Two issues troubled me with the 370 - like most have said, the appearance of the bumpers and the lack of a quality sound system - and we are talking exhaust noise here as when I am in the car that is the music I prefer. I had some ideas and once committed to buying a 370 in November (having found out just what a good drive it is), I set about the changes I had in mind.
Around the same time ZMANALEX highlighted on here a certain 350/370 parts supplier in California having a sale and that was the company I had bookmarked to get an exhaust from, having previously researched the exhaust options, including a Nismo -which from the reports on the other side of the pond were not so favourable as some were saying it was little different from stock. So on the 16 December the exhaust arrived. No 370 then, but hey just what we needed for our lounge floor
Any guesses?
Here is the answer on the 4.5 inch tips
So picked up the car on News Year Eve (when the garage could release it as was demonstrator registered at the end of September but with just 70 miles on the clock). On the 4 January I took the car along to rgva vehicle branding near Maidstone and this is the result front and rear:
Yes, some matt carbon wrapping arranged with Kieran (a 350 owner and member on here) who was very helpful and I have to hand it to the two guys who did the work on a very cold day and getting the carbon around all the angles and crevices was no easy matter.
The weather fouled up the exhaust fitting plans.... until today.
TGM Sport racing at Fleet are getting used to me coming in for exhaust changes having put the Nismo on the 350 and then took it off and having got to know Tom Gannon there and the high standard of his work I was more than happy to entrust the 370 exhaust change to him - so some pics and to show you what the underside of a 370 looks like
OEM exhaust:
and these rather strange (to me) vibration dampers that fit to the exhaust but stay clear of the body
Once that was all off the new one, in a few more pieces than the stock item was fitted (vibration dampers had not been fitted at this stage)
Started it up and immediately I knew the choice was right - just like the Nismo on the 350 - a pussy when you keep the revs down but once you lean on the loud pedal it comes into its own. At motorway speeds there is no resonance and it seems to be just as I remember the Nismo on the 350. As my car has barely 400 miles on it there is some bedding in to do before I can really open it up and in the meantime let the carbon settle in the exhaust but please do have a look at the clip Stillen have on their site of before and after and you will see why I have got home with one of the biggest grins since I bought the 370.
http://www.stillen.com/product.asp?id=S ... c=PE&m=all
And I see the price is now some $400 dollars more than I paid. My total outlay for the exhaust, shipping and taxes was just over £1200 - the price of a new 350 Nismo here, so God knows what a 370 Nismo would cost. Cheers Alex for the heads up on the Stillen sale - a company who were great to deal with direct I believe I may be the first customer in the UK to have one of these exhausts and I am well happy.
All I need now is some decent weather to really get to know the car, which now makes a 'proper' sports car exhaust noise, rather than one you could barely hear.
Special thanks to Kieran at rgva (01622725272) and Tom at TGM sport racing (01252811972 ) - both highly recommended. In fact Tom is becoming a fan of the 350's, TGM having built up a great reputation with their own racing Hondas and customers race cars so if anyone is in striking distance of Fleet and has any servicing/repair needs - you won't go far wrong there