# (not) Silent night, Holy Akrapovic!



## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Thanks to Andy Wilkes of Performance Parts Ltd who are the UK importers of Akrapovic Exhausts for the review loan of one of their amazing titianium GT-R exhaust systems.

I saw and heard Alex (Evolution)'s system at the Nurburgring in October and was impressed, but you really have to see the whole system and the way it's made to get the full picture.

Incredibly light, I couldn't believe how I could pick up a 5 foot long section almost with two fingers!









The welds are pure art and I love the mandrel bending (very rare for a titanium system). Look at the design and engineering that went into the support brackets!









I had the system fitted by my old friends at Autofficina in Chessington who normally work on Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Peter Ward did some superb engineering work on Godzilla 1 back in the day. He's a perfectionist who is not easily impressed and has worked with loads of F1 exhaust fabricators, but he said the Akrapovic was flat out the best "off the shelf" system he had ever seen.









The fitment was perfect and actually easier to install than the stock system was to take off.









All you can see is some subtly bigger tips, but the sound is smooth, refined and powerful. Slightly quieter in fact than my Milltek Y-pipe/stock cat-back combo.









But the amazing thing is, I could instantly tell it had freed up the breathing of the stock turbos!
Low end response is massively improved, for instance at 40mph in 4th gear, 2000rpm, a mere tickling of the throttle produced instant, massive grunt, (running of course the existing custom WG3 GTC/Thistle tune on the Cobb).

The car will be going back to Surrey Rolling Road as soon as Charlie can fit it in to see how many horses it has released, but I bet the area under the curve has noticeably increased.

I will see if I can upload some video clips in due course, but suffice it to say, I am very, very impressed.


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## Endless_GTR (Aug 1, 2005)

Congrats! Baller Exhaust!!


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## Godders (Oct 7, 2009)

Nice Christmas Present!!!


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## Lindsay Mac (Apr 12, 2008)

Don't think Santa will stretch this far in out household. That is one of the smartest system I have seen to date.


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## ANDY400R (Mar 28, 2008)

That looks real quality David, I look forward to seeing the results from the dyno. Is it much more expensive than other titanium zorsts ? Also any chance of getting some sound clips in due course.
Andy


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

It is expensive, not helped by the weak Pound of course, £4240 plus VAT.

But I have to say it is so beautifully made it is almost criminal to stick it under a car!
Judging by Alex's sound level readings, not only will it allow Godzilla 2 to get onto any UK tracks, there may even be headroom to allow the fitting of (catted?) downpipes in the future where most systems would be rendered too loud.

Akrapovic are renown for making the systems for most of the MotoGP teams and other bike racing championships and also make sport and race systems for 911s and M3s.

Their literature says the GT-R system knocks 17.3kg off the weight and adds at least 17hp and 51Nm compared to a standard system on a standard car without retuning.


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

Glad everything worked out for you...David.

Thats a really nice Christmas present,i have installed a few of them now and everybody was so happy....its expensive,yes,but you´ll get a lot for your money,a real quality,high class exhaust system which doesn´t drone inside:clap:

Now the GTR sounds like it should have sounded from the factory...like a true Supersportscar 

Best regards
Alex


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

EvolutionVI said:


> Glad everything worked out for you...David.
> 
> Thats a really nice Christmas present,i have installed a few of them now and everybody was so happy....its expensive,yes,but you´ll get a lot for your money,a real quality,high class exhaust system which doesn´t drone inside:clap:
> 
> ...


Yeah thanks for the intro Alex, I feel this may cost me a lot of money when my loan period expires in 6 months time! :thumbsup:

It doesn't drone as such, but there is still some resonance at about 2500rpm but not as much as the Milltek which didn't bother me anyway.

Did yours get louder as it "coked up"?
I feel this may be one system you could partner with a well made downpipe and not be too loud.

Oh and Merry Christmas to you and the missus!


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

How does it sound compared to the Milltek pipe?


