Finally doing some sort of work to my 08 SX6 AURION

[corolla0305]

Hi all, i posted a topic a while back when i got my car, but will start this one up with some new details.

So i want to get my exhaust done and my mate took me to the local shop to pop it up so they can look underneath......

What they want to do sounds good but i dont really know what it means "my fault im a nurse, not knowledgeable in car stuff like i wanna be...."

So they said remove the catalytic, leave the resonator and go 2.5' stainless all the way down to the end, where they will put some sports mufflers in ....

i dont know if this sounds good, or if the end product will be worth it, but the quote was for $1000 all done...

Please feel free to give advice ..... Dont know if i want to book it in yet or not ....

Am also about to do the AUX mod :) my FM transmitter is a belkin which is meant to find the clearest station .... lol what a joke that is!!

Have included a couple pictures of my car just for looks :)

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

also since those pics ..... the bonet and headlight protectors are gone .... sticker on back window gone and number plate surroundings swapper for some holden envy 'AUSSIE PRIDE" ones....

Edited February 19, 2010 by corolla0305

[Ascendant Rice]

Removing the cat will make your car a defect.

Edit: i recomend looking at some my ride threads and see what others have done!

Edited February 19, 2010 by Ascendant Rice

[corolla0305]

He said there are 3 cat's up under there, 2 tucked away and one near the resonator .... so he will remove that one....

[SecaBoy]

LEAVE THE CAT IN PLACE!!!

it will make sweet fuq all difference!!! actually, the only difference it will make is that it will make your car highly illegal... (ie, fines of up to $10,000!)

a couple of us are using Xforce Varex mufflers (oval and cannon)... and im pretty sure we're all happy with them...

i love my setup... the only thing that i'm thinking of doing is to remove the rear mufflers and run straight pipe out the back... this will make it a lot louder, but thats the beauty of the varex... if i want to be quieter, i can just shut the valve on the muffler and she is quiet as... :)

this is the setup i wanna run: (its the same as now, except i have rear mufflers on it)

if you're going to use just normal mufflers, then i would strongly suggest lukey turbo (i think thats what they're called) mufflers... great sound, not too loud and you dont lose out on performance... ;)

[corolla0305]

mmm that looks really good in that pic ..... i might have to show him that and see what he thinks ....

I have no knowledge in this area so its hard for me to know much :)

Thanks for the advice ... keep it coming....

[SecaBoy]

to get the work done in the picture above, the absolute max i'd be paying is $8-900...

but be warned... as far as i'm aware, nobody has actually done that yet!!! so no guarantees on sound vs drone levels!!

[httttt]

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

I dont know about SA's fees but here are some thoughts:

CMYTOY

OMGTOY

SXALNT

ILKSX6 - my fav

[DAR1US]

Hi all, i posted a topic a while back when i got my car, but will start this one up with some new details.

So i want to get my exhaust done and my mate took me to the local shop to pop it up so they can look underneath......

What they want to do sounds good but i dont really know what it means "my fault im a nurse, not knowledgeable in car stuff like i wanna be...."

So they said remove the catalytic, leave the resonator and go 2.5' stainless all the way down to the end, where they will put some sports mufflers in ....

i dont know if this sounds good, or if the end product will be worth it, but the quote was for $1000 all done...

Please feel free to give advice ..... Dont know if i want to book it in yet or not ....

Am also about to do the AUX mod :) my FM transmitter is a belkin which is meant to find the clearest station .... lol what a joke that is!!

Have included a couple pictures of my car just for looks :)

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

also since those pics ..... the bonet and headlight protectors are gone .... sticker on back window gone and number plate surroundings swapper for some holden envy 'AUSSIE PRIDE" ones....

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Leave the CAT and take out the resonater? That's what I did when I first got my Aurion and a few others have done!

