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I am not planning to race my car or modify it heavily but I am interested in doing a bolt on exhaust on the car almost solely for the sound. I've always had good sounding exhausts on my cars (GHL on my Audi, GReddy Ti-c on my WRX) and I just enjoy the sound the car makes.
I'm a bit overwhelmed by the options if not for only one reason; there's a massive disparity in cost. A local shop is selling me on one called AWE, which sounds alright at WOT but seems to have some sort of flap that tones it down, and I would prefer the exhaust that makes my neighbors hate me.
Does anyone know a good link where I can hear the different options or at least see what they are? I'm seeing companies like Fabspeed for around $1,800 all the way up to some others that are nearly $10,000.
The AWE Switchpath is plenty loud, if you want to make noise that will do the job and it has decent workmanship on it, but not at the level of the pricer pipes. The valves are open at idle, close when you drive off and then re-open at 3,600 to 3,700 rpm. That's done to give you some peace when driving moderately and talking on the phone or listening to the radio. I found the AWE too loud and returned mine in favor of a Tubi exhaust ( $ 4,500) which replaces the pair of side mufflers as well as a center muffle. Its perfect for me - reasonable tone at low rpms and it rips when the revs go past 3,700. Everyone has different sound levels they want, you'll have to explore them all. For me, I don't like drone at highway speeds or draw attention as a street racer, so it was either Akropovic ($ 9K) or the Tubi.
The less costly pipes such as AWE are replacing just the center muffler, they leave the factory side mufflers in place. These are commonly referred to as "X-Pipes" and there are a number of makers of them.
AWE comes with a Satisfaction guarantee so you can try it to see if you like it, and return it if you don't. They told me at AWE I was the only return they ever had on one, so that means most do like it.
AWE Switchpath on my car for 1 day:
Duane
Last edited by drcollie; Jun 17, 2015 at 06:32 AM.
Drcollie is correct. Exhaust note is very particular to each person. I am a big Europipe fan having had 3 on previous Porsche TT'S. They don't make an exhaust for my car.
I chose to go for my 4S with the Kline Iconel exhaust. I felt it was less muscle car and more Euro F1 sounding. Beautiful build, side and front mufflers, full package and great people to work with. Midrange price wise. Am very happy.
Good luck with your choice.
Last edited by Jersey Shore; Jun 17, 2015 at 05:16 AM.
I just installed the Shark Werks X-pipe and the sound is exactly what I was looking for and a great price. Having a manual also lets me have some control as well.
With so many options, unless this is a have-to-have today kind of thing, I would try to attend a couple of PCA functions, Cars 'n Coffee events and try to hear and go for a ride in some of the many variants available to narrow the field. I do not believe most companies will allow a return once installed.
Duane, thank you for the very informative post. If AWE has a satisfaction guarantee then that makes it an easy decision to try it out.
I see you've had a Ti-C on a WRX, so you definitely do like the louder systems.
You'll fall in love with our SwitchPath exhaust, and we're so confident in the sound we can back it with our Sound Satisfaction™ Guarantee. If for some reason you don't love it, we'll take it back. Not sure if anyone else can stand behind their system like that.
In between shifts you get a symphony of burbles and crackles, and the overall tone is very aggressive without being annoying: our engineers aimed to accentuate the great tone characteristics of the engine. Prepare to turn heads! Loud is great, but be mindful that our SwitchPath technology minimizes droning when you aren't driving all out.
If you have any questions about our SwitchPath system, please let me know! If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen through the link above.
We have multiple different options for you to take a look at and to provide you with the perfect set up!
I recommend one of two options but you can mix and match to make the ideal set up. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Option 1:
Our Supersport X-Pipe Exhaust system is a great solution if you are looking for an aggressive sounding system. It replaces the center muffler section with a resonated X-pipe and bypasses the side mufflers.
Option 2:
Center Muffler Bypass X-Pipe in addition to the Maxflo Performance Side Mufflers. This option replaces the center muffler with a free flowing X-pipe and replaces the factory bulky and restrictive factory mufflers with a more free flowing side muffler.
