[ImportedLlama]

My experience installing an exhaust system on my car.

This project has been quite a while in the making and now that it is finally completed I want to do a complete review of the entire process from start to finish.

I don't believe that there's a single car enthusiast who doesn't appreciate a nice-sounding engine and exhaust system on a car, and I am one of them. I knew that my V6 would have a rather differentiated sound because of the engine configuration. And I've heard some Nissan GTRs get a beautiful pitch in the higher range. I believed that I would be able to achieve something similar since I share the same engine type. The hunt began.

I was talking to people and friends over at multiple places trying to get an understanding of what would best work for my car given the tight budget. I spoke to code6 and they said they could do a full system for around 45k. This was both outside my price range and not what I wanted because, with a full system, I would be stuck with only exhaust mode: Loud. I was doing some research on YouTube where I stumbled across exhaust cutout systems, a rather genius way to get a lot of noise but also go back to stock whenever I want. Those of you who have been following along would have seen me make a couple of posts asking for advice, if not I'll add pictures of the cutout system I wanted to purchase anyway. I did some searching and discovered that the Indian market was barren of this extremely niche product that I wanted minus Amazon which sold it at double the market rate. My only option was to get a friend to get it for me from the USA. This didn't work because some were unwilling to and some wanted me to order it for them through my account which would charge me a conversion fee and blah blah, defeating the whole purpose of getting it from America.

The whole project was put to a halt for about a month because my dad was unwilling to fork out the money for his son to do an allegedly illegal exhaust modification (I don't blame him one bit). I decided to spend the summer trying to save and earn some money to fuel my teenage obnoxiously loud car desires. One day while perusing the cutout valve I discovered that they could be imported directly from China at a relatively low cost. I found a set that I liked for around 7.5k including shipping. I was about ready to buy this when I decided to do some research on Aliexpress and customs and import duties. I learned that getting it imported would require me to get a customs agent and pay duty on the part which would probably bring the price up to 10/11k. Right around this time, I saw exactly the part I needed on Amazon for 11.5k, a bit pricier but it negates the headache of customs and everything, along with having a 10-day return policy. This was a golden opportunity and it was in the right pipe size I wanted. After some consideration and many rounds of convincing myself it would be worth it, I placed the order.

And now the wait began. There was a slight hiccup in ordering through Amazon because it said the estimated delivery would be two months from the day I ordered. I decided to just suck it up and wait. A couple of weeks later my dad called me telling me that he got a call from FedEx or something and asked me if it was related to the part I ordered. It turned out to be some sort of scam which we thankfully avoided. But this led me to check the status of my order and believe it or not I saw that my part was already in Bangalore a month early! The delivery date had not been updated yet so I got in touch with Amazon customer support and asked them to deliver it as soon as possible since it was already here. They were able to arrange delivery for the next day and I was extremely excited.

I received the part the next afternoon and after finding the right, extremely tiny battery for the remote, I went and tested the valve system. Thankfully everything was working just fine. The next step was finding a place that could actually install it. I called up code6 and a couple of other shops recommended to me but none of them understood what I wanted to do or even tried to. code6 told me welding mild steel to stainless isn't possible, at least for them and I suggested the option of welding on flanges of each respective metal and bolting both of them together to which I was also denied. Maybe they didn't understand. I was left kind of stuck as I didn't know what to do or who to ask. My next step was to do some complete jugaad and use exhaust clamps to secure it in place, and to my amazing luck literally no one had the exhaust clamps I needed. Once again I was stumped. I was so desperate that I started searching for metal fabrication shops near me to maybe be able to have them make some sort of U-bolt. No luck there.

Here is the cutout I received:


A couple of days later I got in touch with an old friend who recommended Fine Tuned Automotive to me. He asked me to call up the owner Rohit and tell him about my situation. Out of everyone I had been asking for help he was the first one who actually understood what I wanted and gave me the option of both welding it or using flanges. After discussing some of the details I went and dropped the car on a Thursday. I am going to preface the next paragraph here by saying this is my completely honest review of fine-tuned automotive. I have taken Rohit's permission to mention the name of his shop and he requested me to be completely honest with my review, which I respect a lot.

