TRD Cat Back Exhaust (V6).....Worth It?

[5POINT56]

I've been thinking about upgrading my exhaust to the TRD Cat Back (PTR31-89060).

I'm looking for a slight HP increase and a slightly throatier sound. From what I can see, this seems like it would accomplish both.

I know there are other options like Borla and Flowmaster.....but the TRD wont invalidate my warranty....and it seems like a good choice regardless of that.

Anyone have experience with this and advice? It's about $450 + installation. The price I'm fine with.....I'm just looking for opinions from people much more experienced with these things than I am.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Any cat back exhaust system won't void your warranty. even if you just swap mufflers. to be honest the factory muffler flows very well on its own. if you want the most power a borla or magnaflow will give the most power. some people complain about the droning inside the cabin after putting on the trd exhaust, I don't understand that (even after driving a straight pipe x-runner) but it could be from my age. its up to you on installing, to be honest its not bad but it depends on how the hangers are, again its up to you.

 

[5POINT56]

I thought I read Borla actually makes the TRD exhaust?

 

[CookieRoe]

Isn't the TRD cat back discontinued??

 

[034RUNNER]

I'm in a similar position as you, I want the truck to sound a little mean. I haven't been able to find good sound clips but I'm hesitant towards putting an exhaust on it because it's a v6.

Does anyone have any good sound clips/video of the TRD?

I would say it's worth it if the sound is good. I don't know how much it'd affect gas mileage. Any other car I've put a cb on, I didn't see much difference if any.

 

[Falls]

Here is the thing about catbacks and my Dynojet running experiences .

You should have a Dynotune where they can tell if ya gained any HP. Remember that if you open the exhaust up , yes it does flow better BUT you have a mass airflow sensor & computer still regulates how much air can go into the motor there for limiting what actually can go out and with out a tune and the motor it's not going to let more air in and you need that to happen to get any HP gains from the exhaust . Remember the CATS are your biggest restriction , not the pipes and muffler . On a catback system if you get any gains in HP it will be at high rpms NOT off the line.

The same goes for air intake kits , yes they flow a LITTLE bit nicer and maybe you will see some better throttle response BUT the mass air flow & computer still regulates how much air gets in .

Granted all my tuning and work has been done on my 2003 blown Mustang Cobra. Here is what my Dyno ended up showing :
-409HP at the rear wheels .
-I added a Magna flow catback and a cold air intake after trying several different ones. It went up to about 425HP at rear wheels (15HP gain was not worth the cost for 15 HP).
-Then I put on an H-Pipe with 2 less cats that were high flowing. Made good gains there and it went up to about 470 at rear wheels .
-Then I added a tune and reflashed the computer and put in a custom tune to where I could regulate everything.
-The end result was 550HP at the rear wheels.
-reminder it also had a Whipple/Roots style Super charger on it that came stock on the car. I would have never seen those kind of gains on a NAT ASP. engine. (that means without supercharger)

Bottom line you be doing it for sound and looks , maybe you may feel a seat of the pants acceleration and have a nice sound to it.

Just wanted to let you know my experiences and what I've learned. DO NOT believe the the HP gains they list on websites or packaging . Its totally BS.

Mike

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Falls
:iagree: All the way. When I got my X1 on I was talking to the tuner about catbacks and he said just get some long tube headers and a y-pipe if you want and thats where you'll find the most gains. That way you eliminate the restrictive exhaust manifold and get rid of the four cats on a 1gr truck. And the tune with those parts, f-ing awesome!!!

 

[truckmike26]

To Falls: have you dyno'd your 4Runner stock and then with aftermarket stuff like an intake and/or catback?

 

[bpatten0416]

I've got the TRD exhaust on my V6. It sounds pretty good - low growl. It does have a loutish drone between 40 - 50 but it's not too bad. Highway speeds it's hardly noticeable. Installation was easy - took me under an hour - direct replacement for stock. As far as power or gas mileage - no noticeable differences.

They have been discontinued but still available at some Toyota dealers on line.

 

[Drcoffee]

Just in case someone stumbles across this in the future. I bought a TRD cat back exhaust from a member here and it was in great shape. It did have two issues that i had to correct and it wasnt the sellers fault.

First the exhaust tip banged against the rear bumper with every bump. A muffler shop fixed the problem by simply stuffing rubber grommets into the open holes in the rubber exhaust hangers. That pushed the pipe down an inch and kept it from bouncing up.

The second was an awful drone from 40-45mph and 60-65mph. I felt bad for passengers. I found a resonator from a V8 tundra that fit 5" infront of the muffler and had a nuffler shop weld it in place. That flattened out the peaks in the tone and now it sounds like a Borla muffler that is easy to drive. I think I might try some shielding above the resonator to further reflect the noise away from the cabin.

 

[Hapeacres]

Gibson makes a stainless cat back system that a ton of users here are happy with including myself. It does make the truck sound a little meaner, perfect IMHO, because it is not loud or drone resonating.