The exhaust was a big concern to me from the first time I saw my Toyota Altezza. When purchasing used JDM sports cars, it is common to find loud exhaust systems on these cars. Although loud sounds do give the impression that the car is fast, I do not think I could not live with one. My first experience with loud exhaust was when my Toyota Celica was sent for repairs and was loaned a Celica with straight pipe exhaust. I always envied other Celicas' loud mufflers as mine was silent but soon, I changed my mind. That loud Celica gave me constant headaches unless I shift gears under 3000 rpm. The Altezza's muffler was loud during engine start but when driving inside, the sound was not that loud. Surprisingly, the Altezza's soundproofing is very good and I was able to notice that the current exhaust note is not only loud but also sounded weird. During the previous check-up, I learned that the muffler's inner filter was most probably, disintegrated and that was what caused the weird note. I decided to purchase a used muffler that is loud as a replacement. I found a used, FGK muffler, made for Altezzas that was famous for releasing some power but not loud. Just what I needed for me and my wife who does not like loud cars.
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| FGK Muffler |
As this is just a simple exhaust muffler change, I brought my Altezza to an exhaust shop nearby. I was excited and expected a quick job when I arrived but something was wrong. At the shop, I realized that the previous owner could have altered the exhaust system and made it into a Frankenstein system. There are 4 pieces in the Altezza exhaust system which are the exhaust manifold, downpipe, mid-pipe, and muffler. The problem lies with in between the mid pipe and the muffler. Toyota uses a male and female design flange on its exhaust system but the exhaust shop noticed the flange of my car was the general, flat kind. It is safe to say that the previous owner modified the flange to fit a muffler that was not made for Altezzas. This made the muffler I bought, useless because it had a female flange and now needs modification to fit. I also realized that the position of the flange has been altered so it is now further away from the muffler. The only way for the FGK muffler to fit is to cut the Toyota flange and weld it with the current flange. Thanks to the previous owner's brilliant mod, a simple, 15 minutes job became a 45 minutes job. When it was finally done, I had another surprise. The weird noise was replaced with a nicer, bassy sound, which I like but the volume is the same as before.
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| Old Muffler |
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| Installed FGK Muffler, the ugly way |
It did not make sense why my Altezza's exhaust is still loud when FGK mufflers are supposed to be quiet. I looked at the exhaust system again and then it strikes me. The mid-pipe was also part of the previous owner's Frankenstein system. Original Altezza mid-pipe has 2 catalytic converters but now it is a straight pipe instead. That increases the sound but decreases torque and so, I knew what had to be done. I sourced for a used, original mid-pipe and since no one wants original parts, I got it for a cheap price. I went to the same exhaust shop and again, it requires some modification to fit the mid-pipe. The flange connecting to the downpipe can join the mid-pipe as both are original parts but the flange connecting to the muffler needs to be replaced with a flat flange. The mod was a success because the car is very quiet as expected. I kept the flange and decided to give it to the new owner when I sell the Altezza. The new owner could use the original flange if he/she decides to change mufflers that is made for Altezzas. I was exhausted with all these works, just to get a quieter ride. This made me hate car owners who would do bad mods, to save a little money. Exhaust mods are a nightmare for me now. I am happy I now, have a quieter ride and could enjoy the car more.
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| Original Mid-Pipe |
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| Frankenstein Mid-Pipe |
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