📓 Journals Adding Lightness

[Eagle7]

Thanks for being so diligent about sharing your journey of weight savings and dyno results along the way! I'm debating between the GRP and Aerie titanium cat back exhaust systems and looking forward to reading about your upcoming dyno results.

A few questions: 1) Does the Aerie v2 exhaust include a titanium third cat delete? 2) Is it compatible with the Millek exhaust valve controller? 3) Does it reuse the OEM exhaust tips?

It looks like the Aerie system is a little lighter than the GRP system, was there anything else that swayed your decision to go with them?

It does come with the 3rd cat delete, although I didn't need it since I'm keeping my 3rd cat. I don't know about the Miltek valve controller. It works with the factory valve controller though. Yes it can reuse the factory tips, which is what I did so it would look stock.

Because I've been spending money with Aerie, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I just finished up getting everything done to the car, and it's all clean and shiny. The weather is beautiful right now, and I'm just finishing up lunch, so in the next couple of hours I'll have some pics to show and a road test driving impression of the Aerie exhaust.

 

[Eagle7]

Okay. FINALLY got some good weather (great actually). Got some decent shots of the car. This is with the new graphics theme. I first worked this idea out on my computer, as a 3D render:

Here's how it actually turned out on the car:

The @Aerie Titanium Exhaust

It's boomy at 2k rpm and under, but above that it sounds great. This is in Tour mode. It's not quite resonance boomy, but it's right on the edge. I believe I know how to fix that though. I had this same sound issue on my Alfa when I installed a cat-back exhaust. It turned out the end of the exhaust pipes barely went into the exhaust tips, and as a result, the exhaust was coming out INTO the inside back of the car, instead of out behind the car, if that makes sense. This was causing the back of the car to resonate the exhaust frequencies. The solution was to get a couple of 4 inch exhaust pipe extenders for the ends of the exhaust pipes, so the exhaust was coming out outside, behind the rear body panel instead of into the inside of it. That solved the problem completely at all rpms.

I looked when I got home and sure enough, the exhaust pipes of the Aerie exhaust barely extend into the far back of the exhaust tips, so I suspect that's the issue (this may also be why the Aerie installed so easily). I'm going to get at least a 3", maybe a 4" extension for both sides and see if that solves the boom.

The exhaust sounds gnarly at all rpms in Sport Mode. As far as driving feel, I only drove it for a little bit, but it feels like it has a bit more torque. It's going to be interesting to see what the dyno says.

EDIT: after taking some measurements, I think a 2" extension would do the trick. The pipe is just barely in the back of the exhaust tip. I also still have the issue with the pipes being low instead of in the middle. I tried every kind of adjustment I can think of, and I don't know what it would take to fix this, other than having the pipe cut and re-welded to aim it higher. Is anybody else's exhaust pipes this low?

 

[NorCalEmira]

Okay. FINALLY got some good weather (great actually). Got some decent shots of the car. This is with the new graphics theme. I first worked this idea out on my computer, as a 3D render:

View attachment 50448
View attachment 50449

Here's how it actually turned out on the car:

View attachment 50450
View attachment 50451
View attachment 50452
View attachment 50453

The @Aerie Titanium Exhaust

It's boomy at 2k rpm and under, but above that it sounds great. This is in Tour mode. It's not quite resonance boomy, but it's right on the edge. I believe I know how to fix that though. I had this same sound issue on my Alfa when I installed a cat-back exhaust. It turned out the end of the exhaust pipes barely went into the exhaust tips, and as a result, the exhaust was coming out INTO the inside back of the car, instead of out behind the car, if that makes sense. This was causing the back of the car to resonate the exhaust frequencies. The solution was to get a couple of 4 inch exhaust pipe extenders for the ends of the exhaust pipes, so the exhaust was coming out outside, behind the rear body panel instead of into the inside of it. That solved the problem completely at all rpms.

I looked when I got home and sure enough, the exhaust pipes of the Aerie exhaust barely extend into the far back of the exhaust tips, so I suspect that's the issue (this may also be why the Aerie installed so easily). I'm going to get at least a 3", maybe a 4" extension for both sides and see if that solves the boom.

The exhaust sounds gnarly at all rpms in Sport Mode. As far as driving feel, I only drove it for a little bit, but it feels like it has a bit more torque. It's going to be interesting to see what the dyno says.

Looks great, nice job!

