Best Exhaust for a VE UTE?

[Jon-256]

Hey guys,

I was wondering what exhaust is best for my ute, in terms of both sound and price. I've heard good things about Manta Exhausts but haven't heard too many good things about X-Force exhausts.
I just wanted your guys opinion and also recommendations on these exhausts or any others that you know of.
I want something fairly loud and brings out the grunt of the car more.

 

[ThatsGuy]

Louder and better sound comes at the expense of drone, I've noticed.

You can get a good exhaust with minimal drone but it will likely be raspy rather than deep. YouTube vids will help you a bit but note that microphones cannot pick up the rumble.

Full 3" I had on my wrx was brilliant, but they have a reputation of not being so great for SS's.

 

[Jon-256]

Ah right, well ill keep looking around seen a few youtube videos of them all. Ive heard the same about Xforce on other cars, sounds pretty great on Holdens not so much..

 

[VESSVBLACK]

Ive got a full xforce stainless 3'' system on my big cammed VE SS, absolutely zero drone, cruising on highway its quiet, roars at WOT, really tough note just alittle loud on idle . Was on the car when I bought it, nothing wrong with xforce at all. For the price and quality, you get xforce as a good performing system as any of the other big named systems on the market, with dyno graphs to prove , it all comes down to what sound you want. I have had manta, and think they sound s@@t house , they run a crappy H Pipe, whereas the others ie xforce , hurricane run a x, better performance all round, I have had both systems and xforce is my pick over manta all day and every time I get asked the question.

 

[Angry8]

I have what sounds like the the same specs on my SS ute 3" big cam xforce

I have a bit of drone so thats weird only complaint really is at WOT it is so friggen loud its redicolouse
Have to be careful when Mr Plod is around , crackles and pops a lot off throttle as soon as it drops below 2500 rpm

 

[CoffeeMonster]

Is there really a performance gain with 3" over full 2.5 system if you have a mild cam, tune and otr?

 

[ducker85]

Is there really a performance gain with 3" over full 2.5 system if you have a mild cam, tune and otr?

With a cam or forced induction yes you'll noticed the difference with a 3" on the dyno.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

With exhaust note, listen to as many as you can and pick what you like. Everyone has different tastes.

Crappy H pipe? A proper X pipe is better in some applications, and it all depends on where it is, but most systems don't run a proper X pipe, it's more a kiss pipe and they are actually very restrictive. I had a photo of one showing the discoloration of a system with a kiss pipe, it shows exactly where it gets hot because of the restriction. I'll see if I can find it again.

^edit* here it is

You can see the dull finish from the front flanges all the way past the kiss. The left pipe on the kiss (as you look at it) is a little worse as it is actually smaller due to the way it's cut.

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Personally I like the sound of H pipes over X pipes, they give a more defined V8 note. But as I said, everyone likes different things. I have been doing Manta for over 25 years and I think more people like them than not. X Force on the other hand, they do actually sound great on a lot of cars, sadly, they haven't quite got the Commodore right in most peoples opinions.

On a dyno, as said above, you will see higher numbers with 3", on the road, it's more about the sound. You probably wouldn't feel any difference between the two.

 

[Pyrex]

The average l77 is making 260-270 rwkw with bolt on's and a tune.
So you have 2 , 3 litre 4 cylinders( in v config) making 130 odd rwkw each , and somehow you need a 3 inch system for 130 rwkw.
Xr6 turbos dont bother changing the 3 inch cat back till making well over 350 rwkw.
One guy on Ford forums made 474rwkw with his G6 stock cat back, a miami v8 makes 715rwkw with twin 3 inch.
Maybe you like the sound , but there is no way these power number's require twin 3 inch pipes.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Not quite an accurate analogy. You may have 4 cylinders each side, but they have an additional 4 cylinders rotating the crank. You don't have each side making 130kW.

Whether the car "requires" 3" pipe or not, the VE's sound bloody nice with them. Also, a turbo 6 is hardly the same thing as an NA V8.