Larini Sports Exhaust
Discussion
Hi All
I was within minutes of ordering a Larini Sports exhaust (just the silencer) for my 2002 S2 Sports Tourer but am now thinking that I need to hear a similar set up before I commit.
Is there anyone in London Canary Wharf, Cambridge, Brighton or possibly even Newbury (I move around a bit) that has an otherwise unmodified S2 Sports Tourer with a Larini Sports (not club-sports) exhaust that wouldn't mind me having a listen to? I'm sure there is a beer in it for anyone willing.
I was within minutes of ordering a Larini Sports exhaust (just the silencer) for my 2002 S2 Sports Tourer but am now thinking that I need to hear a similar set up before I commit.
Is there anyone in London Canary Wharf, Cambridge, Brighton or possibly even Newbury (I move around a bit) that has an otherwise unmodified S2 Sports Tourer with a Larini Sports (not club-sports) exhaust that wouldn't mind me having a listen to? I'm sure there is a beer in it for anyone willing.
Hey mate, I'm in Canary Wharf, with a Sport Tourer and a Larini Club Sport. Don't bring the car up too much, but I'll be about London this Sunday with it.
I'm located in Sutton/Croydon area if you want to meet up, have a listen and a chat. Just drop me an email or something.
Not a problem at all. I have driven my car with the Cat on, and off, both short and long distances, so am happy to share.
Just to add the car's also standard (no induction kit etc, and has the cat on at the moment).
cheers
Chris
I'm located in Sutton/Croydon area if you want to meet up, have a listen and a chat. Just drop me an email or something.
Not a problem at all. I have driven my car with the Cat on, and off, both short and long distances, so am happy to share.
Just to add the car's also standard (no induction kit etc, and has the cat on at the moment).
cheers
Chris
Edited by Wildfire on Wednesday 28th October 11:12
check out you tube, tonnes of Larini vids inlcuding one of different stages of modification. Larini website also has videos you can listen too. I bought the club sport version, had it for 6 months and makes me smile every time. Underground car parks, tunnels are a dream. Just buy it, you wont be dissapointed and worst comes to worst, put the old one back on! I know its not exact but like I said I have the club sport and live in Battersea, am away with work for the next few weeks but if your still stuck let me know!
LogicSnap said:
check out you tube, tonnes of Larini vids inlcuding one of different stages of modification. Larini website also has videos you can listen too. I bought the club sport version, had it for 6 months and makes me smile every time. Underground car parks, tunnels are a dream. Just buy it, you wont be dissapointed and worst comes to worst, put the old one back on! I know its not exact but like I said I have the club sport and live in Battersea, am away with work for the next few weeks but if your still stuck let me know!
They're my ones I think (click my profile, then click on VIDEOS) 
Thanks for all the responses. On reflection I think I am just going to go for it. I'm not after too much noise and might upgrade items like the cat in the future so I think I will just go for the sport rather than the club sport.
There doesn't seem to be much info or vid's of the sport so I will post back once it is all done and dusted to help others make the call in the future.
There doesn't seem to be much info or vid's of the sport so I will post back once it is all done and dusted to help others make the call in the future.
You could always wait for me to report back.
Ordered the Club Sport last week, due to be fitted w/b 14 November at Top Gear in Wolverhampton.
Car is standard (std. cat. & induction), I had the same reservations, didn't want anything too loud, but i also want something that will make me smile through the Conwy tunnel.
Bit the bullet, currently wishing away the next fortnight!
Regards, Neil
Ordered the Club Sport last week, due to be fitted w/b 14 November at Top Gear in Wolverhampton.
Car is standard (std. cat. & induction), I had the same reservations, didn't want anything too loud, but i also want something that will make me smile through the Conwy tunnel.
Bit the bullet, currently wishing away the next fortnight!
Regards, Neil
rico28 said:
Quite excited, it is finally being fitted tomorrow (along with an EliseParts gear linkage). It has been a bit of a hassle dealing with Larini but hopefully it will be worth it.
Next up is sorting the breaks and suspension early in the New Year
Ah sNext up is sorting the breaks and suspension early in the New Year
t,wish i'd seen this.Dealing direct with Larini is bloody painful,since found out elise-shop.com sell them at a good price and keep em in stock(Larini make them to order ffs).
Back On Track in Guildford sell them too if anyones interested
I had no problems dealing with Larini.
One phone call, product was delivered to third party for fitting during booked service and invoice sent to my home.
