Hi all,
Installed the Turner straight pipe exhaust (
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-17...k-exhaust.aspx) yesterday, and wanted to share my thoughts/impressions with the board.
Service - contacted Turner about a week and a half ago with a few questions. Heard back from them very quickly with honest responses to my questions, and I decided to pull the trigger. They shipped same day (even though the time difference gave them a short window to get it out. They even wrote me an email on the delivery date to make sure I received it and was happy with everything. Great team to deal with overall!
Aesthetics/design - I opted for the polished tips, with logo and I think they look great. I know some people aren't big fans of the corsa style, but personally I think they compliment the lines of the factory diffuser quite nicely.
The pipes are basic stainless 304 pipes - so not exactly "works of art" like the Akrapovic, but you only see those if the car is on a lift, so doesn't bother me. The bends where quite smooth and the mounting posts had clean welds. Two points to note:
1) My installer (sleek-sam on the boards, who I strongly recommend for any Norcal guys that don't already go to him - thanks BarryB for the intro!) had to do some minor bending of the mounting posts to get the tips lined up, but that may be because of the prior exhaust I had on the car. Which brings me to point 2.
2) If you had another exhaust installed, you "may" have to either chop more of the OEM pipe, or weld on an additional piece. In my case, the cut points for this exhaust were a bit closer to the rear bumper than the exhaust I was taking off, so we had to get a muffler shop to weld on a small extension of about 3 or 4 inches. Not a big deal, but worth noting.
Sound - I think the pipes sound great! Very aggressive, but not obnoxious at all from inside the cabin. You retain all the factory "pops" but they are considerably louder - especially when coming off the gas at 4K rpm+! Besides stock, I have only heard the E-Race and Supersprint in person, and these pipes are probably very close to the E-Race sound (maybe slightly louder, but a touch less "deep"), but I haven't spent a ton of time listening to the E-Race, so would need to do another comparison. They are considerably louder and more aggressive than the Supersprint.
Cold start is really aggressive, but quiets down after a few seconds.
Low rpm, gentle driving gives off a nice low rumble (similar to an AMG MB - in a way). Throaty with nice resonance - more like the way the car should be from the factory.
High rpm sounds aggressive. The car really starts to scream and will definitely grab attention, but again, inside the cabin is still VERY comfortable. Like many have said, the sound-proofing in this car is too good...
Haven't encountered any drone in a 40+ mile drive home. I tried 5th, 6th and 7th gear cruising and as long as I was around 2k rpm, I didn't hear anything. Like Turner mentioned on their site, if you are bogging the engine (45mph in 7th gear) you may get a little, but that's just a sign of bad driving.
Video Clips - Forgive the quality. I shot them with an iPhone 5. I think they are decent enough, but I'm sure I could do better with a GoPro or better camera - but I don't have one. As others have stated, videos don't really do exhaust sounds justice, you lose a lot of the bass, but you can get a general idea. I live in San Fran, so anyone local in the Bay Area who wants to listen, I am happy to show you in person. I also have a low-rpm sound clip, but need to get the video corrected first (shot upside down, haha)
Cold Start
Revving
Quick Fly-by
Happy to answer any other questions you may have.
Rob