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      04-08-2020, 06:25 AM   #1
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Top Gear Motorworks Equal Length Exhaust – My Review

Hello all,

Now that there are enough videos to share, I want to introduce the first production equal length exhaust system available for the F80 M3/F82 M4. This project for me has been a total of 5 months in the making, and all started from my decision to take a chance on a custom fabricated exhaust implementing an equal length design, fabricated by Top Gear Motorworks in Downers Grove, IL. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community here convinced Top Gear Motorworks to go a step further and develop the first production equal length exhaust system available for F80 M3/F82 M4. Now that the system is officially available, I wanted to post my review.

Full Disclosure: In exchange for my funding of my multiple previous custom iterations which became the proof of concept for the production system, as well as lending my car and time to TGM for development of the production system, I was given the pre-production prototype unit as gratitude for my efforts. That is the full extent of my relationship to TGM and this exhaust, other than being a customer of theirs.

I was never asked by TGM or anyone else to post this review – I decided to of my own volition. This review and all sound clips were made on a 2017 M3 Base, manual transmission, with no other engine related modifications. My car is 100% stock other than the TGM exhaust.

The exhaust is a full cat-back system, which bolts to the downpipes-back. It contains 1 valve, which reuses one OEM valve actuator from your existing exhaust, and includes a resistor plug for the other unused harness to prevent any soft errors from showing up in scan tools. There is no CEL for an unplugged valve, but TGM included the plug for the other side so that it would not corrode/damage over time if not covered correctly.

Valve Closed Tone: Smooth and bass-ey. Under low load conditions, this mode is definitely family friendly and super stealth. I’d say it’s about the same as stock with valves open. When wide open, considerably louder than stock open, and the grumbly, raspy stock sound is replaced with a higher, smoothly ascending pitch. Those who are extra sensitive to the obnoxious cold starts will be very happy with this one – it’s a little louder than stock closed, only it doesn’t sound terrible like stock does. Your neighbors and even your family may thank you (my wife did )

Valve Open Tone: A little dirtier and higher pitched than closed mode. Under low load conditions, this mode is not noticeably louder than valve closed from inside the car. But instead, the pitch changes from a bassier to a higher note, and you can easily drive around with the valve open the entire time and not need to close it. With all 4 windows open, I’m driving in open mode 99% of the time just to hear the sweet, crisp tone.

Under full throttle, open mode screams like a banshee. Above 4000 RPMS the equal length high pitched tone remains, but a bit of added edge/snarl is added to the tone, giving it a little signature S55 character but with the inspiring pitch of the equal length design. When you are on boost, everyone around you is definitely noticing. But as loud as it gets under full throttle, it calms down just as quickly when you throw it in a higher gear to cruise.

Opportunities in the car scene like this don’t really happen to me, so I want to thank TGM and the Bimmerpost community again for the knowledge and enthusiasm that convinced me to pursue my original custom design last November, and which ultimately lead to this collaboration with TGM. In my opinion, the end result is pretty incredible, and I’m very grateful to have helped make this happen.

I’ve added some sound clips here to get a grasp of the tone. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. Thanks.

Pulls from outside the car:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-lLrjjD...=1jr3uc6jb4eg2

Bumper footage, including standing revs, regular driving, and pulls (which start at 4:20 )



Standing revs from behind:



Catless Downpipes dyno pulls:

Attached Images
 

Last edited by ntg44; 04-29-2021 at 02:36 PM..
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      04-08-2020, 07:14 AM   #2
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Thanks for sharing this. It sounds fantastic during the pulls!
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      04-08-2020, 07:45 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntg44 View Post
Thanks for sharing...
- now to find out who makes and sells these in the UK?
- any leads?
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      04-08-2020, 07:48 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gspannu View Post
Thanks for sharing...
- now to find out who makes and sells these in the UK?
- any leads?
TGM ships internationally. Best just to contact them for a quote.
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      04-08-2020, 08:28 AM   #5
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$3795 for an exhaust system.
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      04-08-2020, 09:04 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UnleashedF80 View Post
$3795 for an exhaust system.
People spend 8k for wheels and "premium" exhaust companies tag their price in the 4-5k range and they sound the same. This is completely different and a fair price for the sound alone. Better than 10k for a single turbo and building the motor along with it.
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      04-08-2020, 09:14 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UnleashedF80 View Post
$3795 for an exhaust system.
I respect your point of view, but it's a shame that's all you have to say about it.