I understand they batch build, rather than build to order, so it may be just a case of luck of the draw when you call them.
I ordered mine about a month ago and they had just finished a batch of Club Sports for the standard k, so had plenty in stock.
Very personable and pleasant on the phone. Picking the car up Saturday, looking forward to it.
Regards, Neil
One phone call, product was delivered to third party for fitting during booked service and invoice sent to my home.
I understand they batch build, rather than build to order, so it may be just a case of luck of the draw when you call them.
I ordered mine about a month ago and they had just finished a batch of Club Sports for the standard k, so had plenty in stock.
Very personable and pleasant on the phone. Picking the car up Saturday, looking forward to it.
Regards, Neil
The Larini is now fitted so I will give my feedback.
I did opt for the ‘Sports’ rather than the ‘Club Sport’ back box in the end and I have to say I am happy with the result. When I first pulled off I was a little hesitant about the extra vibration that was being feed through to the interior, my foot was shaking quite a lot on the clutch rest which was irritating. Although after around 50-100miles that has now settled down. The sound is good, not too noisy, just adds a deeper note when increasing on the revs. At low rev’s there isn’t a huge difference to the stock exhaust which is pretty much what I was after. It can be a touch boomy in 5th at motorway speeds but I will see how it settles further over the next few hundred miles. I think the best bit it when you come to stop it gives off a lovely burbly note. The new tips also look quite cool, still oval but slightly larger and protrude just slightly more. I will post a pic when I get a chance.
I had it fitted at Track-Club in Kimbolton (opposite EliseParts) near Cambridge. The place is a breath of fresh air having previously been a Vindis St. Ives customer. The workshop, although only having been in use for around 6 months, was spotless and full of race prepped Loti. I felt reassured that as soon as the exhaust arrived they weighed it to make sure I wasn’t being sold a dud and thankfully it came in at around 8.1kg (after the swap this turned out to be 6.44kg lighter than the stock exhaust). I spoke with a couple of the mechanics and they really seemed to know their stuff when it came to the Elise. I had hesitations going away from main dealers but I don’t think I will look back now. I’m never going to sell the car so I’m not too fussed if I get dealer stamps or not. I will be going back to get my brakes and suspension sorted in the new year.
I had pretty much the opposite experience with Larini, who were a huge pain to deal with. I ordered 8 weeks in advance and they really left me second guessing as to what was going on. I must have phoned them 5-6 times and despite telling me they would phone back they only did once, and that was to collect payment (which after checking their original quote was £11 more than they said it would be). They did deliver the exhaust on time, but only just, it turned up at the garage about 5mins before I did in the car… talk about down to the wire. I’ve also had no paper work or email correspondence from them at all, no invoice, no receipt! I would defiantly recommend buying from a 3rd party and not direct.
I did opt for the ‘Sports’ rather than the ‘Club Sport’ back box in the end and I have to say I am happy with the result. When I first pulled off I was a little hesitant about the extra vibration that was being feed through to the interior, my foot was shaking quite a lot on the clutch rest which was irritating. Although after around 50-100miles that has now settled down. The sound is good, not too noisy, just adds a deeper note when increasing on the revs. At low rev’s there isn’t a huge difference to the stock exhaust which is pretty much what I was after. It can be a touch boomy in 5th at motorway speeds but I will see how it settles further over the next few hundred miles. I think the best bit it when you come to stop it gives off a lovely burbly note. The new tips also look quite cool, still oval but slightly larger and protrude just slightly more. I will post a pic when I get a chance.
I had it fitted at Track-Club in Kimbolton (opposite EliseParts) near Cambridge. The place is a breath of fresh air having previously been a Vindis St. Ives customer. The workshop, although only having been in use for around 6 months, was spotless and full of race prepped Loti. I felt reassured that as soon as the exhaust arrived they weighed it to make sure I wasn’t being sold a dud and thankfully it came in at around 8.1kg (after the swap this turned out to be 6.44kg lighter than the stock exhaust). I spoke with a couple of the mechanics and they really seemed to know their stuff when it came to the Elise. I had hesitations going away from main dealers but I don’t think I will look back now. I’m never going to sell the car so I’m not too fussed if I get dealer stamps or not. I will be going back to get my brakes and suspension sorted in the new year.
