An exhaust drone can be MEASURED. Just like you would measure the frequency response of an audio loudspeaker. If you had a microphone in the car when you hear the drone, you would measure a large DB spike at the 60-90 hertz range. That's why I disagree with it's "subjective" nature. Just my.02

 

I had a c5 with corsa indy and long tubes, heads and cam sounded awesome and absolutely no drone. I now have a c6 mn6 with corsa sports, (no headers) The c5 sounded hands down better, louder at full throttle by a ton, and whisper quite at cruise. Now I like the corsa sports, but I know what he is talking about with the drone, not bad like every other exhaust out there, but it is present, whereas with the c5 not even a hint... I miss the sound of my c5

 

Exactly what I did. Works great for me, but then I like my car quiet.

 

I tried this, but all you hear is the ticking noises from the headers (drivetrain/exhaust pulses). I thought the car sounded like a piece of junk. I added a cat-back to overcome all the extra noise from the headers.

 

Respect. Vetracer, you know WAY more than I do. My LS 2 is stock. And could be true for you, but on my '05 Z-51 6 speed manual, with Melorse LT, 3 inch X, and stock to back, and a good tune, the car sounds VERY close to stock. And I have ZERO drone. The 3.9 gears, of course, don't hurt.

 

been saying that for over a year! It's not something I can't live with but there is NO DOUBT a slight drone at those rpm's. If you're worried about having any drone with after market keep your stock exhaust on your vette.....

 

looks like droning is a hot topic....thanks guys. I will check clearances and try to stock h-pipe...if nothing else....I'll cowboy up and deal.

 

Why not add the Corsa Touring conversion with their x pipe and mid resonators? That conversion has been successful with others on this site in quieting the drone in auto trans cars,especially with the Flowmaster American Thunder system.

 

I'm glad it worked for you. I like it quiet , too. I hope I didn't come off as offensive, but my car did sound pretty crappy. Could have been the cam or different brand of headers.

 

Everyone's sensitivities are different and I wouldn't presume to make a blanket endorsement for all Corsa exhaust systems on all vehicles. Perhaps what you interpret as "drone" the vast majority of others would not. I don't know.

I have the Corsa Sport exhaust on a modified C6. It does not produce drone!

BTW, my hearing is 5 x 5....and that's no BS.

 

i have had the corsa sports with stock exaust, and with kooks lt and highflow cats, with stock coverter and stock gears, with 3800 converter and stock gears and 3800 converter and 373 gears and no drone sounds great and gets better with every change

 

Dennis50nj -

I watched your video of you at the track, it sounds like a Ferrari

Howard

 

I all aftermarket LTs, & X pipes have far better exhuast gas flow which means drone. Some more then others.

The better the performance the more the drone and louder the systems.

Mufflers only hinder performance.

If your thinking of LTs and an X-pipe, ask yourself what music you like listing too? If you like soft jazz and easy listning music. LTs are not for you.

On the other hand if you like head banger, rap of heavy metal music, then go for the LTs.

 

Im starting to wonder if DSOM was correct here. What were talking about is resonance, commonly called drone. This occurs when the car or parts of the car begin to vibrate in tune with the low frequency sound from your exhaust. This puts out another secondary low frequency sound which depending on the severity of the resonance can be subtle or quite loud. With real drone even at moderate levels you can usually see the center console, dash, etc. moving. Touch the dash and you can feel the buzz. Once you have heard real drone you will have no problem recognizing it, the tone is distinctive. Louder exhausts obviously have more of a tendency to drone and the muffler tuning will also effect drone.

On the other hand with many V8s you can get a bass throb from the exhaust itself that many describe as drone but it is not. No part of the car is vibrating in tune with the exhaust to cause resonance in this case. Guys with the corsas can check this out for themselves. On a long uphill stretch on the highway put the car on cruise in 6th. Begin to tick your speed down, you will notice the low bass throb increase. Keep ticking it down and that throb will keep increasing and as the car starts bogging harder you will get into some resonance in the car if you drive a stick, not sure if auto guys can keep it from downshifting. This wont hurt your car for a brief period.