For perspective, I hope you hold the same opinion about Remus, Eisenmann, MPE, Akra, Meisterschaft, Armytrix, AWE Switchpath, and others, who are full blown exhaust manufacturers, with more affordable production processes, larger margins, and yet not one sounds like this. These other systems have their own merits, but in the end, I think the vast majority of us buy an exhaust for the sound, and in my opinion TGM, a small company that came out of basically nowhere, absolutely nailed it.

As for me, I've never actually wanted an exhaust for my M3 before the TGM system, because in my opinion everything that came before it sounds worse than stock to my ears. Through all my revisions, past and present, I will have spent more than that amount getting my exhaust to where I wanted it to be, so even though I was given the pre-production unit, I believe I can put my money where my mouth is in this case.

Last edited by ntg44; 04-08-2020 at 09:55 AM..
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      04-08-2020, 09:15 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jboogie315 View Post
People spend 8k for wheels and "premium" exhaust companies tag their price in the 4-5k range and they sound the same. This is completely different and a fair price for the sound alone. Better than 10k for a single turbo and building the motor along with it.
Ehhh idk about "better" - single turbo is badass haha. But certainly cheaper
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      04-08-2020, 09:50 AM   #9
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The folks that complain about the price are probably the same demographic who will happily spend $3k on pointless carbon trinket 'aero' that does absolutely nothing. Topgear developed a product, they are free to charge whatever they want for it. It's called free market capitalism. It's also the only exhaust for the platform to this point which actually sounds good enough to be worth paying for.
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      04-08-2020, 11:08 AM   #10
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Thank you for sharing
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      04-08-2020, 11:21 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntg44 View Post
Hello all,

Now that there are enough videos to share, I want to introduce the first production equal length exhaust system available for the F80 M3/F82 M4. This project for me has been a total of 5 months in the making, and all started from my decision to take a chance on a custom fabricated exhaust implementing an equal length design, fabricated by Top Gear Motorworks in Downers Grove, IL. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community here convinced Top Gear Motorworks to go a step further and develop the first production equal length exhaust system available for F80 M3/F82 M4. Now that the system is officially available, I wanted to post my review.

Full Disclosure: In exchange for my funding of my multiple previous custom iterations which became the proof of concept for the production system, as well as lending my car and time to TGM for development of the production system, I was given the pre-production prototype unit as gratitude for my efforts. That is the full extent of my relationship to TGM and this exhaust, other than being a customer of theirs.

I was never asked by TGM or anyone else to post this review – I decided to of my own volition. This review and all sound clips were made on a 2017 M3 Base, manual transmission, with no other engine related modifications. My car is 100% stock other than the TGM exhaust.

The exhaust is a full cat-back system, which bolts to the downpipes-back. It contains 1 valve, which reuses one OEM valve actuator from your existing exhaust, and includes a resistor plug for the other unused harness to prevent any soft errors from showing up in scan tools. There is no CEL for an unplugged valve, but TGM included the plug for the other side so that it would not corrode/damage over time if not covered correctly.

Valve Closed Tone: Smooth and bass-ey. Under low load conditions, this mode is definitely family friendly and super stealth. I’d say it’s about the same as stock with valves open. When wide open, considerably louder than stock open, and the grumbly, raspy stock sound is replaced with a higher, smoothly ascending pitch. Those who are extra sensitive to the obnoxious cold starts will be very happy with this one – it’s a little louder than stock closed, only it doesn’t sound terrible like stock does. Your neighbors and even your family may thank you (my wife did )

Valve Open Tone: A little dirtier and higher pitched than closed mode. Under low load conditions, this mode is not noticeably louder than valve closed from inside the car. But instead, the pitch changes from a bassier to a higher note, and you can easily drive around with the valve open the entire time and not need to close it. With all 4 windows open, I’m driving in open mode 99% of the time just to hear the sweet, crisp tone.

Under full throttle, open mode screams like a banshee. Above 4000 RPMS the equal length high pitched tone remains, but a bit of added edge/snarl is added to the tone, giving it a little signature S55 character but with the inspiring pitch of the equal length design. When you are on boost, everyone around you is definitely noticing. But as loud as it gets under full throttle, it calms down just as quickly when you throw it in a higher gear to cruise.