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## Jm-Imports (Feb 12, 2007)

david, these ramps on these pics ?

are they situated on the rubber blocks ?

or have they compramised ?

ie using the arms instead of discs to lift it ?


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## matty32 (Dec 18, 2005)

looks smart, fitting aftermarket exhausts is always nice to hear and feel the difference

bit expensive though as the MINES one is cheaper


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Jm-Imports said:


> david, these ramps on these pics ?
> 
> are they situated on the rubber blocks ?
> 
> ...


The car was lifted on rubber blocks as usual.
Does anyone know if the little metal dome attached to the diffuser below the diff is a jacking point for a trolley jack?
Obviously we did not need to use that yesterday but it would be useful to know.


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## TomTomGTA (May 13, 2008)

Really nice looking David, I'm really toying with the idea of getting one too (need to see that with the missus as she thinks Ben's Y-Pipe is a hair too loud).

When I jacked up my car on the lift we had one arm slightly touching the side sills, we had to add rubber blocks as the discs weren't high enough, so I understand you didn't have that problem?

And yes the little metal dome is the rear support and jacking point, it's actually going to depress the diffuser a bit before touching right on the diff, so my HPC told me to go slowly until it touches.

Great exhaust!
Merry Xmas to all!


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## zeyd (Apr 15, 2008)

Congratulations are "de rigueure" here 


but but but 


we need a smiley with " WE NEED a SOUND CLIP"


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## peterpeter (Feb 24, 2008)

wow its a thing of beauty,
great xmas post david


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## Endless_GTR (Aug 1, 2005)

matty32 said:


> looks smart, fitting aftermarket exhausts is always nice to hear and feel the difference
> 
> bit expensive though as the MINES one is cheaper


Mines is cheaper and sounds really good when mated with a DP and MP but, you loose 20hp.


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

I will have one of those too. Hope my Slovenian connection can ease the pain a bit. Expensive but the best. Got for xmas an Akrapovich jacket. Would have prefered the exhaust....


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

matty32 said:


> bit expensive though as the MINES one is cheaper


you get what you pay for,the mines exhaust is nice,but can´t be compared to the Akrápovic...dont think the mines tailpipes suit the R35,they suit the R34 much better...

Akrápovic : Mines = 1:0


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Standard system with Milltek Y-pipe:
YouTube - Nissan R35 GT-R with Milltek Y-pipe

Akrapovic full system:
YouTube - Auto-Journals R35 GT-R with Akrapovic titanium exhaust

Can you embed Youtube vids here? Couldn't work out how to.


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## Samuel Cross (Aug 2, 2002)

David, you can embed youtube vids like this:











You just need the bit after the '=' bit in the youtube address and a couple of


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Samuel Cross said:


> David, you can embed youtube vids like this:
> 
> You just need the bit after the '=' bit in the youtube address and a couple of


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## alastairw (Sep 19, 2008)

Looks and sounds great... will be interested to see the dyno results before putting in an order


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## Ricky22buk (Oct 1, 2009)

Stunning looking exhaust..... and yes it would be at the very top of my list too for mods to an R35...... Will never be able to spend 5 grand on an exhaust though......

Your a lucky man ..... good luck David

Ricky !!!


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## Mark B (Jul 28, 2004)

Looks good.

Hope it's not running lean, if you have noticed a big jump in power?


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Mark B said:


> Looks good.
> 
> Hope it's not running lean, if you have noticed a big jump in power?


I doubt there has been a big jump in power, but the response is certainly a lot livelier. It feels a lot less restrictive than the stock system, which indeed it is!

As soon as the roads are dry I will do some datalogging and see if Ben/Thistle think the tune needs a tweak.
It will then be interesting to see the power gain simply from swapping the exhaust and any extra from retuning to suit it.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

£400 y-pipe still looks much better value


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

It's always is like that. The best is always too expensive. But still want it!!!


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## martin320 (Aug 29, 2009)

Lovely exhaust but needs to sound like this.YouTube - HKS R35 GT570 Kit by Top Racing (Hyper Zpeed Magazine)


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

martin320 said:


> Lovely exhaust but needs to sound like this.YouTube - HKS R35 GT570 Kit by Top Racing (Hyper Zpeed Magazine)


Not if I want to be able to take it out on track, which is where GT-Rs belong!


