exhaust and tuning?

[RangerJeff]

Hey guys. I’m not sure if this has been posted or not, but if it has I couldn’t find it. I was curious as to whether or not to go with a catless downpipe with my exhaust. I have been considering an exhaust system since I got the truck. I know a lot of people gripe about the “Honda fart can sound” and that’s not necessarily what I’m after either. I’m looking for a modest sound but with a little more tone than what comes stock. I think I’m going with manga flow but I was wondering about the downpipe cat, and whether or not I would need to tune. I would like a tune but I’m not wanting to risk any warranty issues, so mainly my question is would the exhaust cause a lean burn condition if I didn’t change any ECU mapping or does the ECU adjust on the fly at all? Also considering an intake from aFe in the long haul.

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[treimche]

I would guess the factory ECU can compensate some for the extra exhaust flow, but to be 100% safe you would want a tune as well. There's a LOT of power and torque to be had with just a tune and no other mods. 5 Star Tuning has some information about how small the exhaust passage through the stock muffler is, and it is quite surprising. I also saw a video from MBRP of their exhaust for the Ranger (I believe it was posted here on the forum) and it sounded nice, without the fart can sounds or annoying crackling/popping.

 

[Rp930]

The O2 sensor will for a rich or lean mixture. If it can’t maintain the correct mixture the check engine light will illuminate.

 

[RangerJeff]

I would guess the factory ECU can compensate some for the extra exhaust flow, but to be 100% safe you would want a tune as well. There's a LOT of power and torque to be had with just a tune and no other mods. 5 Star Tuning has some information about how small the exhaust passage through the stock muffler is, and it is quite surprising. I also saw a video from MBRP of their exhaust for the Ranger (I believe it was posted here on the forum) and it sounded nice, without the fart can sounds or annoying crackling/popping.

The only concern I gave with tuning is voiding warranty. I want to but I’m a little Leery about it

 

[Doc]

Cat less down pipe will void it for sure..
Regards

 

[Darek661]

I have the aFe catless downpipe and I love I've it. However there are some things you should consider beforehand. I ran mine for about a week and will throw a check engine light as it comes, you'll need to use a spark plug non-fouler to keep it from throwing the code, but after you put the non-fouler on, it's a non issue so I would definitely install it while it's out of the truck. Another thing to consider is that it has no heat shield on it, it's not really a problem but something to point out. I 25 ft of black header wrap to wrap around it and keep the heat in the downpipe and flowing out rather than heating up my floor boards. Finally, and most importantly for you from what I gather from your post is sound. I'm telling you now, it is LOUD! It flows ridiculously well but with that extra flow comes a lot of sound, I put a 26" glasspack and a 14" resonator and it's still quite loud but it finally sounds good to me now. Before installing the glasspack, I only had a resonator and it sounded absolutely terrible at wide open throttle, like a wet farting trombone bad. But again, after putting the glasspack and larger resonator on, it sounds pretty damn amazing to me. Just some points to consider. Would I go to a catted pipe if I were doing it again? Honestly I'm not sure I would, the amount of exhaust flow is absolutely night and day, not to mention I can actually hear my turbo now. I did aFe charge pipes along with the catless downpipe and I love the combination, I'd like to do a custom airbox and filter setup now to get some good intake growl because the stock airbox is just way too quiet for my liking, but that's just me, the stock airbox flows just fine. It's also worth mentioning that I'm tuned using an SCT BDX Rev-X tuner and I'm tuned by Unleashed Tuning. But in all honesty, you'd be alright without a tune if you're just looking for sound and flow, your ECU will correct for flow and fuel differences and change your mixture to rich or lean depending on demand seen by all of your sensors.

 

[treimche]

I have the aFe catless downpipe and I love I've it. However there are some things you should consider beforehand. I ran mine for about a week and will throw a check engine light as it comes, you'll need to use a spark plug non-fouler to keep it from throwing the code, but after you put the non-fouler on, it's a non issue so I would definitely install it while it's out of the truck. Another thing to consider is that it has no heat shield on it, it's not really a problem but something to point out. I 25 ft of black header wrap to wrap around it and keep the heat in the downpipe and flowing out rather than heating up my floor boards. Finally, and most importantly for you from what I gather from your post is sound. I'm telling you now, it is LOUD! It flows ridiculously well but with that extra flow comes a lot of sound, I put a 26" glasspack and a 14" resonator and it's still quite loud but it finally sounds good to me now. Before installing the glasspack, I only had a resonator and it sounded absolutely terrible at wide open throttle, like a wet farting trombone bad. But again, after putting the glasspack and larger resonator on, it sounds pretty damn amazing to me. Just some points to consider. Would I go to a catted pipe if I were doing it again? Honestly I'm not sure I would, the amount of exhaust flow is absolutely night and day, not to mention I can actually hear my turbo now. I did aFe charge pipes along with the catless downpipe and I love the combination, I'd like to do a custom airbox and filter setup now to get some good intake growl because the stock airbox is just way too quiet for my liking, but that's just me, the stock airbox flows just fine. It's also worth mentioning that I'm tuned using an SCT BDX Rev-X tuner and I'm tuned by Unleashed Tuning. But in all honesty, you'd be alright without a tune if you're just looking for sound and flow, your ECU will correct for flow and fuel differences and change your mixture to rich or lean depending on demand seen by all of your sensors.

Are you running the stock cat back exhaust or is it all just straight pipe with your glass pack and resonator?

 

[Darek661]

Are you running the stock cat back exhaust or is it all just straight pipe with your glass pack and resonator?

The only stock part of the exhaust is the flex pipe from the downpipe to the glasspack. It's about 1 foot long total if that. Just past the bracket that mounts the midpipe to the trans brace is where I cut to mate the glasspack back. I'll take so pictures for you if you'd like. Honestly, with the catless downpipe, it goes from 3" to the factory size of 2.75" anyways so unless you cut the mating end to make it full 3", I don't see a performance gain there. The extra 1/4" shouldn't make that big of a difference but I'm not 100% sure of this since I haven't had it on the Dyno yet to see what I've picked up as far as gains over factory. That said, I know for a fact that doing the factory muffler delete alone will pick up some ponies by itself due to the massive restriction of the muffler. I ended up reusing the factory resonator at the end of my exhaust setup because I like the exit angle and the resonator is way higher quality than the cheap resonator I originally had on. The difference in sound is absolutely insane compared to before, the factory resonator is a very well built piece, and seeing as how it's 2.75" inlet to 3" outlet, it works perfectly in my setup. The only thing I need to do now is reposition the hanger because it sits a little lower than my original resonator setup and I'd like to tuck it up under the truck a little more. I bent the factory hanger on the resonator to match the hanger on the frame sitting just before the side exit and other than hanging a little low, it works flawlessly and holds everything in place very well.

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