Lude Generation

It's been on the cards for a while, my exhaust seems to have finally given up. A while ago, the independent Honda specialist I usually use for my car had pointed out that my exhaust didn't have too long left and I had a hole in the rear silencer patched up during May/June 2012.

After an emergency burst of quick acceleration on cold tyres, resulting in axle hop, my exhaust seems to have broken. The ground is wet outside and my working on The Ludes clothes are at my parents, so can't roll around on the floor to confirm my suspicions, but it's sounding quite rumbly from the back of the car. Sort of like a noisy rumbly vacuum cleaner. From a press-up position, it seems the pipe going to the rear silencer looks lower than usual.

I've never bought anything exhaust related for my Prelude before, so what are my options? I don't want a large bore exhaust, I want to keep the twin pipes at the rear. Also, I do not like loud exhausts at all, so want a quiet one like the standard Honda exhaust but don't mind it being a tiny bit louder. After all, I drive a Prelude, not a Citroen Saxo. Obviously, I don't want one that provides less performance than stock.

So what do people recommend?

Also, regarding custom exhausts, is my current H22A8 exhaust 2.25" or 2.5"? Is there any proven benefit of going to maybe 2.75" or 3"?

You could always go for a new standard one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Prelude ... 2335433f4d

The back box is the same on all 5th Gens, so don't worry about it saying 2.0.

After a bit of browsing, I'm swaying towards Solid Fabrications:

http://solid-fabrications.co.uk/index.html

I assume the chaps in the above link are who used to be based in Brixton? Has anyone used them in recent months, are they still as good as people have said?

And they're less than 30 miles from me which is good. Another Option is Infinity Exhausts but they're 116 miles away which isn't good with a broken exhaust.

What sort of options might I be given at Solid Fabrications? What do people recommend?

Your A8 exhaust is 2.25"....3" exhaust are super loud.
Get a 2.5" exhaust.
Mine is and its very nice.

I completely misread. Thought you only wanted a back box.
I'd go for an Apexi WS2 for a full system.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APEXi-WS2-116 ... 3371632506

@Carrisma Solid Fabs made my mani and downpipe about 18 months ago, was a real work of at when it arrived. The rest of mine is powerflow, the dealer in St Albans that I used (Top Gear) has changed hands since i got mine about 9 years ago, but I think they still do them. They actually seem to be a better garage these days anyway.
HTH

Powerflow would be a good compromise on price/quality/performance. Perfectly good exhausts, as long as your local dealer is good at fitting them. I've found them to be a very good company to deal with for after support, too.

I have a full powerflow system on my ukdm and it sounds lovely, really nice. Lisa prefers the sound of it to her twin-loop TbH. You can choose from a range of back box styles.

Don't know them, but I'm sure solid fabs would be good - everyone seems well pleased with them.

I've also used a company in battersea before, they had 2 brand names, London stainless steel exhaust centre and quicksilver exhausts. They custom made one for one of my CX's. They custom make everything on site. If they're still around, I would definitely recommend them also.

EDIT: done a quick search around and they're still around, now in Godalming Surrey.
www.quicksilverexhausts.com/
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/london-stainl ... -godalming

I've got a blue flame a8 cat back going cheap of you need something to tide you over? It's got two silencers on the centre section so shouldnt be too loud

Here's my exhaust. Here's the bracket which has broken:



Here's the break in the exhaust where the rear silencer pipe connects to the middle section:



And here's the temporary fix:



I've used Gun Gum exhaust paste stuff, wrapped it with Gun Gum Silencer Repair Bandage and finished it off with a piece of wire to help secure it. Also, not shown in the photos, is a temporary bracket for the exhaust to hang off.

Thanks for your offer @A1ex, but this will probably be OK to get me to Orpington where Solid Fabrications are based.

So, 2.5" pipe is recommended? Are there any other options or considerations?