Some people have just changed the muffler to a Varex cannon without removing the resonater, doesn't make much of a difference! You gotta get rid of that Res... your car will thank you! :D

You should get a nice gain as well, around 13-14kw at the wheels

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

Edited February 19, 2010 by Darius

[mikka]

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

I dont know about SA's fees but here are some thoughts:

CMYTOY

OMGTOY

SXALNT

ILKSX6 - my fav

I see SXBOMB is available :D and its only $200 a year.

[Steven]

Hi all, i posted a topic a while back when i got my car, but will start this one up with some new details.

So i want to get my exhaust done and my mate took me to the local shop to pop it up so they can look underneath......

What they want to do sounds good but i dont really know what it means "my fault im a nurse, not knowledgeable in car stuff like i wanna be...."

So they said remove the catalytic, leave the resonator and go 2.5' stainless all the way down to the end, where they will put some sports mufflers in ....

i dont know if this sounds good, or if the end product will be worth it, but the quote was for $1000 all done...

Please feel free to give advice ..... Dont know if i want to book it in yet or not ....

Am also about to do the AUX mod :) my FM transmitter is a belkin which is meant to find the clearest station .... lol what a joke that is!!

Have included a couple pictures of my car just for looks :)

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

also since those pics ..... the bonet and headlight protectors are gone .... sticker on back window gone and number plate surroundings swapper for some holden envy 'AUSSIE PRIDE" ones....

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Leave the CAT and take out the resonater? That's what I did when I first got my Aurion and a few others have done!

Some people have just changed the muffler to a Varex cannon without removing the resonater, doesn't make much of a difference! You gotta get rid of that Res... your car will thank you! :D

You should get a nice gain as well, around 13-14kw at the wheels

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

That's a fair gain at the wheels, for a fairly simple exhaust modification. Have those gains ever been proven?

[DAR1US]

Hi all, i posted a topic a while back when i got my car, but will start this one up with some new details.

So i want to get my exhaust done and my mate took me to the local shop to pop it up so they can look underneath......

What they want to do sounds good but i dont really know what it means "my fault im a nurse, not knowledgeable in car stuff like i wanna be...."

So they said remove the catalytic, leave the resonator and go 2.5' stainless all the way down to the end, where they will put some sports mufflers in ....

i dont know if this sounds good, or if the end product will be worth it, but the quote was for $1000 all done...

Please feel free to give advice ..... Dont know if i want to book it in yet or not ....

Am also about to do the AUX mod :) my FM transmitter is a belkin which is meant to find the clearest station .... lol what a joke that is!!

Have included a couple pictures of my car just for looks :)

AND ANY HINTS ON SOME CUSTOM PLATES ????? I NEED SOME!!!

also since those pics ..... the bonet and headlight protectors are gone .... sticker on back window gone and number plate surroundings swapper for some holden envy 'AUSSIE PRIDE" ones....

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Leave the CAT and take out the resonater? That's what I did when I first got my Aurion and a few others have done!

Some people have just changed the muffler to a Varex cannon without removing the resonater, doesn't make much of a difference! You gotta get rid of that Res... your car will thank you! :D

You should get a nice gain as well, around 13-14kw at the wheels

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

That's a fair gain at the wheels, for a fairly simple exhaust modification. Have those gains ever been proven?

yah, I dyno'd 157.8 kw at a tocau dyno day, another aurion got 144kw on the same day if I remember correctly...

[SecaBoy]

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

yep, if i had a normal aurion, i would have done that as well...

but the TRD has the exhausts coming out of the rear bumper... so it would have been a very tight squeeze... :(

[VF-X]

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

yep, if i had a normal aurion, i would have done that as well...

but the TRD has the exhausts coming out of the rear bumper... so it would have been a very tight squeeze... :(

Get a square tip then.. Fit it to the bumper instead of putting 'fake' tip within the bumper.

[DAR1US]

(edit) btw, if you can afford it, Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

yep, if i had a normal aurion, i would have done that as well...

but the TRD has the exhausts coming out of the rear bumper... so it would have been a very tight squeeze... :(

Yeah, I was actually going to ask you on another post how you managed to fit the cannons on the TRD, now I get it!

