Oh yeah, I remember hearing that. I think if I ever actually build up a 3.0 (I seriously want to next year) I might also see about rebuilding a TC and looking into the bearing pre-load, and I've also been thinking about external bracing on the case itself. I've seen that done on a some truck and high HP evos and whatnot. Couldn't hurt. I have a feeling I'm going to be the guinea pig for a few things with this car. Like you said, there has to be a first.

 

Hi all,

I've just completed this upgrade on my car with a set of Mina Gallery exhausts with oval tips which look the part (a little bit too big for my liking though). I love the mirror polish finish on them including the mufflers and not just the tips. I've even considered whether or not I should keep them polished up everytime I wash the car haha.

Anyway I've only had a few drives with the new exhaust and maybe I have over sensitive hearing because I'm not old and grumpy yet, but the note coming from the exhaust is just a little bit too loud for me. I haven't tested the car on highway speeds but I really hope there is no drone in the cabin. I've even had to resort to putting a movers blanket in my car to absorb some of that long frequency grumble.

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same issues with noise?

 

YES! Thank you, finally someone understands this! I was made fun of on here for wanting to polish them up all nice again like when I got them hahah! But seriously, they are that pretty. I need to wash my car soon

Anyway I don't think this helps you at all but here is a decent clip of my exhaust, mina mufflers and deleted stock resonator. I feel it is too quiet for my taste haha, but I'm sure I'm in the minority.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...89514586135549
lancervi50 you could try adding a small resonator, in addition to the stock one to soften the mina's a bit. Just a thought.

 

I did, especially with the first sports mufflers I had fitted. The Mina Gallery ones are noticeably quieter, however...
Here's a collage, in chronological order, of what I've had. First is original, second is Adamesh, the next 3 are Mina Gallery with different tips. The first Mina Gallery tips were quite alright for me. However, the second tips made the exhaust note noticeably louder. I did some googling and reading, and found out that not only does the shape of the tip matter (makes perfect sense though, think of a trumpet), what makes the most difference in in-cabin noise is how far the tip protrudes beyond the rear bumper.

Originally, those 2nd Mina Gallery tips were flush with the rear valance, and I found them unbearable. When I took them out as much as you see in the pic, it improved things quite a bit, though still not enough for me. The last pair I got from eBay, with intent to see how much a non-megaphone-shaped exhaust tip that sticks out quite a bit affects things. At first that one was very nice, but over time I've gotten more accustomed to it and the quieter noise has started bothering me slightly as well when cruising. I do like the looks though, they are quite small and restrained.

One guy on the UK forum said his new custom exhaust was too loud for him (especially the low-frequency noise, which can probably be described as "boomy"), and the shop added baffles inside the exhaust trim. Just a single baffle per trim, blocking about half of the airflow area in one spot, was enough to make a drastic difference. I'm currently looking into trying different baffles as well as possible the washer mod.

 

I went simple and spent $250 to cut off the stock mufflers (over engineered, large and heavy Jag mufflers) for light weight MagnaFLows and slightly bigger chrome tips.

 

Aonsaithya, Justink and Patterson thanks for your suggestions. I also did a bit of research and the consensus with the tip extending out of the bumper seems to be quite true. I'll have to put mine out a bit more and see if there is any difference. If I still can't stand the noise then I might go for the circle mina gallery exhaust tips.

Thanks for the help!

 

Sorry homes, same stroke on the 2.5 and 3.0, bore is larger on the 3.0. Not sure about camshafts.

 

Interesting TomTom. I thought the stroke was a little shorter on the 2.5, and so enable a bit more reliable, or, safer operation at very high RPMs. I read it in a thread here as one small advantage the 2.5 may have over the 3.0.

I wonder about the cams, but these motors are very close. It was hardly worth having 2 versions so close together in performance.

Btw, JustInk, I'm sorry for making fun of you polishing up your mufflers. You are a good Sport, no pun intended.

Speaking of what you plan with the TC and reinforcing it, I read an article about the new Jeep that has a "Launch" button on it's Grand Cherokee SRT8. The button controls the 470-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Jeep SRT8's Launch Mode. Apparently this thing jumps off the line like a rocket. It must have a reliable transfer case.

Yahoo!

Happy New Year all!

 

That would be nice if someone could figure out a performance transfer case upgrade or fix for the x-type. I think it would be an awesome car to turbocharge or something but the main stumbling block seems to be that pesky transfer case.

