GR86 Exhausts

OldManMarkoos said:
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.
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@OldManMarkoos any further update on your exhaust woes? Did it all come good?
 
Well, I got the AWE touring fitted today. It was my first time ever fitting an exhaust and I actually quite enjoyed the process. This was probably helped by a rare bit of sunshine and the car only being 4 months old so it was very clean underneath. No ibuprofen required and the only swearing was when I realised I'd left the tools I needed out of reach after shimmmying under the car.

The AWE seems like a great quality system. I opted for the black tips which look great on my black car. In the box there were some spare fasteners and clamps which is always nice. There's a youtube video outlining the easiest order to do everything that really helped. Anyone with a basic knowledge of how to use a spanner and socket set could do it. I'm really glad I bought an exhaust hanger tool - cheapest on amazon. It worked a treat.

First impressions after fitting; the cold start was MUCH louder. I almost had a slight pang of regret until the revs died down into a gentle burble that is deeper than stock but just lets you know there's something lurking there. Once the cold start finishes its really civilised at idle. This theme continues into normal driving. There's no drone or raspiness, it's louder than OEM under gentle acceleration but nothing that would be annoying driving around every day. You could definately drive back from a wedding with a hangover! At motorway speeds its very civilised. There's a bit of exhaust noise but it's quiet and a pleasant note. NO DRONE WHATSOEVER!!!

When you decide to open up the throttle everything changes. Still no drone but the noise comes alive. It's a great exhaust note and the volume for me is spot on. No rasp to speak of but there is a more throaty hard edge note which sounds great. There's a slight whiff of a scooby burble too.

Downshifts are where the real smiles come. A great sounding crackle with a single (but not too loud) bang when you down shift with a blip of throttle. Its very entertaining when slowing down at medium speeds, and heal-and-toe downshifts under breaking sound amazing.

This wasn't a cheap system by any means but I would highly reccommend it. I'll try to get some pictures and maybe a video clip over the next few days. but right now, I'm off to enjoy it in the sunshine!
 
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The AWE Touring looks a lovely piece of engineering and the online videos I've watched seem to reinforce the points you've made. If it hadn't been so darned expensive I'd have gotten one myself but, the Cobra system was less than half the price of the AWE, so for once I put my sensible head on and saved some cash to spend elsewhere. Enjoy the new pipes!
 
GRistopher said:
Well, I got the AWE touring fitted today. It was my first time ever fitting an exhaust and I actually quite enjoyed the process. This was probably helped by a rare bit of sunshine and the car only being 4 months old so it was very clean underneath. No ibuprofen required and the only swearing was when I realised I'd left the tools I needed out of reach after shimmmying under the car.

The AWE seems like a great quality system. I opted for the black tips which look great on my black car. In the box there were some spare fasteners and clamps which is always nice. There's a youtube video outlining the easiest order to do everything that really helped. Anyone with a basic knowledge of how to use a spanner and socket set could do it. I'm really glad I bought an exhaust hanger tool - cheapest on amazon. It worked a treat.

First impressions after fitting; the cold start was MUCH louder. I almost had a slight pang of regret until the revs died down into a gentle burble that is deeper than stock but just lets you know there's something lurking there. Once the cold start finishes its really civilised at idle. This theme continues into normal driving. There's no drone or raspiness, it's louder than OEM under gentle acceleration but nothing that would be annoying driving around every day. You could definately drive back from a wedding with a hangover! At motorway speeds its very civilised. There's a bit of exhaust noise but it's quiet and a pleasant note. NO DRONE WHATSOEVER!!!

When you decide to open up the throttle everything changes. Still no drone but the noise comes alive. It's a great exhaust note and the volume for me is spot on. No rasp to speak of but there is a more throaty hard edge note which sounds great. There's a slight whiff of a scooby burble too.

Downshifts are where the real smiles come. A great sounding crackle with a single (but not too loud) bang when you down shift with a blip of throttle. Its very entertaining when slowing down at medium speeds, and heal-and-toe downshifts under breaking sound amazing.

This wasn't a cheap system by any means but I would highly reccommend it. I'll try to get some pictures and maybe a video clip over the next few days. but right now, I'm off to enjoy it in the sunshine!
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sound clips or it didn't happen! :D
 
Sonic said:
@OldManMarkoos any further update on your exhaust woes? Did it all come good?
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Work has been manic this week and will be next week so I've not had a chance to phone Cobra during office hours.

I picked up the parcel containing the missing spring and correct gasket, but had to pay £1.50 for underpaid postage. Which was slightly annoying.

I've commuted with the car each day this week (70mile round trip, fast A roads). When cold, there is no drone which gives me hope. Once the system has warmed up significant drone at 3k revs as mentioned before. So it may be that once everything expands a slight leak appears...? Maybe because of mismatched springs? Or exhaust goo where the gasket should be.

I've put the back seats back up to make the cabin less noisy.

I may pop up to Sheffield, see some friends and get Cobra to refit it for peace of mind.

Cheers,
OldMan.
 
Watching that video the L1 looks identical to the L2 apart from the tips. Maybe a tad louder though....slightly larger diameter pipe work?
 
It’s a shame the car wasn’t run in at the time of filming as it doesn’t really give much to go on. I’m also not convinced the microphone being used was up to the task.

Frustrating as it’s the model I’ve been considering and the videos I’ve seen so far have all been US market cars which haven’t had the OPF related neutering.
 
hsb said:
I made a sound clip a while ago also if you want a second opinion :)
I love the exhaust, it made me fall in love with the car as I found the car a bit boring with the stock exhaust with or without the sound generator.

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What RLCA are those?
 
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