Topic

The Best Exhaust for the MGF / TF (for me) was the question I set out to find an answer to.

Warning this is a long post so if you only have a minute or two you might want to read it another day.

The standard MGF/TF exhausts were designed to meet low ‘drive by noise level’ regulations and as such did a great job. The only drawback is that for a lot of people, myself included, it just doesn’t make the F/TF sound like a real sports car should.

Before I go any further I think I should explain that by ‘best exhaust’ I was concentrating on the sound; in everyday use, characteristics, tone and volume and on how the system looked. The performance enhancement of the exhausts on offer have been tested in rolling road sessions and the results of some of these comparative test can be found by doing a quick google search.
Most of the exhausts on offer provide some performance gains but the difference will only be an extra couple of bhp, which wasn’t a priority to me and so formed no part of my overall consideration.

In a previous thread from several months ago (New Toyosport new MOT) I gave the reasoning behind my choice to buy a Toyosport to replace the standard exhaust, which went like this;

A.) I don't want something too loud, I do like my neighbours and leave home at silly o'clock in the mornings so didn't want to alienate them. This ruled out nearly all TT's

B.) Having sat behind some F/TF's droning loudly, I did not want to end up with a headache on long journeys, so it had to be something from the quieter camp.

C.) Once described as getting wasps in two empty tin cans and sticking them over your ears, I definitely did not want anything with a high pitched rasp, so that ruled out Miltek.

D.) As I only originally paid £850 for my car I was not prepared to pay almost half that again for the Daytona, so that went also, plus to be honest it sounded nice but didn't really do much for me personally.

E.) Toyosport, had some mixed reviews sounded good when I had heard them and there was an auction on ebay for one which I eventually won for £147. Choice now made.


I must state that I have not owned or even driven an F/TF fitted with a Trevor Taylor exhaust or a Miltek
However, I have been to enough meets now to know that the rasping Miltek which also drones loudly was not one for me. I do appreciate that the rasping sound is reminiscent of the old racing MG’s and in small doses is interesting and quite enjoyable.

The Trevor Taylor – TT exhausts are straight through designs and are generally the loudest exhausts on the market. This alone rules them out for me as I wanted something that would not upset the neighbours. This is not to say I do not like them, in fact one of the best, if not the best sounding exhausts I have ever heard was from a TT Mk4 fitted to MeetwithDamien’s Vintage Racing style TF.

The other thing with these two makes are the number of posts you find when people say the Miltek/TT is too loud and my wife/partner can’t stand it anymore so I am selling it to get a quieter one.

So on to the exhausts I have owned and used.

1) Standard Exhaust. As mentioned above, very civilised but just too quiet. I wanted my car to sound more sporting. Going off topic for just a minute, if you do want to add a sporting sound to your car, which is only noisier than standard when you’re accelerating hard then you could consider just fitting a K&N 57i or other quality cold air induction kit. These kits cost less than a new exhaust, the grin factor is very high along with giving you the best increase in bhp / £.
Back to the standard exhaust, it is easy to live with just a bit boring.

The looks; nice oval pipe finishers which are quite stylish but a bit on the small side.




2) The Toyosport. After you first install a new Stainless Steel exhaust you will find that it takes a few weeks to really settle in. The sound changes over time and you also become accustomed to it and begin to know how to ‘play’ with the various tones it produces.

The Toyosport produces a deep rich low tone which grows in volume as the revs rise. If you push it hard it begins to roar louder. When you step off the gas it produces some wonderful burbles and pops over a wide range. Whilst just driving slowly around it keeps playing its low tones without the need to give it extra gas, although it is very tempting to blip the throttle and let out a gentle little deep roar every now and again.
It is louder than the standard exhaust when cruising on the motorway, but not too loud. There is a bit of a drone but it’s something you quickly become used to and is not annoying like the ones mentioned above.

The looks; large 3” round finishers with the Toyosport logo on the offside pipe.






3) The Daytona. It may come as a surprise to some but yes, I purchased a used Daytona, with quad finishers, which I have been using for the last week. At start up I have found the Daytona to be quieter than the Toyosport. The Daytona box is quite a bit smaller than the Toyosport, with smaller inlet/outlet pipes which goes some way to explaining why the Daytona is not as deep.



The Daytona remains quieter until you start to push the car, the Daytona then comes alive producing a wonderful loud wwwrrrrrooooooommmm. This sound is very intoxicating, but when not pushing the car it goes quiet again, you therefore find yourself speeding around, using extra petrol just so you can get the Daytona to sing its tune.
It also pops and burbles, albeit a lot quieter and less dramatic than with the Toyosport, around the 1750 rpm level which is nice, but fades away quickly as the revs drop.
On the motorway, cruising at 70 mph it is much quieter than the Toyosport.

