I just got my "base" numbers before installing my custom exhaust.
 

This is the scenario: I live about a mile from an exit for I-80, with the next one (heading east), about 4 miles away, and about 2 miles of it is a nice-and- flat straight-away. Temp is 77, and humidity is not too bad today. I did 2 60-100 runs each way. On the first, I pulled a 6.09, and on the second, a 6.10. Then as I got off the exit to turn around to make the last 2 runs, I noticed that I had forgotten to turn off the air conditioning. After turning it, and the blower fan off, I pulled a 5.61 and a 5.38. The exhaust should be on within the nest few days, and I will post those numbers, as well.

how are you measuring your runs? But i agree with all cars the AC does suck up some horse power.

Via the speedometer and digital stopwatch method. I know that method is prone to human error, and that's probably why the second set of numbers is so far apart. But on such short notice ,that's all I could come up with. I'm headed over to my friend Jerry's (who has a lift and bender) to start on the exhaust right now.

Good luck. numbers are crude but what the hell... do what you can with what you have

the ac compressor being on sucks up 8 hp.....on average....on another note, I didn't notice a HUGE increase in power with my 3 inch exhaust from LR, BUT it did help do away with lag with no kitty-kat! and it sounds better too

I think the exhaust is more of an complementing Mod then anything... if your boosting more or do a couple other things the exhaust will make those Mods work that much better.

yes i totally agree carlege, but my old rusty exhaust with no tip just needed replaced....any why go stock?!?

made a good choice! stock cost too much compared to the little more for an aftermarket setup

It'll be interesting to see what effect the larger exhaust has....

Well, as you can see from my sig, it is now on the car. It basically consists of a 3" piece of pipe connecting to the stock cat (cleaned) and ending up at the rear, into a 3" glass-pack muffler (15" body length) that leads into a 3 1/4" chrome tip. I have not had it out on the highway for timings yet, but it has changed the car's "personality" in a very drastic way. It now has no "mild" side to hide behind. I am not used to the purely "wild" sound it now has, and I am not sure it I ever will - I guess time will tell. For someone who is looking to complete the "I'm driving a race car" experience, it delivers, 100%. It is almost impossible to run 1st up past 3K and shift into 2nd without a loud , raspy cackle emminating from the pipe. I also see many more heads turn now. This is not something I was really looking for. It is also louder and more "droney" than I would like at idle and speeds of up to about 40 or 50 mph. But at highway speeds, it is perfectly fine. I think my fuel economy may increase due to 2 things. I am lighter on the pedal now in trying not to raise a "ruckus" everywhere I go. And maybe this is just a case of wishful thinking, but the car "feels' like it has the same amount of "pickup" with my foot being less far into the pedal. I should be posting timing numbers within the next day-or-so. I would do it now, but is a very humid & rainy day here today, unlike the day that I took the base timings.

i'm thinking its because the cat is hollowed out, thats the drone I think...you could try running a straight pipe through the cat so it doesn't just dump into a big area then funnel back into a small one. mine has no drone inside the car and I went with a hooker max-flow muffler. it said it was best for a low compression(turbo) engine...I actually think mine is sort of quiet...

The cat already was clean, so there was nothing I could do about that, other than to "pipe it through", like you said. That's something that I may give a try. But I have already taken (a different course of) action - now I just need to sit back and play the "waiting" game. I have concluded (correctly, I hope) that no 4-cylinder engine is ever going to sound decent at less than 2500rpm when the exhaust is piped through a 3" (straight through) glasspack muffler (15" body length),with a 3.5" tip. So I am bailing on it, in favor of an "oval" design with a 3" inlet, and dual 2.5" outlets. The other options were dual 2.25", or dual 3" outlets. I hope I chose the correct one for best (but not too loud) sound. It is already ordered and paid for. But it will take 7-10 working days to ship (I think they are "custom" made), and 3-4 weeks after that for delivery. They claim that these mufflers are well worth the wait, but we will see. I don't mind the wait, as long as it makes the car sound "right".

I will still make the timing runs (hopefully tomorow) with the glass-pack setup, for comparison, and then with the new muffler, after it is delivered and installed.

okay, keep us posted...i'm interested atleast. also do you have a pic of the new muffler your getting? out of curiousity I wanna see it.

Switch-up, change-up, now NOT getting! After just getting home from running a few errands, I have decided that it sounds OK the way it is, and canceled the order for the new one. MY curiosity, however, lies with how it would have sounded, not looked. All you would have seen when on the car would have been the pair of 2.5" chrome tips sticking out the back anyways. Easy on me now, I wasn't going to admit, but it was a JCW oval, single chamber, "triple ramp", baffle design (can be seen in the cutaway view on the webpage). It cost 137, with 20 shipping (and long-time till you finally get it). I'm sure it would be better sounding than a traditional 3-chamber design, but now I'll never know. Oh well, I'll get over it. My curiosity fizzled when I saved about a buck-sixty by backing out of the deal. I like the way the glass-pack doesn't block the sswwwwwshsh sound that the turbine makes out the back as it idles back down after lifting off the pedal. And it has all of the snotty, snarly, cackly, raspyness that one could ever want in a sports car (save, for the V12 ferrari, that has the quad 3-into-1 open headers sticking out the rear engine compartment and up in the air). I am hoping that people who hear it don't think it sounds too "ricey", though.

I tried to get some 60-100 timings while I was on the highway, but due to traffic considerations, I could only get 1 in before I got off (flip side was single-lane construction zone, so nothing could be done going that way). But I am happy to report that I posted a 5.06 on that run, but I may "possibly" have cut time a little early, like at 98 or 99. I'll have to do a few more to get a good average - all in good time, though.

hmmm, maybe sometime next year we can have a pa get-together or something cuz i'm only about 2 hrs (i think) away from you, but i do go see my mom sometimes in Jeanette(i get off at irwin on the pike) maybe we could meet up then. I think my exhaust is quiet and not at all ricey sounding...not crackly, or raspy at that...i guess just for comparisons sake. but whatever, whenever...

Sounds cool. But there is a PA get-together this year (weekend-after-next, I think) in blue bell (if I recall correctly) that I am seriously considering showing up at. That is about 2 hours south of me. I was thinking you were from around the ABE area - is that close? I don't know where on the pike you are talking about, but I think it is "out" the pike, whereas, I would be "up" the pike, and west on I-80 from the pocono exit.

Would you consider attending the blue bell get-together? It's got to be closer for you than it is for me. There is a flyer for it floating around this site somewhere.

ok, gotcha