Aurion performance mod.

[campbeam]

On 10/17/2019 at 10:22 AM, Aaron the Mechanic said:

Got this mod done and all that achieves it changes torque curve where you get more on lower revs. Not something that 99.9% of front wheel drive owners would find an improvement. Toyota have designed the exhaust and mapped ECU to give minimum torque steer and very linear power delivery throughout the whole rev range, so modifying is a waste of time and money. In the next week or two I will weld the old OEM Y section back because with it drivebility was far more satisfying. Don't temper with perfection, but each to their own.

I think that this previous post is spot on, particularly torque steer and drive ability. I am more into highway cruising and having the power delivery for quick overtaking. As mentioned, each to their own.

[Tony Prodigy]

It's kind of like having two cars. One has 800 HP and the other has 400HP. The 800HP car would be rubbish on the roads because you'd never be able to utilise all that horsepower, be all over the road, whereas the 400 HP car you could.

[donnot]

4 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

It's kind of like having two cars. One has 800 HP and the other has 400HP. The 800HP car would be rubbish on the roads because you'd never be able to utilise all that horsepower, be all over the road, whereas the 400 HP car you could.

I wish it had 400hp 😆 (actually, no, that'd feel quite dangerous). Only considering it because I'm able to use the current power and feel safe with it (a bit more down low would be nice). Will definitely be keeping the old section in case it turns out to be a disaster. Gotta get the intake done first. 

[Sleeperau]

I like the sound of this and am going to the exhaust shop this week to speak to them. I think the Aurion would benefit from more torque low down as I drive mainly city driving. I already have 18'x 8's running 245/40/18 so I don't think traction will be a problem. Has anyone changed the cats as well? 

[campbeam]

Being contrarian, instead of doing the Y pipe modification, I upgrade the central catalytic converter. Catalytic converter was not blocked and was in good condition following inspection after removal. Ended up being more of a change for change sake as it did not produce any obvious attributable benefits.

 

[donnot]

Was quoted ~$800 for the Y-pipe (shop I went to wanted to do everything custom up until past the first cat rather than just the Y section)...might look around a bit 😄 Was also quoted ~$500 to install a couple of mufflers (supplied by me). 

[L4WL3SS]

Screw that. Not worth it. 

[donnot]

Went to another place who estimated $450-500 for mufflers and Y-pipe (but getting an inspection on Thursday to confirm)! 

[Tony Prodigy]

11 hours ago, Metal_Head said:

Screw that. Not worth it. 

For a bit of extra noise, I would definitely agree. For a performance gain, even more so.

[L4WL3SS]

I got screwed roughly the same to install the mufflers I supplied, I think it was 650 bucks 🤪 but that included supplying and fitting of 2 tips. I absolutely would not pay hundreds to get the y pipe fixed as I believe u wouldn't notice any noticeable change. At least u can see & hear where ur money went replacing the rear section 😂

Edited December 15, 2020 by Metal_Head

[Tony Prodigy]

7 minutes ago, Metal_Head said:

I got screwed roughly the same to install the mufflers I supplied, I think it was 650 bucks 🤪 but that included supplying and fitting of 2 tips. I absolutely would not pay hundreds to get the y pipe fixed as I believe u wouldn't notice any noticeable change. At least u can see & hear where ur money went replacing the rear section 😂

Thee seems to be plenty of price gouging going on these days. If you get quoted a ridiculous price for anything, just walk away. This should hopefully send a signal to the greed mongers among us.

 

[campbeam]

17 hours ago, donnot said:

Went to another place who estimated $450-500 for mufflers and Y-pipe (but getting an inspection on Thursday to confirm)! 

That quote sounds more realistic. Also your opportunity to confirm exactly what is included in the quote and what mufflers are proposed to be fitted.

[L4WL3SS]

On 12/15/2020 at 11:05 PM, donnot said:

Went to another place who estimated $450-500 for mufflers and Y-pipe (but getting an inspection on Thursday to confirm)! 

How'd it go? 

[donnot]

10 hours ago, Metal_Head said:

How'd it go? 

Estimated around $600 (max). Won't be able to get it booked in until the new year though, so probably a few more weeks to wait... Will be the last bit of money I spend on this car so I can start properly saving for the next 😁

[donnot]

Finally getting the work done on Monday but just thought I'd ask once more if anyone's had the y-pipe modification done 😄. Been reading around with the 2GR and this mod overseas (in the MR2, Camry, Avalon etc) and the only dyno graph I could find displayed a loss in low-down torque (which is the opposite of what I'm looking for, especially when driving around in the hills). https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/dyno-shenanigans.590817/ Overall feedback over there is definitely positive though.

