Alta Catback vs. Custom DIY

malteseracer · #1 09-25-2009, 08:22 AM

A friend of mine has a shop and very good welding skills from what I hear and see. He made his own straight pipe with another guy for his lancer and it sounds awesome. His plates are SC though and we're in NY where those sort of pipes are illegal and I don't need to be getting dumb tickets like that. I was wondering if you think we could build a 3" catback system ourselves with some sort of low restriction muffler.
It would seem Alta has dropped the price on their catbacks to 559-729 (only varying by tips which is odd) and I was just looking for a recommendation. Should I buy 200 bucks in nice 3" piping and have it done or spend 3 times that and have it be Alta.
I'm thinking Alta, but as I think about it I think "How hard could an exhaust be to make?"

dunphyj · #2 09-28-2009, 10:53 AM

well technically speaking anyone with a welding idea and some exhaust hanger brackets can make an exhaust from scratch... and if that's ur thing and you like things loud, then i say props to you, its your mini and the only one who needs to be satisfied with it is you. however, what i would suggest (since you can't just simply bolt on a 3" exhaust to the stocks... i think it's something like 2.25" (not sure i haven't looked to be honest, i've been running alta's turboback for almost a year and a half now... ever since it came out). you'd have to have it expand out from your welding point if i'm understanding you correctly... and as with most company exhausts they ususally start with what you're most likely planning to do, then fool around with mufflers, and where to put resonators, how big they are, how long, how wide. i'm sure an easy way to get around that would be to get your setup, find a JCW stage 1 exhaust on a wrecked car, and weld ur 3" to it... stock look, not so stock sound... obviously depending on what you really want, there would be a lot more to it than just that. but that's the fastest crashcourse in my understanding of how an exhaust is made.

i'd also check out Exhaust Depot's site and their exhaust... might get some ideas from them!

Cheers

dylnwit · #3 10-21-2009, 09:04 PM

I did a 3" stainless exhaust on my other car a couple years ago. I have not had a chance to take a close look at the Mini's system, so I'm not sure how bad a full 3" strait from the turbo would be. You'd probably have to go: Flange, 90* bend in the same size of the outlet, then expand from there, if you wait till after the flex section, it will be cheaper. Run it through a metal core cat or 2 (vibrant performance has a high flow SS cat for ~$100), then run it into the muffler system of your preference.

Car was an All wheel drive Eagle Talon, in the end spent around $600, but that includes hangers, and a nice quiet muffler (although it ran me almost $200!). It droned a little more on the highway, but it was a much louder car inside to begin with.

Another option would be to do a custom downpipe to one of these
http://www.quicktimeperformance.com/QTEC/index.php
Open and loud when you want it, quiet when you don't, although I have not used one before, so I cannot vouch for or against it.

MIN 18 · #4 10-22-2009, 09:42 AM

i don't like alta

VeganBrian · #5 10-22-2009, 03:21 PM

i wanna get a cutout so bad. i think it would be so awesome haha. good for car shows

LiLReD1 · #6 10-22-2009, 03:43 PM

Could just to the ALTA DP and do a custom pipe from there straight back, then throw on a muffler of yer choice.

I have the ALTA exhaust sitting at home right now, yet I'm contemplating this same decision. From the vids I've seen, the ALTA exhaust seems awfully quiet for me. Not that I like loud systems, but I like hearing what my car's doing, and the JCW does that already... cut the resonator out already, and it sounds better. Now I'm just considering throwing on the DP, and a pair of mufflers, and calling it a day instead of installing the whole exhaust from ALTA.

joshK · #7 10-24-2009, 06:31 PM

It all comes down to the shop you choose. Some muffler places do horrible work and others make beautiful, high quality cat-backs.

I had a shop out here make a custom exhaust for my Mercedes that was of significantly higher quality than the Remus cat-back it replaced. While it actually dyno'd higher than the Remus, I can't really claim that because the difference was so slight it could probably be chalked up to other variables. Case in point though, a local shop made me a piece that performed comparably, and far exceeded the quality of a system made by a company that makes mufflers and cat-back systems. It was cheaper too.

Find a good shop, save some money. Don't go 3" either unless you're planning for the future.

malteseracer · #8 10-24-2009, 08:08 PM

I went Alta Ovaltip. With the 50% off deal I had to. It was something I'd really wanted to do and I love the looks and sound of it. It improved throttle response more than a bit as well.

LiLReD1 · #9 10-25-2009, 09:38 PM

Wasn't able to get mine on this weekend. Gotta few things on, but not the exhaust... had to many other projects as well. Hope to give an update possibly next weekend.

I'm really likin' the sound of my factory JCW exhaust with reso delete, and I think it's only getting better now that I threw on the m7 Super AGS. I hope this ALTA exhaust doesn't disappoint!

tintman718 · #10 10-25-2009, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiLReD1

I'm really likin' the sound of my factory JCW exhaust with reso delete, and I think it's only getting better now that I threw on the m7 Super AGS. I hope this ALTA exhaust doesn't disappoint!

Can you explain the difference in sound with the reso delete? I have a catless DP w/ the stock catback. It's much louder and I love it, but at low rpm and high load, I usually get raspiness. I'm thinking of replacing the second cat with a resonator to increase flow and hopefully reduce any raspiness. Anyone with have any thoughts about that?

LiLReD1 · #11 10-26-2009, 11:21 AM

It's just louder, but not obnoxious. The JCW exhaust is different from the S exhaust already. You can actually hear it.

For $30, I brought it to a shop that I had done the same thing to before to my Magnum, and they cut out the reso, and threw in a straight pipe, leaving just the cat just post-turbo, and the 2 mufflers on the tips.

The reso is about a yard or so long, and just took a chance to see if it'd make a difference. After taking it off, I saw that it was a straight through design, and was a bit disappointed thinking it wasn't gonna make an difference at all, maybe a bit at idle, but none at WOT, let alone performance.

But I was right about the performance, I really don't feel any gain from it that I notice, but after time, as I had hoped from past experience, it is a bit louder, especially at cold starts. Actually especially at cold start idles. It burbles like it's an aftermarket exhaust. The turbo does muffle the sound, but when it spools up, the exhaust noise comes through very nicely.

If I can get a video of it, I will. Especially a before and after with the ALTA exhaust. But mind you, I got the full ALTA exhaust, down pipe included.