I just replaced my Invidia G200 for a Tanabe Medallion Touring. The Invidia is an awesome looking exhaust with a mean bawdy rumble, but was a little loud for my taste. I agree it's not the loudest and actually only marginally louder then the Greddy Evo2 on the same catless (Invidia) downpipe, but I was wanting something much quieter. I tried to make clear assessments based on what I've been exposed to on my car and other Subarus with 2.5 engines and catless downpipes. so here we go..

FIT AND FINISH

The welds are typical Japanese high quality, with beefy flanges and hefty hangers. The piping is 80mm (aprx 3.14") and is brushed polished instead of mirror polished like the Invidia's. Like the Greddy models, it does have a slight of taper at the downpipe to 2.86", but the flange is designed for a 3" downpipe. The muffler is fully polished and like the Inividia's canister, is mirror like. The tip is a large round tip, about 1/2" larger then an STIs, thickly rolled with an angle cut, and tapered toward the muffler.

This bolted right up to the Invidia catless downpipe with out any fitment issues. Clearance is close, as I had to use an extended hanger to replace the stock one right behind the muffler to allow the piping to clear the rear differential shield. The stock hangers where used for the muffler which gave it a nice tucked up appearance with about 2/3" gap between the bumper and the tip.

SOUND

The sound is amazing. Much quieter then the Greddy Evo2 and definitely much quieter then the G200. Both the Evo2 and G200 have a very pronounced burble, with the G200 being a little frappy or raspy at higher RPMs. Both the Evo2 and G200 elevate in sound level and pitch as RPMs increase. The Tanabe is very low sounding, with a very deep "ROM" at idle to about 3k rpms. Anything above 3k and it just mutes to a vroom with a slight rumble. High rpm highway acceleration gives a growly motor sound on par with a STI with just a downpipe and stock CBE. In fact, overall this exhaust delivers a tone much like a stock STI, but with a catless dp and a little more rumble. Compared to the Whisper, it's deeper and a little louder in RPMs below 3500 but quieter then the Whisper above.

Compared to the following systems that I've had sufficient exposure to, I rank it as follows in terms of sound level, from loudest at the top to the quietest at the bottom:

APS 3.5"
Blitz Nur Spec
Invidia N1 race
Inividia G200
Greddy Evo2
SPT
Borla Hush
Tanabe/Whisper

VALUE

Compared to the other systems that are considered "quiet", it's a good deal. Both the Borla Hush is comparable in price, though many don't care for the twin tips and the Mad Dad Whisper is considered to be on the expensive side. I ordered this system through CVR Motorsports. They have competitive prices on most exhaust systems that are comparable.

PERFORMANCE
I didn't notice any change at all going from exhaust to exhaust. Most know that the catback is not an area where much gains/loss will be noticed with out pushing big power with a big turbo.

Now for the pics!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/Yooshin/DSCF0099rs1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/Yooshin/DSCF0101rs1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/Yooshin/DSCF0105rs.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/Yooshin/DSCF0108rs.jpg

Man, that is a very good looking muffler.. Very classy and OEM looking but with an edge. The polish looks fantastic...You know somethings up when you see that sticking down..

It fits really nice...tucked up right in there.. cool! Much better than the G200 (FTW)

Looks awesome!

Awsome, thanks for the review. It's always nice to know there's another option for those of us who HATE loud.

Hey Yoo Shin, you have to edit your piping diameters. The exhaust tapers to 72mm which is 2.86" at the downpipe side but the rest of the piping is 80mm or 3.14" according to Tanabe. I have the same exhaust and it is awesome.

Does the piping taper inside the muffler? Or is it 3" straight through the muffler. I have a Hyper Medallion and it tapers in the muffler.

Can you post a pic of the inside of the muffler through the tip?

Thanks.

Hey Yoo Shin, you have to edit your piping diameters. The exhaust tapers to 72mm which is 2.86" at the downpipe side but the rest of the piping is 80mm or 3.14" according to Tanabe. I have the same exhaust and it is awesome.

FIXED, though I wasn't really off by much.

Does the piping taper inside the muffler? Or is it 3" straight through the muffler. I have a Hyper Medallion and it tapers in the muffler.

Can you post a pic of the inside of the muffler through the tip?

Thanks.

Dunno that's a good question. I'll take a look after work and post a pic.

The only taper is on the downpipe end...everything else is 80mm

This thread is almost worthless without sound files.

that looks really good.. sorta like the cobb's but less OEMish. very nice!

thanks for the write-up :) i had always been curious about this exhaust because i think its look are second to none (i love the oval canister look but there aren't very many that i like out) and i could never find any who had one on the board that reviewed it.

This thread is almost worthless without sound files.

I tried yesterday but it was so windy, the mic on the camcorder picked up nothing but wind turbulence.

I'll try again today, though I don't think a mic on a camcorder would accurately display the tone and harmonics of this exhaust. I mean this thing is just deep and smooth.

Thanks for the excellent review.

Clips are available on their website for an STi, both the Touring and Concept G. http://www.tanabe-usa.com/soundclips.asp

I was curious if anyone knows how this touring exhaust differs from their Concept G catback? The Concept G looks like a more straight thru muffler, and maybe a bit louder. Both sound excellent.

The clips sounded nice but <92dB isn't exactly quiet and it sounded pretty loud to me.

How does it compare to the stock exhaust in your opinion. I won't replace mine until something rusts through probably, but it is good to think ahead.