Opportunities in the car scene like this don’t really happen to me, so I want to thank TGM and the Bimmerpost community again for the knowledge and enthusiasm that convinced me to pursue my original custom design last November, and which ultimately lead to this collaboration with TGM. In my opinion, the end result is pretty incredible, and I’m very grateful to have helped make this happen.

I’ve added some sound clips here to get a grasp of the tone. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Montaver View Post
The folks that complain about the price are probably the same demographic who will happily spend $3k on pointless carbon trinket 'aero' that does absolutely nothing. Topgear developed a product, they are free to charge whatever they want for it. It's called free market capitalism. It's also the only exhaust for the platform to this point which actually sounds good enough to be worth paying for.
Agreed. It's also inspired several manufactures to start working on and/or producing similar options in hopefully several different price ranges with varying options for everyone's tastes and budget.

As for the TGM system itself - I think it sounds great if you care about quality of tone. Everyone defines value differently and has different priorities... IMO it's currently the best system if you prioritize sound quality at this price point.

All the thanks to ntg44 and several others for pushing this forward and taking chances with their own time and money for the benefit of the community... it's definitely revolutionized exhaust sound for the S55. It's given me a reason to love the S55 all over again as it's OEM exhaust tone was truly the main downside for me. I've been following since before the original equal-length thread, always look forward to the seemingly daily new information!
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Last edited by figure99; 04-08-2020 at 11:26 AM..
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      04-08-2020, 11:21 AM   #12
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This is easily the best sounding exhaust out there for this car in my opinion! Awesome job R&Ding and helping out with this. Glad TG stepped up to the plate. The price is totally fair IMO for this market compared to all the other pricey full standard-style exhausts.

Last edited by jpsimon; 04-08-2020 at 11:35 AM..
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      04-08-2020, 02:04 PM   #13
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Great review ntg44! Honestly without you and members like spool twice, I don't think we would have these options on the market! We appreciate your time and efforts to bring this concept to production.

Your car sounds great, it sounds very similar to a 2JZ.
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      04-08-2020, 03:18 PM   #14
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Sounds great, thanks for sharing. Interested to see how this compares to the AA once its finalized.
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      04-08-2020, 03:36 PM   #15
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after all these months, I still don't get tired of hearing this exhaust!
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      04-08-2020, 03:58 PM   #16
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Sounds epic. Best sounding equal length system I've heard so far.
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      04-08-2020, 04:58 PM   #17
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Can you post some videos of the sound from the inside? Normal driving, WOT pulls? thanks!
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      04-08-2020, 07:20 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GREGS335 View Post
Can you post some videos of the sound from the inside? Normal driving, WOT pulls? thanks!
Yep, I can do that. It's pretty docile inside so I'm not sure how much I can capture on camera. When the windows are closed it's more or less stock ish sound levels. Really nice, not droning like crazy. But I'll record some footage with windows closed and open in both modes.
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      04-08-2020, 07:24 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com View Post
Thank you for sharing
Mike! Get TGM to get you to sell it so I can buy it with affirm so my wife wont see a big dent in my account! Hahahah
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      04-08-2020, 08:08 PM   #20
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Mike! Get TGM to get you to sell it so I can buy it with affirm so my wife wont see a big dent in my account! Hahahah


We'll have another option offered soon
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      04-08-2020, 09:27 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com View Post


We'll have another option offered soon
Wooohooo!

Regardless NTG, the car sounds awesome and I bet a lot of people sent you their mea culpas regarding the snap judgments they had when it first debuted.
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      04-09-2020, 06:32 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpy1980 View Post
Wooohooo!

Regardless NTG, the car sounds awesome and I bet a lot of people sent you their mea culpas regarding the snap judgments they had when it first debuted.
Thank you Eh, I'm over that whole thing. I initially took it way more personally than I should have. But I (and TGM too!) realize that these videos were really needed back then to represent the tone this system makes, but the cold snowy Chicago weather was not doing the footage or the camera batteries any favors.

What matters more is these videos are up now, and they came out awesome. This isn't the "blingiest" system out there with $800+ exhaust tips and all that. But as far as what it set out to do - there's nothing like it, and in my opinion, that's an accomplishment worth mentioning for a complete newcomer to the game.
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