Exhaust: Shop smart instead of following the crowd
 

So I just wanted to right a review of an exhaust I installed on my car a couple of days ago for those of you in the market for a new exhaust. As you search you will find several different types and brands of exhaust with a ride range of prices. Now as you may or may not know an exhaust is more so for aesthetics and sounds. Unless you are going F/I the amount of hp you will gain between different exhaust is 1-3 hp which to me doesn't justify spending $1500 or more for one that I can spend a fraction of that and get pretty much same performance and similar sound. The only benefit of buying a more expensive exhaust is they will have a better fitment and as such be easier to install and line up.

So with that being said I went with the DNA Motoring True dual exhaust(hks replica). I paid $250 shipped to my house for it off eBay. The package it came in was fair but inside each piece was carefully wrapped and protected. Came with all hardware and gaskets. It was well crafted with quality welds and looked great. Knowing that the fitment would not be exact I decided to take to a local shop to install instead of doing it myself which I normally would do. Cost me $200 to get it changed out so the total cost for my new exhaust was $450.

As for the exhaust itself I love the sound. As soon as I turned the ignition and heard in start up I was like wow. Even the mechanic raved about how good it sounded and when he asked how much I paid for it his mouth hit the floor. He didn't believe I paid so little for such a great sounding exhaust. It has a nice deep and low grumble with no rasp at all. There is some slight droning but IMO is moderate and very tolerable.

I will try to post some sound clips later on this week when I get a chance. I would def recommend this exhaust. Nothing against the big name brands. I've heard MD shock wave (best sounding IMO), stillen, hks, and others in person and this exhaust sounds just as good n better than some of them. I'm a business man so I'm always looking at things in a profit/loss mindset and with the 1-3 hp difference, fitment issues, it's worth going with the DNA Motoring exhaust.

So you say you did this to NOT follow the crowd? But you installed an HKS replica? You are right in the middle of the crowd.

You didnt read the whole thing then. I clearly stated reason why I chose to get this exhaust over much more expensive brands. My point is there is (at least on this forum) a majority of g35 owners that feel like you must spend top dollar on every part of your car or you aren't "doing it right" My point in referencing following the crowd is you don't have to spend crazy amounts of money on parts because everyone is saying you have to buy this brand or not. The purpose was to give impressions and feedback on a different brand product from someone that doesn't automatically write it off as "not good" because it doesn't have a high price tag that's all

I read it man. Type in HKS replica and make some popcorn while the results come in. I would venture to say that half the Gs in my area are running an HKS replica wether its your brand or Topspeed's. Nothing wrong with these, you get what you pay for and I'm glad you are happy with the results. But I wouldn't come on here saying you are blazing new trails and telling people that their NA cars won't be getting more than 3hp from an exhaust. Take a look at Motordyne and you will see there is a lot more going on than just LOOKS and SOUNDS.

Lol then your reading comprehension is not very good and I'm not making fun of you but one I did not say I was blazing any new trails and two I did not say that you would only get 3 hp from an exhaust. I said the difference in hp BETWEEN different exhaust was 1-3 hp. Meaning say you get 12hp from one exhaust another would get you maybe 14. I also specifically stated I thought motordyne shockwave was the best exhaust but it's not worth the extra $1000-1300 depending on exhaust u get and install for at max 3 extra hp. And the sound is not that much difference which also doesn't justify that price that IMO.

Oh man. I'll keep an eye out for your review on ebay coils and that the performance is good enough to rule out spending the extra money for KWs. It will give me a chance to practice my reading comprehension.

No problem bruh I'll let you know when i write one. I'll even send you the cliff notes

Hmm. Interesting.

There's a lot of people running replicas so you actually fit right in with the crowd.

If you didn't want to run with the crowd you should have ordered a motordyne.

It's good to know that the less expensive exhaust can actually work and sound good. You should post a vid/sound clip and pictures from your auction. At least the next G35'r that is looking for something inexpensive will be pointed in the write direction.

We spend top dollar on exhausts so welds do not fall apart and tips start to discolor... I myself got mine used-best of both worlds and something I HIGHLY recommend to save $$ Just because this isn't a factor now with yours does not mean you're not susceptible-hopefully in your case you don't have these issues

In b4 this turns into a "I don't have works/Volks" type of thread.

I'm on the hunt for a good used motordyne that's preferably local ^^^

best way to do it

certainly not the majority, more than likely far from it. This would be a simple by-product of the car being in the <10k used range. All sorts of characters come up in that range and many lack the money for quality parts.

My understanding of shopping smart is buying a used Amuse titanium for 3/5th of the original price, or a never installed OS Giken lsd for $1200, or a set of used Advan wheels with tires for $2000. Those are examples of sweet deals and real smart shopping. It's not buying Chinese replicas that will fall apart due to steel that can hardly be called 304SS.