Actually when I was first planning to do the exhaust work, I was considering doing by the set up you have, would have been cheaper too (by approx $300) ... but I couldn't stand the look of pipes or even smaller tips sticking out of my *****...

Now I understand why you don't need the actual cannons on the end, you have the cool looking body kit with the triangle exhausts...

[stedyedy]

Just putting it out there

But what do u guys reckon a chrome bonnet protector would look like?

[DAR1US]

Just putting it out there

But what do u guys reckon a chrome bonnet protector would look like?

Dunno... I guess it would look like you've put armor on your car?

[corolla0305]

@ DARIUS - Yeah he definatelly said to remove the cat as there are 2 more up a bit higher and to keep the Res in place .... He said without the Res in place it would sound like an EXCEL on meth.... lol im still undecided. Canons at the back arent something i want at this point of time.

@ SECABOY - It is tempting to just have that done but i want something that no one has done yet just for a sound comparison as to what sounds the best ...

i have a budget of $1600 max but would rather keep it to 1K max .......

As per the custom plate suggestions .... sound good but not tempting enough .... SA FEES only charge yearly if all 6 letters and no numnbers or are 7 letters ....

Im thinking some King Springs would also give a nice mm drop to put the car sitting nicely near the wheels too ....

[DJKOR]

In my opinion, removing the resonator completely and putting a low restriction straight through muffler on the rear is going to result in a raspiness in the higher revs. Then the topic of cabin drone comes into play, so personally I would recommend to still use a resonator, but use another type other than stock if you want to get more noise out of it.

Removing your resonator and putting straight through mufflers on the rear is not going to give you such a high gain as Darius was pointing out (13-14kW). I'm not trying to put your figure down, but without a before and after comparison of the same vehicle, this is not an indicated gain. There can be minor differences in engines that come off a production line, and some can in fact put out that little bit more power than other. Not to mention the dyno that is doing the reading can also have variations. There have been many people with the V6 Camry in the States trying different combinations of exhaust setups including removing the resonator, and there has been no progress with getting more noticeable power from a simple cat-back alone. Changing the y-pipe at the front though seems to be where gains could be made though.... but no one has done a proper before and after dyno.

So far, the 1/4 mile still seems to be a good indication of power. On a side note, with just my rear mufflers replaced and Rowan having his rear mufflers changed and stock resonator removed, we still obtained similar 1/4 mile trap speeds indicating similar power-to-weight since our cars would have pretty much have been the same weight at the time.

And as you have gathered, leave the cat on since it is quite a good flowing cat in the first place, and for the amount that you can be defected for, it's not worth it.

[corolla0305]

Thankyou for your advice Daryl :) - I have booked it in for this Wednesday coming up so i will express to the guy what i want done on monday morning when he calls back.... They do all the pipe bending direct there hence a cheaper price and coz my mate has had his RX7 done there - he is keeping the price low ....

Im tempted to go for the removal of the resonator and leave the 2.5" all the way through but yet again .... i dont know much about what im taliking about...

Just dont want to be stuck with a DRONE and have to spend more on fixing it.

[VF-X]

Take Seca's photo but swap everything around! So instead of replacing the Resonater with a Varex Cannon, replace it with a straight pipe and instead of replacing the mufflers with pipes replace them with two Varex Cannons, one on each side... looks so much cooler imo. And you're exhausts will look exactly how they sound, BEAST!

How about put another cannon instead of straight pipe and 2 mufflers at the end? xD

Just putting it out there

But what do u guys reckon a chrome bonnet protector would look like?

I'll say no to this.. Doesn't suit imo..

@ DARIUS - Yeah he definatelly said to remove the cat as there are 2 more up a bit higher and to keep the Res in place .... He said without the Res in place it would sound like an EXCEL on meth.... lol im still undecided. Canons at the back arent something i want at this point of time.

