one of the most annoying
problems that can plaque DSM
cars. I had a pretty bad case of
it, I knew what was causing it so
the Phantom was not that
mysterious. A bad exhaust leak
or two. My flex section was
cooked. Solution: a new 2.5" to
3" Road Race Engineering down
pipe to custom 3" Catback! I
went with the RRE pipe because I
liked the 2.5" first section it helps
to make clearance around the
front of the block a little better
with the oil filter and oil pan.
to have a local muffler shop fabricate it for me. They have always done good cheap
work in the past for me using mandrel bends. I told them that I wanted a 3" catback on
my AWD Talon they said "It can't be done!! Thats too large we have tried it before and
cannot make it fit!" I explained that I had pictures for an example and seen several
cars with the systems myself. They basically were not interested. Found a place that
would do it but the quote was $370 (I could buy a good quality aftermarket one polished
and TIG welded out of stainless for around that price!) Well I know how to weld.
Summit Racing is about 25 minutes from my house, they carry pre-bent mandrels for
about $20 a piece why not give it a shot. I asked to borrow the shop from my old boss
threw the Talon up on the lift and went to work. Basically I used:
-1 section of 3" Summit Racing straight Alumized tube (they come in 4 foot sections)
-1 180 degree 3" Mandrel bend 6" radius from Summit
- a Dynomax 18" body resonator (glass pack) perforated core is best (louvered core is
restrictive!)
- A Magna -Flow straight through 3" muffler center/ offset 18" body
up. Tack welded the resonator directly to that
at a slight angle. Next I welded a piece of
straight to that. Then i cut the 180 degree
bend down the middle of the "U" so I had two
"J"s Just look at the picture from here. I made
the hangers out of 1/2" diameter steel bar
stock. After initial fitting I welded it solid and
test drove it. Finally I pulled the system down
and painted it with VHT exhaust paint (shown
in bare metal no pictures of VHT paint)
balanced of a car as I can. Being my daily driver a really annoying exhaust tone would have been a
problem. This system is aggressive sounding, but by no means is it annoying at least to me. On the
highway it can get a little buzzy but thats kind of the nature of high revving 4 cylinders from my
experience. It does not attract much attention at all. One problem that most will have after installing
this exhaust is the same problem I had! BOOST CREEP! Now if you have plenty of fuel this is not a
problem, but I am running the stock system so at high RPMS the boost can bet a little carried away at
17-18PSI on 14B. The solution to this is to port the turbine inlet so that it is a more direct path to the
wastegate. I have not done it yet. I just stay out of the upper RPM range and full throttle for now.. (it
has been snowing every other day since I put this system on so full throttle at 5500 RPM really is not
needed) On that note the system and VHT paint seems to be holding up well to the tons of salt that get
dumped on Ohio roads during the winter.. Only time will tell more. I will post Gtech results from the
upgrade soon.. But basically a combination of eliminating Phantom knock, adding a 3" exhaust, and
boost creep with colder weather has combined to give me about 35 more horsepower and 15 more
Ft-lbs. Not bad!
If you have a DSM with a performance exhaust on it and you have a sound clip either video or sound
file send it to me at ahaidet@gmail.com I will be compiling a page of DSM exhaust clip sounds to help
people looking to buy/ build an exhaust for there cars. Send pictures and a brief description of the
system and other mods you have on the car, any time slip or dynosheets info would be good as well.
Thanks.
