Went from AA to Dinan

[MysticBlue]

Was going back and forth on the decision.
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577391
But I said screw it, I'll take the chance.
I decided to go ahead with the full Dinan. I'm very happy with the decision.
From the inside, at startup, idle, and mild driving, it is actually quieter with the full Dinan setup than it was with the AA rear exhaust only, because of the drone. Drone is now gone. From the outside I wouldn't say it is much louder... just different. The AA was deeper and throatier, now it's more raw. Half throttle it starts to get a little louder than it was, which is fine with me. Full throttle to redline it just rips! Way more raw and exotic and quite a bit louder. Makes me tingly in my special place.
So, got the middle race exhaust, rear exhaust, software, and pulley. Definitely adds a little extra juice to the beast plus I like the sound better. It adds to what is already a strong point of this car... if you want to take it easy, you can drive it like a camry and it works just fine. If you want to get jiggy with it, now it's even jiggier. For instance, we all know (DCT owners anyway) the difference in how it responds to a downshift in S2 vs. S5. Now, the difference is even more pronounced. In S2, puttin' around, it's still pretty tame, not much different than stock, but in S5 a high rpm upshift will scare the crap out of a passenger or anyone nearby, like squeezing off a few rounds from an assault rifle in full auto.
Definitely more power, but that goes without saying. The difference between this and stock, as expected, builds pretty progressively as RPM climbs. I'm liking it!

[MysticBlue]

Thanks.
And also, just for clarification, in my previous thread I thought maybe the dinan software made the cold startup sequence go away, but that is not the case. OMERTA was correct, there is still 40 seconds or so of cat warmup that is louder than normal upon cold startup before it settles down. That's ok, I just start it up in the garage before I open the door.

[bigjae1976]

Congrats!

How much louder is the Dinan race pipes + rear section vrs OEM?

[1sikbmr]

Originally Posted by MysticBlue

Thanks.
And also, just for clarification, in my previous thread I thought maybe the dinan software made the cold startup sequence go away, but that is not the case. OMERTA was correct, there is still 40 seconds or so of cat warmup that is louder than normal upon cold startup before it settles down. That's ok, I just start it up in the garage before I open the door.

you really don't want to do that. It is very harmful to your health. but congrats on the new system.

[mmm def]

Does the Dinan still only use half the exhaust tips like they do in the E46 M3?

[1Sleeper]

I mean, that says it all. If it makes you tingle in your special place when you get jiggie with it, has to be the right decision. Really cant measure that on a dyno. How about a sound clip?

[persian54]

Originally Posted by 1sikbmr

you really don't want to do that. It is very harmful to your health. but congrats on the new system.

As long as it's only a few seconds, and his windows are closed, it won't do any harm

Walking around Downtown LA will do you 10x more harm

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by persian54

As long as it's only a few seconds, and his windows are closed, it won't do any harm

Walking around Downtown LA will do you 10x more harm

Yeah, exactly. I'm not too worried about it. My garage is vented and it's only for half a minute, which I use to fasten seat belt, select music, etc.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Congrats!

How much louder is the Dinan race pipes + rear section vrs OEM?

It's hard to describe. My version of "a little bit louder" is different than someone elses version. Compared to OEM, it's a bit louder, and a bit more raw when at idle, but not obnoxiously so. Give it any throttle and it starts getting noticeably louder. I would say from the outside, my AA exhaust was halfway in between OEM and full Dinan, which makes it sound like the Dinan is pretty loud, but there's more to it than that, because of the difference in tone, and also how the Dinan is still tolerable at idle and low amounts of throttle because of the lack of drone. Of course OEM doesn't have any drone, but anyway...
Bottom line, at idle and low amounts of throttle, it's a little louder. Give it more throttle and it starts getting pretty loud. This is why these decisions are tough without hearing them in person. Some people like loud. Look at me loud. Harley-Davidson straight pipe loud. Loud for the sake of being loud. I don't. I'm pretty conservative about what I was willing to put up with, and I'm comfortable with this setup.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by mmm def

Does the Dinan still only use half the exhaust tips like they do in the E46 M3?

Yes. Not my favorite thing about it, but I think they got the engineering right, so function over fashion. It's not really noticeable unless you know to look for it.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by 1Sleeper

I mean, that says it all. If it makes you tingle in your special place when you get jiggie with it, has to be the right decision. Really cant measure that on a dyno. How about a sound clip?

There's a bunch of good sound clips on a sticky at the top of this sub-forum.
I don't think a clip from my iphone would really do it much justice anyway, not without a good before and after using the same recording device in the same place, etc.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by MysticBlue

It's hard to describe. My version of "a little bit louder" is different than someone elses version. Compared to OEM, it's a bit louder, and a bit more raw when at idle, but not obnoxiously so. Give it any throttle and it starts getting noticeably louder. I would say from the outside, my AA exhaust was halfway in between OEM and full Dinan, which makes it sound like the Dinan is pretty loud, but there's more to it than that, because of the difference in tone, and also how the Dinan is still tolerable at idle and low amounts of throttle because of the lack of drone. Of course OEM doesn't have any drone, but anyway...
Bottom line, at idle and low amounts of throttle, it's a little louder. Give it more throttle and it starts getting pretty loud. This is why these decisions are tough without hearing them in person. Some people like loud. Look at me loud. Harley-Davidson straight pipe loud. Loud for the sake of being loud. I don't. I'm pretty conservative about what I was willing to put up with, and I'm comfortable with this setup.

I got it. So the dinan full system is easy to live with in a DD.

[Rshane]

Congrats. It's always a great feeling when a mod turns out as good as you had hopes, especially an exhaust mod, which doesn't usually come cheap.