GR86 Exhausts

Not yet, I sent Nigel a message last week and they are manufacturing the jig at the moment, I will keep this thread updated as I placed an order for one of their exhausts in November.
Do you know the pricing?
 
Interested to hear if once it gets tightened up (assuming that is the problem) that your drone goes away. The GR86 is my wife's car and she wants more noise but without being asbo as it is a daily driver. She cringes whenever I have to start up my car and doesn't want to pay £1k to hate having to turn it on every morning. We are doing the NC500 in her GR86 at the end of May so want something sorted by then but not wanting to die in a buzzy drone hole for 5 hours on the way up there.

I was looking at the HKS exhaust to keep it Japanese but if the Cobra doesn't drone she may well go with this. The axle backs from Remark/MBRP etc will be too much on the cold start I think.
HKS exhaust are now on the quiet side, all the JASMA certified one are. Especially it they are certified with the JDM cars without GPF for the noise levels, they are on the quiet side when put on to UK cars

I must say, all the HKS exhausts I had are so perfectly made, no faffing about required to fit,
 
Interested to hear if once it gets tightened up (assuming that is the problem) that your drone goes away. The GR86 is my wife's car and she wants more noise but without being asbo as it is a daily driver. She cringes whenever I have to start up my car and doesn't want to pay £1k to hate having to turn it on every morning. We are doing the NC500 in her GR86 at the end of May so want something sorted by then but not wanting to die in a buzzy drone hole for 5 hours on the way up there.

I was looking at the HKS exhaust to keep it Japanese but if the Cobra doesn't drone she may well go with this. The axle backs from Remark/MBRP etc will be too much on the cold start I think.
Depending how I get on with trying out the Remark, my HKS system might be up for sale if it's of any interest. The midpipe includes a Helmholtz resonator, there's no drone at all. I'll update the thread after I try the Remark out for a while.
 
I’ve had my hks on for almost a year now and apart from cold starts it’s been brilliant, it’s quiet enough to use daily but loud enough to know its there when you want too, fitment was spot on and it’s only 2 parts so makes self install and set up a doddle
 
Took the car back to the garage today for adjustment. The exhaust was too close to the crossbeam after it had warmed up and expanded. Then, when it wobbled, on acceleration or driving over a bump, it hit the beam making the awful rattle sound.

Everything looked very solid and no apparent leaks. So not sure what I can do about the drone around 3000rpm.
Will give Cobra a call tomorrow.

Before
20240125_161715.webp


After
20240125_162844.webp
 
HKS exhaust are now on the quiet side, all the JASMA certified one are. Especially it they are certified with the JDM cars without GPF for the noise levels, they are on the quiet side when put on to UK cars

I must say, all the HKS exhausts I had are so perfectly made, no faffing about required to fit
Being on the quieter side is probably what my wife would prefer. She just wants bit more oopmh without it being really loud. The stock exhaust is quieter than the tyre noise!

Depending how I get on with trying out the Remark, my HKS system might be up for sale if it's of any interest. The midpipe includes a Helmholtz resonator, there's no drone at all. I'll update the thread after I try the Remark out for a while.
Which HKS do you have? The Legamax, Spec L or L2?

I’ve had my hks on for almost a year now and apart from cold starts it’s been brilliant, it’s quiet enough to use daily but loud enough to know its there when you want too, fitment was spot on and it’s only 2 parts so makes self install and set up a doddle
Same question as above RE the HKS
 
Being on the quieter side is probably what my wife would prefer. She just wants bit more oopmh without it being really loud. The stock exhaust is quieter than the tyre noise!


Which HKS do you have? The Legamax, Spec L or L2?


Same question as above RE the HKS
Spec L2
 
Took the car back to the garage today for adjustment. The exhaust was too close to the crossbeam after it had warmed up and expanded. Then, when it wobbled, on acceleration or driving over a bump, it hit the beam making the awful rattle sound.

