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03-07-2011, 07:14 PM | #1 |
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Review: Akrapovic slip-on exhaust
Although there are a TON of reviews for the various exhausts on the forum, I thought I would post my thoughts on my new Akrapovic slip-on for those in the market.
Background I have owned 4 after market exhausts over the past 3 years. 3 were for my previous car (an Infiniti G37S coupe) and 1 for the M3 (the Akra). Each time I bought an exhaust, my main motivation was to get a slightly deeper, throatier sound but only a slight increase in volume. Also... NO DRONE Let me say that of the 3 for the Infiniti all 3 were sold. Too much drone, too loud or bad tone. I have found that many people will say there is no drone when, in fact, there is... well, at least to me. People have a wide range of sensitivity to drone in exhausts and I am on the more sensitive side. I spent a LOT of time deciding between the Eisenmann Sport and the Akra. In the end, based on MANY discussions with owners and IND, I decided that the Eisenmann would be a little louder in-cabin than the Akra and that worried me. I do believe the Eisenmann has a slightly better tone but, to me, I wanted something that was less intrusive in-cabin. Havign said that, the Akra has a GREAT tone too!! The IND experience Lately a lot of threads have been popping up exclaiming the virtues of IND. Well, all I can say is that IND (I dealt with Nate) is by far the very best vendor I have EVER dealt with for any car I have owned. I also recently bought a set of gloss black front grilles and side gills from them... same great service as I experienced with the Akra. These guys don't seem to care whether you are spending $200 or $2,000... they give you the same attention. They are fast, professional, responsive, knowledgable, patient... just awesome. I really can't say enough to recommend them. For me, the service they offer is so good that I would likely pay a premium to deal with them (Nate, pretend I didn't actually say that ). First impressions Enough has been said about this that I won't spend much time on it... packaging, quality, welds... perfect. What you would expect when you spend $3K on an exhaust. What struct both me and the guys installing it was how MUCH lighter the exhaust was than OEM. I mean WAY lighter. The OEM exhaust took two guys to safely remove and lower from the car. The Akra could have been lifted by my 3 year old. Quite remarkable actually. Looks are amazing... tips and fitment are perfect... makes the car MUCH nicer outside. Because the tips are adjustable and have a large range of travel, you can have them completely tucked or pushed way out. I really like this flexibility and went pushed out about the same as OEM. Sound Here is my honest impression of the sound...
Given that this is considered one of the quietest exhausts for the M3, I simply cannot understand how you guys with "loud" exhausts can handle driving your cars!! In my parking garage at the office, the Akra reverberates like crazy but is still OK. I can only imagine how insane a Gintani or the like must be. I don't think I could handle it... but that's the great thing about all of this... we can each buy something we like and what suits our own tastes. The system was installed by fellow M3Forum member Mark (M3Nova) at his new, high end auto dealership. Best part of this was being able to spend the install time with a group of guys who loved cars too and me getting to be part of the install. After, he took the car for a drive so I could hear it from the outside (how nice of him ). So, I'm happy with the added sound and changed tone. My wife was NOT happy that I was buying an exhaust. I had it installed today "in stealth mode" . I plan to see if she notices... if she does and hates it, well, it may go up for sale I suspect she won't notice or, if she does, won't find it too bad I hate to let her have that kind of influence but, for those of us with spouses, an unhappy wife is never a good thing Summary Build quality: A+ Looks: A+ Tone and sound quality: A+ Drone: A+ Perceived loudness (i.e. is it too loud): B+ Cold startup (i.e. is it too loud): C DD liveability: B+ (verging on an A-) IND: A+++ WAF: T.B.D. Some pics... ignore the dirty car... it was raining today.
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03-07-2011, 07:39 PM | #3 |
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Wow - what a review
I really appreciate this kind of review. To me droning is also that super loud bass that comes into the car as well. Hereis a question: when it comes into the car can you still hear light music or light talking going on by friends or kids in the back? I will be honest my wife hated that I went through 9 exhausts on my e46 m3 previous to this model. I really do not want nor can afford to play like that again. esp with kids now. This type of review and like others has been helpful. Many thanks for your time on your post. also let me know....
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03-07-2011, 07:47 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
Having said that, the bass is much more pronounced in the car. It is also, however, not so loud that you would have any trouble with a conversation or listening to the radio... not at all. But, it makes the OEM exhaust sound truly sissy I am really sensitive to too much sound and the Akra is the first after market exhaust I think I can live with day-to-day. I'm not sure what my wife will think yet but I really do think she will be OK with it. A lot of guys were suggesting the Eisenmann Sport to me based on sound quality. However, most also said that they thought it was a fuller, more bass rich sound. This set off warning bells for me personally as too bassy is a problem. Nate at IND was suggesting the Eisenmann to me but after I really explained what I wanted, he checked with the guys there and they all agreed the Akra would have less cabin volume due to slightly less bass. I can say that any more bass than the Akra would be too much for me and I would end up selling it. The only thing I don't love about it is how LOUD it is on cold startup. When I'm in my garage, you can hear the vibration in the kitchen. I tried this when my wife wasn't home... it will be interesting to see what she says tomorrow morning when she hears me leave for work
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03-07-2011, 07:51 PM | #6 |
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I'm about to pull the trigger on this very same exhaust so thanks for the very informative review!
If for some reason the WAF fails then please do PM me however I'm sure it'll all be fine.
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03-07-2011, 08:00 PM | #7 |
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Nice review. Send it over to the left coast if your wife doesn't approve! I'm sure you won't have a problem unloading this beauty. Thanks for the great commentary.
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03-07-2011, 08:01 PM | #8 | |
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I'm pretty sure she will be fine with it... well, I'm really hoping she will be fine with it because I it.
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03-07-2011, 09:04 PM | #10 |
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thanks for the write up i am also considering this but the full system the only reason i have not pull the trigger is im scarred it will be to loud for my community in the mornings when i goto work at 6am
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03-07-2011, 09:05 PM | #11 |
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Nice review... definitely one of the more thorough reviews in the forum. The only other thing you may need is more pictures + video... Haha
BTW, may I ask, does ur house have proper insulation? It shouldn't be vibrating ur whole house |
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03-07-2011, 09:16 PM | #12 |
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Well, vibrating may be a little exagerated ... but you can hear the exhaust in the kitchen.
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03-07-2011, 09:33 PM | #13 |
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Thanks again for getting back to me on this. I appreciate your time and insight so that I my be able to make a healthy decision.
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03-07-2011, 10:10 PM | #14 |
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Congratulations on a the Akra Heath!!! I am glad you are pleased with it. If you feel you need a little more sound in the future the Akra Mid-pipe/HFC's make a nice little increase in sound without adding hardly any drone.
P.S. What is the name of Mark's new dealership? Is he going to be renting high-end cars like he mentioned he was interested in doing in a previous post? if he is I may be interested in getting one when I come to Halifax in August. |
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03-07-2011, 10:29 PM | #15 |
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03-07-2011, 11:51 PM | #16 |
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Great review!
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03-07-2011, 11:57 PM | #17 | |
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03-08-2011, 01:25 AM | #20 |
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Great revıew..thanks for takıng the tıme. The more I hear about the Akrapovıc exhaust, the happıer I get that I wıll be placıng my order for the full system when I get back from my current deployment.
Gas-X should help wıth that
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03-08-2011, 01:36 AM | #21 |
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Excellent review!
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03-08-2011, 01:58 AM | #22 |
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Thanks for the great insightful review, made alot of relative statements that makes it much easier to "relate" to. Think this is a big point of discussion, Eisenmann sport or Akra slip for many E9X owners.
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