I am interested in getting the sports cat sound but with slightly less noise.

Would it be out of the realms of possibility to install a single sports cat with the other cat being standard.

I have a spare new OEM cat that a welder I know can open up and remove some baffle to reduce the cells to 250 or thereabouts from 400.

I am tempted to get that done and installing it. However will the emmissions difference be picked up as an error message in theory and more importantly will it effect the engine with exhaust gasses escaping slightly faster on one bank rather then the other.

The other option would be to get both cats opened up and removed some baffle for about 150 dollars equivilant and re installed.

 

I think you are asking for trouble if you're going to have different things on each side. If you want to achieve a poor man's sport cat setup, the closest you could come without risking problems is to take the OEM cats off, and then carve out the secondary matrix on each side (the downstream of the two - there is an 02 bung in between) and that would leave you with a 600 cell primary on each side. But honestly, for the amount of HP you would gain and the trouble I don't think it is worth it.

If you start hacking up the primaries I would be concerned that structural weaknesses would cause them to break down very quickly and then get blown out completely.

 

Listen to Stuart. These cars are finicky enough with Check Engine Lights if you do it right and use the RSC cats...I cannot imagine the quagmire you will get into with a choked own setup and loss of performance. If you just want tone, remove and replace the rear muffler with a Quicksilver, Borla, Mansory, etc. that will do the job for sound.

 

I think Vergis has an exhaust system installed already. But if you want some 200 cell cats, I'm happy to set you up with some Velocity cats at a great price, just drop me a PM or an email - stuart@velocityap.com

 

You can get 300 cell metal core race cats on eBay for only $120 each. 300 cells give you most of the airflow gains but keep the noise within reason. Difference between 300 cell and 200 cell is usually only 1-2HP, but keeps sound increase a good 30% quieter than a 200 cell or 100 cell.

I have two 3.0in ones in my garage that are brand new, never used them. You can have them for $60 each. PM me if you want them.

 

Interesting comments. Was just thinking of possible options. Really interested in a bit more of the V8 soming thru the exhaust.

007 Vantage you have a PM.

 

A subjective reply here but since 007 raised the sound issue I thought I'd weigh in. From my perspective, one of the _best_ aspects of the 200 cell cats is what it does to the sound out the tail pipes.

I've tracked my car a couple of times so most of my driving is on legal roads. I was shocked at how loud the car became after putting in the cats but I am completely addicted to it now. It sounds more like a track car with the cats.

The sound can be modulated though by your right foot. It really only screams when you drop the pedal and WOT is a revelation.

I have not posted before and after audio of the car bc when I got it dyno'd (and took video) the engine noise post-cats was so extreme that it maxed out the mic on the camera by around 3k RPM so it was pointless to post. By comparison, the pre-cat car shot with the same camera from the same position started clipping the audio only near red line. That will give you some indication of the change in sound level.

Fortunately if you are gentle on the pedal then it is very well behaved ... essentially you can easily get off your street without the neighbours breaking out the torches and pitchforks. I have no doubt though, that if I dropped the pedal in front of a cop I would get a ticket for noise (and not for speeding, you can get there in first or second easily).

I regularly go out for cruises with a big group of exotic owners. Without fail, every time I go on one of these drives, I have people I've never met spontaneously walking up to me and telling me the car is the best sounding car there.

The point is though, that all this is achievable at road legal speeds. Even if somone walked up to me and offered me a supercharger kit for the car for free, I'm not sure I'd want to install it. I'd be worried that I'd spend all my (legal) driving under 3000 RPM and not get to hear the engine sing.

If you want to hear more of that V8 Vergis, get the cats ... you will never want to go back (and I'm tremendously curious to hear what it would sound like mixed with that titanium exhaust you have).

 

In my case, it was too loud for me. Here's a short video of my Vantage after I installed the RSC 200 cell cats and Mansory Sport Exhaust. Sorry, it was out of focus but you can clearly hear the car 1/8 a mile away. There is loud and good tone, and then there is obnoxious ("hey, look at me!"). This fell into that latter category and I went back to stock with fuse 22 pulled.