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## rblvjenkins (Mar 8, 2008)

EvolutionVI said:


> you get what you pay for,the mines exhaust is nice,but can´t be compared to the Akrápovic...dont think the mines tailpipes suit the R35,they suit the R34 much better...
> 
> Akrápovic : Mines = 1:0


1:1 I think......


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Beautifully made, but the Mine's system follows the stock design so has a 180 degree bend before the silencers that has to hurt gas flow somewhat.

And I believe it is almost as quiet as stock too, which misses a lot of the point in fitting a sports exhaust.


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## angelus666 (Dec 19, 2009)

What would you get for the standard exhaust to help offset the cost....?


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

angelus666 said:


> What would you get for the standard exhaust to help offset the cost....?


I reckon close to 0. Quality really not that great. Plenty of people bought aftermarket systems so availability should be no issue.
If I were you I would anyway hold on to the stock system in case the car fails MOT check.


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

tomgtr said:


> I reckon close to 0. Quality really not that great. Plenty of people bought aftermarket systems so availability should be no issue.
> If I were you I would anyway hold on to the stock system in case the car fails MOT check.


Yup, but I have a lovely Milltek Y-pipe available now! :thumbsup:


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

Have one of those thanks. Once my Akrapovich system is in I will hhave one for sale too but with the 30 GTR's over here I doubt it will be sold instantly.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

tomgtr said:


> If I were you I would anyway hold on to the stock system in case the car fails MOT check.


or get a y-pipe which will pass MOT

400 quid for a ypipe is good value in the spirit of the GTR; 4000 for an exhaust is like spec v madness


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## sumo69 (Mar 31, 2008)

Zed Ed said:


> or get a y-pipe which will pass MOT
> 
> 400 quid for a ypipe is good value in the spirit of the GTR; 4000 for an exhaust is like spec v madness


:clap::clap::thumbsup: 

D


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

Zed Ed said:


> 400 quid for a ypipe is good value in the spirit of the GTR; 4000 for an exhaust is like spec v madness


so the spirit of the GTR is saving money and do everything as cheap as possible :nervous:


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## [email protected] (May 16, 2003)

nice 1 David  looks stunning. i love good Titanium

I will send you new maps before your dyno run with increased boost as requested

Not wanting to steel any thunder from this thread, but for those who feel 5k is little high, the GTC Titan will shortly be coming with same double thick tips

GTC Titan 1: Akrapovich 1 : Mine$ 1

I really don't like mines, loads of our SE Asia customers tell me its about same sound as oem exhaust, little weight saving. virtually same as oem design, no dyno testing etc.. i mean it was released within a couple weeks of the gtr coming out in Japan in Dec 07 !


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## angelus666 (Dec 19, 2009)

tomgtr said:


> I reckon close to 0. Quality really not that great. Plenty of people bought aftermarket systems so availability should be no issue.
> If I were you I would anyway hold on to the stock system in case the car fails MOT check.


So, from what I have read so far (on this very good forum:thumbsupabout Nissan UK charging an absolute fortune for parts, a standard (hardly used) exhaust system would be worth nothing....doesn't seem to add up...? What would a new exhaust system cost from the dealer. 

I have come from an M3 CSL and the second hand market for those parts is very high....to the point of you CSL is almost worth more broken than sold whole. If the parts for the GTR are equally high then just seems a little strange...

BTW I will be buying a GTR in March....so very excited about it! Amazing car to drive....not the 'event' like the CSL is, but epically fast.


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

Oh yeah, your HPC will charge you for the stocksystem like its made of gold. However, selling your stock system for any decent money will be very hard.


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## angelus666 (Dec 19, 2009)

.....so, apologies to go off thread (and repeat), but if the cost of a system is X amount new, then a used system has to be worth a decent proportion of that new one.......hence, would a standard system be worth £1500....so off setting some of that £4k....?


