Gen.3 Cat-Back Exhaust

[TRDCAMRY]

I am finally getting a cat-back exhaust.

This weekend, I bought an aftermarket muffler with a 2.5" inlet for $50.00 at Englishtown's Raceway Park at the NHRA Sport Compact Fall-Nationals .

Today, I went to my local muffler guy. He said he can do 2.5" piping from the cat-back to the muffler for $150.00 total (parts, installation, labor, tax, etc..). My total cost for my custom cat-back exhaust will be $200.00
I know $150 might sound like alot but I can probably talk him down a few bucks before he starts working on it. I'll probably have it done by this weekend. I will post pics then.

What do you guys think about the price of everything?

[a94autoCamry]

i got my 2.25 cat-back done for 120 bux, no resonator, and i provided my own muffler... but the pipe was aluminum steel...
anyways for that price, i guess thats pretty ok, but ask him if the pipe is stainless steel or aluminum....cuz stainless steel is the way to go, but it is more pricey....
i was looking at ur cardomain site and i see you have a 2.2 5sfe.... dont go 2.5 pipe, go 2.25.... 2.5 is for v6 owners...
theres a negative side to having a big cat back pipe for a 4-cyl.
do a search and u'll know what i'm talking about...

[TRDCAMRY]

Yeah, I know about the slight drawback of 2.5" piping, but I'm leaving my possibilities open for some psssss (boost) in the future. So I just wanna have my exhaust ready for when and if that happens. I know for a turbo you need 2.5" piping or greater. I don't wanna have to redo my exhaust again at that time. And yes, the piping is stainless steel for that price, sorry I forgot to mention it before.

[a94autoCamry]

yea good idea...i plan to go turbo as well, and if i do, i gotta re-do my entire exhaust system, arghhh..
no turbo for me until probably i'm outta college

so yea good idea on doing 2.5 in the long run

[tater_tot]

i have mine 2.5" ur gonna burn hella gas and a slight power draw. but the sound is beautiful.

[gaak]

nah guys, i gotta respectfully disagree..... youi only want 2.25 for your 5sfe, even with boost... i;ve been told that from a few reputable sources...but, i haven't actually tested the difference myself...

[a94autoCamry]

Originally posted by gaak
nah guys, i gotta respectfully disagree..... youi only want 2.25 for your 5sfe, even with boost... i;ve been told that from a few reputable sources...but, i haven't actually tested the difference myself...

so i can stick with my 2.25 cat with apexi n1 n/a muffler...??? oh yea that reminds me, zoni_camry told me before if i go turbo, my cat back system is fine... (which i hope is TRULY okay for turbo's) but yea zoni's a smart guy and i respect his words..

[gaak]

yeah, cuz i have the 2.25 which is what RIPPmods uses for their 5sfe SDS kit (that's the supercharger kit)

[tater_tot]

well i wasnt saying it was the best idea bc at the time i thoguth it was a good idea lol then about a day or so later i was like dammit i shoulda gone with 2.25..... so i might do tht sometime soon. just havent gotten around to it. that is on a performance note though. lol so far the only thing its got goin the way it is is the sound

[a94autoCamry]

supercharger and turbo's are 2 different things, so having a 5sfe with turbo or S/c is okay with 2.25 pipe???
we need more input from the brain-nerds
<--da noob

[gaak]

acoustically speaking the bigger the exhaust piping is, the deeper the sound is gonna be. it's just like musical instruments in the sound department....

[TRDCAMRY]

I'll check further into that. If the 2.25" is useable for turbo (at least low boost), then I'll tell my guy to install 2.25" piping instead of the 2.5". That way I won't lose the low end torque that I would with the 2.5". Also, If Zoni said that 2.25" is good enough, then it could be true. He is a reputable source. Plus, I don't know how long before I do get the turbo. Come to think of it, it might be a good while before I do go turbo.
Damn it guys...now you got me leaning more towards the 2.25" piping.
I know it might me a bit more , but I'm gonna ask for mandrel bent piping instead of crimp bent. I think the benefits outweigh the cost.

What do you guys think about the mandrel, anyone here have that or do you guys have crimp bends on your exhaust systems?

BTW...thanks for all your interest, responses and feedback.
That's what this forum is truly all about.

[CamryMax]

Well since you guys started it... I got bad news
Like most of you know I got my muffler and resonator already for catback, so today I went to a real performance shop in my area, and they said it'll cost $425 dollars to put it on, with welded mandrel bent elbows... that's really a lot of money, specially when they charge $300 for the work it self...
So i'm in the middle of an emotional breack downLOL I don't know what to do.. should I "screw it" and just go with crushed, or maybe search for more shops around.. it's really hard coz no one does mandrel around here.... I don't know.. this sucks.

[a94autoCamry]

lol trdcamry...maybe you should set this back for a few more days and see what the pro's have to say about this.... better to get it done the right way so u wont have to keep changing back and fourth and etc...
camrymax, if u truly love your camry, then go for it, but trust me, dont expect like 10 poines from an exhaust system...i saw in a magazine they did a cat back system complete with muffler, and an intake for a ford focus and it gained 7 hp..

[CamryMax]

you kidding me? I love my camry It's just that the price is bad...
Maybe I should drive to L.A. i bet i'll get it done for less there lol