Solo Performance Exhaust Kit (Axle-back and others)

[majesticix]

Brand: Solo performance
Price: $405 + tax (did not pay for shipping)
Purchased From: Solo Performance Direct in Buffalo, NY


Installation: Bolt On
Installation Time: Installed by Solo, but 30 minutes tops.

Quality of Part: 10
Product Performance: 8*
Would you Recommend to Others: Yes

After much debate, I finally settled on an exhaust setup after demoing some systems from Solo Performance. I had the opportunity to demo their V2 kit with J-pipe which sounded pretty good, but what was most impressive is the elimination of drone. Shortly after hearing this, Solo released their Hi-flowing cats and Axle-back kit. So yesterday, I drove over to Buffalo to get an exhaust hammered out.

I decided on the axle-back for cost and flexibility (since I can mate any header system up in the future). I didn't expect to get much of a volume increase over their V2 kit (or my washer mod), but I was told it would blow me away, and so it did.

On 8 cylinders, this thing rocks. No drone, quiet on the inside, explosive on the outside. It has a deep roar that as one G8 onlooker said, sounds very similar to the Borla system. The reason I gave this kit a 8, for now, is because with AFM engaged at highway speed, the kit is quite loud and unpleasant. This is what (hopefully) the adjustable J-pipe will address. Since no G8 is the same, Solo ships these kits at a factory default location for the J-pipe which should work for most people. In some cases, you may need to slide the pipe up or down to "tune" out the less desirable notes.

Once it is nice out, I will attempt to adjust and see what happens. At this point, on 8 cylinders this thing roars. If you have AFM disabled, then you have nothing to worry about.

On another note, their V2 kit with J-pipes has no drone in either 8 or 4 cylinders...but it is also quieter than the axlebacks. I heard the hi-flow cat with Mach balanced system and it was truly remarkable. Very angry and mean on the outside, but tame on the inside. Can't comment on the effect of AFM, but no drone with 8 cylinders.

[majesticix]

Oh, and the Solo team are very good guys. Very knowledgeable and easy to work with. How many guys have calling hours to midnight? Solo does.

[majesticix]

Adjusted the j-pipe this morning and did experience an improvement below 50mph on AFM (sounds like stock for the most part). Will be on the highway this afternoon and will report back on the real problem area for AFM.

[NickelnDime]

how is the sound when afm kicks in?

[thegreatob]

Bump!

[majesticix]

Good bump. I've been driving for awhile now with my Axleback kit. I love it. AFM didn't improve with adjustment (actually got a bit worse). The stock setting for me yielded the best results. It is respectable sounding below 68mph. Above 68mph, and AFM starts to get annoying...the worst part is the constant on/off of AFM (which mine is aggressively tuned). If it stayed on, it wouldn't be so bad.

I'd say if you drove a lot on the highway (which I don't) and plan to keep AFM engaged, you might consider a Solo catback kit. They seem to be a bit quieter. The sound of the V8 though is superb, and AFM engaged isn't bad at 65 mph. Gets noisy at 74mph though for my tastes. I will throw it into manual mode if it really annoys me, but usually I can tolerate it if AFM stays active. If I'm in a hilly area, the constant on/off drives me nuts.

Very good investment though. Damn good sounding in most aspects.

[BlackGT5]

I have a Solo catback (V2 + J's) and the AFM "noise" was annoying so I had to turn it off with my Cortex. My driving is mainly highway (i.e. above 68 mph). Adjusting the J's does not help the AFM noise.

[majesticix]

I heard V2+J's with AFM engaged at highway speeds and it was quite a bit quieter than my Axlebacks (although overall it was quieter which makes sense). You could hear it, but much more tolerable.

Adjusting the J's actually induced some vibration for me so I returned it to stock position and that seems to work best.

[kje141]

I have/had the same issue with the AFM. Haven't been able to get it back out on the highway, but I have my J-pipes set to 8". They come factory set to 9" (measurement from the end of the capped piece to where the bend begins). Had to actually cut some material off of the end of the capped pieces so I could get it to slide in further to get to 8". With them trimmed a bit I can fully adjust between 8-10". The AFM around the 50mph area seemed much more subdued. Will be interesting to see what it does at the 74 mph range. Worst case I will use my Cortex to turn off the AFM if I can't get it to a better sound level.

[majesticix]

I didn't notice much difference pushed in. With it pushed out I started to get vibration. Solo has said most people have had better success with the Jpipes pushed in. Pitch seems to get higher when pushed in, and deeper when pushed out. 9" stock position seems best for me at the moment anyway.