Exhaust Tip Sampler

[JohnD]

As probably the only guy on the forum with two SKYs with custom exhausts, I thought it might be good to show some samples of the various styles that are available for comparison purposes. Magnaflow and Kappasphere are supporting vendors, Borla is not at this time. There is no information here on pricing or order numbers, this is simply a comparison of the solutions available. A little bit of searching either on this forum or on the web is likely to return lots of data. With that said, here are some samples...

"The Twins" - BABY/Borla left, SPIRIT/Magnaflow right

[JohnD]

Here are some pictures of the stock SKY exhaust system. It features a car-specific asymmetrical tip, single outlet on the right.

(The second photo is BABY - my first SKY, before she was modified)

[JohnD]

The SKY Red Line features the same tip style as the 2.4L SKY, but it features a dual outlet with symmetrical tips on the left and right.

(The third photo is SPIRIT - My personal Red Line before mods)

[JohnD]

The grand-daddy of custom exhausts for the SKY is the KappaSphere KS1 - a single outlet axle-back design that features a round tip. It fits the SKY or the Solstice.

More info here

The photo below is a close-up of the KS1 on a Solstice

[JohnD]

More recently, KappaSphere introduced the KS2 exhaust - featuring a full cat-back design (i.e., parts supplied to replace everything behind the catalytic converter). The KS2 features dual round tips, and also fits the SKY or the Solstice.

More Info Here

[JohnD]

Borla did the engineering prototype work for the 2.4L SKY using BABY. The Borla offering features a large, flat oval that fills up the opening nicely. Photos of BABY are provided below. BABY ended up with the dual outlet as illustrated in the first two photos, but was also used to develop the single outlet product shown in the third photo.

[JohnD]

MagnaFlow used RoboTech's car to develop a single and dual outlet cat-back solution. The Magnaflow offering uses a sharp split tip, featuring a beveled edge that nicely compliments the sharp lines of the SKY. Photos of the model 16647 are shown below.

Manufacturer Website
See This Thread

[JohnD]

Magnaflow also offers the very popular 16664 solution that works on the 2.4L SKY or on the Red Line. It features a 2.5 inch pipe between the cat and the muffler. To mount on a 2.4L SKY you will either need to cut through the rear valance yourself, or else obtain a Red Line or third-party valance with two openings.

The Magnaflow Website does not have pricing information on the 16664, but it is indeed available.

The 16664 features the "dual quad" tips that really balance out the rear end of the SKY. RoboTech's car is featured in the first two photos when fitted with the dual outlet in the Magnaflow lab. The fourth photo is SPIRIT, fitted with a 16664 2.5 inch solution.

This thread announces the quad tips
This thread discusses the 2.5 inch solution on SPIRIT

[JohnD]

Magnaflow is currently working on a 3.0 inch Cat Back for the Red Line. The performance gains on the 2.0 Turbo amount to nearly a 10% gain. This system works phenomenally well on the Red Line, but offers little or no gain over the 16664 offering on a normally aspirated SKY (non-Red Line).

This Thread Details the Project
This Thread Provides Close-Up Photos

The 3.0 inch solution for the Red Line is brand, brand new. It is not yet officially available as of this writing, and there is no product number assigned as of this date.

Photos below are of SPIRIT. The second photo shows yet another tip - a round oval that was ultimately not chosen for the final product.

[JohnD]

In addition to getting a cat-back solution, you can go to custom shops and other outlets and have a Magnaflow muffler and tips installed on your SKY. These shops can custom-bend the tubing necessary for the installation. Whle the bends might not be as efficient as the true cat-back offerings, you can save some money if absolutely top performance is not important to you. Several users on this forum have gone that route, several electing to use different quad tips - rolled or squared.

Some photos are provided below

[JohnD]

So that's a highlight of some of the offerings of tips that are out there - round, oval, quads, custom quads... Lots of different looks for the back end of your SKY. And lots of different performance characteristics and different sounds, too. So shop around! There are lots of possibilities, and more will undoubtedly be offered every day. If you have a unique exhaust solution, why don't you post some photos here so that others can see what you have done?

As for me - I love both of my custom exhausts. They make a great car better - both for the normal SKY as well as for the Red Line. They look better, they sound better, and they perform better. How can you beat that?

[marlboromike]

a great author and illustrator...members now have choices thanks to your pictures...

[CJsSky]

Thanks for putting everything in one place. I really like the oval
tips, but not the oval price.

With two in college, it's not easy to come up with the extra $$$$

[MRSSKY]

omg.......jdigiant! Great info....I told myself I would keep my Sky stock......but I do come a after mkt mod family....hummm...that is awesome info thanks. It will definitely help me decide.

[snaponbob]

GREAT job jdigiant. BTW, did I miss it, or have you driven the 3" system and posted a review of the sound and feel?

[SKYtime]

This thread was extremely informative and helpful. Thanks for putting it all together. Interesting to see the choices side by side like that.

[SteveR]

Great post but you forgot one. These are my favorites. They're Magnaflows but I think they are straight instead of offset and not bevel cut.