The looks; this is one area where the Daytona excels. It does not have finishers, that is to say the exhaust is supplied with just two short outlet pipes for which you need to purchase finishers. You can thus fit single or dual (giving you quad pipes at the back) finishers or purchase aftermarket finishers, thus the appearance is really whatever you want it to be.







Note: You could remove the finishers of any of the other exhausts and do the same if you wanted to.

Cost. The Daytona does not come cheap, from Mike Satur on ebay, a new one with quad finishers is over £420. The Toyosport on the other hand comes in at around £165, but there are regular auctions where it sells for around £130 - £150.

Decat. I was also curious to hear the difference with a decat, so I ran both the Toyosport and the Daytona with one. The Toyosport just became a bit louder and gave out a slightly more harsh tone on hard acceleration. The Daytona became also became slightly louder, however the wonderful tone of its song was altered detrimentally in my opinion and so I don’t believe a decat does any of them any real favours.

So which is the best?

Will Hay (on .org) said;
“There is no best, only current personal opinion and of course those that have bought a particular brand and can't possibly imagine it wasn't the correct purchase.”

The usual advice is to get to a few meets/runs and get to hear the different ones. This is good advice as the YouTube clips really don’t do any of the exhausts justice. What an exhaust sounds like from inside the car is different to what you hear from the outside. If you can, ask if you can get a ride in a car with the exhaust you’re thinking of getting, that way you can begin to get a real feel for how it will sound in yours.

Which do I have fitted now?

The Daytona produces a fantastic sound and I can appreciate the loyal following this exhaust has, but I feel it is a slightly artificial sound. It is like a musical instrument which needs to be pushed hard to make it sing. On runs I’ve often thought the cars with Daytona’s fitted sounded like they were trying too hard and now I know why. Of the two, the Daytona is undoubtedly easy to live with, being civilised most of the time and responding when you push on.

In the end I refitted the Toyosport as I missed the deep tones when just tootling around and the wonderful pop and burble on lift off. The sound produced is not as musical as the Daytona but it is an honest sporty sound that is there in all conditions.

So in conclusion

The Daytona and the Toyosport are both different and in their own ways good, however

The Best Exhaust for the MGF / TF is ……. yet to be manufactured.

Excellent Review!
That's much better than the hundreds of exhaust arguments that litter the forums. Reasoned and well thought out with lots of information
Now we just need comparable reviews on the X-Part, the Puma, and of course the Milltek and TT's (Just in the interest of fairness! )

Well, it looks very sexy for sure and a picture paints a thousand words. But there's something missing... the sound. Any videos with noise for this please?

When my xpower I'll argue ooops I mean add to the debate

very good write up Paul and if you want to sell the quad finishers i would be very interested

Excellent revue Paul!

I agree with Leigh, and a few sound files would be very interesting.

On the standard exhaust, The SE versions of the F came with extra large oval chrome finishers that affix over the small originals and improve the look of the standard exhaust. These are easily retro-fitted.

David & Leigh

Regarding sound files and videos, their absence was deliberate.

There are thousands of You tube clips out there and even listening to my own recordings, unless played on good sound system you simply do not get a real feel for them. Also the sound range produced by each exhaust is so large and for different driving conditions and styles you get different notes and sounds, you would need 20 sound clips of each exhaust.

What I attempted to do was to give a 'living' with it review, in words to try and explain the differences. I have come to the conclusion that sound files and YouTube are of very little help really.

With regard to the extra large oval chrome finishers that affix over the small originals, I thought looked silly, because you can still see the small ones through the hole

Tracy

Sorry Tracy the Quad finishers will be sold with the Daytona and will going up in the for sale section shortly.

Ben

Remember what Will Hay said;
“There is no best, only current personal opinion and of course those that have bought a particular brand and can't possibly imagine it wasn't the correct purchase.”

Just joking, I look forward to your review.

As Rich in Vancouver said It would be interesting to hear from others who have actually had more than one type of exhaust fitted.

Great review ..

I will add that I love the way the TT changes its growl over time, becoming deeper and louder, but I would prefer quad finishers on it, something I am looking into buying when I can figure out what size I need..

I love the sound of the Daytona and "Monsieur" will be having one fitted, or an Xpower which Gary Sutton has fitted and sounds lovely as well ..

I do however want to hear a Longlife, a certain member on here has made me consider one, I just need to hear it first so I can do a comparison which is the only way to chose in my opinion ..

It was hearing Art's TT that sold me on the TT, I have the Mk4, and I do not find they drone, although with a KnN open cone the noise was unbearable even for me !
With a DeCat they sound very impressive, but not in a loud nasty way .
I have mastered the art of not waking the neighbours up, and being quiet when passing men in blue..