Everything looked very solid and no apparent leaks. So not sure what I can do about the drone around 3000rpm.
Will give Cobra a call tomorrow.

Before
View attachment 24270

After
View attachment 24271
As someone seriously considering the same system, this is a disappointing update to read. I hope you get a resolution for the drone.
 
Being on the quieter side is probably what my wife would prefer. She just wants bit more oopmh without it being really loud. The stock exhaust is quieter than the tyre noise!


Which HKS do you have? The Legamax, Spec L or L2?


Same question as above RE the HKS
I Have a Hi-power v2 sports, probably not to everyone tastes but ticked all my boxes

 
Just fitted the Remark. Jury's still out at the moment, I took it on a quick run and it's certainly louder than the HKS but I'm not sure yet if it's better overall. The cold start possibly wasn't as bad as expected, but it was half 2 in the afternoon....will probably be a lot more self conscious if ever I have to go out at 6 in the morning. Okay on the motorway, but as mentioned, drone about 2/4k RPM. I will run it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

One thing I'm a bit concerned about is the alignment, tips are slightly skewif, but the main concern is they are sitting a little too close to the bumper at the top. But I can't see a way to rectify that without different hangars.
 
One thing I'm a bit concerned about is the alignment, tips are slightly skewif, but the main concern is they are sitting a little too close to the bumper at the top. But I can't see a way to rectify that without different hangars.
I fitted mine whilst my mate was checking the alignment, the bolted connections needed loosening and tightening a few times before we got it spot on!
 
I fitted mine whilst my mate was checking the alignment, the bolted connections needed loosening and tightening a few times before we got it spot on!
Thanks. I got under the car a bit later this evening for another look, and managed to get the left/right alignment correct, but they are still a little skewiff; the left tip hangars are sitting vertical and the tip is a little proud of the bumper, but the right-hand tip is sitting further back, and I noticed the hangars are twisted back slightly. I may slacken the bolts where the two pipes join and see if there's enough play in the bolt holes to shift the whole right hand section forward slightly.

How much clearance do you have between the top of the tip and the diffuser? I think I've got less than 10mm. It looks okay, but after seeing the post a few pages back, I'm worried about the bumper melting if the tip gets really hot.
 
Just fitted the Remark. Jury's still out at the moment, I took it on a quick run and it's certainly louder than the HKS but I'm not sure yet if it's better overall. The cold start possibly wasn't as bad as expected, but it was half 2 in the afternoon....will probably be a lot more self conscious if ever I have to go out at 6 in the morning. Okay on the motorway, but as mentioned, drone about 2/4k RPM. I will run it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

One thing I'm a bit concerned about is the alignment, tips are slightly skewif, but the main concern is they are sitting a little too close to the bumper at the top. But I can't see a way to rectify that without different hangars.
My left tip is a mm or 2 away from the bumper. I installed it on my drive and lost my rag after undoing the bolts for the fourth time and said balls to it 😂
 
My friend got Xforce varex for the prev gen 86/BRZ and I just helped him install the exhaust. Video:

I can definitely say the EU spec cars with the GPF sound completely different from the US/JP cars. I was worried about the exhaust as it sounded really raspy and not that nice overall on some videos.

But the outcome was much much better than expected. Great deep Subaru rumble which is not obnoxious and I cannot really notice any drone or discomfort.

Pros: nice deep tone, interior comfort throughout the whole RPM range, OEM+ look and sound volume

Cons: feels cheap quality, subjectively much heavier than stock, the electronic valve does nothing in terms of subjective sound volume.

My friend got it brand new for something like 550 GBP or 700 EUR which is ok IMO. But there is no way I would pay the full price for this. The electronic valve doesn’t change the volume IMO. Maybe the valve is worth when you have aftermarket headers and front pipe maybe? But I didn’t really see the point having the valve on otherwise stock car. It is also definitely heavier than the stock catback, we didn’t have a scale unfortunately but we both agreed it is much heavier. We had use the jack to comfortably lift the exhaust in the hangers, whereas the stock exhaust was easy to manipulate with your hands.
 
