Sound Modification Tips
 

Hi all!

So, I'm currently running an AP Catback with some Top Speed Pro test pipes. I love the set up, but there is only one problem;

ITS REALLY FREAKING LOUD

I wouldn't have a problem with this if cold starts weren't a thing, but going into the car in the morning, waking up half the neighborhood and making my ears bleed that early isn't what I envisioned. I really like the sound of the exhaust, though it is a bit droney (it sounds so great on heavy throttle).

What do you recommend? Some resonated TPs? HFCs?

Thanks!

HFCs will quiet it down some

Will it be only slightly quieter or significantly? Should I just keep the TPs and put the stock exhaust back on?

Thanks!

Some HFC's will quiet it down.

I've come to the conclusion that the car sounds best with just a good quality cat-back. The sound is more important to me than some extra HP so I'm simply sticking with my F.I cat back for now.

Hmmm, I've considered just throwing the cats back on. My friend Danny has his 7AT with just some AAM Short tails and it sounds great (not nearly as loud as mine). I'm guessing my Z would sound well with just the AP catback

You can throw the stock cats back on or the stock cat-back on, either way will def quiet it down and you won't have to spend any money. My last car was loud as hell and the one thing I wanted to make sure with the Z was that it was aggressive sounding but not obnoxious.

I agree. Though I enjoy the loudness, it is obnoxious as hell at times. Merging on to the highway i can't talk to the person next to me and the drone between 2.4k-3.1k is really annoying.

Do you think the stock cats or stock exhaust will quiet it down the most? I'm inclined to putting the cats back on rather than the stock exhaust

I can't really comment on how it would sound with the stock exhaust and aftermarket cats as my cats have always been stock. I can tell you with just my cat-back exhaust installed the car sounds like absolute sex.

Since you're in FL you don't have to worry about emissions - so you don't have to take that into account.

Your best bet would be to throw on the stock cats and fire her up, see how it is. I'm also not a fan of the hiss that aftermarket cats make so that's another reason to keep em stock.

alright! Sounds like I have a plan now haha. Sucks that I'd have one less mod but at least my car will sound better.

Thanks for the help!

No problem man - the good thing is you can always try some different combinations of stock/aftermarket since you already own them. I hear ya on the less mods - however I've come to learn that just because something is modded, doesn't make it better.

Enjoy the car! :driving:

Why not try a quieter cat back?

Sound Modification Tips
 

I put dynamat along my exhaust corridor (mostly in the hatch). It helped. Test pipes on my Berk CBE makes an ugly resonant rattle through certain parts of the rpm range. I don't really recommend the Berk CBE for that reason. (I've got full breather mods with CAt delete so your experience might vary with Berk)

I made the mistake of swapping my 12" resonated FI x-pipe for a non-resonated x-pipe. The sound was louder but the drone was unbearable. My wife and I couldn't communicate while I was driving. Plus the drone was causing me headaches. So I had a shop weld some resonators on my x-pipe; problem solved. I went with 10" resonators this time. A little bit louder than the original and the sound is fantastic.