The clips sounded nice but <92dB isn't exactly quiet and it sounded pretty loud to me.

How does it compare to the stock exhaust in your opinion. I won't replace mine until something rusts through probably, but it is good to think ahead.

Well, the SPL is relative, especially when it comes to the tone and harmonics of the exhaust. The stock STI is 92 @ idle and 93 at 3k rpm, according to the well known Exhaust Decibel excell spreadsheet. This exhaust has a much deeper "ROM" sound (best I can describe it) from idle to about 3k then a stock STI, and with not much more volume. Again, it's like a STI with a catless dp and stock catback. Anything from 3-3500k the sound gets muted and "vrooms" with a little of the rumble sound but doesn't really get much louder. It is quieter then the Mad Dad whisper which is consider to be a notch about the STI stock.

I don't know how many ways I can describe it. With any exhaust really, it's about opinion. Before I got the G200 everybody was like, "nah, it's quiet!", "best sounding exhaust!", on and on until I got it and found it to be loud, IMO.

got the pics of the inside of the muffler yet?

I thought that the Ansa exhaust was the loudest.....LOL...

Mark

got the pics of the inside of the muffler yet?

Oh yeah, Idid take one but it didn't turn out. All you see is shiny steel. Just eye balling it, I can see the pipe come into the muffer at the other end.

So it doesnt taper down in the muffler?

I think I found my next exhaust...

Yoo Shin, I was thinking about geting the Tanabe Medalion ConceptG Blue Exhaust (Turboback). I have a 2007 WRX stock exhaust, would you recommend it?

Yoo Shin, I was thinking about geting the Tanabe Medalion ConceptG Blue Exhaust (Turboback). I have a 2007 WRX stock exhaust, would you recommend it?

That is a very different exhaust from the Medallion Touring. The turboback is significantly louder than the Touring or Concept G Catback. See my thread on the Concept G Catback (which I am thinking about). The turboback has a different midpipe design, and is 3" throughout. The muffler on the turboback looks more like the Concept G catabck, though I could not get a straight answer on how similar they are.

Is the Medallion Touring a straight thru design or is it chambered in the muffler?

^^^^
According to my research the Touring is chambered in the muffler, while the Concept G is straight thru. Note that there is a Concept G catback and a Concept G "Blue" Turboback. Those two are not the same, though both are straight thru.

See my post which discusses the Touring, Concept G, and Concept G Blue: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1236876

What a shame... I was hoping it was something similar to the MadDad Whisper but at a cheaper price.

Only reason I didn't look at the Concept G was the fact that I wanted a Stock Looking exhaust. Oh well....

i just replaced my RM01A for this catback and sound wise im happier than with my RM01A...

Noise level wise the RM01A is far quieter...

This exhaust looks really nice, I'm stuck between this and the Cobb......:confused:

get this, i've seen both in person and cobb's catback is waay overpriced for what its quality...

get this, i've seen both in person and cobb's catback is waay overpriced for what its quality...
yea i was also doing some pricing, I can get the tanabe for 50shipped, thats about a 150 less than the cobb.

get this, i've seen both in person and cobb's catback is waay overpriced for what its quality...

agreed

but dont get me wrong the COBB does sound nice though =)

just looks like a custom NYC junkyard muffler shop quality

This exhaust is great. It sounds so nice

Just installed this badboy a couple days ago. Muffler was already painted for stealth look. Fitment was perfect and sounds very nice.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb5/BzSpongerrr/TanabeTouringMedallion001.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb5/BzSpongerrr/TanabeTouringMedallion002.jpg

does it fit fine on stock dp?thanks!

does it fit fine on stock dp?thanks!

Yes it will fit on stock dp. Has a slight of taper at the downpipe to 2.86 like the op said. I have it mated to a 2.5 catless dp and no leaks

Yes it will fit on stock dp. Has a slight of taper at the downpipe to 2.86 like the op said. I have it mated to a 2.5 catless dp and no leaks
thanks!:banana:

Hey just wondering if this axleback will fit on a version 2 TurboXS stealthback, I'm going to pick one of these axlebacks on friday and I don't even know if it'll fit my exhaust. haha

oh wait, the one I'm getting is a Tanabe Super Hyper Medallion. what's the difference? either way, will the Super Hyper Medallion and Medallion Touring fit on a turboxs stealthback?

oh wait, the one I'm getting is a Tanabe Super Hyper Medallion. what's the difference? either way, will the Super Hyper Medallion and Medallion Touring fit on a turboxs stealthback?

Hey there,

The touring medallion is 3 inch at the axleback and hyper is 2.75 and I think the turboxs stealthback midpipe tapers to 2.5 at the axleback....So I don't think it will fit correctly.

nah, not the version 2 stealthbacks. The midpipes are 3 inches straight through and there's 2 sets of holes on the flange. One set for stock type axlebacks and another for aftermarket. Hopefully the flanges will match up. Thanks for the reply though, I've been waitin for an answer. I even PMed Tanabe. nothin yet

nah, not the version 2 stealthbacks. The midpipes are 3 inches straight through and there's 2 sets of holes on the flange. One set for stock type axlebacks and another for aftermarket. Hopefully the flanges will match up. Thanks for the reply though, I've been waitin for an answer. I even PMed Tanabe. nothin yet

Oh 3" all the way...sweet. Hopefully it fits. LEt us know!


Thanks

im planning on paint my muffler soon as well.

This thing was too loud for me so i put a auger style silencer

now mine is for sale if anyone wants~