Real drone is a bitch. You cannot get rid of it by adding sound deadening material because the entire car or parts of the car like the dash are vibrating and making the sound you are hearing and you cant cover the center stack (for instance) with dynamat. It can be reduced a little if the material is between you and the source of the drone. This is why you know right away if someone said they cured their drone by adding sound deadening materials that they never had any drone. They added enough insulation to attenuate the low frequency sounds of the exhaust itself.

 

crabman,

i'll try your test today, but I gotta tell ya that freakin buzzing or humming is ear piercing. I went for a 45 minute drive on the highway and I was happy to park it and give my ears a brake.

thanks for the lesson man.

 

All I can say is that sound, drone, buzz whatever ya want to call it wasn't there with my stock exhaust! It is “NOW” there with Corsa Sports and X pipe so who knows. My vette is a MN6. It's not something that bothers me or drives me out of the car but make no mistake there is a drone or reverberation or whatever you want to call it. It only happens in the 1600 to 1850 rpm range but it's there! Why some cars will do it and not others I don't have a clue. I still say if you're worried about a little additional sound in the cockpit then stay with your stock exhaust. I wanted a louder and more aggressive sound which I got. I’m happy with the sound but I wouldn’t want any more noise in the car then I’m getting now………..

 

To get an idea of what real drone is, take a deep breath attempting to fill your lungs, part your lips just slightly, and then hum for as long as you can on that single breath in your deepest bass voice, monotone letting the air escape from your slightly parted lips.

You should be able to do this for approx 30 seconds or more, off of that single breath letting the air slowly escape. Your lips, your ears will vibrate. Imagine driving along the highway listening to that and thats what drone is. Imagine listening to it for several minutes over a long trip. It would be enough to drive you completely batty.

 

What matters is that something is bugging you, whether it be actual resonance or just the throb that can come from a V8 at low rpm. Nor am I saying you dont have drone. Just pointing out the difference between resonance and what ammounts to an annoying exhaust tone. Either way if your not happy then its a problem whichever may apply.

If you have drone it cant be fixed unless its being caused by your mid-section, headers, or sometimes the over the axle pipe, touching somewhere. This will cause drone and can be fixed by moving the offending piece out of contact. This is not an unusual occurance especially with the stainless exhausts because the clamps will often slip even after proper installatioin due to the relative hardness of the metal compared to mild steel which usually grabs fairly well. If its the exhaust note itself causeing the resonance you have no options but to live with it or move to a different exhaust. You can put in sound deadening material and possibly get some relief since it will insulate you from some sources of the drone but it will not make it go away.

When B&B first put out their bullet/PRT exhaust for the Z06 they had a video up with sound from inside the car. You could actually see the center stack buzzing and hear the resonance as the car accelerated through the lower rpm band. I went and looked to post a link but they have taken it down at some point since I was last there. There is another one on their site ---> http://www.bbexhaust.com/car/corvette/z06/ over on the right side of the page, bottom video, I think its called something like "PRT interior drive" where you can hear a brief bit of resonation. The video will start out on a local street, then he will merge out onto a highway or freeway, then he will say something along the lines of "were going to try a little harder acceleration". Right as he gets on it at low rpm you can hear resonance briefly before he passes through it. Notice how it sounds like something is rapidly vibrating? That is drone.

 

Miwung- You probably have a pipe vibrating like someone suggested. I installed Kooks LT's and Corsa Sports on my A6 last week and LOVE them. I do, however, have to make a small adjustment to the rear passenger over axle pipe because it is vibrating. I think you will find the problem and be satisfied with your Corsa's. I've had other exhausts and these are a "dream" compared to many others.

 

Being a musician of sorts (playing guitar for 30 years) I know exactly what you're describing. I'm going to check my connections and make sure the exhaust system isn't rubbing or touching anything. Might be where I'm getting my noise... I would describe it as a drone because things tend to vibrate pretty good at those rpm's... Fortunately it’s within a very tight RPM range so I can usually avoid it most of the time or it would get extremely annoying……
Thanks......