so i have a 2007 mcs and I've been doing some reading on the forum here and I'm interested in getting an exhaust.. but lets just say i don't have a grand to shell out.. I've read that some people did a muffler and custom pipes.. i assume from a muffler shop.. anyway i wanted to get some insight on where the best place is to get just a muffler.. and if anyone has some sound clips of their "custom" exhaust..

Thanks

 

I'd go custom exhaust all the way because it's cheaper and well...custom!
There not much to it either for the mini since the downpipe is In the front center of the car... If you wanted to stay legal and leave the stock catted downpipe then just do 3 inch from the flex pipe all the way back with a straight through mAgnaflow muffler and your choice of tip. That setup will not only gain you the most power which isn't much, it will sound good and probably cost you no more then 300-400$. If you don't care about a CEL and want the most out of the exhaust, add an OBX catless downpipe for 150$ but make sure you get a longer muffler to compensate for not having a cat so it doesn't sound raspy.

 

yeah this is something i was was looking for.. but can you just use any magna flow muffler.. i haven't been able to find anything that says its for the mini that is just a muffler

 

your not going to find anything that is just for the mini. Just look for universal oval muffler with sing in and dual out

 

I figured that.. so does anyone prefer one muffler over another.. and also does anyone have any insight on if 2.5 is better or worse than 3"

 

streetrays.com

$500 for Invidia Q300 exhaust with free shipping.

 

i actually saw that.. but i have a little in a at muffler shop that is only going to charge me about 100 bucks for some stainless pipe and install.. so depending on how much the muffler cost its still going to be cheaper to do a "custom"

 

i saw that exhaust and have listened to it on youtube.. sounds pretty good.. but it depends on how much i can find a muffler for.. i got a quote of a 100 bucks for stainless pipe and install..

 

Please

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-a...&pf=p&pdl=3000

 

Custom is good if you are on a budget. The problem is they are unpredictable on sound. If you don't get the right resanator your MINI is going to sound like crap. Good like deciding what you do.

 

I spent a few hours reading through the thread posted above about magnaflow mufflers and custom piping.. everyone who did it was very happy with the result so I think I'm going to go that route

 

i dont completely agree with that, i have a cheaper stainless muffler, with no cat and no resanator and mine doesnt sound like crap, doesnt rasp or anything, and im very very picky as to what my car should sound like

 

Ya you are but not everyone is like you.

 

And not everyone is like you. Just as not everyone is like me. No resonator doesn't mean raspy automatically. I was among the first handful of people go to custom magnaflow, and for a while ran from the DP back a straight 2.5" pipe to a magnaflow muffler in the rear. Never sounded raspy. Of course raspy is a subjective, but searching on NAM or youtube will produce videos of my exhaust for one to decide. I've since added a 22" (18" body x4" round) magnaflow resonator in the center of the car. Made a difference in drone at first, but once all materials settled within the resonator, its essentially a straight pipe through again.

I'm sure OP has read it DRONES. Its a cheap option. I love how it sounds, its very deep and plenty "loud", but within the 3 years i've had it, I am looking into replacing the stock midpipe from the DP to the where the magnaflow muffler is now, and running that for daily, with an electronic cutout at the DP to dump into a resonator. Original plans of this was to run a straight pipe with the resonator to a side exit, which is still in the works. Running water meth lines now may hinder the placement of this piping, possibly but likely not.

Having run the car temporarily with the DP dumping out to atmosphere (while installing short shifter had it off so turned on the car and gave it a few revs), THAT sounds raspy and was not a good sound at all. Strapping a resonator to that on a cutout may make a enough of a difference to cut the raspiness out.