, and provides a definate and noticeable increase in HP throughout the RPM powerband. But, the thing I noticed the most is in the low rpm's, specifically in 1st gear. My first gear seams "taller" and "stronger", meaning I can wait longer to shift to 2nd and I get more power from 1st gear. Is this normal when installing a large exhaust? Also, my driveway is downhill, before with my stock exhaust I would coast down the hill in 1st and pick up pretty good speed, now when coasting in 1st down the hill it's like I am applying brakes or the exhaust is not letting the car increase in speed down the hill. Just a couple comments. But, the exhaust looks damn sweet and seems to be worth the money. Man, 3" is BIG, lol.....PEace...JIM

Mods, feel free to move if this should be in parts talk. I just wanted to ask a general question about large exhausts, sorry if it's in the wrong place...Peace

TurboTalon1 · Jun 30, 2002

Oh shit, and on a side note, she seems to spool up quicker as well

I forgot to mention that little tidbit.....PEace...JIM

zola84 · Jun 30, 2002

how can the exhaust in our case make her spool quicker, can somebody explain that to me. I am not trying to be ignorant, I just don't understand it.

Brandon92DSM · Jun 30, 2002

the Thermal R/D catback was definitly my second choice behind the Apex N1. I think its a better quality 3" system overall, (100% polished stainless 3" piping...dont see that too often) I just liked the style of the N1 muffler section better. If I was less of a rice-boy I Definitly would have chosen the Thermal.

I dont see how 1st gear could seen any taller...if anything you should be going through it faster now. adding power wont change your gear ratios or top speeds in each gear at all, it will just make you get through them quicker. many people upgrade to the GVR4 1st gear when they rebuild the tranny. Its about 6 mph taller. It might seem taller to you because the spoolup time is quicker, making 1st gear hit harder/sooner.

dave's 92 · Jun 30, 2002

gvr4 gear explain. sorry im an idiot.

Brandon92DSM · Jun 30, 2002

dave's 92 said:
gvr4 gear explain. sorry im an idiot.

Im not sure what 1st gear maxes out at in an AWD DSM when you hit redline...its probably like 32 mph or something. if you swapped a taller GVR4 1st gear in, you could hit appoximatly 38 mph at redline. (for sake of figures...these arent the real numbers.) If you have a high horsepower AWD DSM, this can be a good thing. spending more time in lower gears makes you accelerate faster overall, if you have the power to back it up. It also puts 1st closer in ratio to 2nd, making it easier to stay on the powerband between shifts. This is very important stuff for vehicle manufacturers like Honda who have peaky VTEC powerbands.

as far as the bigger exhaust making the turbo spool quicker, its hard to explain. (for me anyway). I guess would say that if you install a big exhaust/DP and lower the backpressure after the turbo, more of the "pressure focus" in the system will be centered on the turbo blades, causing them to spin the turbo faster/sooner. the gases are much more motivated to move through a 3" system than a stock system, so they get pushed through that system faster/sooner.

TurboTalon1 · Jun 30, 2002

Ya, I guess it's just I get power more quickly with the exhaust on. It is alot better in the low gears, but really it helps out throughout all the gears. The stainless steel 3" pipe, muffler, and tip do look very nice indeed. PEace...JIM

SEJ · Jul 1, 2002

I have a Thermal 3" catback on my 90 GST and I love it also. In addition I have a Buschur Racing 2 1/2" Stainless Mandrelbent Downpipe and Buschur Racing High Flow Cat. I love the sound,look and the boost comes on strong.

Van · Jul 1, 2002

SEJ said:
I have a Thermal 3" catback on my 90 GST and I love it also. In addition I have a Buschur Racing 2 1/2" Stainless Mandrelbent Downpipe and Buschur Racing High Flow Cat. I love the sound,look and the boost comes on strong.

Me too, although I have a 2.5" tp too.
The Thermal OWNS! lol

mclarke · Jul 1, 2002

ive had my thermal for over 6 months now.... thermal 3inch back modified to have the part where it necks down back to 3, 3 inch straight pipe, and 3 inch stainless downpipe...

TurboTalon1 · Jul 1, 2002

Van said:
The Thermal OWNS! lol

Lol, Van, yes it does own!!! The downpipe and test pipe are my next projects. But, Hahn sells the eliminator jr. pipe for the factory turbo guys, but nothing yet for us 420A guys. I want a 3" DP and Hahn says maybe one day they will make one, lmao. When I put my turbo kit on it came with a 8" or so section of DP that goes over the stock exhaust and clamps on.(after you cut part of the stock exhaust pipe off). I will probably just go to a fab shop here in town and have a custom 3" DP made for me. Hahn does sell the 3" test pipe I want. Will 3" exhaust from turbo to muffler tip perform well? Or is 2.5" DP sufficient? It probably doesn't affect me a whole lot now with the meger 5psi I am running, but I plan on building my engine up next spring, so I am thinking ahead. PEace...JIM

dsm1995gst · Jul 2, 2002

I'll move it to Parts Talk.

bumpnrollfast · Jul 2, 2002

Has anybody ever had a problem with their thermal muffler scraping? I have read this in more than one place, and (until i read that) i was planning on buying it.

2nd question, has any body tried getting a shop with a mandrel bending machine to make the exhaust piping (cat back) and then just buy a muffler?

I have heard that this is a much cheaper way to go rather than just purchasing the whole thing from a manufacturer.

Forgive me if I sound ignorant; I am still in the learning stage!

dsm1995gst · Jul 2, 2002

I've never had a problem with my Thermal scraping.

If you can find a place that has a mandrel bender then that should work out fine. The hard part is finding one.

Saber_TF · Jul 4, 2002

I just got my 3" extreme/thermal exhaust system recently, now if i can just get my fricken car back from the auto body shop so my mechanics can actually work on the damn car hehe! I'm getting fustrated, haven't driven my baby for 3 weeks...=oP

As far as what i've been told about the turbo spooling up quicker, opening up your exhaust system gives you less backpressure & more room for your turbo to breath. Think freeflowing on this one...hehe

I'll be sure to post some pictures of the exhaust before it goes on the car. And let me tell you, that thing looks like it belongs on a bus! Hehe! You should see the damn downpipe! Whoo!

Saber!...!...!
=)

Installed my 3" Thermal R&D Stainless Exhaust, couple questions about performance?

TurboTalon1

TurboTalon1

zola84

Brandon92DSM

dave's 92

Brandon92DSM

TurboTalon1

SEJ

Van

mclarke

TurboTalon1

dsm1995gst

bumpnrollfast

dsm1995gst

Saber_TF

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