| Dyno Cell: Toyota Celica Exhaust
While I was at a tender age, my parents taught me to take responsibility for my own actions and not make excuses. As a tech editor, you hear a lot of excuses from manufacturers, particularly from companies that make products that either don't work, don't make power or don't fit.
In the July 2002 issue, the "Tech Scene" column announced we were going to conduct an exhaust shootout on our long-term 2000 Celica GT-S. We offered any exhaust manufacturer who made a system for the Celica the opportunity to get involved. By doing so, each would be standing by their product, even if it didn't produce the power levels they wished it would--no excuses.
Surprisingly, our office was flooded with systems from nine different manufacturers who wanted to participate in this first-time event for Turbo.
We elected to conduct the testing with the following criteria: Weight, tip diameter, sound at idle and 3000 rpm (normal cruising), price and power. We tested each system on a Dynojet chassis dynamometer back-to-back on the same day. All the manufacturers who participated were invited to the dyno facility to witness the testing which gave the manufacturer assurance no one would under-handedly get the upper hand during the testing. All the names of the manufacturers were placed in a hat and chosen at random to decide the order of the testing. The results of the shootout are listed below in the order of the testing.
Who was top dog? They all installed easily but, beyond that, we will let you decide which parameters mean the most to you.
Manufacturer Factory Toyota 
MSRP $219.60 Weight 27.5 pounds Tip Diameter 90 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 75 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 76 dB Peak Horsepower 161.0 hp Peak Torque 119.6 lb-ft Manufacturer 5Zigen Fireball 
MSRP $n/a Weight 26.5 pounds Tip Diameter 85 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 79 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 85 dB Peak Horsepower 163.0 hp Peak Torque 120.4 lb-ft Manufacturer A'PEXi N1 
MSRP $560 Weight 23.5 pounds Tip Diameter 90 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 77 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 88 dB Peak Horsepower 164.0 hp Peak Torque 120.8 lb-ft Manufacturer Blitz 
MSRP $530 Weight 21 pounds Tip Diameter 95 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 82 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 98 dB Peak Horsepower 162.4 hp Peak Torque 119.9 lb-ft Manufacturer GReddy Evolution 
MSRP $599 Weight 35.5 pounds Tip Diameter 115 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 82 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 83 dB Peak Horsepower 166.3 hp Peak Torque 122.0 lb-ft Manufacturer Tanabe Racing Medallion 
MSRP $660 Weight 29 pounds Tip Diameter 100 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 83 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 93 dB Peak Horsepower 166.5 hp Peak Torque 122.6 lb-ft Manufacturer Rod Millen 
MSRP $550 Weight 28 pounds Tip Diameter 95 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 75 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 88 dB Peak Horsepower 166.4 hp Peak Torque 122.5 lb-ft Manufacturer Toyota Racing Development 
MSRP $648 Weight 25 pounds Tip Diameter 100 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 75 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 88 dB Peak Horsepower 166.7 hp Peak Torque 123.5 lb-ft Manufacturer Veilside Teardrop Titanium 
MSRP $690 Weight 8.0 pounds Tip Diameter 115 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 82 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 90 dB Peak Horsepower 165.3 hp Peak Torque 122.6 lb-ft Manufacturer HKS Hi-Power 
coming soon MSRP $710 Weight 28.0 pounds Tip Diameter 95 mm Sound Decibel at Idle 79 dB Sound Decibel at 3000 rpm 90 dB Peak Horsepower 165.7 hp Peak Torque 121.7 lb-ft