Stainless steel exhaust - the right sound

[MenBret]

Hello,
Re-reading Gordon Lund's Lotus Elan restoration guide, I see he mentions (page 99 of the last edition) that "some makes don't make the right sounds".
What do you think is the right exhaust to be fitted on a sprint to have a good (and reasonably neighborhood friendly ) sound?
Thanks!
Vincent

[JimE]

I will be interested to see how members respond to your question. I have a stainless steel silencer on my Sprint and it sounds just like the original Lotus ones. On the other hand, I fitted a stainless steel one to my Plus Two and it was so quiet it spoilt the car. Happily I was able to replace it with a NOS silencer that the factory fitted towards the end of production which I bought from a friend.

[Certified Lotus]

I have a full 2" TTR exhaust system (headers, pipe and silencer) on my S1. Sounds great! Here is a short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIhCYLEToLw

This is the installation:

Prior to that I had a stock exhaust system and it was pittyful sounding. Plus that teeny pipe exiting the silencer coming out from under the rear bumper looked like a mistake.......

I have a real focus on the sound of an exhaust system in addition to the performance. I must have gone thru half a dozen on my Exige before I found the right balance of performance (measured on a Dyno) and sound. Luckily Jim at Tubular was friendly and kept supplying me with different versions. Ahhhh, the old days when he ran the business.

[JimE]

Funny you mentioning the Exige. When I bought mine new in 2005 I had a Stage 2 exhaust fitted which sounds brill. Recently, in shifting the original one to the loft I couldn't believe how heavy it was. Colin Chapman would have had a fit!

[ElanDNA]

Hello,
Re-reading Gordon Lund's Lotus Elan restoration guide, I see he mentions (page 99 of the last edition) that "some makes don't make the right sounds".
What do you think is the right exhaust to be fitted on a sprint to have a good (and reasonably neighborhood friendly ) sound?
Thanks!
Vincent

Hi
Do it and test it yourself !
I've done it and I am very happy, with this exhaust, which is only half from stainless steel.
The sound is exciting but not too loud. It's a deep strong sound.
Inside diameter is minimal 2". Is big enough for my little engine with 162hp on dyno.
It was a great challenge to make max. Ground clearance.
Look on the flexibility in the Axis!
The damper with inlet and outlet on same side is very important.
No damper are reflectors, only absorbers.
Excuse me for the dirty bottom you can see in some pics.
Cheers Urs

Inside damper

[JimE]

Quoting Miles Wilkins Lotus Twin Cam engine "a correct system is very important - the wrong diameter pipes and silencers will impair performance, while incorrect silencer baffling will cause back pressure which in turn will cause an engine almost to stop". I had a home brew silencer made and my engine did indeed momentarily stop which was a heart stopping moment. So I'd stick with Lotus exhaust systems made under licence which should be made to original specifications regardless of the sound.

[Davidb]

Urs: I like the look of your system-especially the heat shield protecting the gearbox. I plan on doing that too.

I am waiting for a Dynamax muffler/silencer that looks very like what you are using-it should be here in a day or two.

I think that silencing the car enough is important-I do long rallies-only a couple a year but I have suffered serious hearing loss in the past couple of years from spending 8-10 hours a day in a classic car over 3-4 days with the exhaust howling away. I need hearing aids now. If I could turn back time...

[Certified Lotus]

The constant drone of an exhaust will impact your hearing. Particularly at a race track. I wear earplugs almost all the time for longer drives in a sports car, track events and skeet shooting. Several years ago i was in a helicopter in British Columbia getting to the ridge line of some mountains. The pilot handed me E.A.R UltraFit 27 earplugs. They have a noise reduction rating of 27 decibels. Extremely comfortable and disposable. I get them by the box, carry a couple of bags of them and hand them out all the time.

[MenBret]

Hello
Thank you for your replies so far.
To ask the same question in another way, do you think that the stainless exhaust systems available at Paul Matty or Sue Miller (or any of the other usual suspects) produce the "right sound"?
Any brand/make you would recommend?
Thanks a lot!
Cheers
Vincent

[Orsom Weels]

Hi Vincent,
I can't say for a Sprint, but we fitted a Sue Miller stainless system from the 'Y' section back, keeping the original mild steel headers, to my friends series 3 & the sound is good, perhaps not exactly as an original mild steel system would be, but very close. A nice throaty bark, but not overly noisy, quite tolerable over a long journey without the need for ear plugs. And it looks correct with a " teeny pipe exiting the silencer" . My own series 4 has an original Lotus mild steel twin pipe rear box with mild steel headers but stainless centre section & sounds lovely from a few feet away, but is really beginning to get on my nerves on anything more than a quick blast down the road, it's way too noisy & spoils the enjoyment of the car. It's something that has got to be changed, so I too would welcome any recommendations for a nice sounding but quieter 'off the shelf' rear box suitable for a series 4/sprint, but had planned to buy from Sue unless anyone knows of a better option. My +2 has a stainless box & pipe of unknown origin, again with the mild steel headers, & sounds just right, again, not too noisy, & with a nice bark, but I fitted a Christopher Neil stainless system to my first +2 & it was horrible ! It sounded really weedy & completely strangled the engine. I guess it was over baffled, & in the end I cut the box off & fitted a Peco box which restored the performance & sounded just like the Lotus original.

Regards, Tim

[Craven]

Not much help really but when stainless steel systems first became generally available, the consensus at the time was they just didn?t sound as good as the old mild steel ones. I guess stainless just doesn?t resonate/vibrate in the same way, too stiff or something.
Ron.

[Quart Meg Miles]

Not much help really but when stainless steel systems first became generally available, the consensus at the time was they just didn?t sound as good as the old mild steel ones. I guess stainless just doesn?t resonate/vibrate in the same way, too stiff or something.
Ron.

More like too thin and vibrates too much! Even a SS mid-pipe ruined my mild steel system but now you can't buy mild steel systems so don't have the choice.

The standard early Elan box doesn't have baffles, it's just a perforated pipe inside an empty box and sounds perfect. It was never a noisy car and neither was the MGB; trying to make either rorty or sport destroys the intended images of the original designs. The S130 exhaust was a disaster IMHO. It projected the wrong image for a long-distance fast tourer, otherwise it was a perfect car.

[JimE]

The s130 had two different silencers as far as I recall. I remember talking to a mechanic at Len Street about the last one Lotus fitted which apparently was down to their supplier. He said the comment in the garage when it was changed over was "what the hell is that". It was also a bad fit and had a tendancy to ground if you had two in the back (which I sometimes did) and that was before the days of sleeping policeman. All of that said, I personally use to like it's sound and as I have said earlier in this thread, I recently fitted a NOS one after cutting and rewelding the pipe so that it fits properly. The last Europa Specials had a very similar silencer.

[jonsered 11]

Hi Guys,

I have some new mild steel front pipes and silencers for S1 and S2s, if anyone needs them?

Regards Jonsered

[Quart Meg Miles]

Hi Guys,

I have some new mild steel front pipes and silencers for S1 and S2s, if anyone needs them?

Regards Jonsered

Yes please and I'll PM you.

More generally, what country are you in?