Hey all,
I just had my new exhaust welded in and am very pleased, so I thought I'd share my experience. The intent is to hopefully learn through my wallet rather than your own.
My set-up previously was short-tubes+factory cats, 2.5" Y-pipe, and 3" exhaust with Aero Turbine 3030XL (this one has the built-in resonator). The sound was actually quite nice - I was going for a rally-inspired sound and I think I got it - a sound-clip can be found elsewhere (videos section). Love or hate the Aero products, they have an unmistakeable sound. I will however be the first to tell you that whenever I got on it in the city, it was loud. Like call attention to yourself loud, which forced you to keep things under wraps. And so I did, and I drove it like this for 6-months.
I had on several occasions intended to install the long-tubes, but it never happened for one reason or another. I decided to have them installed when I got my clutch done. Needless to say, I throw away any conception of what you thought loud would be because this thing was bonkers loud. At idle you had to speak louder, and when you got right on it - sweet Jesus the thing sounded like a chainsaw that was coming to kill you. I ****ing loved it! Downside, it was deafening to drive inside and out.
I basically parked the vehicle and took the opportunity for Coupe to do his thing with my shifter while I waited for some new mufflers to come in. I ordered Vibrant 3" muffler and 'ultra-quiet' resonator which are basically the same product, only the resonator is smaller and oval vs. round. They are a flow-thru design with a perforated cone and steel packing. Nothing fancy in design, but the Vibrant sales rep says they only have a 3% flow resistance. IMO, that's very good.
The end result is a truck that, keeping in mind I have no cats, is quite quiet. It's not factory kind of quiet, but I would say it's on par with the URD systems. Vibrant calls their sound 'low' and throaty and I think this is true. It sounds more like a truck than a rally car, which is okay with me now. I've decided to leave the rally sound for rally cars. There is however a really noticeable rasp in the Y-pipe region. Under acceleration I think it's okay - it's the 'edge' that suggests you have something special going on. Under deceleration however, it sounds like a heat shield is rattling. Not exactly 'high-end' performance. More too, it's still rather loud at highway speeds. I was planning on investing in sound insulation. Still going to need it.
Side note - for those considering straight-pipe set-ups which is effectively what mine was w. the Aero Turbine, I would advice against it. John warned me of the sound level, and it's true. When I backed into the machine shop to have the mufflers welded on, you could hear my truck over a massive lathe. Loud.
- Colin
I just had my new exhaust welded in and am very pleased, so I thought I'd share my experience. The intent is to hopefully learn through my wallet rather than your own.
My set-up previously was short-tubes+factory cats, 2.5" Y-pipe, and 3" exhaust with Aero Turbine 3030XL (this one has the built-in resonator). The sound was actually quite nice - I was going for a rally-inspired sound and I think I got it - a sound-clip can be found elsewhere (videos section). Love or hate the Aero products, they have an unmistakeable sound. I will however be the first to tell you that whenever I got on it in the city, it was loud. Like call attention to yourself loud, which forced you to keep things under wraps. And so I did, and I drove it like this for 6-months.
I had on several occasions intended to install the long-tubes, but it never happened for one reason or another. I decided to have them installed when I got my clutch done. Needless to say, I throw away any conception of what you thought loud would be because this thing was bonkers loud. At idle you had to speak louder, and when you got right on it - sweet Jesus the thing sounded like a chainsaw that was coming to kill you. I ****ing loved it! Downside, it was deafening to drive inside and out.
I basically parked the vehicle and took the opportunity for Coupe to do his thing with my shifter while I waited for some new mufflers to come in. I ordered Vibrant 3" muffler and 'ultra-quiet' resonator which are basically the same product, only the resonator is smaller and oval vs. round. They are a flow-thru design with a perforated cone and steel packing. Nothing fancy in design, but the Vibrant sales rep says they only have a 3% flow resistance. IMO, that's very good.
The end result is a truck that, keeping in mind I have no cats, is quite quiet. It's not factory kind of quiet, but I would say it's on par with the URD systems. Vibrant calls their sound 'low' and throaty and I think this is true. It sounds more like a truck than a rally car, which is okay with me now. I've decided to leave the rally sound for rally cars. There is however a really noticeable rasp in the Y-pipe region. Under acceleration I think it's okay - it's the 'edge' that suggests you have something special going on. Under deceleration however, it sounds like a heat shield is rattling. Not exactly 'high-end' performance. More too, it's still rather loud at highway speeds. I was planning on investing in sound insulation. Still going to need it.
Side note - for those considering straight-pipe set-ups which is effectively what mine was w. the Aero Turbine, I would advice against it. John warned me of the sound level, and it's true. When I backed into the machine shop to have the mufflers welded on, you could hear my truck over a massive lathe. Loud.
- Colin
