CAI & Exhaust

I'd just break it in first.. for one this way you can hear it easy if the car is making some strange noise, 2 if something does happen the dealer can't blame you if you've not done anything but drive it.
just to be safe wait alittle while.

Kia says there is no break-in period. But you should give it 1000 miles to be safe... Just order the parts now and take a road trip, you'll be at 1000 miles by the time the shipment arrives LOL

a5ylum5150 said:

Just got a koup sx and I want to get a CAI and exhaust for it, but it only has 40 miles. should i break it in first or break it in with the upgrades?

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^ lol. The exhaust is next on my list ^_^

I ordered the Solo Performance QR + Mach + HF Cat last night. I left a message with TK for the CIA last night as well. Hopefully, TK will call today so I can place the order.

Has any done this combo yet?

I am wondering how loud this set up will be. Also, I am wondering how well the set up will work together, i.e. HP gain, MPG gain (assuming I will eventually learn not to floor it all the time, lol), etc.

I have approx 4k miles on the car, so I consider it broken in since the last KIA I had I traded it in at 6k miles, lol. I traded a Rio for the Koup.

If (and that is a big IF, cause lately things have had a way of not working-out the way I plan, lol) everything goes as planned, I will have the CAI and the exhaust installed this evening.

If anyone is interested I can post my impression soemtime tomorrow.

I was only able to get the Solo Kit installed today.

Here is my impression so far:

Well, it's kinda loud. Louder than I was expecting. But it does sound good, tho. It does not sound like someone just put on a "fart can" muffler. I am thinking of putting the original cat back on (I kept all of the original exhaust). I am going to give it a week and see how I like it then. There is a noticeable drone in the cabin while driving down the interstate. I was doing 70 with the cruise control on and the drone was quite noticable.

TN Trash said:

I was only able to get the Solo Kit installed today.

Here is my impression so far:

Well, it's kinda loud. Louder than I was expecting. But it does sound good, tho. It does not sound like someone just put on a "fart can" muffler. I am thinking of putting the original cat back on (I kept all of the original exhaust). I am going to give it a week and see how I like it then. There is a noticeable drone in the cabin while driving down the interstate. I was doing 70 with the cruise control on and the drone was quite noticable.

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Wait until the exhaust really breaks in... it gets loooouuuudddd. And yes, there is definitely drone.

It's very very deep though, sounds good.

If it's too loud, try it without the HFC. Should quiet it down a lot. If it's still to loud, add the turbo kit and that will really change the sound !!!

AutoItKing said:

Wait until the exhaust really breaks in... it gets loooouuuudddd. And yes, there is definitely drone.

It's very very deep though, sounds good.

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TurboKits.com said:

If it's too loud, try it without the HFC. Should quiet it down a lot. If it's still to loud, add the turbo kit and that will really change the sound !!!

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Thats a great marketing strategy! If its not quite the way you like it, then buy something else from us By the end of tax season next year, I will have the exhaust and CAI for sure. Anything else you guys might have in the works?

LOL... We are working on a 3" turbo back exhaust! Maybe engine parts

tyzall1584 said:

Thats a great marketing strategy! If its not quite the way you like it, then buy something else from us By the end of tax season next year, I will have the exhaust and CAI for sure. Anything else you guys might have in the works?

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AutoItKing said:

Wait until the exhaust really breaks in... it gets loooouuuudddd.

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Louder!?!?!?!

I am going to wait till I get the CAI installed and see what happens then. Tho, I doubt a CAI will have any appreciable effect on the volume of the exhaust.

This volume situation really is just personal preference, that and/or maybe I am getting old.

I do admitt I really enjoy the sound of the exhaust at start up.

Luckily, I had the foresight to keep all the stock components, so I may be going back to the stock cat (Per TK's comment and a review of the db levels Solo posted in their thread). On a long commute, the drone could be become annoying.

I may be tring to install the TK CAI again (for the 3rd time) this weekend. I got some good advise to help withthe install. Remove the battery and the tray. That should give me a lot more clearance to work with.

Got the TK CAI installed today. So now I am running with Solo's HF Converter, QR Rez and the Mach muffler along with the TK CAI.

I have to recant what I said about the Solo system in my previous post. Before I got the TK CAI installed, the exhuast kit toned down considerably. This morning was the first time I had to do a long drive in the car with the exhaust only installed. The drone was not bad. I was running about 77 mph on the interstate. Once the RPMs drop below 3k the drone really dissipated. I had the radio volume up to 8 on a talk radio station and could hear what was being said easily.

Now I have the CAI installed and there seems to be no difference in the loudness of the exhaust. I've only driven the car with both the CAI and the exhaust abut 30 miles, but can tell a difference in the instant mpg reading.

Notice some extra getup-and-go yet??? Together they must sound sweet.

trevorusn said:

Notice some extra getup-and-go yet??? Together they must sound sweet.

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Not so much in the hp gains department, but to clairify, I don't really rev up/push the engine all that much to begin with. I believe the biggest hp gains are in the upper rpm range.

And yes, it does sound nice. It is kinda difficult to hear the sound from intake over the exhaust, tho.

I drove the car on a longish (60 miles) trip this morning. The same trip I took yesterday morning. Both trips started with full tanks of gas from the same gas station and I set the cruise at the same relative speed (approx 77 mph). (the only difference is that today I had a passenger) The computer (avg mpg reading) is telling me I am getting 2 mpg's more now with the intake installed.

What model Forte and transmission do you have???

2011 Koup SX. It has the Auto trans with the shift paddels on the steering wheel.

Maybe that's one of the differences between stick and auto. Even with just an intake, I've noticed a bit more oomph, I'd imagine a freer exhaust would open 'er up even more.