Just got the Tanabe installed! Sounds great, looks great!

 

Good choice man! I too love the looks and sound

 

Just got the Tanabe installed--it looks and sounds great! Sporty but not too loud and the fit/ finish/ quality is excellent.

 

Looks awesome!

 

I had my Tanabe axle back installed one week ago and I could not be happier with the results! A week prior to that I DIY'd my lower intake box to imitate the F-Sport intake box and can say it definitely sounded deeper during harder acceleration (for those curious about the DIY method), but that difference is now hardly noticeable. On cold start for the first few days the Tanabe is quite loud, but the day after the exhaust was installed I drove about 300 miles and at this point it has quieted down quite a bit. There is minimal cabin drone when on the highway, so if you listen for it you can definitely hear it. I'm a very picky and easily annoyed person when it comes to noises in my car, but I can honestly say the drone is not that bad. The parts are beautiful and the quality really does show. I bought my Tanabe online for $540, (which I think you can still find it for) and it was delivered to my house in only 2 days. I was very hesitant about buying the exhaust, but I wanted something to give the car more personality (I miss my G37 stock intake/exhaust!). I completely recommend going Tanabe (avoiding knock-off brands) if you want a classy look, deeper tones and want to stay friends with your neighbors.

 

I have the HKS hi-power. I feel the drone is noticeable in the car. If you want quiet I would leave out the midpipe as that will add a bit of drone to your car.
Tanabe looks great though, Congrats!!

 

I really do like the sound of the HKS hi-power and may have gone in that direction had this not been my first time adding on aftermarket exhaust. Do you have the hks mid pipe installed as part of your setup? I thought about buying a Megan Racing mid pipe since it comes with a resonator, but it's at least another $400 and I bet it'll add a little more noise than I was looking for. I will say with the Tanabe I feel as though the restriction is more noticeable with the stock mid pipe even more than I could before adding it, or maybe that's just my imagination. Agree with others that the hp gain is fairly mild compared to other aftermarket exhaust setups, but the deep quiet tones make it worth the price you pay.

 

where did you get it for that price?

 

Sport Compact Warehouse

https://sportcompactwarehouse.com/ta...us&Model=IS350

Either I quoted you wrong at $540 (it's actually for $563 now) or the price changed since I ordered a few weeks ago. No issues at all with the seller. Came with all original packaging and no damage to the box.

 

I have had this debate for awhile now. I purchased a megan midpipe for my tanabe axelback and I'm loving it. I wanted a system that would produce sound by not too obnoxious (nice deep growl). When I only had the tanabe axelback, I experience drone around 3k RPM and after 4k RPM the axelback was pretty much not noticeable. After installing my megan midpipe, the axelback sounds more refined. It no longer has drone within the cabin. You can still hear the axelback with the windows up but it seems quieter (probably because there is no longer any drone.). If I roll my windows down, you definitely hear the system from 0-6-7k RPM. Basically, a midpipe will bring more exhaust note from your tanabe axelback than just the axelback alone.

 

This is the reason why I've haven't got my Tanabe. I don't want it to drone like my old honda's. I guess I enjoy the quietness too much now that I'm older.

 

I wouldn't say tanabe's drone is anywhere near a honda's haha. But i understand, if tanabe is too loud/drone for you, exhaust mods aren't your thing

 

On a scale of 1-10 how bad is the drone? Lol

 

The only time that it seemed really "droney" to me is going up steep hills (I live in sf) 3rd or 4th gear at 2800 rpm. Can't really rate it because I haven't had any other cars with mods. Friend has a ISF with a JoeZ exhaust. JoeZ drone would be like a 5, tanbe is a 3. There is no other drone besides that specific gear/rpm. I don't think at higher RPM's there is a difference from stock. That drone completely goes away once you get a midpipe (megan for my experience), however your external sound of the exhaust increases.

Scale of 1-10 for tanabe axelback for loudness in cabin/windows up: 3
Scale of 1-10 for tanbe axelback + megan midpipe for loudness in cabin/windows up: 4-5

Scale of 1-10 for tanabe axelback for loudness in cabin/windows down: 4
Scale of 1-10 for tanabe axelback + megan midpipe: 6-7

There were times I couldn't even tell if I was hearing my tanabe exhaust, the drone was the only thing letting me know it was haha. Cold start with just tanabe axelback was pretty loud, but after it warmed up it was back to stock sounding to be honest. Tanabe feels great at 3-4k RPM. 1-3k RPM is barley noticeable (besides a light "humm" that you get used to) in my opinion. If you don't want it to make noise, you can easily alter your driving style so that you wont hear it. Had some friends sit in the car without telling them I had the axelback, they pretty much said they knew this isn't regular IS250 sound but weren't confident enough to say I had an aftermarket exhaust. I think tanabe is pretty popular so if you don't like it, I'm sure someone on classifieds would take it off your hands for a little less than what you paid for. Or I'd suggest buying used so it doesn't feel like a big purchase. The megan midpipe gives the tanabe axelback a more clean and refined sound (no drone at all besides some uphill), it makes it sound louder than just the tanabe from the outside.

Let me know if you have any further questions, the difference is still fresh in my mind because I just added the Megan mid lol

 

I got this exact combo atm (invidia midpipe/Tanabe axle back) with a k&n typhoon intake, and I would venture to say it's pretty loud. I am almost 30 years old so maybe that's part of the reason why I think it's kind of loud. With my particular combo there is most definitely drone at freeway speeds but not at all unbearable, just annoying sometimes(especially when tired).

Debating to sell my midpipe or modify it and add two vibrant resonators from Amazon. I am debating the modify option heavily because I don't have my stock midpipe.. lol