lozcb
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- 12,586
Custom Exhaust from Prospeed
- Thread starter halbe01
- Start date
adam01
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- 1,079
toomanyhorses
New Member
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- 721
Hey Ben,
If you check this forum on your phone whilst sitting waiting, then pop in on your way home and lift a cuppa if you like. I'm guessing you'll be shooting back along the M4? I'm moments from J17 and a mid'ish way point for you for a break if you fancy. Or could meet you at Leigh Delamere services and buy you a cuppa. Would LOVE to hear the outcome, as I'm considering doing similar. PM me for my number if you get this and can stop.
Unless of course they've done well with time, and you've left already...
halbe01
Junior Member
- Messages
- 281
Morning all!
Well - it's all done! My old stock exhaust system is off, and the new custom system has been built and installed by Charlie and the gang at Prospeed in Cardiff.
A slightly long day yesterday, 3.5 hours each way (I decided to take a friend which meant London to Cardiff going via Oxford!), but the end result is, I think, well worth it.
So we dropped the car off at around 9:30. Charlie's workshop is a couple of miles from Cardiff central, and very much the epitomy of a back-street garage. There's certainly no glitz or glamour there - but for me I'm very happy with that so long as the people know what they're doing and produce the results. He was very welcoming when we arrived, and we had a final conversation about the exhaust, and agreed on the H-pipe, sports cats, and custom back-boxes. He also showed me the tailpipes he'd found which were pretty similar to the old ones - though they have a central bit which looks a little different (you'll see when I get the photos uploaded).
What followed then was an exercise in Christmas shopping - 6 remarkably productive (but expensive) hours in the shopping centres of Cardiff!
But back to the point - the car was ready for collection by about 5:30 - and it sounds great. When you rev it, it has lots more body, plus of course it's louder (I don't think quite as loud as just a Larini backbox upgrade - though it's probably not far off). Charlie was keen to let me hear it in it's various guises - so inside the car, outside, at revs, at idle etc. The best bit is that when idle and sitting in the car, there is no drone from the exhaust - you can hear it's a little more meaty that stock, but it's still pretty relaxed. Outside it's a little louder at idle, but not unbearable so at all - certainly when pulling into the driveway later that evening I wasn't worried about the neighbours and I don't think I'll worry about early morning starts either.
When driving back on the motorway, again you can hear a little more exhaust noise than stock, but the 3.5 hour cruise back was still very relaxing. And when you put your foot down in a high gear a low(ish) revs the sound is lovely. Finally of course, when you rev the balls off it, it sounds great. Nicely loud, not too loud though, and a nice tone to it. I never had a problem with the sound of a Larini (just the backboxes) when you're pushing on a bit - and what I've got now also sounds great to me. It does seem to rev more freely than before and hence feels faster as well - though whether I think that just because I know that's what should happen I don't know for certain. I'm pretty sure it is a little pokier than before however. Certainly when going through the tunnel on the M4 (wherever it was), windows down, and gunning it I was very impressed with both noise and power!
Of course these are just first impressions on a slightly-weary and mostly motorway trip back - I expect to get to know the sound and feel for the car a lot better over the next couple of weeks.
Pat - thanks for the advice - unfortunately I didn't catch up on the forum in time so I didn't chat to them about that. I have standard suspension though so hoping it'll be ok - I've not gone over any particuarly high speedbumps since though.
Horses - thanks for the offer - I would have loved to pop by but didn't catch your post in time. You're very welcome to visit in London of course if you fancy it - and I expect I'll be joining the next Llandow track day which means another M4 jaunt at some point as well.
I'll get some pics up on the site over the weekend - and some more thoughts on sound and power once I've done a bit more driving. But currently I'd recommend this to anyone thinking of a new exhaust. I paid £1200 in total - which is of course much less than even just Larini backboxes - and I got sports cats and H pipe as well for that. - plus petrol to get there of course, and the bill for the extra Christmas presents I bought on the extended shopping trip!