I detest the Milteks, sorry they sound cheap and nasty ..
The OEM on the F sounds quite nice if you like a normal exhaust although at a recent meet we did mention that it was like an electric car going past as they are so quiet compared to the sports jobs ..


I think I am going to faint as I have just been what I consider very well behaved in a highly emotive debate

Softly~Softly wrote: wrote:

.. It was hearing Art's TT that sold me on the TT, I have the Mk4, and I do not find they drone, although with a KnN open cone the noise was unbearable even for me !

As far as I can see you never had a K&N 57i fitted that horrible little cone was not a K&N

Softly~Softly wrote: wrote:

.. I think I am going to faint as I have just been what I consider very well behaved in a highly emotive debate

Well done SS I am proud of you too, Ithink you did extremely well

ok well I might be interested in the whole thing for my next project, funds are tight atm with Italy coming up but if you let me know how much your thinking off I might be able to juggle funds about

Tracy I will give you first shout on the Daytona, once I have said my goodbyes. It is a very nice exhaust and it is still niggling that I should keep it in case my 'project MGF' idea ever gets off the ground.

What an excellent thread! Kudos to Paul for such an in-depth and balanced review of some great exhausts! I find this particularly relevant, as I've just bought one, but could have done with this a month ago

So here are my thoughts, having only been IN the car with the standard and a TT Mk7, but hearing all the others on start-up from hot and cold and also driving behind.

I completely agree that the standard exhaust just doesn't sound as it should - we have beautiful sports cars that don't sound quite the part and therefore, something needs to be done.

For me, the Toyosports just doesn't make enough difference to the standard, although for the money, they are a great buy and will give some enhancement on sound. Their manifold and downpipe, however, are next on my 'to buy' list.

The Scorpion, again, just doesn't have enough of a kick and at just shy of £350, you'd be better off saving £200 and going for Toyosports.

The Janspeed, I can't comment on as I have had no experience of them, but you're looking at spending over £350.

I had a listen to Bromsgrove Man's (Chris) MGOC exhaust at MGs in the Park a few weeks ago and was mightily impressed. At roughly the same price, I would opt for this over the Toyosports.

I don't like the sound of the Miltek exhaust at all. It is overpowering and raspy. Sorry to anyone who has one, but they just aren't for me. In fact, I would say they are far louder than either TT Mk4 or 7 and are one of the most expensive exhausts you can buy, new or second hand.

I do love the Daytona. They sound absolutely fantastic, but at £450 new and not much cheaper second hand, too expensive when I could buy a whole car for double that. Or less in fact.

The Blueflame also sounds awesome and I am kicking myself for not snapping up a bargain when Squeaks was selling his. Although they do have their problems if bought from new (so I have heard) they give a lovely well-rounded sound. Again, you are looking around the £450 mark.

Longlife & Powerflow & Tip Top
I have heard great things about all of these custome exhaust companies from people who have gone with a custom exhaust, but not heard any in person, so can't really comment. Tip Top in Birmingham quoted me £350 fitted, Longlife and Powerflow around £450. All come with lifetime guarantee, which you don't get with any of the other exhausts mentioned.

Saving the best til last Having heard Jan's TT Mk4, I was hankering after one ever since, but was very concerned about loudness and drone on the motorway, as this is the majority of my driving; both parents living around 170 miles away in different directions. That was the only thing holding me back. Although I do care about my neighbours, I love Penelope more Plus as Jan has said, it is possible to start without making too much of a racket. So Neil came to Brighton to see me and take me for a drive in Red 19, going round some lovely roads in the Sussex Downs, then getting up to speed on the motorway, before stopping at a pub for lunch. The thrill on the winding country roads was wholly exhilarating and got me very excited! When we got onto the motorway, yes when he put his foot down, the sound was pretty loud, but as soon as he got to speed and let his foot off the accelerator, quiet as a mouse. In fact, sounds similar to standard INSIDE the car. I know its not quite the same if you're behind one! He has Toyosports 4-2-1 manifold and downpipe with standard cat. As Jan has said, de-catting does tip it over the loudness barrier, so I will be leaving standard cat on Penelope. Oh, I forgot to mention, I bought a Mk7 the day Neil came down!

As far as de-catting goes, well, on the Toyosports and Scorpion, it would probably be a good thing, but for all others mentioned, it is likely to either increase volume levels too much inside the car, or make a lovely sounding exhaust sound raspy and horrible. I have a K&N panel filter in Penelope, which I am hoping will give a nice, full sound when coupled with the TT Mk7 (not fitted yet) - it is not as harsh as the open cone filter that made Jan's Mk4 that bit too much.

Softly~Softly wrote: wrote:

I think I am going to faint as I have just been what I consider very well behaved in a highly emotive debate

Well done Jan! I am proud of you! I'm also rather proud of myself for attempting to give as balanced-an-opinion as I could muster