 

[NorCalEmira]

It does come with the 3rd cat delete, although I didn't need it since I'm keeping my 3rd cat. I don't know about the Miltek valve controller. It works with the factory valve controller though. Yes it can reuse the factory tips, which is what I did so it would look stock.

Because I've been spending money with Aerie, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I just finished up getting everything done to the car, and it's all clean and shiny. The weather is beautiful right now, and I'm just finishing up lunch, so in the next couple of hours I'll have some pics to show and a road test driving impression of the Aerie exhaust.

Thanks for confirming!

 

[scc.131.fe]

@Eagle7 those wheels look A-MAZING, especially with the yellow centers.

If that style wasn't as close to our Vantage wheels, I would definitely love to have those on my Nimbus.

 

[Time2Fly]

Are you still going to add the pinstripe to the splitter? After you install the Aerie OEM and extended ones?

 

[Eagle7]

@Eagle7 those wheels look A-MAZING, especially with the yellow centers.

If that style wasn't as close to our Vantage wheels, I would definitely love to have those on my Nimbus.

View attachment 50531

These would look great on a Nimbus. They're much sleeker than the ones on your Aston.

I originally was looking for a 5 spoke version of these that were shown on the Evija:

The closest I was able to find was from an Italian company for Italian cars (but they were mondo expensive):

I asked @Aerie if they could make a variation on those, except I didn't want the spokes going out over the edge of the rim like that, and of course they had to fit the Emira's sizes and offsets. This is what they came up with:

I think they did a terrific job. They actually look better in person than in photos.

I chose the silver finish because I have DV, but they'll put any kind of color finish on it you want. The Lotus factory wheels look good, but to me these take it to the next level.

 

[Eagle7]

Are you still going to add the pinstripe to the splitter? After you install the Aerie OEM and extended ones?

I'm not sure yet on the rear of the car. I've tried all kinds of ideas, but nothing quite works. The back of the Emira is already quite distinctive as-is. Unless I can come up with something I really like, I'll just leave it alone.

 

[ADC]

Okay. FINALLY got some good weather (great actually). Got some decent shots of the car. This is with the new graphics theme. I first worked this idea out on my computer, as a 3D render:

View attachment 50448
View attachment 50449

Here's how it actually turned out on the car:

View attachment 50450
View attachment 50451
View attachment 50452
View attachment 50453

The @Aerie Titanium Exhaust

It's boomy at 2k rpm and under, but above that it sounds great. This is in Tour mode. It's not quite resonance boomy, but it's right on the edge. I believe I know how to fix that though. I had this same sound issue on my Alfa when I installed a cat-back exhaust. It turned out the end of the exhaust pipes barely went into the exhaust tips, and as a result, the exhaust was coming out INTO the inside back of the car, instead of out behind the car, if that makes sense. This was causing the back of the car to resonate the exhaust frequencies. The solution was to get a couple of 4 inch exhaust pipe extenders for the ends of the exhaust pipes, so the exhaust was coming out outside, behind the rear body panel instead of into the inside of it. That solved the problem completely at all rpms.

I looked when I got home and sure enough, the exhaust pipes of the Aerie exhaust barely extend into the far back of the exhaust tips, so I suspect that's the issue (this may also be why the Aerie installed so easily). I'm going to get at least a 3", maybe a 4" extension for both sides and see if that solves the boom.

The exhaust sounds gnarly at all rpms in Sport Mode. As far as driving feel, I only drove it for a little bit, but it feels like it has a bit more torque. It's going to be interesting to see what the dyno says.

EDIT: after taking some measurements, I think a 2" extension would do the trick. The pipe is just barely in the back of the exhaust tip. I also still have the issue with the pipes being low instead of in the middle. I tried every kind of adjustment I can think of, and I don't know what it would take to fix this, other than having the pipe cut and re-welded to aim it higher. Is anybody else's exhaust pipes this low?

View attachment 50547

This looks fantastic, Eagle. Very tasteful. Great job.

I hope you can resolve the booming... if your simple tweak is effective, maybe Aerie can include extensions with / incorporate them into version 3 of their back box

 

[freefall_junkie]

Yup, looking superb, and Colin Chapman would definitely approve of the weight loss I'll be interested to see if you get any gains on the dyno from the Aerie back box. The standard silencer is pretty much straight through with the valve open so I suspect the scope for improvement is limited . The 3rd cat is much more restrictive, but I totally get you not wanting to go down that route. I have been living with a decat for over a year now. It sounds fantastic when you are in the mood, but it is very loud at high revs. Everyone here seems to rave about it but I'm actually surprised some people don't find the decat to be too much. Maybe I'm getting old! A day with a loan Emira last week while mine was at the dealer reminded me that the standard system sounds very good and I am now wondering if I should do a de-decat

 

[Steve24]

I tend to agree with the above.
It’s a tough one. I’m coming from a VERY loud car which I loved the sound of, but I actually think the standard Emira box sounds pretty good as is.
The only reason I’m considering doing anything with the exhaust etc is weight saving (and perhaps some power gain ). I don’t really have any interest in it being louder than it is.

