Exhaust drone - some thoughts requested
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
Exhaust drone - some thoughts requested
I have a '99 Vette that has LT headers, O/R x-pipe, and currently has a Z06 Ti exhaust..... at WOT its a pretty loud exhaust, and overall, the thing sounds great, but i really wish the exhaust was a little louder....
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,090
Likes: 8
From: Indianapolis Indiana
I tried Billy Boat Bullets, drone was unbearable
Have Stingers on 2 cars w long tube headers, no drone on 6 spd and terrific sound, mild drone on A4 and good sound, have Corsa Pace cars on 3rd C5 w lth, quiet at cruiser, very nice under hard acceleration
tried Magna Flow before that and very anemic
Have Stingers on 2 cars w long tube headers, no drone on 6 spd and terrific sound, mild drone on A4 and good sound, have Corsa Pace cars on 3rd C5 w lth, quiet at cruiser, very nice under hard acceleration
tried Magna Flow before that and very anemic
Racer
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 282
Likes: 0
From: Studio City CA
I have a Z06 with LG streets, no cats and a Borla catback. Up until about 5 days ago I had the stock Ti system and had the same problem as you... thought it sounded great at WOT but just needed more sound. I picked up the Borlas used for just a bit over what I can sell the Ti's for and I got exactly the sound I was looking for. Hardly any drone with the 6 speed but I would imagine you will have some amount with the A4 - either way the sound is awesome and stays deep throughout the rev range. Good luck!
Gabe
Gabe
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
The header design has a lot to do with it as well. I have tried a couple of different headers on the car, the most immediate thing I noticed was drone and I have always had the Ti's on the car.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 165
Likes: 7
From: Newmarket
I have a '99 Vette that has LT headers, O/R x-pipe, and currently has a Z06 Ti exhaust..... at WOT its a pretty loud exhaust, and overall, the thing sounds great, but i really wish the exhaust was a little louder....
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,616
Likes: 11
From: Newport, RI
'Drone' is a very subjective term. Everyone has different tolerance levels. Exhaust sound is dependent on a HUGE variety of things, such as: engine, cam, intake, heads, headers, x-pipe, pipe size, pipe length, mufflers, cats, etc, etc. A change in any of those things can have a dramatic impact on exhaust tone.
While someone may accurately state "Brand X has no drone in my car", the odds are that their car is not exactly like yours. Thus your exhaust note will probably end up being somewhat different. I had a big-block '68 Camaro and I went through five sets of mufflers and three sets of pipes before I found the "Goldilocks" exhaust note that was in perfect pitch for my ear.
All I'm trying to say is - it may take some experimentation to get the exhaust note that you consider 'perfect'...........
-
While someone may accurately state "Brand X has no drone in my car", the odds are that their car is not exactly like yours. Thus your exhaust note will probably end up being somewhat different. I had a big-block '68 Camaro and I went through five sets of mufflers and three sets of pipes before I found the "Goldilocks" exhaust note that was in perfect pitch for my ear.
All I'm trying to say is - it may take some experimentation to get the exhaust note that you consider 'perfect'...........
-
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Pro
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 551
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From: Morgantown WV
I have a '99 Vette that has LT headers, O/R x-pipe, and currently has a Z06 Ti exhaust..... at WOT its a pretty loud exhaust, and overall, the thing sounds great, but i really wish the exhaust was a little louder....
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Some time ago, i had straight pipes built for the car, and that was obnoxiously loud.... more than the loud, was the drone, and even worse, the "kackle" that it made in the 2000rpm range when going up through the rpm range.... that rpm is hit quite often, considering the car has a 3800 stall converter in it...
I was thinking about putting a set of bullets or something on it, with hopes that that will quiet it down a little, and also remove the drone/kackle... I don't have any experience with bullets or resonators, and was wondering if i could get some opinions.....
Will they take care of this??? Would there be any difference whether i put the bullets toward the front of the exhaust, or toward the back (more like where the mufflers currently are)??
Sorry for the stupid question.... Thanks in advance
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
This is something I was considering... having some high flow cats should calm the drone and the sound down a bit.... maybe then I could put my straight pipes back on and be happy with it.... the other thing I've always noticed with catless cars is they have that bit of noise always coming from the midpipe area... am I the only one who notices this? this is my third car like that without cats ..... either way, I got q bonus at work today, and might see if I can pick something up for just a little more than what I sell the ti's for.....