That's unusual, I thought that pretty much any aftermarket system would be lighter than stock. I'm guessing that the addition of the a valve mechanism must account for the weight increase?

On my end, I've decided I'm going to revert from the Remark back to my HKS. Drove around a bit with it yesterday, but I got up early this morning specifically to go for a drive to give it a fair chance, and decided it's not for me. Firstly, I realised just how loud the cold start is. On the afternoon of fitting it was livable, but this morning I started up and left it idling as usual while I cleared the frost off the screen, and realised that it must be pretty obnoxious for my neighbours. Getting up and out at 5.30am for a drive is common for me, and I don't really want to be worrying about pissing people off.

Out on a run, I concede it sounds pretty good and gives a nice growl at normal speeds. It's fine on the motorway...the only drone is in narrow bands around 2k and 4k RPM, but I reckon that might start to grate on me after a while. And there is more sound at the top end than the HKS...but I'm not convinced it's a nicer sound...not enough to justify putting up with the cold start and drone sometimes. Still a great, simple option to get more engine nose though.

But, no harm no foul...I'm glad I gave it a try, as it's made me appreciate what I valued about the HKS a bit more. Later today I'm going to remove it it and pack it up. I've only put 100 or so miles on it, so I shall put it up for sale if anyone else is interested in it (especially as I see the price of a new one is now about £500).
 
That's unusual, I thought that pretty much any aftermarket system would be lighter than stock. I'm guessing that the addition of the a valve mechanism must account for the weight increase?

On my end, I've decided I'm going to revert from the Remark back to my HKS. Drove around a bit with it yesterday, but I got up early this morning specifically to go for a drive to give it a fair chance, and decided it's not for me. Firstly, I realised just how loud the cold start is. On the afternoon of fitting it was livable, but this morning I started up and left it idling as usual while I cleared the frost off the screen, and realised that it must be pretty obnoxious for my neighbours. Getting up and out at 5.30am for a drive is common for me, and I don't really want to be worrying about pissing people off.

Out on a run, I concede it sounds pretty good and gives a nice growl at normal speeds. It's fine on the motorway...the only drone is in narrow bands around 2k and 4k RPM, but I reckon that might start to grate on me after a while. And there is more sound at the top end than the HKS...but I'm not convinced it's a nicer sound...not enough to justify putting up with the cold start and drone sometimes. Still a great, simple option to get more engine nose though.

But, no harm no foul...I'm glad I gave it a try, as it's made me appreciate what I valued about the HKS a bit more. Later today I'm going to remove it it and pack it up. I've only put 100 or so miles on it, so I shall put it up for sale if anyone else is interested in it (especially as I see the price of a new one is now about £500).

Well, at least you've strengthened your appreciation of the HKS. My AWE should arrive soon and, although I'm really excited about getting it on the car, I am concerned about the cold start. It's such a stupid feature of modern cars. My neighbor used to have a S4 which would wake everyone up when she went out early on weekends. I'm pretty sure this had a valved exhaust which would open on cold start.... WHY?!?!?!

It would be great to see which had a bigger overall negative impact on humanity if you plotted the environmental benefits of warming up a catalytic converter slightly sooner vs the consequences of lack of sleep caused by waking up an entire street at 5am.
 
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realised that it must be pretty obnoxious for my neighbours. Getting up and out at 5.30am for a drive is common for me, and I don't really want to be worrying about pissing people off.
Can entirely agree with that - I had to commute with my Remark for about a month before switching to remote working and I felt like such a knob every time starting the car at 6am 😂
 
My AWE and exhaust hanger tool arrived today. Never changed an exhaust myself before, so it'll be a first for me. i imagine it'll involve a lot of swearing xD
 
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