Received and installed the Doug Thorley post-cad exhaust last night. Initial impression: sounds great, no loud drone, best comparison is that it reminds me of the old British 2 seat open roadsters. Definitely an improvement and nothing that will annoy or wake the neighbors coming home late at night – not at all like headers on a muscle car. But then only test drove it less than a mile after installation. One & only passenger remarked that it sounds like it’s a lot more fun to drive.
Installation took less than an hour with the right tools at hand. And I know NOTHING about mechanics other than to be able to spot which bolts connect to what.
Instructions say to remove only the rear lower body valance BUT I don’t know how anyone could remove the heat shield cover over the catalytic converter, remove the old exhaust & install this without removing the entire back center body panel AND the bumper frame. And to remove the middle back body panel, there are two screws right in each of the upper corners below the bottom of the tailgate and to get to them, you have to peel back the ENTIRE back body panel that houses the tail lights starting at the passenger doors. And that means starting by removing the side bottom rocker panels.
Fortunately I had all the bottom black “orange peel plastic” panels removed for sanding & painting to match the body and was smart enough to wait for the exhaust to arrive before putting them back on. Made the job easier. But if your car is intact, expect to spend at least an hour removing body panels, assuming you know what you’re doing, before you even get to the exhaust. An all afternoon job. And if you run into a jam or need an extra tool, better have a second car to run get it.
Any mechanic could install the exhaust itself but few know how the body is put together so there's no real alternative than doing it yourself with patience to "learn as you go". Had it not been for the clear instructions posted by someone else on removing body panels for installation of the air horns ** by following them, I easily removed the front half of the car and by then knew how to do the back end. Otherwise, if you don't want to do it yourself, expect a trip first to the body shop to remove the panels and then to the mechanic.
The factory exhaust is a lot heavier and can see every part of it is shielded and insulated. Doug Thorley’s is lighter, smaller and just plain stainless. Really cool looking but no insulation.
Question: has anyone run into heat problems? Considering the body is plastic and this is at the rear without wind being blown directly on it, and the exhaust is literally inches from the body, am wondering whether heat buildup could melt or warp the body?
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