I had pretty much the opposite experience with Larini, who were a huge pain to deal with. I ordered 8 weeks in advance and they really left me second guessing as to what was going on. I must have phoned them 5-6 times and despite telling me they would phone back they only did once, and that was to collect payment (which after checking their original quote was £11 more than they said it would be). They did deliver the exhaust on time, but only just, it turned up at the garage about 5mins before I did in the car… talk about down to the wire. I’ve also had no paper work or email correspondence from them at all, no invoice, no receipt! I would defiantly recommend buying from a 3rd party and not direct.
Thanks for the update Rico - I've been thinking of getting one of these and your feedback is pretty interesting.
You shouldn't be getting any vibration from the exhaust, I can only assume that it wasn't fitted well and was fouling part of the chassis. Maybe as you have been driving the car it has settled into a better position but it would be worth checking all is tight underneath.
Also, the boominess bothers me. I always thought the Sport was free from that
You shouldn't be getting any vibration from the exhaust, I can only assume that it wasn't fitted well and was fouling part of the chassis. Maybe as you have been driving the car it has settled into a better position but it would be worth checking all is tight underneath.
Also, the boominess bothers me. I always thought the Sport was free from that
Here's some more feedback.
Picked the car up last week now fitted with a Larini CludSport replacing a Janspeed I had fitted when I bought the car.
The Janspeed got some bad press about being boomy around the middle of the rev range and while this was teh case initially, this settled down after a few thousand miles.
Initial comparisons with the Larini are the distinct Larini 'bark' on firing up the engine and a higher pitch scream on full throttle, both characteristics score highly on the grin factor scale. (3 tunnels along the A55, wound the windows down and my 6 year old son and I just laughed!)
In general the system does appear to slightly louder than the Janspeed, but there is an intusive boom around 3000-3500rpm, right in line with motorway cruising speeds, (this may have been worse as I did have the roof on, which I don't generally do) and this was very tedious on the drive home. This would necessitate earplugs on long journeys if the miles don't settle things down.
Unlike Rico, I have no vibration problems (that doesn't sound right?), but it is important not to judge exhaust systems when new (very similar to high end hifi speakers). These systems need to bed in, the carbon build up within the exhaust will affect the tonal qualities of the system and they need a few thousand miles to settle down.
Overall, I like the general noise of the system, and hope the boominess will disappear in a few '000 miles, if it does then I will have no alternative than to wholeheartedly recommend the clubsport to all. I'll post back in 6 months and let you know how things have developed.
Regards, Neil
Picked the car up last week now fitted with a Larini CludSport replacing a Janspeed I had fitted when I bought the car.
The Janspeed got some bad press about being boomy around the middle of the rev range and while this was teh case initially, this settled down after a few thousand miles.
Initial comparisons with the Larini are the distinct Larini 'bark' on firing up the engine and a higher pitch scream on full throttle, both characteristics score highly on the grin factor scale. (3 tunnels along the A55, wound the windows down and my 6 year old son and I just laughed!)
In general the system does appear to slightly louder than the Janspeed, but there is an intusive boom around 3000-3500rpm, right in line with motorway cruising speeds, (this may have been worse as I did have the roof on, which I don't generally do) and this was very tedious on the drive home. This would necessitate earplugs on long journeys if the miles don't settle things down.
Unlike Rico, I have no vibration problems (that doesn't sound right?), but it is important not to judge exhaust systems when new (very similar to high end hifi speakers). These systems need to bed in, the carbon build up within the exhaust will affect the tonal qualities of the system and they need a few thousand miles to settle down.
Overall, I like the general noise of the system, and hope the boominess will disappear in a few '000 miles, if it does then I will have no alternative than to wholeheartedly recommend the clubsport to all. I'll post back in 6 months and let you know how things have developed.
Regards, Neil
I should just state that I have now received a reciept in the post from Larini. So that does make me feel a bit better.
I've driven the car another 200miles over the weekend and the vibration hasn't appeared since I first drove it back from the garage. Very much to my joy it has also started the nice 'bark' on start up
Edited spelling
I've driven the car another 200miles over the weekend and the vibration hasn't appeared since I first drove it back from the garage. Very much to my joy it has also started the nice 'bark' on start up
Edited spelling
Edited by rico28 on Monday 14th December 09:38
Edited by rico28 on Monday 14th December 09:38
worldwidewebs said:
Any boominess to report?
Only time my ears started to bleed was two weeks ago when I was decending a steep switchback hill,I selected third to slow her down & with my hard top on the car for the wet months,I heard a lot of boominess I can tell you,but everyday driving its fine... R-Racer said:
worldwidewebs said:
Any boominess to report?
