Sound Levels and Ground Clearance (HKS Super Turbo and Tomei Expreme TI)

[nouveau_poor]

Hi all, after reading various threads and watching various YT videos I've narrowed down my exhaust choices to either the HKS Super Turbo or Tomei Expreme TI for my R32 GTR. I like the sound of both and both can support my power goals down the road. I have a slight leaning towards the HKS as I appreciate it being quieter and smoother sounding. The Tomei has a slightly larger diameter at 90mm vs 85mm, weighs about 10kg less, looks a bit prettier, costs a bit less, and is titanium. 

HKS lists their decibel levels and ground clearance on their spec sheet, but Tomei does not (Though they have a decibel reading for their more expensive Sports Titanium exhaust).

My question is, does anybody have/know of any other Tomei decibel readings and possibly the ground clearance once installed? Any opinions on sound or knowledge from experience is welcome too.

I've read a thread where someone with a Tomei said they were idling at 90db and passing 103db+ at 3k rpm even with a silenced decat pipe. That seems terribly loud and could get tedious quite quickly. It sounds great in videos, but if those decibel readings are right then I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it for long. The db are more about the comfort for me than getting onto a track, as I don't intend on doing any track days any time soon. Another thread had an owner switching from a titanium exhaust to the Super Turbo and being quite pleased. 

I have a fairly stock car engine wise, but HKS intakes and a Bee-R equal length downpipe as far as parts that affect sound. It's not lowered significantly, maybe an inch or so from factory on Hipermax IV coilovers  with out of the box recommended settings. 

INB4 some folks swear by custom exhausts but in my area there aren't really any shops that do that sort of thing and the few with exhaust experience cost some BIG dollars.

[joshuaho96]

Tomei is extremely loud. If you plan on driving any substantial highway driving you will probably regret it.

I would get rid of the HKS intakes for a stock airbox ASAP, this is the stuff those green mushrooms let in: http://mkiv.com/techarticles/filters_test/2/index.htmlbkbk

[burn4005]

I have a super turbo on an R34, with an extra resonator in the front pipe. very quiet, no drone but gets a bit of a bark when you're up it. highly recommended.

the exhaust is 85mm but necks down to a 3" flange at the Cat converter end. I had it chopped off with a 3.5" flange welded on after expanding the pipe to fit it.

 

as stated, Tomei is MUCH louder.

Edited November 14, 2019 by burn4005

[nouveau_poor]

14 hours ago, joshuaho96 said:

Tomei is extremely loud. If you plan on driving any substantial highway driving you will probably regret it.

I would get rid of the HKS intakes for a stock airbox ASAP, this is the stuff those green mushrooms let in: http://mkiv.com/techarticles/filters_test/2/index.htmlbkbk

Yeah I've actually got an apexi kit I've been meaning to put on since I saw that link a while back (I've seen some threads question the validity of the test but I tend to err on the side of caution). I got fresh HKS filters soon after I got the car, maybe ~800km ago, more as a placeholder for once I got the apexis on. 

Thanks for the input. Most of my driving is either parkways for pleasure driving or long highway miles. 90's vehicles don't exactly have the best sound deadening so the drone from the tomei would probably get real old real fast on an 8 hour trip to visit family.