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

You'd be mad to sell off your stock system as no matter what you got for it, you would be better off putting it back on when you sold the car and selling your aftermarket one.


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

And who would buy a stock system from you? Although the stock system is not great, it will be a few years before someone needs it.


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

Maybe someone who needs a stock system as he had a crash.....but thats the only chance of selling the stock system


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## tomgtr (May 24, 2008)

EvolutionVI said:


> Maybe someone who needs a stock system as he had a crash.....but thats the only chance of selling the stock system


 Guess the insurance will cover that. And if the crash is so severe that the exhaust is knackered I think you will have other things to worry about then finding a cheap 2nd hand OEM exhaust system :nervous:


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## waltong (Apr 11, 2008)

Zed Ed said:


> or get a y-pipe which will pass MOT
> 
> 400 quid for a ypipe is good value in the spirit of the GTR; 4000 for an exhaust is like spec v madness


Will the Miltek & GTC y pipes pass the MOT? Is that a deffo? Must be honest, didnt even think that far ahead!


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

waltong said:


> Will the Miltek & GTC y pipes pass the MOT? Is that a deffo? Must be honest, didnt even think that far ahead!


The Akrapovic is just as likely to pass or fail an MOT as the Milltek Y-pipe, they both delete the secondary cats!
It would be simple to refit the stock mid-pipe if needed.


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## Nissan Nige (May 25, 2009)

Waltong, I will get my car's exhaust system tested under current MOT requirements (I own an MOT centre) and see what the MOT testers view on the Milltek 'Y' is so that you can forward plan. But david is right it is very easy to refit the original stock part.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

waltong said:


> Will the Miltek & GTC y pipes pass the MOT? Is that a deffo? Must be honest, didnt even think that far ahead!


I'm told a dealer has already tested it.

Even if it fails, as David says, you can stick the proper one on, do the test, then put your pipe back on. Well trodden ground for modders 

I'm sure the Akro unit is very nice, but its almost 10% of the car's value............ economics difficult to swallow


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Zed Ed said:


> I'm told a dealer has already tested it.
> 
> Even if it fails, as David says, you can stick the proper one on, do the test, then put your pipe back on. Well trodden ground for modders
> 
> I'm sure the Akro unit is very nice, but its almost 10% of the car's value............ economics difficult to swallow


No crazier than spending £9k on the Alcon big brake kit or £5k-£10k on carbon aero. 
At least this mod definitely adds power; how much to be revealed next week!


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

My info is that the only necessary cats for UK MOT regs are the primaries on the downpipes.

That said, it'll certainly be interesting to have somebody actually test a y-pipe setup...


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## EvolutionVI (Sep 6, 2005)

charles charlie said:


> My info is that the only necessary cats for UK MOT regs are the primaries on the downpipes.
> 
> That said, it'll certainly be interesting to have somebody actually test a y-pipe setup...


In germany they only test the electronics of the car,if there is no errorcode in the ecu....then you will be fine....so even if you remove the front cats and put an O² sim to them,which will not give an errorcode,you will be fine(till the guy spots that your running without cats


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## [email protected] (May 16, 2003)

charles charlie said:


> My info is that the only necessary cats for UK MOT regs are the primaries on the downpipes.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

[QUOTETheir literature says the GT-R system knocks 17.3kg off the weight and adds at least 17hp and 51Nm compared to a standard system on a standard car without retuning.[/QUOTE]

So you better go on a diet Mr Yu as what’s the point of having a nice shiny LIGHTWEIGHT exhaust system if the driver is ..............................


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## Kaizen (Oct 10, 2009)

The Akra is a thing of great beauty. I want one, but, I cannot justify it so alas it is unlikely to happen.

But thinking about the emerging evidence, and thinking ahead to the spring when it will be time to make a few changes , I am wondering what the most important exhaust changes are.

Is it, in ranked order of impact:

1. Y Pipe?
2. 180 Bend at the silencer end?
3. Downpipes (i.e. removing all cats when done in conjunction with 1)?

Other things being equal, I would rather leave mine with some cats and get the most that Cobb/GTC/Thistle can out of the car with just 1 and 2. 

