The TRUTH about aftermarket exhaust drone

cv129

Take away on this..."drone" or "no drone" is now a subjective opinion

ped

Yes, apparently drone was bad (since FI's sales/marketing and reviews praised the supposed lack of it) and undesirable right up until I didn't want to pretend along with them. Then drone became fun?

A person only needs to do a quick Internet search to see how many thousands of people in various forums are looking for ways to get RID of drone. Dynamat on every interior surface, spraying rubbery insulation on the underside of the wheel wells, drilling holes in their exhausts to add the resonators I discussed in the original message. It's pretty clear drone is bad and few like/want it.

Rangerz

Wow just got done reading a couple of your other posts. Three things come to mind.

1. Sell it super low milege FI CBE should be easy to sell.

2. You might try to ask Tony about fabbing something up and you will be the test Z for him. Not sure flaming the **** out of FI is a good start on that though. Sounds like you have done some research and know what freq you are looking to cancel.

3. You can wait for me to get mine and I'll sell you my stock nismo exhaust #834 so about another month or so.

One other thing, you know you have a peice of art in the FI exhaust

hope it works out for you though

Mr&Mrs

As long as I have been modding cars (which isnt as long as others) and adding aftermarket exhaust "drone" has been subjective. This isnt new information here. To me the GT Haus setup I had, had little to no drone with a slight hiss on decel. That hiss is a deal breaker for most, me, didnt care. Some people who watched my videos thought it sounded awful.

My 3" F.I non resinated exhauast had even less drone if not any. Maybe the turbos helped the issue. Now this Zele Exhaust makes me mad at times but it is super rare and I do not drive much. So someone in my shoes I would still recommend the Zele system to.

My "take" on this is do more research and dont blame people trying to help when you do not like the product YOU decided to purchase.

I think the people that love their F.I system in various configurations say enough.

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ped

In the interests of being fully honest in looking at FI's site I have to admit they do NOT claim "no drone" (reviews here almost universally do though). What their site says is "no rasp" which is true; their comments on drone state that the larger resonators have less, which could well be true but the 18 is the one I'm familiar with so can't say. But that type of inline expanded section isn't apparently how you effectively get rid of drone if the Helmholtz info is to be believed (and it should be since there are lots of examples of people resolving drone with them). The Helmholtz method requires the resonator to be 90 degrees off the exhaust flow, not inline with it.

johnson14785

Did it ever cross your mind to try and find someone with a FI exhaust so you could hear first hand? I know before ordering my exhaust I did some pretty extensive research... not just reading posts on a forum. You may have read multiple places the claim for no drone but didn't anyone ever tell you not to believe everything you read on the internet?

Super Werty

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The Build

ped

I did listen to some though from outside the vehicle (idle, revving). You're right that I should have taken some extended rides, but the opportunity didn't come up. So my bad there, for sure.

As for the reviews, another good point. I just figured I could trust the preponderance of reviews of an exhaust for 370Zs on a forum dedicated to that car. My bad?

Fact is FI is a small company and a lot of people may live in places where no reps that sell FI are, or have anyone near them with the exhaust that they can to listen to. In those situations the reviews here and elsewhere are largely what people use to make purchase decisions.

F.I. Inc.

I have read through the two pages and am putting together my response as we speak!

Tony

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sparky

I never drive my 7AT in D so its not an issue for me, although I agree with the OP. Having said that I spoke with Tony at length prior to purchase and went with 18" resonators to minimize it. This was his recomendation for me based on my expectations, to reduce drone. He never claimed there would be none. I'm totally satisfied with my purchase and service from FI.
OP did you discuss this in detail with Tony prior to purchase?

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2012 370Z GM 7AT/JWM LEDs / 3M clear bra / 35% tint / GTR start button / FI CBE SS 18" RES / Momo shift knob / K & N Typhoon / Z1 hood struts / H&R 20mm f/r / illuminated kickplates

ped

I've had several chats with Tony, yes including one by email just after I got the install done Monday. I also started a thread on the G35 forums (I owned a G35s and a G37s after that) discussing the desire for before/after decibel measurements of FI exhausts and had discussed their exhausts with Tony around that same time. I chose the 18" on stock cats for that very reason (quietest option). I just got a lot more drone/interior noise than I expected or was comfortable with.

sparky

OK but you weren't expecting no drone at all as you originally stated. It is a subjective thing for sure and as mentioned earlier you'll have no problem selling it if you choose to. Good luck!

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2012 370Z GM 7AT/JWM LEDs / 3M clear bra / 35% tint / GTR start button / FI CBE SS 18" RES / Momo shift knob / K & N Typhoon / Z1 hood struts / H&R 20mm f/r / illuminated kickplates

dAvenue

Yeah, just sell it and move on, OP. I don't see a real legitimate reason to slander a stand-up guy or company like F.I because you didn't like the taste of their Cheerios. Not one company can make everyone happy with a product even if the vast majority of its customers love it.

You did provide some good information, though. I give you that.

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NeverBoneStck

If u think interior noise on the FI is bad you should try the Motordyne ..

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ped

Yeah no intent to cause FI or Tony a problem - just frustrated with the expectations created by somewhat misleading info in forums/reviews and the hassles/expense of needing to have more work done now to put the original exhaust back on based on it. And it's such a solvable problem - that's also frustrating. Why settle for any drone when it can be eliminated simply by adding 5 bucks worth of two steel pipes onto the exhaust (is what I'm thinking/feeling)? As I mentiomed, I understand partially it not being done due to them not knowing what cat/header you'll be using. It would be nice to offer a catback tuned for stock cats/header that included this drone-free Helmholtz option. It might become their best seller.