 

[Eagle7]

I went to a local auto parts store, and got a couple of these to put on the ends of the exhaust pipes.

Here's how it looked before I put them on:

And here's the after picture.

Doesn't look too bad, and It works. It completely got rid of the boomy sound when starting the car and just letting it idle. It knocked out about 80% of the boom while out on the road. The only time I hear it is when the rpm is around 2k, and I press the gas pedal while in the same gear I was cruising in. If I downshift to get the rpm up above 2k, it's not too bad. This is in Tour mode too. Holding at a consistent speed it's much better than it was. It has a throaty, deep tone that kind of reminds me of a Borla.

I'm going to live with it for a few days, then get a dyno run to see what the results are. I'm thinking I may just add some sound deadening mat to the firewall and shelf behind the seats. That would take care of the road noise from the tires, and any boominess from the exhaust. This car isn't like the old days, where a sports car was raw with minimal comforts. This one is a more refined model in every way, and at my age, I just don't feel like putting up with excess roar. This would have been cool and desirable when I was younger, but not anymore.

I've thought about going through various areas and trying to sound dampen them, but I'll be 73 in a few months and crawling around under the car, even with it up on the Quickjack just gets to be a bit much. The Quickjack units also weigh 100 lbs each, so moving those around isn't exactly a convenient task either. I'm gettin' old.

I just need to take a look at whoever it was that did all that dampening for their KEF system, and maybe get some tips on how to just do the firewall and shelf. I've got the mat, just need to look at how to remove the carpeting back there.

 

[virtualmacho]

This is really interesting. Are the Aerie exhaust tips longer than OEM ?

 

[Eagle7]

This is really interesting. Are the Aerie exhaust tips longer than OEM ?

I didn't actually measure them, but visually they look just a slight bit shorter, like maybe a 1/4 inch. The factory exhaust was a bear to get out, and it was a struggle to get the exhaust pipes to clear the bolted in exhaust tips. I was shocked when the Aerie just slid right in without any clearance issues at all.

 

[virtualmacho]

I didn't actually measure them, but visually they look just a slight bit shorter, like maybe a 1/4 inch. The factory exhaust was a bear to get out, and it was a struggle to get the exhaust pipes to clear the bolted in exhaust tips. I was shocked when the Aerie just slid right in without any clearance issues at all.

I should have been specific. I meant the length of the tips attached to the bumper.

 

[Shahaf2911]

View attachment 50453

May I ask where you got the Lotus stickers with the half British flag from ? They look really nice and subtle!
And do they happen to match the yellow calipers/logo ?
Btw amazing work on the car and in the forum!

 

[Eagle7]

I should have been specific. I meant the length of the tips attached to the bumper.

Those are the factory tips. I didn't use the titanium ones from Aerie because I wanted the car to still look stock back there.

 

[Eagle7]

May I ask where you got the Lotus stickers with the half British flag from ? They look really nice and subtle!
And do they happen to match the yellow calipers/logo ?
Btw amazing work on the car and in the forum!

Thank you!

I designed and created the artwork myself, and had a vehicle graphics shop print them out for me. I wanted the lettering to appear more gold than the Lotus logo yellow, but that's an easy change if someone wanted the lettering to match the logo yellow.

Here's the file with the lettering in Lotus logo yellow. It's a pdf file so it will print at any size if you want it bigger or smaller. You'll have to take it to a vehicle graphics shop and get it printed out on the kind of vinyl that's for vehicles so it's durable.

 

[virtualmacho]

Those are the factory tips. I didn't use the titanium ones from Aerie because I wanted the car to still look stock back there.

Yes, I recall you saying that. Was just wondering if the Aerie tips are longer than the Lotus OEM tips to compensate for the shorter (?) pipes on the silencer. Anyways, you seem to have found a nice discreet workaround !

 

[Eagle7]

The Aerie tips are titanium and look really nice if you want that look on the car. They're about 6 inches long and definitely have that aftermarket tuner look. They're very light weight too.