The car outside Fine Tuned:


After dropping the car off with Rohit's team I was given a price estimate of 8k, which I was not too comfortable with so I requested him to try and keep it as low as possible. He told me I could come pick up the car the next day on Friday. As the next day rolled around I called him to ask about the status and he said that he would need more time to complete the installation. I figured maybe they just ran into a couple of hiccups and needed some more time so I said no problem. However, even on Saturday, he said it wouldn't be finished and that he would have it ready for me on Monday for sure since they are closed on Sunday. At this point, I was upset and stressed. The shop was 1.5 hours away from me via car so I couldn't just drop in and check it out anytime. If I was told that the car would need 3-4 days to be done from the start I would've been more at ease. Also at this point, I was told that the price would be under 6k. So I wait patiently for Monday to roll around. The entire weekend I was asking my friends who were into spirituality and fairies and mysticism to do tarot readings for me (yes that's how much I was stressing), I think a lot of people would also understand how I felt when entrusting something you love so much to someone else.

Finally, Monday showed up and I was excited and extremely anxious. I called him up and he told me to come around 4-5 pm to pick up the car. I was fine with this because I just wanted my car back at this point. I called him around 2 asking him if I should leave and he told me that it would be done by 7 pm and I should come around then, It was at this point that I was told that the cutout was not installed where I wanted it to be installed but instead without my permission or without informing me they simply deleted my resonator and secondary muffler and made it a straight pipe from the catalytic converter. I Didn't know how to respond and I was obviously quite mad about this but I maintained my composure because I figured that I would've approved this anyway. This brought up the cost to 10k. This upset me even more because I had to shell out more money for something I didn't even ask for. Later I decided that I'd avoid the terrible evening traffic and pick it up the next morning as soon as they opened

I called a friend to come with me to get it and we made our way to the metro station. After about an hour and a half of commuting, we reached the shop and thankfully my car was there perfectly fine, minus it being quite dirty and covered in bird droppings. Beaming with excitement I started her up and…..

She was loud, very loud but it wasn't pleasant, it sounded like a leak (foreshadowing). However, I was still very excited. I had left the car with about a quarter tank of fuel and got it back almost empty. Not too happy about this but I'm sure it was used for testing and moving the car around.
I paid his team and thanked him for his service. We made our way to fill up the tank (6200 worth of XP95 if anyone is wondering). After that, we drove about an hour home. Of course, a couple of pulls along the way to hear the V6 roar (It was not roaring, it was leaking). I knew as I was driving that I wasn't satisfied with this and it would need a resonator in the future. Also, conveniently, the aux cable that came with an aftermarket stereo add-on for my car conveniently decided to stop working, which meant that I had to tear apart my center console once again, great.

After I got home I had lunch and decided to meet up with my friends. Out of them one of them who is also into cars and bikes said that it sounded nice but needed a resonator which I agreed with. We drove around a little bit and stopped at a coffee shop just to talk and have a coffee. After we decided to leave, the problems began. I went to close the valve and it wouldn't. The system is designed to have one mode where it sounds like stock and the other to be extremely loud. It was stuck in the latter position and this was not good. I had to drive very cautiously in case there were any cops lurking around and soon I was able to make it to my friend's apartment where I was able to inspect it better. As I got under the car I noticed the valve was… closed? I tried switching it on and off but it did nothing and even with the valve “closed” it was extremely loud.

I was puzzled, extremely stressed, and anxious. I was starting to regret the whole thing and was considering reverting it to stock. I called Rohit and he told me to bring it back to the shop. Nightmares I tell you. I couldn't bear the thought of having to drive an hour and a half back in traffic and then that again on the way home. I inspected the valve once again and came to the conclusion that the valve was stuck in a half-open position based on what I saw. This also convinced my mind that what I heard when my car was running was an exhaust leak and not what I had heard before. I tried using a stick to push it back into the closed position for the ride home but no luck. I called Rohit again and explained my utter disappointment and discontent, I was getting ready to lose it. But somehow Rohit managed to help me see rationally and calmed me down in the heat of the moment. I took the car back home and got a few double-takes from traffic cops but thankfully no hurdles on the way home. I wanted to get to work on figuring out the problem right away but it was late and I convinced myself to take a day and relax so I could figure it out with a calmer mind later. This helped immensely. With a good night's rest, I went down to figure out what was going on. I decided to check all the wiring. There was the problem, the plug from the receiver box had disconnected from the cutout plug. I dug around the cabin to see if I could find the other end but no luck. I called up Rohit and he told me they routed it through the rear seat. I lifted it up a little bit and saw the other end. Relief came over me. I reconnected it and tested the valve, it was working again.

