Going catless to reduce drone?

[65sohc]

I went through the drone debacle with a 65 Mustang 302. I ran through a series of three progressively quieter mufflers and the drone was still there. Installed a pair of No Drone j-pipes and it was gone. There are phone apps that display sound frequencies. When you drive into the drone range you can literally see the obnoxious frequencies on your phone. Install the appropriate Helmholz resonator and those frequencies disappear. Had I know about this at the time I would have kept the loudest mufflers that let the beautiful smallblock Ford cam come through but without the drone.

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[Patina]

Soft bump but throwing in my 2c.

OEM exhaust + AA DP and I had some pretty bad drone at 80mph, 85 was not doable when cruising.

AWE touring + AA DP and I pretty much wanted to blow my brains out at 80 when in 8th, had to keep it in 7th and only able to use 8th when I was doing 90+ and keeping the RPM higher.

Fi exhaust (with valve fixed open) + AA DP is entirely livable and only starts to get annoying in 8th when you get to 95+. I actually locked open the flaps because of how mellow it is by pulling the fuse while the car was in sport mode, then putting wiring away. Little quiet on the decibel side though.

If anybody figures out how to slide some J-pipes into the void left from the OEM muffler, I would definitely be interested in the results.

 

[Timmy_Jones]

Soft bump but throwing in my 2c.

OEM exhaust + AA DP and I had some pretty bad drone at 80mph, 85 was not doable when cruising.

Ma’am, have you disabled the fake sound in the cabin? AA DP and OEM exhaust is pretty tame! Even more tame when you disable the obnoxious fake noise.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Ma’am, have you disabled the fake sound in the cabin? AA DP and OEM exhaust is pretty tame! Even more tame when you disable the obnoxious fake noise.

This is on my to do list!

 

[Patina]

Ma’am, have you disabled the fake sound in the cabin? AA DP and OEM exhaust is pretty tame! Even more tame when you disable the obnoxious fake noise.

Ah, I forgot to mention a very key point here. My AA DP + OEM exhaust combo was driven with the fuse pulled 95% of the time, and with the flaps open, it was quite annoying. Nowhere near as much as the AWE system was, but still definitely there. With the flaps enabled, the system was actually quite mellow, but your starts were absolutely god awful wimpy sounding.

In comparison, the Fi with the fuse pulled is very much a great system overall and a natural progression for those coming from an OEM exhaust while keeping it easily tame, but for those looking for raw volume and aggression it's a little too mellow.

I was voiding the warranty on the vehicle within the first month of ownership, so I had already BimmerCode'd everything while waiting for shop time.

 

[Timmy_Jones]

Ah, I forgot to mention a very key point here. My AA DP + OEM exhaust combo was driven with the fuse pulled 95% of the time, and with the flaps open, it was quite annoying. Nowhere near as much as the AWE system was, but still definitely there. With the flaps enabled, the system was actually quite mellow, but your starts were absolutely god awful wimpy sounding.

In comparison, the Fi with the fuse pulled is very much a great system overall and a natural progression for those coming from an OEM exhaust while keeping it easily tame, but for those looking for raw volume and aggression it's a little too mellow.

Which AWE setup did you run? Did you disable the ASD in the car?

 

[Eastwood]

I love my CG precision catted down pipe and HKS Exhaust. I don’t notice any drone and it sounds pretty good.

 

[gixxersixxerman]

Which AWE setup did you run? Did you disable the ASD in the car?

im assuming he is talking about the AWE resonated touring, since he bought it from me. I havent talked to him since but had no idea he felt that way. I still think it’s the best sounding exhaust out there, better then my SP1R, BUt I love the look of the SP1R… now it drones and I drive in 7th. The AWE with a catless DP I never once had an issue with drone at any speed. I guess he is just really sensitive to drone because to me there isn’t any drone at all with the AWE.. I can’t think of any time I’ve heard someone say a resonated touring AWE had drone, this is a first for me..

 

[Timmy_Jones]

im assuming he is talking about the AWE resonated touring, since he bought it from me. I havent talked to him since but had no idea he felt that way. I still think it’s the best sounding exhaust out there, better then my SP1R, BUt I love the look of the SP1R… now it drones and I drive in 7th. The AWE with a catless DP I never once had an issue with drone at any speed. I guess he is just really sensitive to drone because to me there isn’t any drone at all with the AWE.. I can’t think of any time I’ve heard someone say a resonated touring AWE had drone, this is a first for me..