What does the considerable dyno evidence say now?


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Yup and that’s a lot of doe for a piece of shiny pipe and Mr Yu was droning on about how much I spent on my Alcons ! (which could and have saved my life) LOL


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## rblvjenkins (Mar 8, 2008)

What about this one from HKS too - looks great and functional too...










To quote from Page 5 here:http://www.tunerlab.jp/hks-superior....html?osCsid=496b05664902c1b08b579cad32b9fb46

_HKS Superior Spec-R Muffler
The HKS Superior Spec-R muffler is a full titanium muffler system for the R35 GT-R. It uses highly-corrosion resistant, lightweight titanium that weighs in a full 10kg lighter than the factory muffler.
This muffler sounds as good as it looks, producing a higher-pitched, racy sound that is only possible from titanium systems.
HKS designed the layout of the exhaust keeping in mind many factors, such as exhaust pressure, temperature, and flow. The design they came up with is truly unique to HKS.
The inside of the 4 tips has a unique slit design as well, which helps to reduce temperatures, and produces a unique sound.
HKS designed this muffler based on 3 principles, performance, quality and appearance. They have truly come up with a very unique and premium muffler for the R35 GT-R._


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

I'll stick with my lovely GTC titan....


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## johnhanton57 (May 2, 2009)

Kaizen said:


> The Akra is a thing of great beauty. I want one, but, I cannot justify it so alas it is unlikely to happen.
> 
> But thinking about the emerging evidence, and thinking ahead to the spring when it will be time to make a few changes , I am wondering what the most important exhaust changes are.
> 
> ...


From my experience to date this is my guesstimate of HP Gains

1. Y Pipe around 15HP
2. Various Cat back systems 0HP
3. Total Decat including dowpipes and Y pipe 50HP
4. GTC Ben/Thistle remap to suit number 3 above 60HP

So 3. and 4. added together will provide you with about 110HP gain but more important a torque gain to give you around 605ft/lbs with a peak of around 620ft/lbs from 2500rpm up to 5500 rpm before it drops off due to fuel at max and boost has to drop off.

IMHO Money better spent on decat and injectors and good map than Cat back exhaust . Then the money you save on replacing the OEM system can be spent on Injectors, upgrade on turbo's, Transmission etc. Certainly might need to replace OEM cat back to reduce noise levels when the beast is decatted as the OEM system is loud when all Cats are removed....very loud!!


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## rblvjenkins (Mar 8, 2008)

charles charlie said:


> I'll stick with my lovely GTC titan....


That's the real beauty - we have such a wide choice of excellent solutions! 



angelus666 said:


> .....so, apologies to go off thread (and repeat), but if the cost of a system is X amount new, then a used system has to be worth a decent proportion of that new one.......hence, would a standard system be worth £1500....so off setting some of that £4k....?


angelus666 - take a look at the GTC Titan at GTC Racing Technology Performance Part Distribution (click on performance parts, then on GTC Titan), and you'll see not only the exhaust Charles Charlie has (at a very reasonable £2200 + VAT), but also the picture below, which is a relatively new stock exhaust. Perhaps you can now see why market dynamics, where there are so many well priced alternatives, dictates that demand for a 2nd hand stock exhaust, which frankly is inferior to pretty much every aftermarket exhaust I've seen, is much closer to zero than £1500.. 

Put simply, no-one wants them!


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## ASIF (Jan 14, 2008)

rblvjenkins said:


> What about this one from HKS too - looks great and functional too...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I really like the exhaust tips on hks anybody know if you can just buy the tips ?


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

ASIF said:


> I really like the exhaust tips on hks anybody know if you can just buy the tips ?


Ben can supply titanium tips that look very much like the HKS ones.


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## ASIF (Jan 14, 2008)

David.Yu said:


> Ben can supply titanium tips that look very much like the HKS ones.


Thank you, your car is looking very good :thumbsup:


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