Here you can see how little the valve opens:


Here major problem number 2 makes an entry, I got under the car again to check the valve system and I was rather surprised when I saw that the valve was hardly opening, maybe a couple of millimeters of movement but the car was still really loud when open so this was what i was hearing originally. Turns out I was right about it sounding like a leak because it technically was. I sent a video to Rohit and he said this was a product issue. This is true and I would take responsibility if it was but I had noticed the motor torquing itself under the car, it was moving under load and it was almost like it was struggling to fully open and then giving up. Do note that in my testing upon first receiving the product the valve opened and closed fully so I had no intention of believing that it broke overnight. I assumed that it must be misaligned and was catching on to something in the assembly. I called a couple of garages to see if I could bring it there to fix it myself since I didn't want to drive it all the way back to Fine Tuned, None of them were available. So I decided to contact my trusty old Honda dealership and ASC and my advisor was more than happy to let me come and use the lift as I needed. I went over there the next day and asked for some basic tools so I could unbolt and realign everything, They instead sent over a technician who was very kind and helped me unbolt everything. After confirming the motor was not faulty I realigned everything and voila it opened up completely. To think my car was that loud with just a tiny slit of an opening, I can't imagine how it would sound with it completely open. The technician helped me put it back on and tightened it up properly. I tipped him 200 rupees as a thank you and made my way back home. Huge shoutout to Malathi and Magnum Honda on Kanakpura Road for saving the day with this one.

Here are some pictures at the Honda Showroom:



Full exhaust system:


How the valve should have been opening:


Of course, I had to let her run with the valve fully open. I cannot tell you just how amazing this thing sounds now. It sounds like how it should sound. It was incredibly reminiscent of the Nissan R35 GTR, The bass-heavy low end with the grumble and the Formula 1 sounding top end of this engine are incredible. I was baffled by how much sound the stock exhaust system mitigates. My car sounded absolutely beautiful. I got her home and ran a few laps around the apartment and thoroughly enjoyed the absolutely insane sound it makes. Yes, it is obnoxiously loud, and yes I keep revving it every chance I get. But the best part is, whenever I'm in traffic or moving slowly or at highway speeds I can close the valve and it sounds exactly like stock, maybe a teeny bit louder but no one notices that. It's genuinely perfect. I was finally satisfied and I felt like an incredibly huge weight was lifted off my shoulder. I even went in and replaced the aux cable in my car in 20 minutes since I left the adapter box thingy in a much easier location to access and I added a Bluetooth connection this time. Everything had finally come together. I vacuumed out the whole car and gave her a nice wash. Everything was complete and I was beyond satisfied and extremely contemptuous with myself.

I called up Rohit to tell him what had happened with his installation job. I even mentioned that I was very unhappy about not being told about the straight pipe. He said he understood and apologized for the same. I would like to note that even though I was left in the dark about some stuff and had to deal with some hurdles along the way, the job done by Rohit's team was exemplary. The welds were all solid and sturdy and even featured fabricated exhaust hangers to replace the old ones. Throughout the entire process, Rohit stayed calm and helped me understand what was going on, even offering to revert it back to stock for free if I was unhappy with it. He was always ready to try and fix it and offered me help along the way which I respect. He told me to be completely honest in my review and I believe I have. Although overall I'm not too satisfied with the job, whatever has been done correctly is amazing. Rohit is a very friendly and kind person, he answered multiple calls from me throughout the entire process, and in the end I had a complete working setup.

Here's a pull with the valve fully open it just sounds absolutely incredible, music to my ears:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K9tTGmox...c321o2irwKWt6b

Having a car with a loud exhaust is a long-time dream come true for me. Every time I would hear insane-sounding cars I would be envious, even as a kid watching the fast and furious series and movies like Disney Pixars Cars always had me wanting a loud and incredible-sounding exhaust. I believe I don't fall under the typical Honda owner category which consists of straight piping a 4-cylinder making it sound like a fartcan and that my V6 has a beautiful note. I plan on adding a resonator in the future when the budget allows it but for now, I'm 100 percent satisfied with the OEM+ car that I've built. I will be attaching pictures and videos contextually to help everyone understand better. I thank everyone for reading this far and listening to my story. Funny story, my apartment complex decided to clamp my car because it was too loud so I guess I need to run it with the valve closed in here. Please let me know your thoughts on this whole project. Once again thank you to all for reading. Happy motoring!

