Stock or Coupe Midpipe w/ HKS Axleback?
 

I just ordered an HKS Sport Exhaust for my V35 sedan, and I currently have a coupe midpipe installed. Does anyone have any input on the sound differences between the HKS with either the stock sedan midpipe versus a coupe midpipe w/ HKS?

I don't want it to be too loud and I don't like drone very much.

My initial thoughts are that unless the coupe midpipe makes the HKS sing incredibly more than the stock midpipe does, i'm going to sell it and try and offset the cost of the muffler.

The exhaust is louder with the coupe mid, but be prepared for drone with either. I got rid of my HKS for that very reason.

Didn't you have other exhaust things too though? Like HFCs, headers, etc?

Just install the HKS exhaust, they've spend thousands of hours testing their exhaust to give you the best results. If you have OE cats it won't be too loud. Tim likely had his ART pipes with the HKS system....he'll reply sooner or later. :NOD:
Gary

At the time I had the HKS I was stock cats, no headers, R2C intake and HR y-pipe. I tried numerous combinations of OEM intake, coupe mid, sedan mid, R2C and none of them got rid of the drone. So I got lucky and scored the prototype Motordyne VQ exhaust with a resonated XYZ mid after I sold the HKS and couldn't be happier.

Well since I have an X my options are limited :rolleyes:

But thanks for making me second-guess my purchase :icon17:

I hope it's not too bad. The Tanabe sounds great (based on YouTube videos) but I don't like how low the muffler sits or the single tip.

Keith, vids are only as good as what they use to record them. Most often it someones phone or Wallmart purchase. Maybe you should hold off buying anything until you can hear members exhaust in person by attending a few meets this spring. Never heard of anyone bragging about there Tanabe exhaust, kinda like the stuff Borla sells. :OHBOY:
Gary

Unfortunately no meets anywhere near me. Not much of a community in Utah.

^ An HKS muffler is noticeably louder than stock. If you're looking for a slight upgrade in tone - the HKS isn't very subtle. Drone is also very subjective and differs depending on the listener.


That being said, you will get drone (IMO) at highway cruising speeds with a combo of HKS/HR y-pipe/Coupe midpipe. The main culprit is the coupe midpipe. Sounds great with a HR y and a stock muffler. Or by itself. But you add it to the HKS and it won't be pleasant (IMO). I never tried just a HKS/coupe middy combo but from past experience I wouldn't do it.


THOUGH, in normal city driving, I didn't notice anything annoying & punching it (HKS/HR y/coupe middy) sounded beautiful....but cruising at high speeds made me just turn up the music to drown it out. My personal favorite combo was the HR y/coupe middy with a stock muffler. Sounded better than stock and not much drone there.

Thanks for the input. Since I have an X, I pretty much already have an HR Y-pipe (is there a sound difference between the HR and the X y-pipes???). The sound with the coupe mid and stock muffler has been nice when you get on the throttle, but it's just not much to look at and the sound is only there when you get on the throttle. Not a bad combo by any means, I am just looking for something more at this point.

So it sounds like I probably won't like the HKS muffler + Coupe midpipe combo very much. That's fine, since I still have my stock sedan midpipe. I think i'll try the coupe mid first and drive around a bit, then if I don't like it i'll switch to the sedan midpipe. I just hope that's enough to get the best of both worlds (nice look/sound without bad droning). I'm obviously ok with a louder volume (otherwise what's the point), but drone is what I try to avoid. The coupe midpipe drones a little under moderate load/low RPM, but I have learned to live with it and it doesn't bother me much anymore.

Well I got it installed today. I first installed the HKS with the coupe midpipe already on the car. As was predicted, it was a little loud for my taste. It had a lot of drone, especially on hills at 50mph.

I then swapped the coupe mid for my sedan mid, which quieted things down quite a bit. Drone is vastly improved, although there still is some under certain conditions (like the hill described above).

Since it's a brand new muffler i'm betting it will quiet down some as most mufflers do. Would you agree?

Otherwise it sounds great overall and looks fantastic!

Got any sound/video clips for sound and drone? I am in the market for an upgraded exhaust (i have a 2005 G35 Sprt with Coupe middy).

Working on it :D

I just put up a compilation video of my old setup on YouTube last night, and i'm hoping to get videos this weekend of the new setup. We had freezing rain today though so it might be a couple days.

This is the video i just made though:

And finally a comparison video I made...


There is some drone at around 2000-2500rpm if you're under some load (i.e. going up a hill), but it has improved as the muffler has been breaking in. It's sounding better and better as time goes on.