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Originally Posted by JeremyDFW
The actual sound is difficult to capture in video, and I am sure that the Dinan exhaust sounds better than what is coming through the video. I also have an M3 (F80) and installed the Dinan intake, x-pipe, and exhaust - it is noticeably different than stock. I have been extremely happy with it, put it on about 6 months after the original car purpose.
Haven't fully made up my mind with exhaust options for my M2C - AA, Akra, and Remus have all been options. And while I haven't completely ruled out Dinan, they are taking entirely too long to get this to market. Much smaller and less known companies are beating them to market. And while their addressable market-share for the M2C is going to be much less than other models, I think they are missing a large opportunity caused by the delays... (same with MPE)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CosmosMpower
I don't think they care, the parent company of Dinan also owns Flowmaster, they are busy making Mustang 5.0 exhausts
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No video really does any exhaust justice, let alone a quick iPhone video. Once we are a bit closer to retail launch we will put together a proper exhaust video with and capture audio with an actual external sound recorder to get it a bit closer to a realistic interpretation. That said, it still won't be perfect. Never is.
I also won't refute that we will be late to market but that is more due to getting a late jump on the project then anything else. We didn't get a vehicle to work on until the end of November and with a completely new system that needs new bulkheads, skins, piping, and other internals, a 6 month turnaround is pretty typical. We are more or less on target for that. If we re-used the M4 can or some other system then, yes, we could have been to market in 2 months but the M2C a wholly new system.
For context and a bit of backstory-- the development side can easily take 3 months between scanning, prototyping, sound testing, jigs, etc. On the M2C we designed 4 initial muffler designs that we thought may work. 2 of those droned like hell, one sounded good but had an overly obnoxious rasp at the top end and the 4th sounded good if it was just louder. We opted for the last one and then went to town tweaking internals and messing with the resonator/x-pipe to improve volume and get a bit more base into the mix which we all prefer in this building. That took another half dozen variations of internal design to get where we were happy. With a final design in hand it now shifts to production where we can start ordering actual production kibbles (up until now EVERYTHING was made by hand). Tooling for a new bulkhead is typically 45-60 days as an example so needless to say the spool up phase can take another 2-3 months pretty easily. We are in that phase now.
There have been some minor delays as well as we try to maximize use of our sister companies and integrate them into the sub-contractor processes but they have been pretty minimal. Ultimately using them instead of other 3rd party vendors saves money and allows us to offer lower prices on those goods produced. We can also be a bit more demanding on needs/desires. The greater HPI group has brands we can call upon for a variety of pieces we otherwise used to use other vendors for. A few of those brands are Holley, MSD, Flowmaster, Hooker Blackheart, Flowtech, STS Turbos, APR, B&M, Superchips, DiabloSport, Edge, NOS, etc. All in all there are 40+ companies in the greater group and while most our domestic oriented it really doesn't matter. A pipe bender doesn't care what the pipe is going on after all. As long as quality is good and tolerances are met its good for everyone.