[GTO]

Holy cow, that sounds simply awesome! I can only imagine how nice it is in person. Big fan of sports / freeflow exhausts in high-revving petrol engines and they always sound great on Hondas (My ex-Accord, ex-City Vtec & ex-Civic all had aftermarket exhausts).

[ImportedLlama]

Originally Posted by GTO

Holy cow, that sounds simply awesome! I can only imagine how nice it is in person. Big fan of sports / freeflow exhausts in high-revving petrol engines and they always sound great on Hondas (My ex-Accord, ex-City Vtec & ex-Civic all had aftermarket exhausts).

Thank you! The feeling is simply euphoric, it sounds way nicer in person and you can really feel the car more. Cheers!

[howler]

Hats off to your enthusiasm! If you are really into exhausts and how they affect power, tuning to get some epic soundtracks etc check this guy out on YT - @maisteer,

[Heracross_7]

Awesome ! Exhaust note feeling goosebumps while hearing
cheers!!

[highcommand-GT]

Originally Posted by ImportedLlama

My experience installing an exhaust system on my car.

Amazing job and very well executed! Sounds really good too! A friend of mine had been thinking about getting the same thing done to his car and we were struggling to find a cut out valvetronic like you did , do you mind sharing the link to it on amazon?


Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the entire post while responding.

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by ImportedLlama

. Funny story, my apartment complex decided to clamp my car because it was too loud so I guess I need to run it with the valve closed in here.

Is that legal for them to clamp your car? Also, could you include a flyby of the car? Just a heads up, cops in Kerala are even catching guys with valvetronic systems. I’m not sure about your state, but if someone complains, you never know what could happen.

[ImportedLlama]

Originally Posted by highcommand-GT

Amazing job and very well executed! Sounds really good too! A friend of mine had been thinking about getting the same thing done to his car and we were struggling to find a cut out valvetronic like you did , do you mind sharing the link to it on amazon?


Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the entire post while responding.

Of course, i’ll attach the link to the one I bought but it is unavailable on amazon as of now. The best thing your friend could do is keep checking online periodically and he might get lucky.

https://amzn.in/d/0ahxGK6t

[ImportedLlama]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

Is that legal for them to clamp your car? Also, could you include a flyby of the car? Just a heads up, cops in Kerala are even catching guys with valvetronic systems. I’m not sure about your state, but if someone complains, you never know what could happen.

My apartment has its own guidelines and what not and when I went to inquire about it further they said the loud noise counts as rash driving. After paying a fine of 500 rupees they removed the clamp. As for cops in Karnataka I hardly keep the valve open during city commutes since it becomes annoying so there’s virtually no risk of cops stopping me because it doesn’t sound any different from a normal car. I only plan on opening it up on free stretches of road where i can really enjoy it. The next time i go out with some friends I’ll be sure to do a flyby, even i'm curious as to how that sounds. Cheers!

[revvingbeast]

Sounds so good!!! It makes me want to install an aftermarket exhaust for my City. Will just need father's approval, which he is going to deny without a moment's thought . Man I wish my father was a petrolhead too!

[ImportedLlama]

Originally Posted by revvingbeast

Sounds so good!!! It makes me want to install an aftermarket exhaust for my City. Will just need father's approval, which he is going to deny without a moment's thought . Man I wish my father was a petrolhead too!

Haha I can relate man, my dad is very enthusiastic about cars and bikes. He owned a 2000 V6 acura TL back in the USA. However he’s not very big on aftermarket modifications and doing illegal stuff obviously. He was actually against this whole thing but since I explained to him how it won’t be a cop magnet when the valve is closed and given that i saved up the money to fund the entire thing myself he was fine with it and loved the end result. I’d say if you can replicate something similar to what I have here or figure something out on your own it’ll totally be worth it. Nothing like hearing the rev limiters going off on our VTEC machines.