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
I should note, I must not have been clear.....
The car does not drone with the ti's... it drones with the straight pipes...
I love the sound of the ti's but they're not loud enough at idle and normal driving... I need some extra sound... thus my thought of putting bullets into my current straight pipe setup... plus my straights have a sweet set of 4" tips I put on...
I may see what's out there .... wish I knew how loud some of the other exhaust are with catless x pipe and LT's... I don't have the $ to keep trying different exhausts....
The car does not drone with the ti's... it drones with the straight pipes...
I love the sound of the ti's but they're not loud enough at idle and normal driving... I need some extra sound... thus my thought of putting bullets into my current straight pipe setup... plus my straights have a sweet set of 4" tips I put on...
I may see what's out there .... wish I knew how loud some of the other exhaust are with catless x pipe and LT's... I don't have the $ to keep trying different exhausts....
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
One more thought... when I did the straight, I based them off of a stock c5 exhaust over the axel, then cut off the mufflers and welded on straight pipes.. since I'm stepping down from a 3" x pipe to a 2.5" exhaust, is that compounding and making the drone/kackle worse
Truthfully, the drone wasn't the bad part, it was the awful kackle every time I passed 2k rpms when accelerating... this was everytime, since the high stall forces me to pass this rpm constantly
Truthfully, the drone wasn't the bad part, it was the awful kackle every time I passed 2k rpms when accelerating... this was everytime, since the high stall forces me to pass this rpm constantly
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
Does the ti bypass mod make that much of a difference? Like how much louder? I understand the idea, its kinda like a Borla exhaust for an fbody.. but i dont wanna do it if its a very marginal difference
Thx all!
Thx all!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 65
From: Rochester Hills MI
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
Hmmm... see I want more noise at idle and normal cruising / accelerating speeds... with no cats, xpipe and LT's, and a cam, its nice at WOT but still mellow at idle... some think its loud, but I don't
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 963
Likes: 23
If someone could figure that out we would have the perfect exhaust system.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 195
Likes: 20
From: Rochester NY
I've searched everywhere to find someone that can weld the Ti exhaust and do the Ti bypass mod, and no one in the Pittsburgh area does it.... most people either think i'm nuts for wanting to weld Ti, or are like "what?" .... Seems that nearly noone is setup to weld Ti, since its an expensive metal, and you have to shield both sides of the weld with pure Argon....
Nonetheless, i'm still interested in putting a different exhaust on.... What do you folks think about the exhausts that are basically just 2 bullet type mufflers, such as teh Borla Stingers, or the OBX catback, or the NXT exhaust, etc....????
Has anyone had one of these on a car with LT's, no cats, and a stalled auto???
What i'd ultimately like is to have a fellow enthusiast in my local area with one of these exhausts to be willing to swap me for an hour, so i could see if the sound is bearable... but i'm probably not going to find that, so i gotta rely on everyone's thoughts...
Nonetheless, i'm still interested in putting a different exhaust on.... What do you folks think about the exhausts that are basically just 2 bullet type mufflers, such as teh Borla Stingers, or the OBX catback, or the NXT exhaust, etc....????
Has anyone had one of these on a car with LT's, no cats, and a stalled auto???
What i'd ultimately like is to have a fellow enthusiast in my local area with one of these exhausts to be willing to swap me for an hour, so i could see if the sound is bearable... but i'm probably not going to find that, so i gotta rely on everyone's thoughts...
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 20,030
Likes: 289
From: Wylie TX --> Less is More, except under the hood !
I have Long Tube Headers/Cats/Vararam/Heads/Cam.. etc...
I originally had the B&B Bullets and the resonance/drone was ridiculous.
I had the Corsa Touring and it was nice, but too high pitched. No drone though.
I had the Z06 Ti's, but they were way too quiet.
I now have the GHL Bullets and LOVE the deep muscle sound, and no drone.
They are the BEST of both worlds.
Of course I recommend that you go to a local Corvette show to listen to various systems yourself.
Its the only way you will be one that sounds RIGHT to you.
Toque
Last edited by Toque; Sep 3, 2010 at 09:36 PM.