Well I got the money together for a cat-back exhaust for my 05. Was looking for suggestions on what brand might give me what I'm looking for.

-nice idle sound
-throaty when revving and at WOT
-when cruising I would like to be able to actually hear it from inside the car

Guess I'm looking for something loud but not ricy loud...thanks!

 

Do some research and hit up YouTube, plenty of info.

 

I just had a local shop put together a custom Magnaflow system on my R53 last week. It looks and sounds great, has a 10 year warranty and came out around $450 for the system.

 

Wow that's pretty cheap, what was magnaflow on it just the mufflers? And YouTube is very deceiving the sound clips make all the exhaust sound louder or quieter then they really are that's why I put the post to try and get info from ppl that have cat-backs on their cars.

 

I've had the Invidia N1 catback for the past year and really like it. A bit louder than stock but not obnoxious. I can still hear the supercharger whine or stereo (when I bother to turn it on LOL). Nice tone at idle and when I crack the whip, but no highway drone. I think it meets your three requirements.

The Invidia has quality build & fitment and was less expensive than Milltek or Stratmosphere too. I'm really happy and would buy the same again.

 

Yeah I had invidia on my s2000 and was actually surprised that it wasn't to ricy, didn't think of it for the mini but I'll deff check some sound clips out. Thanks!

 

my .02 is a 2.5" tubing exhaust, .065 wall. with 1x vibrant (ultraquiet) resonator and 1x magnaflow muffler (straight through perf tube style)

Low restriction, throaty deep sound, aggressive, not unpleasant on the highway, and a little bit of a race car sound under load.


(cutout open would be the above description, closed added in two more vibrant resonators)

 

I have a SuperSprint full system and it would meet your requirements. It has a nice tone at iddle, but not loud but when you put your foot down, now you will get the POWER SOUND
On the higway you hear it but it's not unconfortable

 

Awesome feed back thank you everyone. With the supersprint do you think you get a lot of sound from the header cuz I'm only going to do cat back at this time.

 

I'm assuming you had all this custom made or did it yourself? I like the sound, deff seems similar to what I'm looking for.

 

Made it myself.
Engineer by trade, but I tig weld and fabricate for fun



My weld is the "colored" one, the one from vibrant is in the background

 

Ohh yeah forgot to mention, I dont have the supersprint headers, juste the full catback system with non-resonated pipe. So yes the sound is perfect with stock headers

 

Wow Soccer that is a fine weld job you did there lol, make me an exhaust?! And trizz perfect thanks I was wondering that.

 

If you are located in the south east and want to pay for materials up front and leave the car for about a week while I squeeze the time in to do it, sure!

(I am in upstate, SC)

 

Ahh damit I'm in NY but my parents do have a house in Myrtle Beach lol just dunno if I can part with the car for a week. Greatly appreciated tho

 

Soccer I live in Sumter! Would love to get a set up like yours!

 

Powertone from the boys of LAGUNA Beach, Cali....

My buddy has it in his R53 MCS. Real quiet and performance.

A very close competitor to Milltek soundwise in my opinion. Not vulgar....

Yes, check it on YouTube... a couple of good clips.

 

i love my magnaflow, custom is cheaper than buying the whole catback

 

Very true, iv been looking at the magnaflow seems like it's got good sound. Does anyone know how the Alta exhaust sounds?

 

I have an Alta. I have read it is one of the louder exhausts out there. I like how it sounds. There is a bit of drone on the highway. You can read more from my pages (2 of them).
http://home.comcast.net/~rwkeating/a...taexhaust.html

If I were to get another one I would look into Borla. A great video on Borla (not made by me) is here

 

Best bang for your buck, go Invidia, Scorpion, or Megan. All others you're paying more for the same performance, similar quality/fit, and a slightly different tone which is not necessarily better, just different, and may or may not be to your liking depending on what sound you are after. Unless you are totally in love with the sound of a particular exhaust, there's no reason to spend more money that you have to.

My 2 cents.

 

I agree with Andy, some of the systems have un-justified price tags. If you want something loud, the Megan's loud without being annoying, it does drone though. I have the scorpion, it's quiet when you want it to be and has a good sound when your on it. Very little drone at highway speed, both of these are under $600. What's your budget?

 

I have had Stock MCS, JCW, JCW without Resonator, Borla Sport, and Milltek on my R53s.
Stock and JCW are too quite.
JCW without resonator was a little too snap, crackle, pop for my liking.
Borla has an awesome sound under normal driving around and WOT. Borla Sport can drone a little on the highway under certain loads but not when cruising. Sometimes when I would hit a hill in 6th gear and apply a little gas it would drone a little too much if trying to talk to a passenger but a down shift to 5th would increase RPMs and reduce the drone.
Milltek (Stratmosphere) is louder than JCW with a nice sound but a little on the quite side.
For my 2003 MCS I liked the Borla Sport (currently $775 at Jegs.com).
For my 2006 MCS GP without rear seat or rear insulation the Milltek was better because the Borla drone was a little too much on the highway.

 

I looked into borla and I know from mustangs anyway it's crazy loud, maybe a little to loud but there are also different types they offer. (Sport, touring, aggressive) I looked into the scorpion and Megan and always get scared with price tags that are much cheaper than others. I want loud and not much drone. I'll spend 1000$ on a cat back but I don't want to spend that just to have a name brand. All the info I'm getting on here is awesome and greatly appreciated. Gunna look at some sound clips on a couple more.

 

Well the reason I chose the scorpion over the Megan was the lifetime warranty. The Megan I believe only has a year warranty.