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| Exhaust |
| Very few cars have a decent exhaust fitted to them. So what do I define as 'decent' ? Well basically an exhaust system is simply a way of getting the hot smelly stuff out of the engine and out into the open atmosphere with as little fuss as possible. A muffler and resonator is on there somewhere to keep the noise down to a minimum and of course the mandatory catalytic convertor to make the nastiest gasses produced by modern fuels as harmless as is reasonably possible. The down side to all this is two fold. First not a whole lot of design thought goes into them. An exhaust is twisted into shape to suit the underbody of the car without incinerating everything around it and thats about it. Very few car companies 'research' the sound exhaust systems produce and even then is usually only associated with sports-orientated cars. This probably doesn't worry the average buyer is the least; they're happy enough never to hear the exhaust at all (which is fair enough) and pedestrians will only hear a sound akin to that of a cat being smothered by a pillow while having a hot poker appied to its nether regions, whilst the vehicle is under hard acceleration. The second problem is that factory exhausts are mass produced at the cheapest possibly cost. They aren't particularly efficient and the materials involved aren't that good either. Its good news for people who want cheap horsepower with a bit of character to the exhaust note too. I've gone to a fairly extreme option as far as exhausts go. I have a 2 1/2" stainless steel system with an aftermarket high flow catalytic convertor and single stainless sports muffler with no resonator and a gold anodised 3" tip. The difference is immediately obvious. It has a deep burble to the exhaust note which is loud. I mean probably too loud but I'm loving it even though the neighbours don't. The car can be driven quietly if the situation demands it but hell who cares. Its loud, obnoxious and they know I'm coming. ('They' as in everyone within 400 metres). Now having said that the guy who fitted this system for me was able to 'tune out' any annoying 'drone' at highway cruising speeds (90 - 110 kph) which is a problem with large bore exhausts on many cars. Mine is only slightly more noticable inside at these sorts of speeds so theres little chance of that highway 'drone' putting me to sleep on those long road trips. I also have the option of making the exhaust quieter with minimal cost and time in the shop; its easier to make an exhaust quieter than it is louder so if sanity (or old age) prevails its simple enough to tone things down a fair bit with minimal fuss. The increase in power is obvious as well with 2000rpm and above being noticable and once 4000 rpm comes around theres a substantial kick in the butt in acceleration. My fuel economy has suffered slightly and the only reason for this being my driving. It just sounds soooooooo good at 4000 rpm ! However I have managed to drive 'normally' with sub 3000rpm upshifts and economy is a little better than with the standard exhaust as it is freer flowing with far less back pressure strangling the motor. The cost ? Hmmmm sit down for this one. The retail price is about $1200 AUD for a quality full system in stainless steel like mine although having contacts in the business saw mine costing far, far less. A standard type 'mild steel' system can be done for a few hundred dollars and will last reasonably well but since I intend to keep this car for a while and do a lot of off-road work specially on the beach stainless is the way to go. The stainless system carries a 10 year warranty and was fitted by Mick at Hi-Tech Exhaust at Ashmore on the Gold Coast. He has a workshop that is more like a doctors surgery and his work is pure art. He manufactures the systems in-house and they fit beautifully. He will also custom build and tune systems to specific requests so give him a call and mention this site... Hi-Tech also have shops in NSW and North America. The factory Kia exhaust, like most cars is crap. I'm sorry but its shocking. Replace it before either the rattling heat shields drive you crazy or you get sick of having the cheap nasty Korean muffler that just split apart along the welds replaced yet again under warranty for another cheap nasty Korean muffler that is going to split apart along the welds sometime very soon... Pics coming soon ! |
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| Hitech Mufflers Unit 4, 26 Expo Court Southport Qld 4215 Gold Coast Australia Ph (07) 55270053 |
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