I haven't ever heard a complaint about drone with the AWE Touring (either res or non-res) so I am shocked. I think they also claimed the car droned with the AA Catted DP and OEM exhaust, which in my opinion sounds great and is still quite tame!

 

[Patina]

Which AWE setup did you run? Did you disable the ASD in the car?

Awe resonated touring with an AA DP. Had ASD disabled within 48hr of buying the vehicle. Sounds absolutely amazing when you're flogging it and cruising in the city, but is a bit of a bear when on the freeway holding steady rpms.

Then again, I came from cars that are bastions of NVH so I am a little more sensitive to NVH than others.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Awe resonated touring with an AA DP. Had ASD disabled within 48hr of buying the vehicle. Sounds absolutely amazing when you're flogging it and cruising in the city, but is a bit of a bear when on the freeway holding steady rpms.

Then again, I came from cars that are bastions of NVH so I am a little more sensitive to NVH than others.

Dude… I’m currently in the beautiful Smokey mountains. I couldn’t imagine my loud ass catless dp with AWE track exhaust up here. So can see where some peeps would have the need to tone her down a bit

I’ve considered converting to the AWE touring version. But I’d be too afraid of loosing that raw sound I love & only drive in a metro area or on track anyways.

 

[Timmy_Jones]

Awe resonated touring with an AA DP. Had ASD disabled within 48hr of buying the vehicle. Sounds absolutely amazing when you're flogging it and cruising in the city, but is a bit of a bear when on the freeway holding steady rpms.

Then again, I came from cars that are bastions of NVH so I am a little more sensitive to NVH than others.

I think you’re very sensitive, if the AA DP and OEM catback droned you may want to look at an electric vehicle!

 

[SupraTR]

Fi exhaust (with valve fixed open) + AA DP is entirely livable and only starts to get annoying in 8th when you get to 95+. I actually locked open the flaps because of how mellow it is by pulling the fuse while the car was in sport mode, then putting wiring away. Little quiet on the decibel side though.

Did you move on from the FI exhaust and find something you like better or stick with it? I've got OEM+MAP downpipe (same cat as AA) and planning to go FI exhaust or Magnaflow, but have leaned towards the FI since it should have less drone and I love the quality along with having valves on both sides. I'm honestly worried it will be too tame though. Reviews seem to be all over the place on both exhausts.

 

[Timmy_Jones]

Did you move on from the FI exhaust and find something you like better or stick with it? I've got OEM+MAP downpipe (same cat as AA) and planning to go FI exhaust or Magnaflow, but have leaned towards the FI since it should have less drone and I love the quality along with having valves on both sides. I'm honestly worried it will be too tame though. Reviews seem to be all over the place on both exhausts.

If she thought OEM + AA DP was too much drone and likes the FI, I would guess the FI is WAY TOO TAME.

 

[Patina]

Did you move on from the FI exhaust and find something you like better or stick with it? I've got OEM+MAP downpipe (same cat as AA) and planning to go FI exhaust or Magnaflow, but have leaned towards the FI since it should have less drone and I love the quality along with having valves on both sides. I'm honestly worried it will be too tame though. Reviews seem to be all over the place on both exhausts.

When it comes down to it, the Fi as an exhaust when compared to an OEM system is pretty ideal. It hits all the right notes, but for my specific tastes, it's a little on the quiet side and doesn't get anywhere as rowdy as I'd like. It is definitely an exhaust that perfectly shows off the characteristic note from an inline 6.

Dude… I’m currently in the beautiful Smokey mountains. I couldn’t imagine my loud ass catless dp with AWE track exhaust up here. So can see where some peeps would have the need to tone her down a bit

I’ve considered converting to the AWE touring version. But I’d be too afraid of loosing that raw sound I love & only drive in a metro area or on track anyways.

Going off just clips, but the difference in resonated touring vs unresonated touring seems to be more of a tonal change, but that's apples to peaches considering you have a track exhaust.

I think you’re very sensitive, if the AA DP and OEM catback droned you may want to look at an electric vehicle!

If she thought OEM + AA DP was too much drone and likes the FI, I would guess the FI is WAY TOO TAME.

I get mild headaches from excessive NVH, and before I bought the car I was actually looking at the LC500 and the S-coupe, so there's your comparison for NVH.

I really appreciate the casualness of the dig you threw at me, it's really mature.

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