Anybody have any trouble with those ebay mufflers? My goals are 1) get a lower, more aggressive and louder exhaust note, 2) increase the look of my car by ditching my current cheepo chrome "tip" and 3) gain a few extra hp if possible. I dont think I can justify spending several hundred dollars on a new catback exhaust, nor do I have the engine mods to take advantage of one.

So...if I was to get something like http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33636&item=2417074240

and go to a local muffler shop like midas or Meinike and have them weld it on, would I run into any problems? Should I save up and get a full cat back system? Will just getting a better flowing muffler do anything for me? Thanks in advance.

BTW, only performance mod so far is a short ram intake with a k&n cone filter. Oh also if anyone bought a ebay muffler do you have any regrets? complaints? thanks again

just a muffler tip will give you that honda civic ricey sound and it might give you a little hp..VERY litte. best way to go is to get a full catback. there's a big diff from ebay/pepboys $100 mufflers versus my $500 apexi n1 3" catback. of course i'm turbo so i need a bigger muffler and piping.. but i'm assuming if you get a cheap tip your car will sound like a bee's nest.

pass on the full catback if u dont plan on getting serous engine mods. a gst muffler will make ur car perform best while giving it a deeper note.

i got a $90 OBX HKS style muffler and i love it. its pretty loud and deep. doesnt sound at all like ahonda. got it for 90 then had meineke put it on for 120 cuz they had to redo from the rear axle back so it wouldnt hang crooked. looks good sounds great and gained some top end without giving any low end up. i got it at www.speedpeople.com

yeah i have the obx b3 muff. it came with a silencer and sounds almost stock. otherwise its pretty loud, deep, but i have a gutted cat so it sounds a little raspy in the high rpm range. that can be fixed with a resonator or a mini glasspack probably.

Thanks for the advice guys, Im gonna go to a muffler shop and price out getting cutsom piping (mandrel bent) and then Ill pick out my own muffler for it.

My car wont tell the difference between a 150$ exhaust system and a 500$ one. As long as my car doesnt lose power, Ill be happy :-)

if you're going with a muff shop cat back than look for a good quality muffler. the APEX'i canisters are good and magnaflow makes great stuff. either of those should give you a decent note. i've never heard a 2gnt that sounded like a honda.

>Thanks for the advice guys, Im gonna go to a muffler shop and
>price out getting cutsom piping (mandrel bent) and then Ill
>pick out my own muffler for it.
>
>My car wont tell the difference between a 150$ exhaust system
>and a 500$ one. As long as my car doesnt lose power, Ill be
>happy :-)

Hey Blk95Talon, I have that same little noise maker that you pointed out on e-bay on my 97 RS right now. I got it off e-bay a year or so ago and had Meinike put it on. It sounds way cool, but on long trips it can be drowning in the cab @ around 3-4K RPMs (about 70-80mph). I have recently purchased a newer one and am going to be bolting it on instead of cuting it like last time, cause this one has the stock bend and mount flange. Anyway I'd be willing to sell you my old setup, unbolted from the stock mounts so you don't have to cut your stock one off. I'd part with it for like $100 shipped to wherever, let me know. I should be able to do this within a week or so, as soon as I get my new one.

To see what it looks like on my car: http://www.phxdata.com/mike/eclipse

>>Thanks for the advice guys, Im gonna go to a muffler shop
>and
>>price out getting cutsom piping (mandrel bent) and then Ill
>>pick out my own muffler for it.
>>
>>My car wont tell the difference between a 150$ exhaust
>system
>>and a 500$ one. As long as my car doesnt lose power, Ill be
>>happy :-)
>
>Hey Blk95Talon, I have that same little noise maker that you
>pointed out on e-bay on my 97 RS right now. I got it off
>e-bay a year or so ago and had Meinike put it on. It sounds
>way cool, but on long trips it can be drowning in the cab @
>around 3-4K RPMs (about 70-80mph). I have recently purchased
>a newer one and am going to be bolting it on instead of cuting
>it like last time, cause this one has the stock bend and mount
>flange. Anyway I'd be willing to sell you my old setup,
>unbolted from the stock mounts so you don't have to cut your
>stock one off. I'd part with it for like $100 shipped to
>wherever, let me know. I should be able to do this within a
>week or so, as soon as I get my new one.
>
>To see what it looks like on my car:
>http://www.phxdata.com/mike/eclipse

I dont understand whats meant when you say your new one will be bolted on instead of cutting it. I was at midas today and they told me they could take a universal muffler that I bring in and weld it onto my stock piping for around 30$. If I bought yours Im still going to have to bring it in to be installed and pay 30 on top of the 100. I could just get a brand new muffler and install for under 100. Mufflers are just too cheep to have to buy them used...

