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Well, just installed the Remus Sport Exhaust on the car yesterday morning. It took my roommate & I (both seniors at Northwestern Univ. in Chicago) about 30 minutes total. Incase anyone is interested here are some tips on changing your exhaust:
1. You really only need to get one side of the car on stands. I used my floor jack at about the middle of the driver's door to lift the whole left side of the car. Put stands at the factory jack points, and had no problem maneuvering under the car.
2. To remove the old exhaust: Unbolt the connection at the cat. Pry the rubber hangers off the rear muffler (they will come off without removing them from the car). then do the remaining 5 clips working from back to front. I was at the back of the car pulling the exhaust off, while my roommate was working the clips from under the car... eventually it's off.
3. I put the exhaust on in one piece. The Remus exhaust has a joint 1/4 from the back that is very difficult to attach, so I did it while it was on the ground, and kept it loose to that I could twist it into the right position. This worked very well.
4. I started from the hanger just in front of the rear muffler, inserted the exhaust loosely, and went forward to the next hanger. Once they were all in, we slid the whole unit forward and locked it into each hanger. Finally, the hangers at the back of the rear muffler can be stretched around the exhaust.
5. Last step is to reattach the clamp at the cat with the supplied bolts (old ones were attached to the factory exhaust). Just be careful that the exhaust pipes do line up at the clamp, it seemed like it could have gotten askew. Tighten the rear clamp, and viola... new exhaust.
As for the results. I was a little worried when I first saw the old exhaust come off the car. The presilencer (which you loose with the Remus system) is very large. I thought this was going to be a pseudo-rice burner exhaust. Fortunately, the exhaust is really no louder than it was before. The car now actually has an exhaust note. It is a very throaty, deep rumble at idle, and acceleration, but not annoying. In the car, with the radio on, it's hard to even hear it... nothing like my roommates Acura Integra. Besides that the new system weighs about 40 pounds less, which can't hurt.
In terms of performance increase. I do notice a boost in power. I have a 5-speed manual LPT car, and the turbo does spool up quicker now than it did before, especially between 1-2 shifts. What's more, it seems to have a good deal more kick at the top of each gear than it did before... Of course, when I get my ECU upgrade it will he a different story :-)
Hope that helps anyone who is thinking of doing this themselves. It was a good DIY project. And the new tip really looks nice on the back of the car.
-Todd
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