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Greetings everyone,
i have a 98 Z28 A4 that sits lower on Eibach springs (~1.3 inch) and SS size wheels. Right now i have 3.75 inch clearance under the drivers side (lowest point of stock y-pipe) and that works fine for most bumps and such. Since all shipments take money and time to get to the other side of the atlantic i have a hard time to decide what would fit best, complete from headers to the back. Was looking at the Hooker Blackheart system since they claim good fitment, or SE because it's cheap and some say it can also fit. Also wondering why the Kooks is more expensive, better fitment?
The car is otherwise stock and my daily .... but it's sooo quiet
So i need some suggestions what can fit on a lowered car, because i wont put it on stock height.
I've owned the three systems: Hooker Blackheart, Kooks and SE true duals.
The Hooker blackheart will give you the best clearance and will be the quietest but great sounding among the three. It is a 2 1/2" system and fitment is great.
The Kooks will havea little better fitment than the SE system but will cost about 4 times what the SE costs.
The SE system is a copy of the KOOKS TD system with a much better price tag but hangs a little lower than the KOOKS. (They were supposed to correct this in the actual systems, dont know if they actually did)
Both the Kooks and SE are very loud and drone quite a biit. Both of these characteristics will make long drives unpleasant.
My vote is for the Hooker Blackheart hands down.
My personal opinion.
Thank you very much for the detailed answer. Right now it's the stock exhaust with something like the SLP Powerflow mufflers before the tips, thanks to noise regulations when the car was registered in Switzerland.
How is the Hooker on the noise level compared to stock? Is there a difference between the Blackheart race and normal version, or is it only that one connects to stock cats and the other to the LT header?
If you are lowered my vote is for black heart system because its 2.5 pipes vs 3 but dont let the pipe size deter you because dual 2.5 pipe exhaust is plenty even if you are making double than stock hp.
You can always change the mufflers on any of these
kits if you need to go louder or quieter.
i have my car lowered as well, I had the se true duels and got rid of them. I went with the texas speed duel duel exhaust with cut out. I love the set up and it fits nice. couldn't be happier.
I just ordered the Hooker Blackheart some days ago. Still have to wake some weeks for it to arrive on the other side of the atlantic.
Was tempted to get the SE because of the price, but i guess it's just too loud for daily driver here in Switzerland....
It took some time, but i just received everything last week and tried to install everything during the weekend. It's really a pain without a lift, but nothing some patience won't solve. Sadly one 45 pipe on the passenger side seems to be manufactured wrong, because it has the widening on the wrong side. It would line up perfectly like everything else when i turn it around. Trying to get in contact with Summit to solve the problem (assuming that its really an error). Other than that the fitment is perfect, but obviously i could not hear it yet.
Those that have run the black heart duals. How's the interior noise and rattle? I know sometimes with the duals they rattle the interior. Any issues with that?
Those that have run the black heart duals. How's the interior noise and rattle? I know sometimes with the duals they rattle the interior. Any issues with that?
I have them on my current car. I purchased the car with black heart duals already installed. Overall, it is a very nice system. No rattles, no bang and clang whatsoever. Ground clearance is good, alignment out the back is square and even. The sound is good at idle and WOT. There is a transition range in the RPM where I don't care for the sound, can't describe it, just sounds "off". Overall I'd give it a thumbs up rating.
[QUOTE=Tigavo;20141128]It took some time, but i just received everything last week and tried to install everything during the weekend. It's really a pain without a lift, but nothing some patience won't solve. Sadly one 45 pipe on the passenger side seems to be manufactured wrong, because it has the widening on the wrong side. It would line up perfectly like everything else when i turn it around. Trying to get in contact with Summit to solve the problem (assuming that its really an error). Other than that the fitment is perfect, but obviously i could not hear it yet.
It has been awhile since the OP has posted but just wanted to give everyone an update that we seen his thread and checked with Hooker headers at the end of August and they confirmed that the J-bend in question was expanded on the wrong end. We reached out to the OP via private message to get this resolved. It took awhile working with Hooker headers to get everything ironed out but they came through and sent us a new correct J-bend. It is on the way to the OP so he can get his exhaust bolted up and finally get to feel the added performance and hear the exhaust with a little more rumble coming out of the exhaust pipes.
It has been awhile since the OP has posted but just wanted to give everyone an update that we seen his thread and checked with Hooker headers at the end of August and they confirmed that the J-bend in question was expanded on the wrong end. We reached out to the OP via private message to get this resolved. It took awhile working with Hooker headers to get everything ironed out but they came through and sent us a new correct J-bend. It is on the way to the OP so he can get his exhaust bolted up and finally get to feel the added performance and hear the exhaust with a little more rumble coming out of the exhaust pipes.
Many thanks to the Summit-Team to solve this problem, just a little sad that it took almost 1 month for Hooker to figure it out. I received the correct J-bend yesterday and will put it in the car soon. I had a temp fix meanwhile because i could not wait that long for my daily driver.
It's much more than a little more rumble. Compared to stock, the LT headers and the dual system with no cats is very loud. I was a little suprised because many say its kind of quiet, but i guess thats counts for the catback. I like the sound so far, just an uncomfortable drone at 1500rpm. I might add some cats later to the system.
Overall happy with the fitment and ground clearance, great sound. A little too many nuts and bolts missing in the box and the wrong J-bend dampened the fun, maybe i just had bad luck.
03-30-2019, 01:06 PM
Suggestion for exhaust on lowered Z28 
