F1nALMSfan

Alright. I have now had my Joe Z exhaust on the car for the last week, and racked up a good 1000 miles or so in that timeframe. I think I can give a good review so I figured I give this a new thread.

First off, I think this is a phenomenal exhaust system. It sounds awesome, and after the initial shock of having any sound come from the exhaust, I think it’s a great blend of raw loudness down low, but nice quiet sound at cruising speed.

When installing it, it was clear it was well made, the welds looked great, the tubing did as well. However, it wasn’t the easiest piece to install. It appears the drivers side tubing is slightly shorter than the passenger side, resulting in the tips not being even, left to right. It also was a pain to line up the mufflers to make them look evenly spaced, and at first go, I wasn’t able to get them lined up. Going to give it another go later on this week, but currently, the left side is sitting higher than the right.

Well after the tricky install, things got a lot more positive. The initial sound upon hitting the start button was shocking. The car was completely transformed from the stock setup. There was now a very deep, loud growl that bellowed through the garage. Finally the car sounded like it had a V8.

City driving is really where you will have a huge grin on your face. The car really has a nice loud bark around town, with the nice burble effect as you decelerate. The downshifts sound equally mean and there are very few unturned heads as you drive by. I will say that there is a rather loud resonance that comes through the cabin around 2k-3.5k in the cabin. It is only present when the windows are closed, and is something that is almost more felt, than heard. Outside of that, I have nothing but praise for this exhaust. It is louder than my Borla/PPE setup on the ISF, but the sound is definitely better.

Once you head out of town and hit the freeway, you’ll be treated with awesome noise as you clear the onramp at unsafe speeds. The thing is though, once you reach your cruising speed, be it anywhere from 55-80mph, the car quiets right down. The only thing you’ll notice is a slightly louder, subtle rumble of the engine. Now there are instances of drone. When you need to accelerate, and are doing so in any of the high gears (6-8) you’ll hear a loud, droning noise from the car. It’s that lugging of the engine sound, that is present in stock form, but is much, much louder here. This would be to one thing I really dislike of the exhaust. It can be remedied though by downshifting and getting those revs up to pass or accelerate as needed.

As far as added power, I am not sure I feel much difference. I know the car sounds faster, and I have a much better feel for where the engine is in the revs, but it’s not a hugely evident difference in my opinion. I may throw the car on a dyno later this fall, but I don’t have a before value to compare to.

Feel free to ask any questions on something I may have missed on. Posting a new video clip of some acceleration runs I did with the car this afternoon with my friends GoPro.

Vid clips:

GearGrind

what a nice angry sound

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Great review Kevin... Thank You for the honest feedback on the PTS Exhaust...

For the record, you did buy Viperverns used # 1 first system that we personally installed on his RC F

Seen below in pics & dyno videos..
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rc-...and-video.html

As you can see in the install photos all lined up well..

I think if you losen some of the flanges and realign everything you'll be fine..

Enjoy the newly awakened beast..!!

Joe Z

F1nALMSfan

Very true Joe, this was a used exhaust, so the install can't reflect a new out of the box setup. I think you're right with the flanges, I am going to take another shot at getting it all lined up when I put my springs on. Regardless, the slight length difference isn't something that is noticeable unless you are basically looking at the mufflers from below.

Very happy with your exhaust, you guys did a great job on it. Highly recommended.

ModInJapan

iTrader: (5)

Nice!!! Great review and glad you enjoy the system! You're lucky you didn't have to wait for an exhaust!

-Josh (jlee@modinjapan.com)

F1nALMSfan

Yes, enjoying it very much. Really transformed the car. Also happy I was able to grab this one, as the waiting has to be tough!

FCReulB

It sounds so nice!!! Thx for sharing

BPauto

Ohhhh, sounds really good. I love hearing the different tones and rumbles of the Lexus V8's. That exhaust definitely has a good sound to it. I'm sure in person it sounds even more incredible! Congrats on the exhaust!

ATO1175

Is it just me or does the left side of his exhaust sit higher then the right side?

F1nALMSfan

No you're right on with that observation. It's getting fixed this week. I ran out of time to properly align it the night I installed it.

RNM GS3

Sounds great!

Db750

Thank you for the honest and we'll thought out review! I think it sounds fantastic! An exhaust, in my opinion, is one of the only must do mods on the rcf as you really need to let this great engine roar to its full ability.

I can agree with you and the others regarding the fit being a bit off, but it sounds like that will be easily remedied and may be a result of this being a used exhaust. One thing I would recommend is painting, powder coating, or maybe even plastidip (not sure if that would stick) muffler box black and leave the tips chrome. I have seen a few members do it this way, and imo it looks much better. You can't go wrong either way though as she now sounds great!!!

F1nALMSfan

Thanks. I agree this car really needed an exhaust on it to sound like a proper V8, which is really part of why we all love this car.

I think I am going to hold off on blacking out the mufflers until next spring. I figure I will have the time to do a powder coat on them when I have my car in to get CQuartz application. Wonder how well any blacking out will do in the harsh winters and salt we have here.... I guess I will find out.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Just look at how the OEM is done.. Really quick as you can tell..

Honestly a fast rattle can job, of high heat flat BBQ paint is all I used on the face of the muffler..

I have clocked over 100K miles on mine.. No signs of coming off any time soon

~ Joe Z

DanISFast

Okay I'll say it...

Is it just me or does this exhaust look SUPER ghetto? Looks almost like "Juan" at the corner muffler shop slapped some random eBay mufflers and tips together, lined it up as best as he could and welded it together. It just looks goofy as hell from behind. If I pulled up behind you at a stop light I'd probably bust out laughing at the way it looks.

Sorry JoeZ. Just my opinion.