 

Interesting conversation here... I first went with the Cats (Larini) which I was really happy with (the best of both worlds) with the stock exhaust. Things only got loud after 4000 RPM. Very Jeckyl & Hyde. I then installed the Milltek rear box (which had already been ordered). I really love the around town sound as its not too loud however the 70 mph droning on the highway is tiresome. So I purchased a V12 rear box (used) which I'll install when I find the time. I believe this will be the best compromise as the V12 rear section is lighter and less restrictive than the original V8 rear box that came with the car. So on the highway, below 4000 rpm the car will be relatively serene (no droning). At least thats what I hope. I'll let you know.

 

Yes it would be very interesting to hear the car with the Titanium exhaust.

Thanks for posting up that video. That is LOUD> But with 300 cell being about 30 % quieter I think that is the way to go.

Will keep you guys posted.

 

Do you think the sound would have been more acceptable with just the cats but the stock exhaust? Maybe with the fuse in?

 

^^^ Yes that may well be. I am running mine with stock exhaust. I can't really conceive of how loud it would be with a 'sport' exhaust (cf DRC's comments). I do love the unique tone of that Ti exhaust though (albeit having heard it only in videos). With my set up there is a mild drone at around 130-140 kmh but not so bad that it gets annoying even after a couple hours on a highway.

 

The Jeckyll/Hyde comment is a good one and I've used it to describe the character of the car with 200 cell cats and a stock exhaust. You can drive it in a way that only hints at the beast lurking underneath, but then, when necessary (or even in completely gratuitous fashion) you can just rip the roof right off.

I prefer Dr. Jeckyll mode most of the time. If you accelerate slowly away from a light but delay your shift to 2nd until you hit about 5-6k RPM, you get a gorgeous but not ear-splittingly loud crescendo that then slides down an octave or two when you ease into 2nd (always accompanied by some burbling, pops, crackles and the odd backfire as the revs drop). It doesn't get old .

What you hear in DRC's video is the more harsh Mr. Hyde quality when you drop the pedal and open the throttle. You can save that for spirited driving, impressing groups of 12 year olds (or chronologically older auto enthusiasts), or simply poking the 12 year old pleasure centre in your own brain

Ohhh .. and the tunnel blasts are F*****G EPIC!

 

I installed Drcollie's used RSC cats I found them too loud below 2000rpm, when the exhaust valves are open. I asked Stuart if his tuning guy could write a file keeping them closed until the normal (re-)opening point at 3900-5100rpm. He got that done for me, I installed the new tune, and I can't imagine a setup I'd be happier with.

Plenty of V8 rumble down low, with about the same volume as stock, but when the valves reopen up high in the rpm range, the sky is bluer, the sun shines brighter and the birds sing, uh, well you can't hear them over the sonorous din.

Stock cat-back exhaust.

 

After I put it in the garage, I immediately pulled the Mansory Sport exhaust and put the stock exhaust back in, leaving the RSC cats in place. I hated to do that, because the stock exhaust is easily twice the weight and hard to get into place by myself. THen I went for another test ride of many more miles, and it was still too loud for me, so the stock cats went back on. The only combo I did not try was stock cats w/Mansory exhaust. mostly because I didn't want to wrestle that stock pipe off and on again!

I know a lot of guys here like performance cats and its part of Stuart's business, so I think it comes down to what YOU want out of your Aston Martin whether you do this or not. I'm no sound prude, I run a full Remus header and carbon fiber Remus cans on my BMW K1600 motorcycle because it makes it scream like a F1 car - but to me I don't want to shout to a passenger to have a conversation and would like to be able to use the cell phone in the car, so the performance cats had to go. Additionally the cops around here will look for any excuse to hassle an exotic car owner so booming around drawing attention to yourself isn't a way to keep a lower profile.

Astons to me are about elegance in sports cars. As are Ferraris. Lambos, etc. Blatting around with a hugely loud exhaust is more Ford Mustang or Subie STi than Aston...