| Got home today and surprise, surprise....there was a box from Gibson on my door....Packaging was excellent with the black exhaust tips well protected.
Installation took exactly 90 minutes from the time I found the box at my door to turning the key. It's literally two bolts to disconnect the front exhaust pipe, and a quick cut with the sawZ-all (you don't have to cut anything if you don't want to, but made easier) on the over axel pipe and the factory exhaust comes right off. I highly recommend soaking the rubber exhaust hangers in WD40....makes the process SIGNIFICANTLY easier. Installation is just as easy...standard exhaust clamps and hangars. Nothing fancy required...9/16 socket and wrench, 1/2 socket and wrench, and a 17mm socket. The tips lined up as advertised with minimal adjustment. Real nice quality system....especially for the price. The black tips look great on my Charcoal Grey 2016 TRD Pro. With the black wheels, black Shrockworks running boards/sliders, and black TRD badges, it looks like it came from the factory....much like the newer Ford Raptors with the black tips.
On initial start up, the RPM hung up a little high at 1500, but I had disconnected the battery per the instructions. With a little warm up, it eventually dropped down to normal idle range. Start up and idle, it has a nice subtle growl/burble....very similar to my wife's Mini Cooper S. Its noticeable, but not intrusive at all. During normal street acceleration, its definitely noticeable, but again, not in an intrusive way, just louder and throatier than stock. Id compare it to a Mini Cooper S, or a newer 3 series BMW. If you stand on the gas, its definitely louder than stock, but not obnoxiously so. I can't comment on highway cruising at all as I only took the dog to the beach and back after the install.
Some things of note... Once up to operating temp, it really did smell for a bit....not uncommon on fresh exhaust, just wanted to make sure anyone who was unfamiliar didn't freak out. Additionally, I noticed that after the first heat cycle, it was noticeably louder than the initial start up and drive. When I initially started the truck, and drove it around the block, it was just barely louder than stock. After a couple short sprints from 30 to 60, it was noticeably louder...again, not in a bad way, just louder than the initial start up.
Bottom line...thus far, I dig it. Its mellow, and entirely livable on a daily driver, while still sounding like there is a real internal combustion engine under the hood as opposed to my neighbors Prius...which sounds like a space ship...in a bad way. On that note, if you're trying to pull a fast one over on your wife and mod the car you swore you wouldn't touch, don't install this exhaust. As mellow as it is, it took about 2 minutes of driving before, "Is something wrong with the 4Runner, it sounds louder..."
Final thoughts....quality product, looks great, sounds good, could easily pass for a factory option on the TRD Pro models with the blacked out wheels and badges. I can�t emphasize how factory it looks.
Thanks again for the excellent customer service. I have multiple project cars (�64 Corvette and �72 C20 Suburban) and thus on multiple forums�.its nice to see businesses and sponsors that are active and involved beyond just pushing group buys! |
