Hi, all! I thought I'd share my experience installing my new Fabspeed Maxflow exhaust. The install is actually dead simple...it's more about after. My first test drive seemed alright. However, the following day I went for a two hour drive and had my brain blasted by some nasty drone. Nasty...as in headache inducing.
(Edit)...almost forgot, my car is a '99 base.
First...my fault, I set the X pipe too close to the bumper. I thought a nice tight fit would look good. This lead to vibration, which lead to drone. From about 2000-3000 RPM, it was painful. I adjusted the X pipe down and reduced the drone quite a bit. At that point it was between 2000 and 2600 RPM, but still loud.
My next idea was to get a '00 and up muffler hanger and trans bracket from 20th Street. The later style bracket appears much stiffer than the earlier rod style. Having installed that this afternoon (with no major drama, thank goodness) drone was reduced more.
While adding the new bracket, I also trimmed the fender liner. The cat pipe of the new exhaust touches the heat shield on my car. By trimming away some of the plastic, I was able to bend the heat shield away from the pipe.
At this point, drone is down to the 2000-2400 range, and at a much more acceptable level. It is really only noticeable under power now, as well.
The last thing I did was to make new tips. The Fabspeed parts are super nice, but they don't fit under the exhaust hump very well. I made a set of minimalist slash cuts with some 316 stainless tube.
Overall, the Fabspeed system is awesome. It sounds like a sports car ought to sound, and adds a few horsies to the power curve. Build quality is outstanding. I recommend the system to anyone, just know you may have to do a couple of extra steps to really nail it.