May end up getting the third cat replaced with a high-flow down the track since I'm planning to keep the car for a while longer...

[campbeam]

4 hours ago, donnot said:

Finally getting the work done on Monday but just thought I'd ask once more if anyone's had the y-pipe modification done

Look at the post dated 17th October 2019 in this thread. 

4 hours ago, donnot said:

May end up getting the third cat replaced with a high-flow down the track since I'm planning to keep the car for a while longer...

Instead of doing the Y pipe modification, I upgraded the 3rd catalytic convertor to a 2.5" high flow one. I have posted my experiences and have not noticed any significant differences except the exhaust sounds a bit deeper/throatier at idle.

[L4WL3SS]

Just throw an elcheapo 100cpsi cat in there...... You know the ones that look like a cat for legal purposes, but don't do jack 😛

If u find the sound too drony, u know u can just throw the original back in

Edited January 13, 2021 by Metal_Head

[donnot]

Well...y pipe and mufflers are done! Have done a couple of pulls and in all honesty, can’t notice much of a difference in the power/torque curve (possibly pulls slightly harder in 2nd gear?) - may need to give the ECU some time to accommodate. Can’t seem to generate any axle tramp so there’s certainly something wrong 😄

As for the mufflers - was hoping they’d add a bit more to the high end, but they’re slightly too boomy for my taste. Can’t hear any difference at all over the intake once the car’s past 3000rpm (even with windows down), but no drone on the freeway at least! A bit drone-y in city traffic... Will try and get used to them but may end up palming them off to my brother and swapping the stocks back in (yay for flanges!)

Will post another update once I’ve had it running for a week or two with much more accurate findings!

EDIT: added image. 

EDIT 2: Unpluggged the battery, reconnected and gave the car a couple of longer trips. Starting to get used to/enjoy the sound but still can't really perceive any power gains up top or down low (in all honesty, feels like a bit of a power loss 🤔)

Edited January 18, 2021 by donnot

[L4WL3SS]

Y pipe looks good. While the rears should free up the exhaust a bit, it's only gonna flow as good as the bottleneck exhaust behind it. 

A single 3" starting from the last cat all the way to where it splits for the rears is ideal for for this engine. 

 

When u say drone, do you mean just the sound, or are u talking about in cabin vibration? 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Metal_Head

[donnot]

4 hours ago, Metal_Head said:

When u say drone, do you mean just the sound, or are u talking about in cabin vibration? 

Just the sound from the cabin - like playing a very smooth and loud 60Hz subwoofer test tone 😄. I’m getting used to it though. 

[L4WL3SS]

Ah ok. I drove around for 3 weeks without any rears, now that was a head splitter 🤪

[L4WL3SS]

[donnot]

Well...an update! The drone around the city has become too much, so I'll be getting rid of these mufflers etc (and picking up the final section of the exhaust from a wrecking car). I'm sure some people wouldn't mind the sound, but it isn't for me unfortunately. The intake is nice in the way I can only hear it if I put my foot down - with family in the car, I can drive in a way that they couldn't tell the difference 😄.

As for the y-section, it does appear that the car is more reluctant to change down gears (as others have observed), but I'm yet to see a noticeable change in power. I feel that the intake may be holding it back (had to use a small cone filter to fit it in the wheel well). Will experiment with a short-ram type install and the larger supplied filter (as opposed to the CAI style at the moment) and record some data on the IAT, MAF flow rates, fuel trims etc before and after. May even temporarily run the stock air box. 

No regrets for anything I've done - has all been a great learning experience!

Edited January 24, 2021 by donnot

[campbeam]

8 hours ago, donnot said:

The drone around the city has become too much

Quick fix for the drone is to shove some stainless steel scourers into the mufflers. I used a broom handle to push them as far down into the muffler as possible. Think of it as extra sound deadening material.

Definitely worked for me on a Honda Prelude fitted with a cannon muffler. No more unbearable drone [to my ears] and no noticable difference in performance.

[L4WL3SS]

I'm really surprised u didn't like the sound. Yes there's any audible noise, but If it was any quieter, it would be stock. 😳

Maybe the y pipe mod raised the noise level more than acceptable when used in conjuction with straight thru resonators