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      12-07-2010, 05:43 PM   #1
DMD
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Dinan full exhaust review & compare w/Dinan + challenge "street"




compare at :29 sec and 1:06 sec

The first 33 sec of the video are Dinan full setup. The remainder of the video is Dina rear + Challange "street".

http://www.youtube.com/user/M3DMD?fe.../0/wkjheQRpprw

Those are the two best spots to listen to back and forth to appreciate the difference between the Dinan rear section with Challenge "street" versus Dinan midipipe/Xpipe.

You can hear the higher pitch, and sharper sound the catless Dinan makes. In person it is much more dramatic.

Ok so here goes my reivew. This won't be as good as the last one since I'm busy and haven't gotten the time to really organize my thoughts systematically to help you. But i'm putting all the info here I can think of now. Let me know if you have any questions.

Some of you have been in the same boat as I have regarding exhaust.
I've PM'd with several members who had the same questions about different setups.

A few weeks ago, I posted a review and video of my previous setup (Agency Power rear + Challenge "street" Xpipe).

I had promised that I'd post a review of the complete Dinan (mid/x pipe + rear) setup and do a small comparison with Dinan + Challenge "street" x pipe.

Dinan midpipe/Xpipe install and general impressions:

Installation was pretty straight forward, though I had concerns about clearance in a couple areas. Almost nothing will be like OEM, though Dinan is very close.

Some aspects of my review about the full Dinan setup may sound familiar, as I have read a couple great reviews before deciding. Regardless, I hope you can garner additional info from my review that will help your exhaust decisions.

Going with the Dinan mufflers was primarily due to reading about their minimal drone. In the future i'd like to try Akra rear section and see what all the fuss is about

Going with catless Dinan midpipe/x pipe was two fold. I wanted the peace of mind of a completely mated system with no cuts, welds and such. Also, I wanted to compare the "Dinan" sound they have engineered for this engine. (Though I feel most sound R&D happens in the mufflers and most catless systems will sound very similar).

Driving with a "light" and "steady" foot the complete system is surprisingly docile. Cruising is very quiet. Only when in D mode driving my kids to school in morning traffic when car upshifts to 7th around 45mps (rpm in 2k range) is there a little annoying resonance in the cabin.

Now, overtaking or accelerating in traffic to pass a slow driver does wake up the exhaust. It is not annoying at all, but more noise than I was used to with the other system.

When this system wakes up, it wakes up shrieking. When you get on it hard, it is wicked and raw. Listen to the video when revving up to 3k rpm, then past 3k. That is a very good idea of how this exhaust behaves when going easy and when pushing it.

The sound it makes you want to take it to a track. Its the sound I imagined it would make as a serious track car.

Even at full throttle, the sound never seems to fill the cabin with annoying resonance. In fact, what is great is the sense that the sound is coming from the last inch of the length of the car shooting backward. I say that at the risk of sounding half mad. But its the best way I can put into words. Also, you don't realize how wicked your car sounds until you have someone else drive it away.

Throttle blips:
In manual mode, going from 4th to 3rd at 3k rpm sounds amazing, and going from 3rd to 2nd at 3k rpm sounds fantastic.
Rev blips are "sharp sounding" and loud. For the lack of better words to express this........friggin awesome!!!

Ecu flash:
Within 85 miles of install, I got my SES light/emissions notice on Idrive.
I had initially went for the flash before install to prevent any codes. To my dismay, it turned out Dinan hadn't yet finalized the flash for my version of software. But as of this week, they contacted me and said its ready.

Though the flash has no "tuning" to maximize flow/power characteristics..etc, it does get rid of the light. I haaaate warning lights like ses or tire pressure.

Odor:
Being catless I was concerned about the smell. First couple of days I was annoyed by it. But then it seemed to settle down after break in.
But the smell was still a bit annoying to me. (I've started realizing how much more sensitive I am to exhaust sound and smell now turning 35 years old).
So take the smell comments very subjectively. The smell is the classic old car emissions smell.

At start up in the garage (with garage door open of course) it does smell significantly. My 4 year old son was outside and told me it was "smelly".
Pulling into bank drive through, I was very aware of the smell.
Even coming to a stop at a red light, I could smell it.

Power:
At first I wasn't impressed by the change in power. It felt like a jump over the slight power I felt with Challenge pipe. But during that first week it became apparent that the power is more spread out the power band and more so at the top of the rev range. So yes, the car felt better and got off the line with more pep.


Comparison to Dinan + Challenge "street" X pipe:
Less dramatic, less shrieking, less of pretty much everything.
Overall is is muted in comparison to full Dinan. But the advantages are lack of SES lights, lack of smell and lack of need to spend $800 plus on a tune to remove an annoying light.
Watch the video at the two times I have noted and you'll get a very good idea of the character of each sound.

For South Florida members, I highly recommend John at Eurowerks Automotive in Pompano Beach. He has worked on my previous e92 335 for coiliver suspension and such and I only trust him with my M3. He is very knowledgeable and a great guy along with is brother Casey.
Few people you can trust nowadays to do the job and do it to high standards. John is just the guy.

Thank you for viewing and reading.

Last edited by DMD; 12-09-2010 at 08:59 AM.. Reason: added notes on video content
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      12-07-2010, 05:47 PM   #2
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cannot seem to embed youtube video. can anyone tell me the reason?
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      12-07-2010, 06:17 PM   #3
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Fixed for you, if you want, just hit "quote" then copy paste mine, then edit your OP. For embedding, go to the "regular" youtube link, so like
for your video, then copy paste everything after the = sign in the U2B macro.



Good review, I'll have to take a listen to it once I get home.
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      12-07-2010, 09:11 PM   #4
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Thanks for posting this up. Just what I was looking for. So which one will you be sticking with?
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      12-07-2010, 09:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iBeJayKaying View Post
Fixed for you, if you want, just hit "quote" then copy paste mine, then edit your OP. For embedding, go to the "regular" youtube link, so like
for your video, then copy paste everything after the = sign in the U2B macro.



Good review, I'll have to take a listen to it once I get home.
thank you
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      12-07-2010, 09:53 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gixxer_kidd View Post
Thanks for posting this up. Just what I was looking for. So which one will you be sticking with?
I've just sold the Dinan midpipe today and am back to the Dinan rear section + challenge "street".

Definitely miss the raw nature of full Dinan at full throttle, but am happier overall with the challenge x pipe.
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