ok, i want to do an an exhaust on my 05 xb, i was thinking of doing the dc sport headers with a borla axle back setup, but thats where i loose knowledge, im not sure what my best option is for the cat and resonator, people have told me to loose both of them and just put in a test pipe, i live in florida so emissions dont matter, my only concern is i dont want it to be super loud, i just want a better sound and more horse power, im also planning on installing theFujita Short Ram Intake if that makes a diffrence. Thanx

 

You might try doing a youtube search for a video/audio clip of that combo that maybe someone else has already done.
The exhaust will generally give most cars a deeper exhaust note/tone. But if you change out the OEM header for a performance one that deletes the primary cat it will add a bit of rasp regardless. It's more free-flowing by deleting the prim. cat. Some people add resonators inline to reduce that rasp of the header.... but if you're looking to keep the slight performance gains you'll get with that part, putting in a resonator makes the whole mod a mute point (no pun intended). As you'll probably lose any hp gain you get from the header (which generally isn't much to begin with). Most you'd be lucky to see 5+ hp w/ most aftermarket headers.
Adding your CAI is a good choice too... doing CAI, header, and exhaust, you dont get huge gains over stock, but there is definitely a noticeable response gain low and mid-range rpm over stock that you can detect even with the good-ole "butt-dyno".

 

so you think like straight pipe from the header with a resonator between the header and the muffler?

 

well if you're looking to keep the small hp gains that a header/exhaust combo mod will give.... then don't do a resonator because you'll most likely lose the hp gains. If you're that worried about how loud it will be, like I said, see if you can find the same or similar setup as a video sound clip on youtube before you buy your parts. Lesser of two evils if you want to only spend money on a one of these mods that you can keep the hp it gives... then just do an axle back exhaust and keep the oem header w/the cat. That would most likely give you a nice deeper exhaust note/tone w/o being overly loud.
But take any advice with a grain of salt. the sound level from a modified setup is really all up to personal interpretation... what is quiet...or loud to one person may not be for the next. Just continue to do your homework before you shell out your cash so that you dont regret a decision later.

 

do you think that having a straight pipe setup off the dc sports header into the borla muffler affect my mpgs?

 

putting a straight pipe on is going be too loud. just do the header and muffler.

 

The most restrictive part of the xB exhaust is from the header to the cat. Adding the header and axle back is obviously the easiest since they're bolt on. Anything other than that will need to be welded.

Also, increasing diameter beyond 2.25" is not recommended unless you're boosted, you'll loose a lot of low end torque due to back pressure loss.

I would start with the header/axle back and if it's still not good enough, tackle the header to cat first. Opening up from the cat back isn't gonna give you that much.

Headers also make the exhaust susceptible to droning, so keep that in mind.

 

Well I don't know much about full exhaust setups, mostly because Cali has strict, strict emission codes. A single muffler will sound amazing, but there are no HP gains whatsoever. I didn't notice much gains outta the Short Ram Intake either (unless you are at 4000RPM or higher). The biggest improvement I noticed was the DC headers. At 60MPH and higher you can definitely notice a difference. Hope that helps

 

do you notice any droning sounds from the header because the last thing that i want us to sound like those riced out hondas

 

i had to play around with my header/exhaust set-up for a long time to find a tolerable tone. the weapon-r header with RS-R exhaust left me with an annoying drone on the freeway that could almost push you to suicide if forced to listen to for more than an hour trip(which i had to do frequently!)

i ended up settling with the stock exhaust,weapon-r header and CAI now and that seemed to mild the drone. but the performance is slightly less than before. if anyone has a clean deep sounding set-up please share!

 

Yeah, the exhaust drone is pretty bad at 3000RPM or higher (esp at HWY speeds). Thats why a lot of people just add sound deadening stuff to the interior. My ears adjust quite nice to the sound and I can get used to it quite easily (esp when listening to music which can drown out a lot of the hum). My mom, on the other hand, can't stand even a 20 minute drive on the freeways because the car is too loud. Now, the header didn't make it more or less noticeable. The exhaust still had a hum with or without it installed. Also, I haven't heard what my exhaust sounds like from a different vehicle on the freeway but I assume it sounds like a riced out honda. I honestly dgaf, still sounds beastly...

 

deadening would be nice but very time consuming, but more than me trying to bear the noise, its kind of embarrassing and obnoxious having to drive with my ride sounding like that. i just like a simple, but robust and resonate deep tone, kind of an american touch on a Japanese ricer. i just cant seem to find that balance on the xA tho.

 

yeah, with our engines being so tiny, it takes a lot of RPMs to stay at the higher speeds resulting in loud engines... i wouldnt consider it embarrassing on the road...what is so embarrassing about it?

 

changing the stock cat & resonator out of these things makes 'em loud & buzzy

i made a full 2" SS mandrel-bent system on mine with a real, high flow metallic core cat & a resonator is a good few nothces louder compared to when my midpipe was stock, & i only had the rear section that i made

 

ok i have a full exhaust.. fujita cai, weaponr 4-2-1 headers,custom 2" cat back, 12" mid pipe and greddy sp2 axle back. mine has almost no raspy tone. it is a deeper ton for our cars. the first thing is a greddy sp2 axle back will keep it a nice deep tone and not to loud. i cut out the mid pipe all together and it sounded like a ghetto honda.. so i did a 12" and it cleaned it up alot. then i did the 4-2-1 header and that made it noticably quieter at low idle and gave it a deeper tone. if you are going to do it then do it right, dont loose the cat,and mid pipe unless you wat it so loud you can hear it a mile away..literly.. i live at my grandmas house to take care of her, and she has never complained about the car being to loud(exsept the day i took off the mid pipe).. my tip would be do the weapon-r stainless, headers, as long as its a 4-2-1 set up, and the sp2 axle back. after you install that then deside if you do a shorter mid pipe cuz it dose a huge part in sound quality, and is not too restrictive.. and 2" pipeing from the cat back would help with flow w/o loosig bottom end power.

 

but the 4-2-1 headers dont get as many gains compared to a 4-1 header. i would def go with a 4-1 for more hp gains...

 

you don't get much of a gain either way, when it come down to it if you don't have forced induction all this intake and exhaust aftermarket madness is more to improve the sound quality of the car, not so much performance, even with the best possible set-up you'll only see a 15-20hp gain, and thats a stretch. its definitely noticeable but nothing huge.

 

the 4-2-1 gives you the better low to mid range power, and with this small 1.5 having a little back pressure is better. also if you do a 4-1 you get the raspy honda sound most people hate. the hp diffrence is 1-2 lost but you gain around 3 or 4 torque over the 4-1. so the gain is more so worth it to some.
deep tone+9-10hp and 12torque= good mod
(weapon r stats)

 

15-20 is huge! When you are talking about an engine of this size

 

And incredibly unlikely, considering FI usually only adds around 40.