Only time my ears started to bleed was two weeks ago when I was decending a steep switchback hill,I selected third to slow her down & with my hard top on the car for the wet months,I heard a lot of boominess I can tell you,but everyday driving its fine... 
Boominess is basically resonance and with straight-through exhausts it's really hard to eradicate when you don't have much volume to build a silencer into. The Elise obviously has very little room for big silencers, unless you lose the boot.
If you use your car regularly and for long drives, then resonance will eventually *really* wind you up. Earplugs are one solution but IMO if you need earplugs to drive your road car, then there's something amiss. Even with special earplugs to remove just one portion of the frequency band, you may be not able to hear other noises that indicate there's something wrong with the car, and therefore ignore a warning until it's too late.
To be honest, if you want a good 'sports car' sound but really don't want the resonance and 'booming' you get with most high-decibel sports exhausts, only 2bular seem to have cracked the great-sound-without-resonance conundrum. The standard Lotus fitment exhaust doesn't resonate, but it's full of baffles and is very restrictive, and sounds rubbish. All the Larinis I've heard have great 'crackle and pop' when ragging it and through tunnels, but unless you only ever drive your car for weekend 'fun' on the roads (most of these pipes are too loud for UK trackdays), the noise and resonance is just too much.
Don't really want to start a 'which exhaust' fight as that's been done to death. But for anyone who wants a sportier sound but simply cannot bear resonance at cruising speed (and perhaps wants to do trackdays) - 2bular are the best option and of superb quality. If trackdays aren't an issue and you don't mind booming (this is *much* more of an issue if you have a hardtop / Exige) and you want the lairiest exhaust you can find, then there are loads of options. What I don't get about the Larini range is that the Sport pipe still resonates. Fair enough that the Club Sport does - it's really loud and occasionally a right laugh (though you won't get onto any trackdays with it), but you'd expect that they offer a resonance-free 'daily use' exhaust, like 2bular do...
Basically if you have to wear earplugs on anything but a short thrash, then you may as well go all-out and get the most mental zorst you can find Otherwise, for no resonance, get a 2bular or stick with the standard...
If you use your car regularly and for long drives, then resonance will eventually *really* wind you up. Earplugs are one solution but IMO if you need earplugs to drive your road car, then there's something amiss. Even with special earplugs to remove just one portion of the frequency band, you may be not able to hear other noises that indicate there's something wrong with the car, and therefore ignore a warning until it's too late.
To be honest, if you want a good 'sports car' sound but really don't want the resonance and 'booming' you get with most high-decibel sports exhausts, only 2bular seem to have cracked the great-sound-without-resonance conundrum. The standard Lotus fitment exhaust doesn't resonate, but it's full of baffles and is very restrictive, and sounds rubbish. All the Larinis I've heard have great 'crackle and pop' when ragging it and through tunnels, but unless you only ever drive your car for weekend 'fun' on the roads (most of these pipes are too loud for UK trackdays), the noise and resonance is just too much.
Don't really want to start a 'which exhaust' fight as that's been done to death. But for anyone who wants a sportier sound but simply cannot bear resonance at cruising speed (and perhaps wants to do trackdays) - 2bular are the best option and of superb quality. If trackdays aren't an issue and you don't mind booming (this is *much* more of an issue if you have a hardtop / Exige) and you want the lairiest exhaust you can find, then there are loads of options. What I don't get about the Larini range is that the Sport pipe still resonates. Fair enough that the Club Sport does - it's really loud and occasionally a right laugh (though you won't get onto any trackdays with it), but you'd expect that they offer a resonance-free 'daily use' exhaust, like 2bular do...
Basically if you have to wear earplugs on anything but a short thrash, then you may as well go all-out and get the most mental zorst you can find
Otherwise, for no resonance, get a 2bular or stick with the standard...cyberface said:
Fair enough that the Club Sport does - it's really loud and occasionally a right laugh (though you won't get onto any trackdays with it
Not true at all - I was at the infamous black flag festival at Bedford last year and with a Club Sport and Hurricane I passed the static at 92dB and circulated all day whilst others were kicked off. That's a LOT quieter than a Lotus Stage 2...And having spent 4 years with one, I can tell you that I've done nearly 40,000 miles with mine, including plenty of motorway running to and from LoT races and it's fine. Wind noise is much more of an issue. You might find it slightly boomier at an indicated 80mph but if you do 78 or 82 it's a lot quieter.
Edited by kevin ritson on Monday 14th December 18:00
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