Who has RT cats and RT Catback?

97fatboy

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I want to get feedback on stock headers with RT cats and rear exhaust assembly. (sound, drone, exhasut fumes, tips, HP gain etc.
 

LethalBite

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Well I got it installed finally. Did it all by myself in about 2 hours. Ok, not really. Had the help of two fellow VCA members and they get most (97%) of the credit for the install (Joe Dell and Achilles99). The other 3% was me driving to the store for more clamps and saw blades since I was the one who was the LEAST dirty.

As for the install, removal of the stock exhaust was the most difficult part. The second PITA was getting the X-pipe mounted in the rear because the pins didn't line up well near the back to hold it in place. They were about 1/2 to 3/4" off center of the stock holes. With a little widening of the holes we were able to push the pins through. The third thing that wasn't terrible easy was getting the sills back on. The mufflers were bigger than I thought but it was a TIGHT fit.

I love the sound, and it has a nice burble on decel and throatier when you hit the gas. It's definetly louder than stock, but I don't think it's as loud as a Borla.

This is with a 2000 RT, Stock Headers, RT cats and the catback, tubes and K&N's. Might go to dyno in the next week or so and will post numbers from baseline (411 rwhp). Also will try to get a soundclip posted.
 

Joseph Dell

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I gotta tell y'all... it was fun to install that thing last night. And even moreso, I was impressed with the way it sounds. If someone wants to trade a RT for a borla exhaust, then I'm all about it... I dig the RT X-pipe sound. It really impressed me.

Finish was excellent (though those mufflers were HUGE!). Fit _was_ difficult for the sills... I truly didn't think we'd get the bottom screws back in. And at 2am, I was starting to be less concerned about it.

But the car sounds awesome!

It _should_ have taken us 4 hours total to do it. But the 3 or 4 trips to the store AND the several blades on the sawsall (that we had to send out for) were problematic. And who can forget breaking a 3" muffler clamp at 11:45p when Autozone closes at midnight...

JD
 

LethalBite

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Also called Random Tech today and talked to them about the slight fitment issues we had. They said the car they initially made it for had the pin hangers 13 1/4" from outside hanger to outside hanger in the rear. On my car I'd say it needed to be 12 3/4". They couldn't remember the year of the car, but think it was a late Gen 1. With these cars being handbuilt though it wouldn't suprise me if this difference was common in all Vipers. So call them and find out the measurement they will need(and don't quote me on above measurement) and you might get a better fit.

Talk to Clay at RT. Great guys there and he did a great job of helping me get the parts I needed along with Jon B.
 

LethalBite

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Some pics and video clip

473tips1-med.jpg


473tips2-med.jpg


473xpipe-med.jpg



I also got a sound clip at idle and a couple revs. It's about 3.5megs, but I don't know how to post it. If anyone wants to hear it just pm me with email addy or if someone can host it that would be even better.
 

Achilles99

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How does it sound compared to the Borlas, which I love?

I'd say it is different enough to hear both in person before you make a decision. The Borlas on my car sound louder, deeper and throatier at idle, but then again... I have the lumpy cam which could have contributed to this (other than that, both cars are stock with smooth tubes). The Random Techs sound just a tiny bit quieter IMHO at idle, but are a BIG improvement over stock! LethalBite-When you pulled away last night, the car sounded AWESOME!

I would bet that people who prefer Corsas would like the Random Techs. The Borla crowd may be divided, depending on how loud you like it!

I'll go out on a limb and say that Joe Dell's car is a BEAST with the Borlas, and would probably drop a decibel or two with the Random Techs :)

One other thing to note... the 3" hi flows are no longer direct fit with the Random Techs. We had to cut off about 3-4" to make them fit. No big deal, though... better to have too much than too little!
 

Joseph Dell

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Speaking of too little, we had "too little" blades for the sawzall... Definitely needed the 6 pack of blades (I kept breaking them on the passenger side). But all in all, I'd happy with the installation.

I'm definitely considering a move to the Random Tech from the non-cats back...

JD
 

LethalBite

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Didn't we go through more than 6 blades there JD? :D I need to get a good sound clip of the car pulling away. Don't know how I'm going to do that just yet.
 

Joseph Dell

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two... then two... then one. wasn't it?

my math ain't too good... especially this late at night.

Either way, it sounds awesome!

JD
 

Achilles99

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Didn't we go through more than 6 blades there JD? :D I need to get a good sound clip of the car pulling away. Don't know how I'm going to do that just yet.

Lethal,

We need to get together one day, and record both of our cars from the inside and out using the same recording device. That way, we could post on the board a pretty similar comparison. I know I wish something like this existed when I was deciding on an exhaust system!
 
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