Just a quick question about the exhaust sound. I recently got a custom CBE done on my RA with a magnaflow muffler and the car sounds raspy for the first 5 miles everytime I drive, after that it sounds great. I was wondering if the setup would have to do anything with the sound because I looked at setups of camaros, corvettes, even the new top of the line Scion TC have the setup like them ( also, many trucks and SUVs). Most of those cars with that setup sounds great. I was just wondering please advice or correct me...

 

Yes your exhaust setup has to do with what your exhaust sounds like. If it sounds raspy for the first few miles it's prob just cause it's warming up. If it bothers you that much just let your car idle for like 3 minutes before you drive it everytime.

 

Its weird though, even if I let it idle it would still make that raspy sound but not as long as it being driven cold. But atleast it doesnt sound like that all the time. Will I be able to ask a the shop that did my Custom CBE to change the setup to something like the camaros and vettes, because when I look at theirs, the muffler is all the way near the cat, and then just pipes all the way towards the rear bumper or to the side.

 

No matter what you do your car isn't gonna sound like a v8. If it's just the raspy sound when your car is still warming up that bothers you i wouldn't worry about it. Just let it warm up all the way before you drive it, that's better than spending more money on another exhaust. I guess you can get a resonator welded in too, i hear that's supposed to make it sound deeper.

 

Yeap, it's the exhaust... better yet, the magnaflow. They all sound like garbage, and raspy as hell.

 

If I change the setup to something like those other cars would it sound different than now? I like the rumbling noise that those setups make. Dont know if its bc the engine size only but I have seen it done on 4 cylinders and it sounds almost like a v6 also. I think the SRT-4 has that setup also, its only 2.4 L but turbo charged. I think the turbo adds a better noise to it but the exhaust setup looks and sounds great also.

 

You keep comparing your sound to V6, V8, and turbo 4 setups...

WITHOUT a turbo there is NO way you are going to get the sound you are looking for. A four cylinder N/A motor always sounds a little raspy. That's why we have two resonators and a restrictive cat and muffler. Probably on our cars, your Magnaflow is about the best sound you're going to get. You can always try adding a resonator, that helped my car when it was N/A.

 

I know about the engine size and turbo makes a difference in sound. My question is that ..
the type of setup and if it would make a difference.

 

Something that will help with a raspy sound is a good resonator... Also, see if the shop can add a "T" in the pipe after the resonator.... Its hard to explain, but its just a capped off piece of tubing ported into your exhaust tubing... Its a pressure relief whn you back off the throttle you'll get less popping and such... Stock Honda S2000 cars have them, are NA and have a smaller displacement motor and with aftermarket exhausts are a little bit raspy IMHO.... They sound good stock though, and I know that "T" has something to do with it...

Anyone good with PICS can find a stock S2000 exhaust picture to show what I'm talking about....

I added a "T" to my VW powered Suzuki Samurai and it really made a difference in it and it only has a muffler, no cat, no resonator...

 

Oh yeah, most muscle cars and such do have the muffler closer to the engine... It gives a mellower sound allowing the pipes to echo some after the muffler... We don't have room or displacement for that to work or sound good... Small motors usually want the muffler as far back as possible to avoid a Tin roof sounding exhaust note...

 

Google images says that's a stock s2000 exhaust.

 

I have the magnaflow 14829 and my car sounds raspy at startup also. It's just a warmup thing. Sounds fine for me after about 3 maybe 5 mins at the most. Our cars just increase the idle speed at startup to help keep em going at first and you're hearing a *cold* muffler. Combination of the two makes it sound raspy at first. At least thats my best guess.

 

Thats the T I was referring to... I was a little unsure of the results at first, but it made a difference on my Samurai... I'd definitely add one when I build an exhaust for the RA...

 

Well, if I was able to get a setup like the cars I was talking about, would it be impossible and would it make any difference on the RA? I heard an OZ with that kind of setup with the pipes sticking out on the side and it sounded very powerful, almost like a v6. Just wondering...

 

I don't see you being able to get a decent sized tubing under the rocker panels on an RA, around the framework, etc without it dragging the ground on road bumps and speed humps... Might look kinda cool, but I like that look on a more brutish looking car, ours tend to be rather smoothlined...


Come to think of it, I don't even think you could squeeze a good muffler under the body and use side exit exhaust... And you'd then have an odd half moon in the rear bumper where the exhaust used to be...