>I dont understand whats meant when you say your new one will
>be bolted on instead of cutting it. I was at midas today and
>they told me they could take a universal muffler that I bring
>in and weld it onto my stock piping for around 30$. If I
>bought yours Im still going to have to bring it in to be
>installed and pay 30 on top of the 100. I could just get a
>brand new muffler and install for under 100. Mufflers are just
>too cheep to have to buy them used...


No, I originaly had them cut/weld on the universal one. & I'd be suprised if they only charge you $30, I pay'd like $60. Now I have ordered one that has the pipe that bends around the rear suspension so it just bolts on. Thus, I will be removing the one now, that was welded on, with its suspension bend pipe attached still. All you'd have to do is unbolt yours and bolt this one on, believe me or someone else can vouch for this too. I'll give you a better deal than you could get by having one cut/welded on. I just have not gotten my new one yet to try it out.

Just let me know if you might be interested, I can show you pics in advance of what I mean about it all too. Otherwise I'll just be puting the thing back up on e-bay...

I'm just like you, I think they look cool and sound cool & am just trying out a slight different look. Oh by the way the one on my car looks better than the one you linked to cause it doesn't have any seams on the muffler itself, just all polished stainless steel.

Ohh ok I got it now. In that case...Could you send me current pics of the exhaust? My email is IceDragLn@aol.com And since the muffler is already welded onto the pipeing that goes around the suspension, all I would have to do is unbolt my current one and attach yours? Do I use my current mounting brackets or do those come with it? In other words...I am interested in the exhaust...but still in the deciding phase.

dude, get a custom cat-back or a prefab cat back...our stock exhaust sucks ass! It has horrible bends, flat spots, chokes, restrictions, just replace the whole thing.

>dude, get a custom cat-back or a prefab cat back...our stock
>exhaust sucks ass! It has horrible bends, flat spots, chokes,
>restrictions, just replace the whole thing.

Id like that, but my shop quoted me 400-500 for a mandrel bent system and new straight through magnaflow muffler. I cant justify spending 4x the money for a few extra hp :-( Im a poor college kid and I had a summer job lined up and found out yesterday that they cant hire me back cause the selling season is too slow at the moment. So, el cheapo it is. The only one I can afford is the pacesetter one and Ive heard bad stuff about them. Plus its ugly imo

Eclipseitall, Im not goin anywhere, so when its off if ya could take some pics I'll make a decision. :thumbsup

>Ohh ok I got it now. In that case...Could you send me
>current pics of the exhaust? My email is IceDragLn@aol.com
>And since the muffler is already welded onto the pipeing that
>goes around the suspension, all I would have to do is unbolt
>my current one and attach yours? Do I use my current mounting
>brackets or do those come with it? In other words...I am
>interested in the exhaust...but still in the deciding phase.

Those last pictures R the current pics, cause it's still on my car. I'll take some for you once I get a chance to take it off though, then you'd really see what we're talking about.

It will just bolt on, the "hanger brackets" for our year cars are already on it now, thats part of what got welded on.

People will tell you to get the whole "cat back" but you won't notice the diff. between a "cat back" or just one of these free flowing mufflers on our NonTurbo cars. Either mod will do the trick:thumbsup & you tell me which ones less $$

This pipe gives you the look, the sound, & I got at least 3 more MPG with it so it's definately made the engine perform better! The main thing with our "stock" exhaust "resonators", which is the big can @ the end, is they baffel the flow back and forth in a maze like pattern in that big ol thing. They R designed to keep the car "quiet" but thus restrict the engines exhaust flow.

I'll e-mail ya as soon as I take it off, within the next week I hope... I'm begining to wonder where my new one is???