 

The only ideas I have had about the TC is to add external bracing (like a lot of 4x4 guys do with high hp trucks, evos do this too), cryo-treating the internal gears whatnot, and proper preload on the bearings, stronger bearings would be good too. If I were to do all that I'd want to use one of the early VC transfer cases since they are better for an awd car with no traction control. With a strong transfer case, limited slip differentials, and a turbo 3.0 you have a pretty fun and fast car. And these engines (the duratec V6) love turbo boost. The SVT contour guys that boost the ford version of the 3.0 easily make 400+hp. But then you have to find a way to tune the ecu, and I haven't found a way to do that yet. I've heard about someone wiring in a mazda ecu but that it was a LOT of work.

 

PUlling up the spec sheets on the 2 motors, the 2.5L motor has a compression ratio of 10.3:1 (+/- 0.5:1) with a bore of 3.214" (81.65mm) and a stroke of 3.130" (79.5mm). Where the 3.0L motor has a compression ratio of 10.5:1 (+/- 0.5:1) with a bore of 3.504" (89.0mm) and a stroke of 3.130" (79.5mm).

So, the 2.5L motor is going to be a bit more turbo friendly and can go to a higher rev due to the piston being lighter (smaller) and not placing as much stress on the connecting rod even though the stroke is the same length.

As for beefing up the transfer case, I think before we start going after monster power, we need to find someone that has replaced the bearings in their transfer case and put the proper pre-load on the bearings to see how they are surviving with that. The fix may be more simple that we are trying to make it. Most of the stories that I have heard where the internals were damaged was because the bearings completely destroyed themselves and the internals were then allowed to go whereever they wanted. Where if the bearings just started to go (due to wear), the internals looked pretty much new. So, I think the parts are structurally sound, just the bearings fail leading to pieces going all over the place and being damaged that way. I know for awhile there was a lot of talk about the cases flexing a lot and failing that way, but I can't say that I have heard of anyone in the recent past complaining about their cases splitting open.

 

If I can get my hands on a VC transfer case cheap in the near future I want to try to just rebuild it and use stronger better bearings and have a knowledgeable off road shop preload them properly and see how it stands up to some abuse since I'll have my current tc as a backup. If it holds up then I'll look into more power.

 

That would be cool. I didn't think about tuning the ecu though when I was thinking about a turbo. I guess you would have to go real extreme and try adding a aftermarket programmable ecu for a Mazda or a Ford. You should look into the bearing upgrade and test how much abuse it can take. If it worked I'm sure there would be a big market of x-type drivers who would be interested.

 

I found a cool muffler but it has a center inlet instead of offset. I was wondering if it would work? The muffler body is 13" long and the tips are 7" with a 2.5" center inlet. Space looks kind of cramed and It would have to make almost a 90 bend before going into the muffler. Not sure how this would affect sound/performance, but the muffler is a straight through type 13" body with a 7" long big tip.
The Mangaflows fit but they have the side inlet...

 

How about these? They have 3.5" tips that are 5.5" long. I think the muffler is about a foot long and 4.5" in diameter. I think it would sort of give it an adamesh look to it. I just don't want to rice it out, but I think these will be a little stealthier because the tips are a little smaller and the canister is slimmer than the usual Honda racer muffler. They have either regular stainless steel tips or burnt tips for the titanium look.

 

Just had the Adamesh exhaust installed recently & I must say they sound Great !! Not to loud & sound even better after about a month... Here is a clip 02 xtype 3.0.

 

It could be just my ear or maybe when the mufflers are warmer, but I think the true sound of an exhaust doesn't sound good until its under load such as diving down the road through the gears.

Reason I say that is when my car is idle and and rev the engine my mufflers are rather quiet, but while under load such as driving through the gears they tend to sing a bit more...maybe this is just my ears

 

No exhaust for a while, not working much these days. After spending countless hours and days looking through every possible muffler and tip, I think I am just going to go with the magnaflow style mufflers with slightly bigger tips. Nothing to extreme or ridiculous. Mainly for the performance and sound, although I still like the stock exhaust, so it seems like kind of a waste to throw away my old mufflers. I love the sound of the engine though so I would enjoy high performance mufflers. Whole project is kind of on hold for right now though.

 

Performance won't change, but the sound will. I have the Borlas on mine and am very happy with the sound. Didn't notice any performance increase.

 

Yeah you wont get any noticeable power gains, maybe a few hp...maybe. The mufflers aren't the most restrictive part on the exhaust system. Do it for sound, or don't spend the money.