Various Exhaust Impressions - Fi, Borla

[oreobbq]

Apparently I'm pretty good at wasting time and money messing with different exhaust setups. I recently had the chance to install the Fi exhaust, so hopefully my impressions helps someone. When I was looking at all of the catback options, I almost dismissed Fi due to the cost and the fact that you can pick up various titanium exhausts at this price point.

This system is constructed from polished 304 stainless steel and stood out to me because of the exhaust tone (from the few videos available), and the dual valve feature. Most catbacks for the supra have either no valves or a single valve option. Most people will be fine with this, but it’s a nice feature to have. Another one of my criteria is NO drone. This isn’t a straight piped dodge challenger nor a loud, diarrhetic '94 fart can civic.

Keep in mind, this exhaust ships from overseas via DHL and I ended up paying an additional import fee. Shipping took about two weeks and DHL communication was playing hard to get. Fi certainly didn’t sponsor this purchase, and I’d share if it’s lackluster. @DSG Performance and @NitroYellowMKV were great to work with. Here are some different setups I’ve tried up 'til this point:


Active Autowerke downpipe + stock catback: This setup gives a mild to moderate bump in sound from the stock system. Frankly, many people would be satisfied with this OEM+ setup. I needed more sound and hopefully more character in the exhaust tone.


AA DP + Borla catback: Like a properly seared ribeye and mashed potatoes, this is a beautiful combination. I’ve had Borla systems in the past, and never experienced any drone. With this pairing, the entire car has far more presence and the burbles are pronounced. This is a single valve exhaust setup similar to the stock exhaust. Like others have mentioned, the fitment is a bit challenging to get spot on. And as with many valved systems, the valve rattles a little bit during the first few seconds of a cold start when the RPMs are inflated. If you’re a bit particular like me, you may notice the sound in sport mode is slightly biased towards the right (valved) side. You definitely HEAR the sound of the exhaust at lower gears but this isn’t the same as unpleasant drone. Borla is a solid option if you want a considerably aggressive bump in sound over stock at a reasonable price.


Fi exhaust + AA DP: One of my concerns was less volume than the Borla setup. The Fi catback includes a resonator, and a muffler for when the valves are closed. Lo and behold, when I heard the setup on the car, it was quieter than expected. So much so that I thought the valves may not be functioning properly. They were fully open and I even removed the motors to verify there’s no interference with any valves being partially closed. With valves closed, it’s similar to OEM. From inside the cabin, the exhaust does sound pretty isolated behind you.

The overall volume of the Fi exhaust is a moderate bump over stock. Like stock, the tone is tame but the burbles are a bit more distinct. You get the occasional extra loud pop on downshifts. Compared to the Borla, burbles in the lower RPMs are more muted. This is why it’s difficult to capture exhaust loudness and tone in videos. In all of the videos of the Fi, it sounds like an absolute menace, but everyone is really getting on the throttle in those clips. With folks like Stradman hyping it up and the pricey buy in, you want to like this system. The sound was much less in your face than all the video reviews I’ve seen seem to suggest. You’re also not shedding much weight compared to the stock setup. One massive caveat is if you’re going fully catless, this system might provide the perfect balance depending on what you’re looking for. I’d superman punch the cat out of my downpipe if I could easily tune. Fi is a bit like the fine dining version of an exhaust; pricey, palatable, but leaves you wanting more.

Positives: Super shiny, solid fit and finish, some of the best looking 5” tips, has a cool logo, dual valves offer balanced sound, zero drone.

Should you buy it? I’d say if you’re not looking for a crazy loud system and have the coin to spare, go for it. I took a bit of a hit on the price to resell such a new system, purely because I preferred the meaty and less refined sound of the Borla. For a similar cost, I would rather experiment with some lighter, more exotic titanium systems.

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[DSG Performance]

Truthfully as you've heard from a lot of videos, the Fi is completely different after some miles get put in but also catless downpipe. It makes a big difference. With a catless downpipe, that's really when you get the advantage of the Fi for the closed mode keeping it at stock-ish levels, and the open being way louder.

I know I had shared this with you but you can see this guy did the Fi catless downpipe and full system, It's pretty intense.

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

I share pretty similar testaments, I currently run the prototype SHS race catback on my car paired with an active Autowerke catted Downpipe. This is the full race system so 4.5 inch single all the way from the Downpipe back to a v banded rear dual section, with stock cat this is probably the best sounding exhaust on the market, albeit due to the deep nature it does drone, this has since been fixed with implementation of helmholtz resonators, after adding the Aa dp I expected a minor increase, I was wrong it was pretty major, cold starts are frankly embarrassing and unbearable, and drone and cruising speeds are not pleasant, again thjs is still with the unresonated non valved version, they are sending me the resonated valved version this week which I am very excited for. I’ve heard Borla in person catless and it’s def a loud aggressive setup and I think the best word to describe it is raw, not a super smooth refined sound like the FI or a few other tamer systems (AA, HKS, AWE touring,). I personally love smooth inline 6 sound so I think for me catted with resonators and valves is gonna be a perfect setup. The AA catback with the Aa Downpipe is Also a great setup, followed by the AA with the awe track, one of the loudest catted Downpipe setups out there, behind mine of course lol.

this is a teaser from the owner of his personal car with the valves open and catless dp: - tamer side but how I prefer it

And here is my god forsaken noise maker lol.