One question for the group - I now have a couple of OEM backboxes sitting in my garage. Any idea of second hand value, or would your recommend keeping them for one day when I sell the car on? I don't have the old cats or pipework (they didn't survive removal) so I can't put the system back to stock completely either way. I'd hope any new buyer (many years in the future) won't be put off by the new exhaust, but I know some people really like stock cars. On the other hand I'd rather not have old exhausts clogging up the place - so if they're worth a bit I'd probably rather sell them on now.
Cheers,
Ben.
Well - it's all done! My old stock exhaust system is off, and the new custom system has been built and installed by Charlie and the gang at Prospeed in Cardiff.
A slightly long day yesterday, 3.5 hours each way (I decided to take a friend which meant London to Cardiff going via Oxford!), but the end result is, I think, well worth it.
So we dropped the car off at around 9:30. Charlie's workshop is a couple of miles from Cardiff central, and very much the epitomy of a back-street garage. There's certainly no glitz or glamour there - but for me I'm very happy with that so long as the people know what they're doing and produce the results. He was very welcoming when we arrived, and we had a final conversation about the exhaust, and agreed on the H-pipe, sports cats, and custom back-boxes. He also showed me the tailpipes he'd found which were pretty similar to the old ones - though they have a central bit which looks a little different (you'll see when I get the photos uploaded).
What followed then was an exercise in Christmas shopping - 6 remarkably productive (but expensive) hours in the shopping centres of Cardiff!
But back to the point - the car was ready for collection by about 5:30 - and it sounds great. When you rev it, it has lots more body, plus of course it's louder (I don't think quite as loud as just a Larini backbox upgrade - though it's probably not far off). Charlie was keen to let me hear it in it's various guises - so inside the car, outside, at revs, at idle etc. The best bit is that when idle and sitting in the car, there is no drone from the exhaust - you can hear it's a little more meaty that stock, but it's still pretty relaxed. Outside it's a little louder at idle, but not unbearable so at all - certainly when pulling into the driveway later that evening I wasn't worried about the neighbours and I don't think I'll worry about early morning starts either.
When driving back on the motorway, again you can hear a little more exhaust noise than stock, but the 3.5 hour cruise back was still very relaxing. And when you put your foot down in a high gear a low(ish) revs the sound is lovely. Finally of course, when you rev the balls off it, it sounds great. Nicely loud, not too loud though, and a nice tone to it. I never had a problem with the sound of a Larini (just the backboxes) when you're pushing on a bit - and what I've got now also sounds great to me. It does seem to rev more freely than before and hence feels faster as well - though whether I think that just because I know that's what should happen I don't know for certain. I'm pretty sure it is a little pokier than before however. Certainly when going through the tunnel on the M4 (wherever it was), windows down, and gunning it I was very impressed with both noise and power!
Of course these are just first impressions on a slightly-weary and mostly motorway trip back - I expect to get to know the sound and feel for the car a lot better over the next couple of weeks.
Pat - thanks for the advice - unfortunately I didn't catch up on the forum in time so I didn't chat to them about that. I have standard suspension though so hoping it'll be ok - I've not gone over any particuarly high speedbumps since though.
Horses - thanks for the offer - I would have loved to pop by but didn't catch your post in time. You're very welcome to visit in London of course if you fancy it - and I expect I'll be joining the next Llandow track day which means another M4 jaunt at some point as well.
I'll get some pics up on the site over the weekend - and some more thoughts on sound and power once I've done a bit more driving. But currently I'd recommend this to anyone thinking of a new exhaust. I paid £1200 in total - which is of course much less than even just Larini backboxes - and I got sports cats and H pipe as well for that. - plus petrol to get there of course, and the bill for the extra Christmas presents I bought on the extended shopping trip!
One question for the group - I now have a couple of OEM backboxes sitting in my garage. Any idea of second hand value, or would your recommend keeping them for one day when I sell the car on? I don't have the old cats or pipework (they didn't survive removal) so I can't put the system back to stock completely either way. I'd hope any new buyer (many years in the future) won't be put off by the new exhaust, but I know some people really like stock cars. On the other hand I'd rather not have old exhausts clogging up the place - so if they're worth a bit I'd probably rather sell them on now.
Cheers,
Ben.