Just one more thing to be aware of - if you go with any of the center-can delete exhausts (which cost less) you are going to get some very noticeable drone and boom at highway cruising speeds where you are doing steady-state 65 / 75 / 85 mph. That center can is critical to prevent that. The engineering of an exhaust system requires a volume chamber (i.e., muffler) to prevent that from occuring, and there is no way around it. The side cans on the 991's are not enough dampening to prevent this. That may not matter to you if you don't take trips in your 991 or enjoy the steady and constant sound similar to being in a small prop-driven airplane, but that is the major difference between the full cat back exhausts and the X-pipe center eliminators. It requires considerable design work to fabricate a good exhaust that gives both a nice tone and yet doesn't boom/drone. That's why you see the big price differentials.
Years ago I had a B&B exhaust on my BMW M3 that sounded fantastic. When I took the car on trips I had to wear earplugs on any trip over 2 hours. Eventually that got old and I removed it to install a better baffled exhaust from Active Autowerks on the car and while it didn't rumble as much or make the cool run-up and run-down noises of the B&B, it was a MUCH better pipe to live with day to day.
Last edited by drcollie; Jun 18, 2015 at 06:07 AM.
i installed an akrapovic for my c2 months ago, never regrets it! , compared to my friends f10 meisterschaft & panamera's AWE track, IMO akra's drone was much less noticeable. i can talk in the phone / listen to music in the highways without any problem. nice grumble at low rpm and screams at high rev. if $$ isn't a problem for you, i strongly recommend you to get one. used parts can be an option
the variety of sound the exhaust made is also a huge plus point!
Last edited by kevinhartantio; Jun 19, 2015 at 02:56 AM.
I clicked on the fabspeed link and I really like the way the exhaust sounds. Loud, gurgly, and will make my neighbors hate me.
Great! I think the word you were looking for instead of hate was JEALOUS I don't care how loud my neighbors car is, if it sounds good then well I can't be mad about that.
Just one more thing to be aware of - if you go with any of the center-can delete exhausts (which cost less) you are going to get some very noticeable drone and boom at highway cruising speeds where you are doing steady-state 65 / 75 / 85 mph. That center can is critical to prevent that. The engineering of an exhaust system requires a volume chamber (i.e., muffler) to prevent that from occuring, and there is no way around it. The side cans on the 991's are not enough dampening to prevent this. That may not matter to you if you don't take trips in your 991 or enjoy the steady and constant sound similar to being in a small prop-driven airplane, but that is the major difference between the full cat back exhausts and the X-pipe center eliminators. It requires considerable design work to fabricate a good exhaust that gives both a nice tone and yet doesn't boom/drone. That's why you see the big price differentials.
Years ago I had a B&B exhaust on my BMW M3 that sounded fantastic. When I took the car on trips I had to wear earplugs on any trip over 2 hours. Eventually that got old and I removed it to install a better baffled exhaust from Active Autowerks on the car and while it didn't rumble as much or make the cool run-up and run-down noises of the B&B, it was a MUCH better pipe to live with day to day.
Thank you for this, it makes me think of my supercharged S2000 I owned about 6 years ago, which was a great car with a ton of power, but I had an Invidia titanium single-exit exhaust on it that, on highway drives, made me wish I didn't even own that car. It was so awful. If my fancy new car made me feel that way I'd be fairly unhappy. If I am tracking you, the Fabspeed unit pictured above would likely cause some drone?
Thank you for this, it makes me think of my supercharged S2000 I owned about 6 years ago, which was a great car with a ton of power, but I had an Invidia titanium single-exit exhaust on it that, on highway drives, made me wish I didn't even own that car. It was so awful. If my fancy new car made me feel that way I'd be fairly unhappy. If I am tracking you, the Fabspeed unit pictured above would likely cause some drone?
"drone" is subjective. When deleting the center muffler drcollie is correct about removing the chambers in side the muffler. With that being said a center muffler is the "weaker" of the three mufflers the two side mufflers are MUCH heavier with MUCH more packing. I heard the car in person that we just had here, sounded great. While maintaining the side mufflers (Fabspeed's or factory) it keeps drone at bay. With a more free flowing system drone might become a factor at RPM under 3500.