 

[suprawr]

Truthfully as you've heard from a lot of videos, the Fi is completely different after some miles get put in but also catless downpipe. It makes a big difference. With a catless downpipe, that's really when you get the advantage of the Fi for the closed mode keeping it at stock-ish levels, and the open being way louder.

I know I had shared this with you but you can see this guy did the Fi catless downpipe and full system, It's pretty intense.

Got FI with paired with armytrix catless dp(no cel), the burbles/tone are exactly like that video.

only thing I haven't figured out is how to make the valve work with drive modes on JB4.

 

[oreobbq]

I share pretty similar testaments, I currently run the prototype SHS race catback on my car paired with an active Autowerke catted Downpipe. This is the full race system so 4.5 inch single all the way from the Downpipe back to a v banded rear dual section, with stock cat this is probably the best sounding exhaust on the market, albeit due to the deep nature it does drone, this has since been fixed with implementation of helmholtz resonators, after adding the Aa dp I expected a minor increase, I was wrong it was pretty major, cold starts are frankly embarrassing and unbearable, and drone and cruising speeds are not pleasant, again thjs is still with the unresonated non valved version, they are sending me the resonated valved version this week which I am very excited for. I’ve heard Borla in person catless and it’s def a loud aggressive setup and I think the best word to describe it is raw, not a super smooth refined sound like the FI or a few other tamer systems (AA, HKS, AWE touring,). I personally love smooth inline 6 sound so I think for me catted with resonators and valves is gonna be a perfect setup. The AA catback with the Aa Downpipe is Also a great setup, followed by the AA with the awe track, one of the loudest catted Downpipe setups out there, behind mine of course lol.

this is a teaser from the owner of his personal car with the valves open and catless dp: - tamer side but how I prefer it

And here is my god forsaken noise maker lol.

Lol the laugh at the end of the video. Sweet, hopefully the resonated and valved version removes the drone for you.

Fi is a polished system. When you look at the resonator section, it runs straight through with some baffling along the pipe. You gotta go catless with this setup though imo.

 

[Extreme Power House]

Thank you for sharing

 

[renzhe]

thanks for sharing always good to know how individuals experiences with various setups are. I am doing AA catted and see how I like it before going with an aftermarket catback.

 

[ggkthx]

I have an AMS catless and ASD coded out... and also debated between FI and Borla. I ultimately went with the Borla as well because I prefer the single midpipe and single side small muffler design with the valved side being straight.

The car definitely sounds more raw, and had to turn down the burbles with the Ecutek. There's only a small amount of resonance at the typical 2500rpm range with the valve open, but surprisingly not droney like you'd expect with an exhaust like this. Valves closed, it sounds very close to stock with more growl to it... hard to hear it in the car.

 

[DSG Performance]

The difference the catless downpipe makes again

 

[oreobbq]

I have an AMS catless and ASD coded out... and also debated between FI and Borla. I ultimately went with the Borla as well because I prefer the single midpipe and single side small muffler design with the valved side being straight.

The car definitely sounds more raw, and had to turn down the burbles with the Ecutek. There's only a small amount of resonance at the typical 2500rpm range with the valve open, but surprisingly not droney like you'd expect with an exhaust like this. Valves closed, it sounds very close to stock with more growl to it... hard to hear it in the car.

That’s spot on. With valves open it’s a raw, unleashed sound. All of the burbles and pops are clearly defined. If you quickly dump speed after getting on the throttle aggressively you get some very satisfying WHAP sounds. A catless DP + Borla ATAK would probably be over the top for me.

Here’s a conservative downshift with the Borla going through an underpass captured on a dash cam, windows down.

 

[ethanc]

@oreobbq With the FI and AA dp combo, is there any drone in sport mode? I have had the FI coming up 2 years now, originally wanting an OEM+ loudness increase I have also come to the same realization that it is very much a quiet exhaust (wish I had gone with AWE touring in hindsight) so I opened the valves and unplugged the fuse for valve so it’s always open. Even daily driving like this, I could use a bit more volume when not WOT and just putting around town, and want a deeper tone. Looking at the AA dp to help with this, but since my valves are always open now, am partly afraid that the drone on highway would be annoying

 

[oreobbq]

@oreobbq With the FI and AA dp combo, is there any drone in sport mode? I have had the FI coming up 2 years now, originally wanting an OEM+ loudness increase I have also come to the same realization that it is very much a quiet exhaust (wish I had gone with AWE touring in hindsight) so I opened the valves and unplugged the fuse for valve so it’s always open. Even daily driving like this, I could use a bit more volume when not WOT and just putting around town, and want a deeper tone. Looking at the AA dp to help with this, but since my valves are always open now, am partly afraid that the drone on highway would be annoying

It's subjective, but the AA + Fi combo was still a bit too quiet for me. I didn't notice drone. Maybe it'll be just right for you and you could always make the valves functional again.

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