Raspy Exhaust Note

[Kickerbeast]

I have a 1gen TSi. The previous owner has removed the cat and I just got done installing an Apexi N1 3" muffler. The exhaust pipe is still stock size. The exhaust has a very raspy note that I don't like. I would like to change the exhaust to 3". Will this get rid of the raspy note? I'm guessing that I will have to put a cat back into the system to fix this, which is fine. I just don't want to spend the money on the cat if I don't have to. Anyway, I'm just looking for how other people's sound. I have heard full 3" and it doesn't sound like mine. I searched and found a lot of information on exhaust, but nothing about fixing a raspy exhaust note. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Carlz0r]

Upgrading to 3" pipe and adding a decent resonator as well should remove most of the raspy/buzzy sound.

 

[Kickerbeast]

Any specific brand of resonator? I'm not that informed when it comes to exhaust brands.

 

[zhjiln]

ive never heard of a raspy turbo car.... even a turbo'd car with just a straight pipe still doesnt sound raspy and that has no cat, no resonators, no muffler.... think SRT-4 ....

best bet, get that cat back in ...

 

[lccynmbr13]

It sounds like you have an exhaust leak somewhere. Turbo cars don't rasp they almost always have a clean tone until the wategate opens if you have an external. Check for rusted out sections of pipe or loose flanges the gasket could be flapping around. Could also have the exhaust rattling against the underbody or some suspension part.

 

[Kickerbeast]

It definately has an "exhaust leak" sound and as long as i'm not into the throttle then it sounds decent. It is definately worse when the engine is cold. I'm planning on picking up some 3" and fabricating the exhaust from the downpipe back in a week or two. I think i'm going to pick up a high flow cat anyway. The exhaust is a little louder than I like (or my neighbors)

 

[AlaskanDsm]

I was going to suggest just taking it to an exhaust/muffler shop and have one made for you... usually cheaper than buying one and usually pretty decent quaility. But if you are already going to make one yourself, then that pretty much solves that problem. I have an ebay catback Tsudo exhaust. Comes with 2 resonators built in and a big muffler on it and I dont have any raspy noise... in fact it sounds quite nice I think for a turbo 4 cylinder.

 

[Fabian]

It definately has an "exhaust leak" sound and as long as i'm not into the throttle then it sounds decent. It is definately worse when the engine is cold. I'm planning on picking up some 3" and fabricating the exhaust from the downpipe back in a week or two. I think i'm going to pick up a high flow cat anyway. The exhaust is a little louder than I like (or my neighbors)

sounds like you just answered your own question.

 

[Kickerbeast]

Anyone familiar with resonators? I did some looking and I can get an OBX 3" of off ebay for $60. I tried to do some searching here with no luck. Anyway...good, bad, indifferent??

 

[lccynmbr13]

Anyone familiar with resonators? I did some looking and I can get an OBX 3" of off ebay for $60. I tried to do some searching here with no luck. Anyway...good, bad, indifferent??

Resonator isn't going to do too much for you. Your turbine wheel is a better resonator than anything you're going to buy. Just buy a decent quality muffler and you'll be fine. I'm running a 4" straight back exhaust no resonator and a Vibrant muffler 4" in 4" tip and I don't have any rasp at all. Of course it's loud due to being 4" but it's not a raspy sound by any means. During my time working for Pina Motorsports I can't remember a time we used a resonator on a custom exhaust on any of the EVOs or DSMs we did and they always sounded deep and crisp.

 

[Kickerbeast]

I may have to try to get a sound clip of the car. I have an Apexi N1 Muffler. I would suspect it would have sounded great. It is definitely worse when the car is cold though. I won't have time to get under the car for a couple of weeks. It isn't horrible, but I would like to get rid of the sound. Thanks for the advise.

 

[Kickerbeast]

Well, I cut the exhaust off tonight. I'm going to get the 3" pipe tomorrow. I did find one really tiny leak where the previous owner welded a pipe in place of the cat. Doesn't look like enough to make it sound raspy, but we will see after I get the rest of the exhaust on.

 

[Kickerbeast]

The local supplier ended up not having 3" in stock, so I had to go with 2.5". I got done putting it on and it sounds better, but it still has a somewhat raspy note. I will try to get a sound clip up here. It looked like I could get a generic resonator from the place I got the rest of the exhaust from.

 

[Kickerbeast]

I finally got the downpipe installed. It helped the sound a little more, but it is still more raspy that I would like. I guess it is time to find a resonator.

How the heck did this get in the apprearance section????

 

[LandoAWD]

Tone is not tech, performance, etc. Aesthetics.

 

[Kickerbeast]

ummm...ok. I didn't know that the newb forum was primarily a tech forum. I would have assumed that if I said does this muffler look good on my car that would be appearance, but since I am talking about how the exhaust performs. Anyway, whatevers clever.

 

[lccynmbr13]

Actually tone could very well be a performance issue. Might signal an exhaust leak before the O2 sensor making his car run different in closed loop, potentially having pieces of the cat breaking inside and rattling around, or the exhaust actually rattling on a piece of the frame which could be picked up by the knock sensor and pull timing for false reasons. I say this is a relevant topic. We don't know if its actually "rasp" or not right now because we haven't heard a sound clip.

 

[LandoAWD]

We don't know if its actually "rasp" or not right now because we haven't heard a sound clip.

Winner.

We can all speculate but the discussion is about a "tone" that the driver "doesn't like".