I’m not affiliated with any of the vendors listed in this post. I am putting their names and contact information because I had such an EXCELLENT experience with them and want to share as much info as possible.
I’ll start the story by saying that I live in upstate NY. (It’s important to the story, I promise). On May 1st there was a Boston meet and greet at ACS for a Dyno day. I decided to go (even though it was a 3 hour drive for me) to see what kind of modifications others had done to their cars. While I was there I met the Boston crew, and instantly fell in love with the Kellners on Andre’s (M Power) car. I would have really liked to hear the Tubi that was there, but the guy was leaving just as I was walking around looking at cars, and he really didn’t “get on it” when he left. So I decide there and then that an exhaust upgrade was in my future. I liked the powerful sound of the Kellners, but I also like the fact that when not under load, it was as quiet as stock. (Chris [BostonRocket] drove by a little girl on a bike and didn’t knock her over).
Fast-forward a couple of days. When I get back from the Boston day, there was a posting on both this board and Roadfly about Rogue Engineering wanting an E39 test platform for the new Miltek exhaust. I contacted Ben Liaw and offered my car up. I didn’t expect to get accepted as I was replying a good 3 days after the posting, but luckily for me no one else had responded. A request of theirs though was that I get a before and after Dyno pull to determine if there were any performance gains or losses. At this point I’m kicking myself for not doing a pull in Boston, but I begin looking for a speed shop. While searching for a speed shop that was at least on the way to NJ, I came across Ray Z Engineering. I emailed Ray and he’s more than happy to work with me on the Dyno information. I emailed both Ben at Rogue Engineering and Ray at Ray Z Engineering and set up the day for May 21st.
I leave my house at 6:30am May 21st. I drive about 1.5 hours south to Poughkeepsie to Ray’s shop. I am a little worried when I drive up and see only “import” style cars. I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. As he puts my car on the Dyno I actually take notice of the cars that are in his shop. He has a relatively new Honda S2000 that has a “supercharged” sticker on the side. Come to find out he’s in the process of making this car have like 500 HP at the rear wheel. He is waiting to put the rear differential in. Let me tell you I was amazed. I proceeded to do about 5 pulls (maybe a little more) to establish a baseline data run. I was in and out in a little over an hour. The experience left a smile on my face I was treated professionally and the entire interaction was excellent.
I left Ray’s shop and continued on down to Ho Ho Kus, NJ to Ben’s shop. When I pull up they have a Mini Cooper on the lift and they (Ben and Mark) were installing a rear sway bar. The entire *** end of the cooper was off. They were done shortly there after and I pulled my car into the shop. We proceeded to put it on the lift and remove the stock exhaust system. It must have weighed 2-300 lbs easily. It took 4 people to man handle it. Once it was removed from the car they laid the new exhaust on top of it to see how it would line up. I was quickly alarmed to see that the Miltek system removed the resonators. My friend (who doesn’t have to drive my car daily) was all excited. “Dude, this is going to rock,” he says to me. I am not happy. I was looking for a little bit more aggressive sound but did not want my 70K car sounding like NASCAR. At the time I did recall that the Tubi system also has an included X-Pipe, but all I can think of is what the Kellners sounds like with the supersprint X-Pipe. At this point I’m VERY concerned. My wife had hesitation about the exhaust because I leave for work at 5:30am and she actually cares what our neighbors think J. All four of us pick up the exhaust and walk it next door to a machine shop. The “neighbor” has a very nice band saw that makes quick AND accurate cuts. 10 minutes later the cat section of the pipes are removed and the remaining behemoth of exhaust pipe was taken back to the shop.
We proceed to fit up the exhaust. It takes quite a bit more time than anticipated, as it seems as though the product is a tiny it tweaked. The cans were rubbing the valence and we ended up taking it off for the remainder of the install process.
The car is lowered, and started with the new exhaust on it. LOW. The exhaust is no louder than stock, but I tell you what, it was LOW. Low and rumbly like a 400hp V8 should be. I drove out of the parking lot and reveled in the V8 goodness. There is a little bit of gurgling/pop on deceleration but it’s neither excessive nor annoying. At highway speeds there is ZERO cabin noise. I almost think that it’s quieter under no load. With that being said, the minute you stomp on it, you quickly realize that it isn’t a stock exhaust. It by no means is as loud as the Kellners, but its low and mean. A bit more civilized. (At least of what I can remember of Andre’s car). There is a drone though. It’s at about 1700 RPM. It is exaggerated by being under load and in the wrong gear, like going up a hill @ 55mph in 6th. Down shifting drops the cabin noise instantly.
That evening I end up back at Ray’s shop for the after Dyno. The run is a little bit louder, but the big change is the note / tone of the exhaust. Everything is just lower now. I perform a couple of runs and end up picking up 4 HP. The corresponding torque values do not increase, but this was expected with the introduction of a free flowing exhaust.
All in all, I must say that I was VERY impressed with the way I was treated and the entire day. Ray at Ray Z Engineering, and Ben at Rogue Engineering were awesome, and if anybody needs Dyno / Tuning in Poughkeepsie or specialty parts in NJ I can’t recommend them enough. I am currently charging the battery on my digital camera in efforts for a video / sound file for those of you who want one, and will scan in the Dyno sheet as soon as I get a chance.
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Re: Miltek Exhaust Installed - First Impressions
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