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Weight Comparison
The MonsterQuads system came in at the lightest of the four, and almost two full pounds less than the Barker's which came out the heaviest. This was a little surprising as we noticed the Barker's have the shortest canisters of the four tested. The canisters are also quite thick compared to the rest, and the scalloped billet end caps may add a bit to that weight. We must also add into the equation that the Barker’s are the only system with two heat shields on each exhaust pipe. That’s four more than the rest.
MonsterQuads ATV Products: 14lbs. 5oz.
DMC: 15lbs. 3oz.
Looney Tuned Exhaust: 15lbs. 14oz.
Barker's Performance: 16lbs. 6oz.
Decibel Level Output
All of the systems came out very close to one another in this. If there was any phase of the testing we feel we didn’t do as well as we could have, it was this one. We wanted to test the decibel levels outdoors so we didn’t pick up any reverb from inside the shop. We did abide by Federal and State Park testing procedures by having the meter 20” away, at a 45 degree angle, and on the same plane as the exhaust tip. The problem with doing it outdoors was that the Raptor was not on the dyno machine, which meant we had to estimate the RPMs the motor was at when taking the readings. If we would have done it on the dyno machine, we could have kept the motor at exactly 2500 RPMs like the test should be done, but the numbers would have been skewed by the reverb coming from inside the dyno machine trailer and shop itself. We tested a few runs like that and were up in excess of 112 decibels at times, to give you an idea.
MonsterQuads ATV Products: 101.5 db
Barker's Performance: 102 db
Looney Tuned Exhaust: 102.5 db
DMC: 102.5 db
Dyno Results
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By doing this test with the same quad, same dyno machine, same day, back to back to back to back, we get accurate “apples-to-apples” comparisons with little or no change in variables, other than the exhaust systems themselves. The owner of Rocket Factory, Jason, and his crew performed a fantastic job of fully tuning each Raptor with each combination. We had 15+ dyno pulls on each quad to get the most out of every setup, until a general consensus was agreed upon by the group. After each set of dyno pulls, Jason would tweak up and down in given RPM ranges, adding small percentages of fuel here while subtracting small percentages in other places, to get the most out of each one. It really was more tuning than we ever expected, and for that we can't thank them enough. We dyno'd for eight straight hours, from 11am to 7pm. |
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"3 Mod" Raptor
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We ran the almost-stock Raptor first, and surprisingly the numbers were very close. The DMCs actually had a hair more torque than the rest. All of the other three however were within fractions of one another, which tells us any of the four systems will work just fine for you if you plan to leave your Raptor mostly stock. |
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As you can see, all four kits are very equal and within 1HP at peak of eachother. By looking at the graph you will see that some carry the power out further than the others, and some make power in different places. Bottom line with the "3 Mod" setup is, if you plan on keeping your Raptor in that basic format, then any of the four contenders will work just fine for you. What limits you in stock-trim are the other variables, such as the camshaft, ignition curve, and piston. It just doesn’t get any closer than this as far as the four are concerned. We are really splitting hairs here, and with even more tuning the numbers might come closer than they already are.
Modified Raptor
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The surprising part of this test is how close each of these kits are with the exception of the DMCs. From 7500-9000 RPM, the DMCs fell flat off and were up to an amazing 12HP less than the other three. You can also see where some carry out the power just a little longer. As the plot shows, the LTEs, MonsterQuads, and Barker's are still very close in overall performance throughout the curve. They all get to the same place, albeit they each take different paths in design, and so on. Megaphone versus stepping versus length tuned. All three achieve the same basic results, atleast within this level of build on a motor which we feel encompasses 99% of the Raptor 700R community. The numbers may change if you go to a bigger build, as we are starting to see with many Raptors in the 800cc range already. At that point however, owners with that build are usually doing so for dragging, and are going to a drag-style exhaust for maximum output. That’s a shootout for another day. |
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The Conclusion
Hopefully each and every one of you will enjoy dissecting the charts and graphs to make your own decision on which system works best for you. As you can see, some will outshine the others given the application you intend to use. With the three kits (LTE, Barker's, and MonsterQuads) being so close in overall performance, we suggest you look to other areas we tested upon like fit/finish and weight. Is there a clear winner? No, but there's a loser. DMC comes in dead last, simply because they really fell off the chart on the modified Raptor, and were a real pain installing. They were also $74 more than the Barker’s, which were the lowest priced of the bunch. We'd put the Barker’s and the MonsterQuads at a dead even tie for first, with the somewhat pricey LTEs in a close third.
Thank You!
We are extremely proud to have been apart of this combined effort, and look forward to doing more in the future. The many people involved in this huge undertaking deserve a giant round of applause for making this happen. We'd like to especially thank Tim Barker for the donation of his exhaust system. Tim was the only pipe manufacturer to step up when presented with the challenge, and without hesitation. This should tell you a lot about the man, and his company. We'd also like to thank Rocket Factory again for all of their support. We can't stress enough how much Jason and his crew did for us and this project. They bent over backwards and went beyond our expectations. Miguel ("Loco") and his partner Mike deserve thanks also, for riding up with us and wrenching all day, as well as donating one of the Raptors and the DMC system. You guys are good people! Mike ("shredder") donated his MonsterQuad kit and helped us turn wrenches as well. His presence there not only lends to the accuracy and credibility of this test, but he kept the shop light and laughing all day long. And finally, a huge thanks goes out to Bluetraxx.com's own Dan ("petedog9"), for setting all of this up and making it a reality. He worked his ass off to get this done, which included many months of preparation. Your sir, rule!
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