@ SECABOY - It is tempting to just have that done but i want something that no one has done yet just for a sound comparison as to what sounds the best ...

i have a budget of $1600 max but would rather keep it to 1K max .......

As per the custom plate suggestions .... sound good but not tempting enough .... SA FEES only charge yearly if all 6 letters and no numnbers or are 7 letters ....

Im thinking some King Springs would also give a nice mm drop to put the car sitting nicely near the wheels too ....

Keeping within the non-defect zone narrows the choices. If u want different notes, you can always custom. Or get somethin like HKS [i dunno if they'll fit], it fits to camry thou. There's 1 guy in the forum (i forgot who) whose exhaust sounds entirely different, not like a v6.

Don't put springs! Put Coil-overs.. :D

Edited February 19, 2010 by VF-X

[DJKOR]

... Canons at the back arent something i want at this point of time.

Go the oval Varex

[DAR1US]

In my opinion, removing the resonator completely and putting a low restriction straight through muffler on the rear is going to result in a raspiness in the higher revs. Then the topic of cabin drone comes into play, so personally I would recommend to still use a resonator, but use another type other than stock if you want to get more noise out of it.

Removing your resonator and putting straight through mufflers on the rear is not going to give you such a high gain as Darius was pointing out (13-14kW). I'm not trying to put your figure down, but without a before and after comparison of the same vehicle, this is not an indicated gain. There can be minor differences in engines that come off a production line, and some can in fact put out that little bit more power than other. Not to mention the dyno that is doing the reading can also have variations. There have been many people with the V6 Camry in the States trying different combinations of exhaust setups including removing the resonator, and there has been no progress with getting more noticeable power from a simple cat-back alone. Changing the y-pipe at the front though seems to be where gains could be made though.... but no one has done a proper before and after dyno.

So far, the 1/4 mile still seems to be a good indication of power. On a side note, with just my rear mufflers replaced and Rowan having his rear mufflers changed and stock resonator removed, we still obtained similar 1/4 mile trap speeds indicating similar power-to-weight since our cars would have pretty much have been the same weight at the time.

And as you have gathered, leave the cat on since it is quite a good flowing cat in the first place, and for the amount that you can be defected for, it's not worth it.

Yeah I think you may be right! DJK! There were a few varying factors on the day, eg. I had mine dyno'd fairly early in the morning, it was much cooler than when the other Aurion got his done! I believe I was using V-max while he was using the BP high octane (optimax i think)... but you and I have around the same power (on paper) 157kw right?

His was 144, so either he dyno'd lower than he should have, or we do actually have a gain! Like you said, no one has done a before and after, if we get another stock Aurion to dyno and gets around 144, we'll know that there's a gain as everyone who has had exhaust work done seems to be getting around that!

Your the aurion guru! =p

[DJKOR]

Best way to look at it is that you have a figure which is better than an estimation. Even if it isn't 100% correct, it's still a figure to work from. And as I said, with the amount of variation possible from the car end of things, your motor may be worked harder and the ECU may have learnt from that. I think the ECU's in these things play a bit of a role here since they added all this Adaptive A.I and whatnot to it.

But I'm a believer in the 1/4 mile dyno. Having a big dyno figure is all well and good, but is that really power that the car is putting down.

[DAR1US]

... Canons at the back arent something i want at this point of time.

Go the oval Varex

what the?? I couldn't fit these in!! Had to go the cannons... hrmmmm

[DJKOR]

what the?? I couldn't fit these in!! Had to go the cannons... hrmmmm

I got told by an exhaust shop that they could not fit it because they have tried already, etc etc. I was quite annoyed when they told me that. So I wen't home and took one muffler off to see how it would fit. As I originally thought, there was more than enough room under there, so I went to another exhaust shop and they fitted it for me without a problem. Only scraped lightly on two occasions due to pulling out of a driveway too fast.